If two camera lenses weren't enough, three should do the trick... Huawei's bidding war for its new P20 Pro, which was unveiled with great fanfare at the Grand Palais in Paris, seems to know no bounds, but the definition of this ultra-complete top-of-the-range model is not lacking in common sense.
In the P range, the emphasis is on photography, particularly since the partnership with the great specialist Leica. The German company does not build the lenses themselves, but is involved in developing the characteristics, treatments and adjustment modes for the photo section. A fine guarantee of quality. So here's the P20 Pro with three sensors: a main 40mp sensor with large photosites to capture more light, combined with a lens with an f/1.8 aperture, a 3x zoom lens (8mp and f/2.4 only, a shame) and a monochrome sensor (for black & white photos and as an aid to the main sensor), as on the predecessor P10 or the Mate 10 Pro. A promising trio, complementary and capable of offering a hybrid zoom (optical and 5x digital). The initial scores given by DXO labs put it well ahead of all other smartphones, and our first impressions are good, but we'll have to see how this promising photo package performs in use.
Artificial intelligence to the rescue
The artificial intelligence offered by the Huawei Kirin 970 chip and its NPU (the same as in the Mate 10 Pro) enables a wide variety of automatic scene recognition to be used to better adjust the camera's settings. It could, for example, automatically differentiate between a cat and a dog!
AI can also be used to help stabilise low-light photos, to find products photographed in Amazon's catalogue (and naturally to buy them) or to reduce ambient noise during a conversation. Another area where it comes into play is energy management, and therefore optimising battery life. With a large 4,000 mAh battery, like the Mate 10 Pro, the P20 should be able to last a full working day. Huawei claims that it can provide 22 hours of Internet browsing, for example. Fast charging is via the USB-C port, saving 58 % of battery in 30 minutes of charging. One of the few gaps in its specification is that the smartphone does not support wireless charging. If you want wireless charging, you'll have to opt for the Mate RS, the ultra-premium derivative created in collaboration with Porsche Design. Unlike the Porsche version based on the Mate 10 Pro, this Mate RS is distinctly different, with one of the first under-screen fingerprint sensors on the market, 256 to 512 GB of memory and a distinctive design with a screen with curved edges, all for a record price of between €1,695 and... €2,095! Note that a P20 and a P20 Lite are also available in entry-level and mid-range P models.
Premium design
The meticulous design is reminiscent of theiPhone XThis is a design choice that makes it look like a copy. It's an aesthetic choice that makes it look like a copycat, but one that's justified, particularly with the small notch that makes better use of the beautiful 6.1" OLED screen in Full HD+ definition (400 PPI). In terms of design, this is a slim smartphone (7.8 mm), despite the protruding photo part, that sits well in the hand and has an elegant design, available in black, mirror blue, pink and iridescent.
A good score compared to Mate 10 Pro The fingerprint sensor is located on the front panel, which is much more practical when the phone is placed on a table or car mount. Another advantage is that the phone can also be unlocked using a facial recognition system that is fast (0.6 seconds) and effective, even in low light. The P20 has IP67 water and dust protection, enabling the device to survive being submerged for 30 minutes in 1 m of water.
Pro connectivity
The P20 Pro has two 4G SIM slots (1.2GB/s max), but it abandons the possibility of expanding storage on an SD card. To compensate for this, as with the Mate 10 Pro, the standard memory is 128 GB (for 6 GB of RAM). Its Emui interface, very close to the Apple iOS universe, runs on the very latest version of Android, 8.1.
Extended connectivity includes a PC Mode that allows you to connect to a screen and display several windows. The smartphone screen becomes a keyboard or trackpad.
Huawei Share 2.0 is a way of transmitting files over a direct WiFi + Bluetooth connection at 96 MB/s to another smartphone, PC or Mac, while Phone clone lets you transfer data from an old smartphone at a rate of 64 GB in 1 hour.
In terms of audio, the P20 benefits from HWA high-resolution wireless transmission, Dolby Atmos sound processing, and can be paired with FreeBuds earphones (10 hours of autonomy) and conventional earphones, both with active noise reduction, a serious advantage on public transport. Finally, it has abandoned the headphone jack - an adapter allows headphones to be plugged into the USB-C connection.
A long-term strategy
Huawei has reached a good level of recognition: the Chinese brand has made it into the top 100 best-known brands in the world with a great deal of marketing. And it seems that its ambitious strategists (remember that they're aiming for nothing less than the top step of the podium, and that the company has the 6th biggest R&D budget in the world, at over €10 billion) believe that the time has come to assert themselves with assertive top-of-the-range products, at prices on a par with their expensive rivals. At €899, the P20 Pro is right up there with the Apple iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy S9, or even higher. That's a bold move for a manufacturer that remains an outsider, whose design largely echoes that of its best rivals. A paradox in the form of a commercial gamble, the results of which we shall soon see. But strategy aside, the most important thing is the quality of the product, and it seems that once again Huawei has produced an excellent product. A longer-term test will allow us to be sure.
