The Huawei P30 & P30 Pro Reviews: Photography Enhanced
by Andrei Frumusanu on April 18, 2019 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Huawei
- P30
- P30 Pro
Camera - Daylight Evaluation: Dynamic Range & Detail
[ P30 Pro ] - [ P30 ]
[ P20 Pro ] - [ P20 ]
[ Mate 20 Pro ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S9+ (S) ] - [ G8 ]
[ G7 ] - [ V40 ] - [ View20 ]
[ OnePlus 6T ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]
Between the four Huawei 40MP sensor phones, the P30 Pro, P30, P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro all produced vastly different results in their 10MP auto mode. The P30 Pro here produced a quite washed out image which was too desaturated, the P30 on the other hand was nearer to the actual scene. Both results have very different HDR processing compared to the P20 Pro which had a lot stronger processing going for it. The P30s produced more natural luminance gradients with less HDR artefacts.
Looking at the native 40MP results, all the phones have too dark results as the sensors lack dynamic range in this mode. What is also evident is that both the P30 units have trouble with resolving detail as well as the P20 Pro or the Mate 20 Pro. On one hand part of this is explained by the new optics with the wider aperture, particular some shots of the P30 Pro we see the shallower depth of field affecting details. On the other hand, this loss of detail is even present within the focal plane, and here the only explanation I have is that it’s either due to processing or simply the new RYYB sensor which isn’t able to achieve the same colour spatial resolution as the previous generation Bayer sensor.
[ P30 Pro ] - [ P30 ]
[ P20 Pro ] - [ P20 ] - [ Mate 20 Pro ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S9+ (S) ]
[ G8 ] - [ G7 ] - [ V40 ]
[ View20 ] - [ OnePlus 6T ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]
This next scene with the cherry tree better demonstrates the weaknesses of the optics on the P30 Pro. Its wider aperture of f/1.6 versus the f/1.8 is visible in the outer parts of the image as things get blurred out because of chromatic aberrations. Again, this scene was extremely bright with the sun directly overhead. Both P30s in their native resolution showcase worse optics than the Mate 20 Pro which is able to get clean details throughout the scene without any haze. Again some of the loss in detail can’t be explained just by the optics, and here I think it’s again the sensor which might have a worse DTI implementation has Huawei’s previous 40MP units. These issues aren’t immediately visible in the 10MP shots as things become quite small.
This is a good opportunity to talk about Huawei’s Master AI mode; this had existed in past flagships in various iterations, but now Huawei has finally put a UI button switch directly in the camera interface. Last year this mode was a complete disaster with cartoonish contract and vignette effects, however starting with the Mate 20s it was a lot more toned down. For the P30s, I’ve found that in the vast majority of times it’s beneficial, such as in this sot a slightly bluer sky and a little brighter highlights.
[ P30 Pro ] - [ P30 ]
[ P20 Pro ] - [ P20 ] - [ Mate 20 Pro ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S9+ (S) ]
[ G8 ] - [ G7 ] - [ V40 ]
[ View20 ] - [ OnePlus 6T ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]
This road scene again shows the optics differences between the P30 Pro, P30 and Mate 20 Pro. The larger aperture of the P30 Pro results in hazy details around the centre of the image, while the P30 doesn’t suffer as much. Still the Mate 20 Pro is far ahead of both in the optics and remains extremely sharp.
Again in the default mode the exposures are a bit too bland for the fact that the sun is directly overhead at noon – the AI mode again brings back a bit of saturation and highlights. Samsung and LG do a lot better here.
[ P30 Pro ] - [ P30 ]
[ P20 Pro ] - [ P20 ]
[ Mate 20 Pro ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S9+ (S) ] - [ G8 ]
[ G7 ] - [ V40 ] - [ View20 ]
[ OnePlus 6T ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ P30 ]
[ P20 Pro ] - [ P20 ] - [ Mate 20 Pro ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ] - [ S9+ (S) ]
[ G8 ] - [ G7 ] - [ V40 ] - [ View20 ]
[ OnePlus 6T ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ iPhone XS ]
In the last scene we again see evident shallow depth of field of both units, with the P30’s focal plane being slightly nearer in this autofocus shot. On the P30 Pro you need to be aware of the new optics, as they can be a double-edged sword. On one hand it can give you natural blurring, but in some cases if you do not want the effect, you can’t do nothing about it, as opposed to say Samsung’s dual-aperture main camera.
The 40MP mode here is useless as while it captures a lot of detail, the dynamic range is severely lacking. Also this scene showcases the bad aspects of the AI mode; colours get far too saturated and unnatural.
P30 Pro & P30 Daylight Evaluation Conclusion
Overall, Huawei’s strategy in their camera hasn’t changed and what we’re seeing in the P30 Pro and P30 in terms of daylight capture continues the trends we saw in the P20s and Mate 20s.
In terms of versatility in different scenarios, the P30s are king. The inclusion of the trifecta of wide angle, regular and telephoto lenses means that you’ll be able to have the right camera at hand in the vast majority of cases. However this was also true for the Mate 20 released late last year.
So how do the P30’s differentiate? Well the P30 doesn’t try to do things much differently, and its camera setup is in line with what we found on the P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. This is not to say it’s bad, and the 3x telephoto zoom module is still unique to Huawei.
The P30 Pro’s 5x optical zoom module tries to do something special, and yes indeed it can capture things farther than any other phone out there. I do however have concerns on just exactly how useful this is in everyday usage, as I rarely find myself needing to zoom in quite that far. At 2x digital magnification/crop the P30s still hold up against the optical 2x modules because of the 40MP sensors, however going to 3x zoom we find that the P30 Pro finds itself in a quality gap until you go further to 5x. The bigger concern here is the f/3.4 aperture lens of the new module, and it’s evident that while it gets a lot of detail, its exposure isn’t quite the best.
The wide angle modules on both phones are great, but like on the Mate 20s, the Pro version has a better sensor that is able to capture more detail as well as have better dynamic range.
Processing on the P30s has changed a lot compared to the Mate 20s, however this is not always for a benefit. Sometimes HDR processing is a regression over the Mate 20s, however most of the time it does a better job. Colour rendition is also something the P30s sometimes seem to struggle and I did find some shots a tad too undersaturated, something that in the vast majority of cases is fixed by enabling the AI mode.
Speaking of the AI mode, compared to last year’s P20s, it’s a gigantic leap. This year it’s much more subtle and in the vast majority of cases it’s for the benefit of the scene. It’s only on rare occasions where it does go overboard.
Finally, the main optics of the P30 Pro and P30 feel like a slight disappointment to me. Particularly in the 40MP modes it’s evident that the lenses have seen downgrades compared to what we had in the Mate 20 Pro. The P30 Pro’s large f/1.6 aperture suffers more than the f/1.8 unit of the P30. In 10MP mode this is less immediately visible, however upon closer inspection it does result in less detail even in this mode.
I’m not certain if it’s due to the processing or the sensor, but even within the focal plane we’re seeing less detail sharpness. I very much think this is partly due to the new RYYB sensor which seemingly has lesser DTI (deep trench isolation) between the pixels.
Overall for daylight pictures, I come to the same conclusion I had on the P20 Pro, Mate 20 Pro and View20: These high megapixel sensors do not always achieve the best quality in well-lit scenarios. Huawei also needs to work on the composition consistency between the different camera sensors, there’s too many scenarios where the wide-angle, main camera as well as the zoom lens produce much too different results.
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hawkie - Friday, April 19, 2019 - link
So advanced and yet still unable to adjust notifications volume separate from ringing volume.s.yu - Friday, April 19, 2019 - link
I know that the volume control of some apps are just broken, for example Wechat will destroy your hearing passing the ringtone through the earphones at maximum volume if somebody calls using the VoIP function while you're wearing IEMs listening to music. This app probably has a billion users, it's ****ing ridiculous and extremely annoying.amosbatto - Friday, April 19, 2019 - link
Let's see whether the P30 and P30 Pro pass my standard for what is important in a smartphone:1. Removable battery: No.
1A. If not removable, how hard is it to crack open the case to replace the battery:
Pretty hard. iFixit gives the P30 Pro a repairability score of 4/10. It is very hard to pry open the case without breaking the glass back. In other words you are probably going to throw away this device after 2-3 years when the battery is degraded.
2. How well will it survive drops? Probably not well.
2A. How hard is it to replace the screen and the glass back panel if broken? Hard and expensive.
3. MicroSD slot for memory expansion: No. It has expensive proprietary memory.
4. Can I root the phone? No
5. Can I unlock the bootloader? No
6. Can I install LineageOS? Never. All info on the Kirin SoC is proprietary.
7. How long will Huawei offer updates? 24 months with updates every 2 months, which is decent for Android, but not as good as the Pixel 2 and 3 which will get 3 years of updates or Apple which is 4-5 years.
In other words, I can only expect to use the P30/P30 Pro for 2 years and I can only do what Huawei wants me to do with the phone. I'll pass. Strange how little attention Anandtech pays to these issues in its reviews.
I am now so fed up with the mobile industry, that I preordered the Purism Librem 5, because at least Purism respects my rights as a user.
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, April 19, 2019 - link
> 4. Can I root the phone? No> 5. Can I unlock the bootloader? No
> 6. Can I install LineageOS? Never. All info on the Kirin SoC is proprietary.
> Strange how little attention Anandtech pays to these issues in its reviews.
Speaking as somebody who used to compile his own kernels on his smartphones; it doesn't matter. I don't even root nowdays. The vast majority of readers will not, and I say that they should not care about these things. There is simply no benefit to the user experience.
> It is very hard to pry open the case without breaking the glass back.
I've opened plenty of glass back phones and replaced the batteries, it's not terribly hard. The glass backs are also a lot tougher than you think.
> 2A. How hard is it to replace the screen and the glass back panel if broken? Hard and expensive.
Glass back is very easy. Screen is something that no phone of the last few years will be easy to replace anymore.
> 7. How long will Huawei offer updates? 24 months with updates every 2 months, which is decent for Android, but not as good as the Pixel 2 and 3 which will get 3 years of updates or Apple which is 4-5 years.
Fair enough and true. All Android vendors do lag behind Apple.
Quantumz0d - Friday, April 19, 2019 - link
>The vast majority of readers will not, and I say that they should not care about these things. There is simply no benefit to the user experience.Wrong, I've seen so many people commenting on the articles here about the Bootloader unlock for Huawei phones specially and also how the Android is devolving with killing hidden APIs to disable all developer powerful programming skills, for instance Devcheck by Elemental X dev needed to go full Root else the app wont work. Nova Launcher needs root for D2W functionality.
Draw over other apps is dead, Clipboard access is dead officially, and so many other ton of restrictions how about you read up on Scoped Storage mentioned here by a hardcore Android Developer on the Google's intent on dumbing down Android ?
https://commonsware.com/blog/2019/03/28/death-exte...
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/128591846
Anandtech technical insight "write-ups" are not some YouTube mainstream pleb "talk" instead they focus on extremely geeky stuff. This is exactly what power users care for. As an XDA member every thread there focuses on EAS and other kernel optimizations which go perfectly in line with the AT pieces done by you and Matt.
Root users are less indeed and it's becoming more scarce that doesn't mean you can write off that part entirely. Android by it's right uses GNU GPL V2 and the abusers like MediaTek are left in a dumpster oblivion without a lending hand to make the software patching for the end users like how the community does it for *FREE* when the OEM abandons them and how Qcomm CAF contributed which made them so popular and welcoming for the developers, Running RR 7.1.2 with latest patch thanks to community else that OS was outdated and left in dust.
And I have an LG V30S as well go to WTF thread on XDA and see how many people root that phone, that's not even a OnePlus or Xiaomi phone which are mostly customization centric and root friendly devices. And LG screwed up the DTS X patch in their Official Software update for US998, and guess what ? Community helped it by modifying the Build.prop with ROOT and enable that functionality. Same goes for the G7 EQ app on the V30, with Magisk. So this is not user experience ? and the ESS HiFi mode as well. All this is for one phone.
I think you underestimate AT readers with normal Mainstream people. Sad
Andrei Frumusanu - Saturday, April 20, 2019 - link
> Wrong, I've seen so many people commenting on the articles hereThat's just a loud minority, you have a warped view of general users.
> Anandtech technical insight "write-ups" are not some YouTube mainstream pleb "talk" instead they focus on extremely geeky stuff. This is exactly what power users care for.
Deep-dives such as on Apple's SoCs and µarch are not for power users, they're for the technically curious. There is overlap in this audience, but you're overestimating it.
> Android by it's right uses GNU GPL V2 and the abusers like MediaTek are left in a dumpster
*Android* isn't GPL. The kernel is, and MediaTek VENDORS (they have the responsibility) largely adhere to it.
> I think you underestimate AT readers with normal Mainstream people.
I think I have a good view on who most AT readers are, they're not mainstream people, but they're also definitely not persons like yourself.
Quantumz0d - Saturday, April 20, 2019 - link
Okay. I may have overestimated. But that doesn't explicitly give an impression that Root / BL unlock / Custom ROM are completely useless / lacks any UX improvement because there is a fair share of people using Lineage OS (1.73 Million active installs as we speak -> stats.lineageos.org) and quoting AT articles directly at XDA for new devices.Another instance apart from my own device, the MIUI OS it has tons of Ads. How do you block it ? you need root or BL unlock to improve the user experience be it root or flashing another custom ROM OS or the Pixel GCAM mods with Magisk modules without breaking stuff here and there because system app locations and etc are complicated for even an intermediate user when uninstalling or etc.
Rooting is like getting the keys to your castle back and own it and feel responsible, not handling the keys to the corporations and rely on other entities, which most of us enjoy this part doesn't matter just wanted to mention it.
I think, a little mentioning of BL unlock and acknowledging it (for ownership of the HW one paid) doesn't hurt anyone (Idk if it hurts AT from Huawei POV like how Samsung avoided you out for showing the truth, if that's a case then it's an unfortunate situation that consumer is put in dark)
Thanks
jabber - Saturday, April 20, 2019 - link
Yeah rooting is so 2012. I did it back then (Nexus 4 days) and nightly builds and to be honest it was a waste of life.I do not know ANYONE now personally that roots their phone or puts custom builds on it. Just not worth the effort.
It's only important to a small minority on tech forums. Unfortunately, those kind of people have little perspective of 'normal life' and 'normal people'.
BabelHuber - Monday, April 22, 2019 - link
I think you are confusing rooting with "permanently messing with a device" 😎Also for me the days of custom ROMs and nightlies are over, but I still have a rooted Pixel 2 XL and could hardly use it without root, even though I am on the stock ROM.
The blinding white UI of Android 5 to Android 9 I couldn't stand, so I painted it black with Substratum for years. Night and day difference for me.
My phone had a multitouch bug for months, but there was a Magisk module to fix this.
Google switched off Pixel 3 camera features which my phone is perfectly capable to handle (they gradually added them, though). No need to mess around with hacked Google cameras, a simple build.prop change fixed this.
System-wide add blocking FTW!
So each month I apply the new patch now, then I flash TWRP and Magisk. Afterwards, it's Substratum's time to turn everything black again. Finally, I activate the ad blocker again and quickly change some values in the build.prop.
This is 20 minutes of time every month, and I think it's well spent.
Andrei Frumusanu - Tuesday, April 23, 2019 - link
Everything you mention Samsung had for years, out of the box, without root.