The true marker shaker: that is the calling Huawei strives for with the release of its newest Huawei P20. When Huawei first released its revolutionary dual-lens smartphone flagship – the Huawei P9, it immediately took the on limelight; in short order, it set itself up as the talk of town. All it did is turn a rumour-mill concept into reality. What could the newly minted Chinese smartphone innovator do next?
Well, the Huawei P10 sported loads of all-new improvements for its twin optics snapper. What else? It achieved an industry-first, featuring exclusive Pantone hues for this new flagship’s matte metal chassis.
Out-Do The Rest
Now, how can Huawei out-match these big wins? Why, by introducing a triple-lens shooter for its 2018 flagship. With the smaller Huawei P20, it’s all about improving what rivals recently put out as progressive innovations. The larger Huawei flagship entry is equally as impressive and then some; after all, it is the one to sport the trio optics rear-facing camera array. As for the Huawei P20, the one that has no Pro in its name, it has a dual lens system. Of course, this doesn’t downplay what it offers.
Go Big
The Huawei P series, traditionally, rocks a high-spec display that measures around the 5” region. Thanks to current market trends that insist on 18:9 FullView Display for flagship smartphones, Huawei stuck with this trend. The move results in the inclusion of a 5.8” RGBW panel as the front façade of the Huawei P20. Bigger still is the Huawei P20 Pro as it rocks a 6.1” screen.
It is the largest form factor this Huawei flagship has put out. The move, rightly, makes the next-gen entry stand out as it amps up the premium feel for this device. Having that popular notch look and near bezel-less design helps too. That’s not all – the larger design offers a better hand-holding experience.
It’s Smarter
Roaring inside the Huawei P20 is the all-new Huawei Kirin HiSilicon 970 AI System-on-Chip (SoC). Unlike its predecessor, this mobile processor packs in the smarts and insights that the neural SoC employs. Indeed, the built-in artificial intelligence (AI) carries over its high-spec performance from the Huawei Mate 10 Series. This being the 2018 flagship, Huawei also adds in various advanced features and tools as part of the processor optimisation.
This includes better auto-assist for photography, AI image stabilisation, and higher efficiencies for battery use and life-span management. Even optimising shots for low-light environment or night-time settings, under Night Shot mode, engage the AI functionality on some level. Truly, what can the Huawei P20 NOT do?
Spot-On Improvements
What exactly can Huawei do to make the dual-lens snapper on the Huawei P20 any better? For starters, the rear-facing twin-lens 12MP (RGB) + 20MP (Monochrome) main shooter now uses VARIO-SUMMILUX optimised cameras. It not only promises vivid colours and superb clarity for photos, it also records videos in 4K; when set to 720p, the super slow-motion video option comes online.
Specs wise, it’s not a big step up from before, 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. Even so, it’s more than enough. As far as this review goes, everything runs like a well-oiled machine; from multi-tasking, loading up resource heavy games, and editing content – there are no slowdown issues. One major downer: it’s prone to overheating.
Awesome Takes
Now, this being the Huawei P20, most will expect a critical overview about the dual-lens camera array. Personally, it’s a huge step up from the Huawei P9. While it’s unfortunate that I skip an entire generation, I did have the original twin camera shooter flagship; that smartphone is still my daily driver.
From shooting portraiture to city-scapes and food, each and every photo is ultra-crisp and pack with vivid hues. Details are in abundance, sometimes more than necessary and even shots with bad backlighting have receive some level of treatment. The latter is due to, likely, the automatic post-processing algorithm that the AI uses. Personal favourites of modes that are in the pre-selection for users include food, blue sky, and macros. The last one, that is insane!
Real Flagship
All in all, the Huawei P20 delivers on every front. From its design leanings to the constantly updated camera system, and the hardware used – all are mind-blowing. In fact, it’s more than what I originally expected. Having tried almost all the flagships this year – and it’s not even past the mid-year yet! – I certainly didn’t expect this to one-up everything else.
Honestly, there are other top-enders that will hold its own; however, it’s fair to say that until the others reach PC.com Tested Labs, this is the King of the lot. Even with that camera bump at the back. The only device that can probably top the Huawei P20 now is its own bigger brother, the Huawei P20 Pro.
