The much hyped Huawei P30 series launch in Paris came and went today and boy, did they flex their technological muscle. In spite of the company’s position as persona non grata in the U.S, they went hard in what was a grand event in Paris and announced 7 new gadgets during the launch yesterday, including their much anticipated P30 series.

No need to fake it to make it

Much of the hype surrounding this launch was for the P30 series. As the successor to Huawei’s current flagship model, big things were expected of the series, not only because of its status as Huawei’s next flagship but also because of all the hype that the company tried so excruciatingly hard to build around the launch. Pretty much every press release was a sad attempt at fortifying the hype train they placed the P30 series on, which is disappointing because the phone didn’t need all that; it’s a solid phone with a brilliant camera. It’s ironic that they copied most everything off of Apple except the one thing they should have, it’s marketing strategy. But that’s a story for another article.

I got a sneak peek at the P30 Pro and its sibling, the P30, ahead of Huawei’s Paris launch event a couple of weeks ago and the phone not only looks brilliant but the camera on the device is everything they said it would be and more.

Camera

The P30 Pro is equipped with a SuperSensing 40MP Leica made quad camera system (20MP ultra wide + 40MP wide angle + 8MP 5x telephoto +ToF) that boasts 5x lossless optical zoom—which really takes lossless zoom to a whole new level, 10x hybrid zoom and a whopping 50x digital zoom. The ultra wide angle lens on the P30 Pro actually allows you to shoot objects from as close as 2.5cm.

The P30 on the other hand comes with  the same SuperSensing 40MP Leica but in a Triple Camera system (40MP main + 16MP wide angle + 8MP telephoto) that boasts a 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom and 30x digital zoom capability.

On top of that, Huawei also seems to have leveled up on the notoriously bad video capabilities of previous models with great low light video recording capabilities, a multiview recording function and AI video editing which allows you to edit videos on the spot.

Display

The camera isn’t the only thing to shout about. The device also comes with an in screen fingerprint scanner and in the P30 Pro, acoustic display technology. This basically means there is no visible speaker on the screen as it is now actually IN the screen. The P30 Pro has a 6.47″ OLED display whereas the P30 features a smaller 6.1″ OLED screen and while the displays for both models aren’t as great as the Samsung S10, it is still a thing of beauty, especially the curved screen on the P30 pro.

CPU, RAM & Storage

Both models are powered by Huawei’s Kirin 980 chip with the variation being in RAM. The pro version comes with 8GB RAM while the P30 comes with 6GB RAM. In terms of storage, the P30 comes with 128GB storage as standard whereas the Pro comes in 128, 256 and 512 GB options.

Battery

The P30 Pro shares the same 4200 mAh battery pack as on the Mate 20 Pro while the P30 comes with a smaller 3650 mAh battery pack. While the P30 pro supports 40w super fast charging, the P30 does not. Another thing that the pro model supports that the P30 doesn’t is wireless charging, though Huawei actually has P30 cases that enable it to be wirelessly charged.

The P30 series does indeed take smartphone photography to the next level. Not only is the camera amazing, it also comes jam packed with cool features. I feel like Huawei is really cementing it’s position as a big name player in the industry. I know they’re #2 now but i’ve always felt that Samsung had the edge over them in terms of name recognition and the general quality of their phones. When I think Android, I think Google Pixel or Samsung. The P30 changes this perception.

I haven’t actually fully reviewed the phone as of yet so it’s still early days but Samsung ought to be on its toes. One thing that really peeves me though is how they handled the build up to its release. Huawei is a huge company with huge aspirations and yet it seems like their marketing mentality just isn’t there yet. They’re always trying way too hard to prove themselves. That’s some small d*** energy right there and until they change that, they’re always going to be second best in my book.