Everything is picture-perfect on a Huawei P20 Pro

MANILA, Philippines — When the Huawei P9 was launched a few years back, I was there in Bali, Indonesia to witness the big reveal. It was then that the Huawei introduced its partnership with Leica.

“Huawei has a 30-year-long story,” started George Li, Huawei country head, Philippines at the launch of Huawei P20 at SM Mall of Asia recently. “And, today, Huawei is a leading technology company in the whole world. We are among the world’s top three smart phone brands.”

At the Huawei launch of its newest flagship smartphone – the Huawei P20 series, which is taking the tech world by storm and creating a wave of acclaim primarily on the strength of its new cameras – we were able to get an up-close and very personal view of just why this smartphone is where it’s at. In fact, the Huawei P20’s incredible imaging capability lets even the most casual snappers shoot like professionals. It’s that good.

George Li, Huawei country head, Philippines, with Huawei ambassador and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach at SM Mall of Asia

After all, the P20 and P20 Pro come equipped with Huawei’s patented Kirin 970 chip, FullView HD Displays, a 12MP+20MP dual camera (P20) and a 40MP+20MP+8MP triple camera system (P20 Pro) for the best-in-class mobile photography experience. The little brother, the Huawei P20 Lite, comes with the capable Kirin 659, a thin-bezeled FullView Display and a 16MP+2MPdual camera system like the flagships but at a more budget-friendly price point.

“I just unboxed my Huawei P20,” said Huawei ambassador and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach. “Although I haven’t tried it out yet, I am sure it will make looking beautiful and photogenic easy. Also, I noticed how beautiful it looks, and I want to share a secret with you: the back of the P20 is a perfect mirror. So, if you are in need of a quick touch-up, just look at the back of the P20.”

Intelligent Photography

As I unboxed the P20, I found that, indeed, it is a looker. But of course, as I have learned early on in life, one can never judge anything by its cover. I got to work with the P20 by shifting from one system to an Android. It was really easy –  I got the Huawei P20 Pro up and running in less than 10 minutes.

This means I transferred my directory, messages; downloaded ringtones I liked and even created my personalized wallpaper.

Pets rule: Mr. Gizmo the long-haired exotic Kitty, Tasha the Poodle, and Miss Kitty the Persian

Now, I was ready to take on the photo challenge – what better way than to capture snaps of my pet companions.

 “Our engineering team leverages the massive potential of A.I. to create a user experience unlike any other in the market right now. A.I. features enhance many aspects of the device like performance, battery life, and of course, the camera,” said  Clement Wong, director of global product marketing for the Huawei Consumer Business Group. “Creating a smarter camera was one of the most important goals we had when developing the P20, and I’m confident to say we achieved that. You can point the P20 at anything like food, pets, or night scenery, and it would always give you the best image.”

Oh, Shoot

Ok, I admit, I was interested in the Huawei P20 series because, of all the things I had heard about it (and also from what I experienced using the P9 and P10), I was told just how much more improved the camera of the smartphone had become. In an age when smartphones are our cameras, there is no way that anyone who takes photos will ignore Huawei.

I will also admit that I am not a high-tech photo shooter, so any assistance I can get from a smartphone to make the photos better yet natural-looking, I will take.

I notice that the Huawei P20 Pro that I am testing is loaded with three cameras on the back, a 40MP main sensor, a 20MP black and white one and a 3x zoom 8MP camera.

All ready: A personalized Huawei P20 Pro to start with

Impressed.

Also, I read the manual and it says that I can shoot at 3x without digital zoom, and even get good results at 5x. But since I like taking candid shots (these are really the only shots I can take when I shoot my pets) the real star here is low-light performance. Standard night shooting just about matches the best, but dedicated night mode allows me to take low-light shots with dynamic range to rival an APS-C DSLR. The Huawei P20 Pro also has a very high-resolution 24MP front camera for detailed selfies and reliable face unlocking.

Did I mention that the P20 Pro makes quite an impact with its highly reflective glass finish? And it has a much larger battery than most, 4,000mAh, without any obvious added bulk to the shell.

Before I ask Mr. Gizmo, my longhair exotic kitty, to settle down for our photo shoot, I take a few minutes to be impressed by the eye-catching glass and metal design of the P20 Pro. Shiny is one word that comes to mind with Huawei P20 Pro’s design. Yes, it’s big, but the sort of rainbow-colored back casing is an eye-catcher for me. I really like how the purple at the top turns smoothly to a greenish-turquoise at the bottom.

There’s a fingerprint scanner below the Huawei P20 Pro’s display and, like those of every recent higher-end Huawei, it’s extremely fast. It takes you to the home screen really quick.

Face Unlock is quick on the draw. The Huawei P20 Pro simply reads the high-resolution feed from its front camera to recognize your face. It works all the time, even in low light. I didn’t even have to press the power button to make Face Unlock work. The Huawei P20 Pro’s gyroscope senses when the phone has been picked up, and it immediately starts scanning for my face.

I notice Mr. Gizmo settling into his favorite place on the bed. Time for me to shoot.