Huawei launches the creativity-focused P30 and P30 Pro

Huawei P30 Pro quad camera

The wraps are off of Huawei’s latest flagship phones, the P30 and P30 Pro. Unveiled in Paris, the new P30 range is positioned as a creativity phone, with a key focus on camera features.

The previous Huawei P20 Pro rose to fame thanks to its excellent camera. It tied first on the trusted DxOMark phone benchmark, along with the new Samsung S10+.

Huawei P30 Pro

UPDATE: The P30 Pro has just scored a 112, putting it on top of the charts by a 3 point margin. For the full report, click here.

The Huawei P30 Pro camera

In terms of specifications, the top of the range P30 Pro model has a unique quad camera system, large 6.49inch OLED display, a 4200mAh battery and comes in two unique colours.

The camera system is the real star. Using an advanced zoom lens array, which includes a solid ‘periscope’ prism, you can now achieve up to 50x zoom. This is an incredible achievement and likely the most advanced camera system available in a phone today.

The periscope lens actually gives you a 5x optical zoom (f3.4), a 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom. For even more creative options, there is a new SuperSpectrum 40 megapixel camera (f1.6) and a Leica Ultra-Wide angle and Ultra-Macro lens (f2.2).

A special ‘Time of Flight’ camera is used to sense depth and deliver that ‘shallow-depth-of-field’ look. This is backed up by an infrared sensor for determining depth in dark conditions.

The camera system adds artificial intelligence and dual optical image stabilisation to clean up the images and digital zoom modes.

P30 Pro lens system

The new sensor is capable of 409,600 ISO sensitivity for unparalleled low-light photography. It even features a unique cooling system to reduce image noise. There are some cool modes to make use of this including ‘handheld night mode’ and ‘silky water’ long exposures, so you don’t need to use a tripod.

The Huawei P30 camera

The P30 shares a lot of parts, however is a triple camera system, similar to the Mate20 Pro. This includes a Leica Summilux 3x optical 5x hybrid and 30x digital zoom (f2.4). The same Leica Ultra-Wide and Ultra-Macro is there (f2.2), along with the SuperSpectrum 40 megapixel sensor (f1.6).

P30 in aurora colour
The P30 in Aurora.

The P30 has a smaller 6 inch OLED display, and a 3650mAh battery, compared to the P30 Pro’s 4200mAh version. With the help of AI power management, Huawei says that both phones should provide 2 days of charge during normal use.

What they both share

Both the P30 and P30 Pro come with a 32 megapixel selfie camera (f2.0) and lots of digital effects and augmentations for great looking series.

The P30 Pro has a 40 watt SuperCharge option that tops up the battery to 70 percent in just 30 minutes and is 15 watt wireless quick charge compatible. The P30’s battery can be filled to 58 percent in 30 minutes. The P30 Pro also supports reverse-wireless charging like the Huawei Mate20 Pro.

Both P30 models feature an in-screen fingerprint sensor, which its slightly upgraded from the Mate20 Pro with improved accuracy and speed.

Australia gets two colour choices – Aurora, which is a turquoise, and Breathing Crystal, which could be described as a ‘luminous, pearlescent blue-white’.

The P30 Pro in Breathing Crystal.
The P30 Pro in Breathing Crystal.

Australian Pricing for the P30 is $1,099, and the bigger P30 Pro is $1,599. Pre orders start on the 27th of March, with an on-sale date of 14th of April.

For more information on specifications, see our article here. We’ll be reviewing the P30 models in depth so there’s more coverage to come about how these phones work in the real world, and how they compare to other brands.

Valens Quinn attended the Huawei P30 launch event in Paris as a guest of Huawei Australia.