Huawei gets-it on with launch of the P20

Huawei Technologies has always been looking to offer technology that can compete with Apple and Samsung but at a lower price in the mobile phone industry; - the launch of the P20/P20 Pro confirms nothing else.

Huawei have launched the P20/P20 Pro with new 68-megapixel triple smartphones and the Chinese Telecommunications equipment company believes are ‘much better’ than the iPhone X.

Like Samsung, there are two versions of the P20 smartphone, the 5.8-inch p20 and the 6.1-inch P20 Pro with super features. The P20 family is now the company’s new flagship phone and unlike the Samsung and Apple (masters of firmware updates) the Huawei P20/P20 Pro cuts a unique identity from the rest of the phones on the market in 2018 with a fresh design.

Performance and specs

The P20/P20 Pro run on the latest Android 8.1 Oreo software in the form of Huawei’s own Emotion UI 8.1 which makes their interface a lot different from other Android phones.

It features the company's latest Kirin 970 chipset, which previously featured in the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. The chipset features a neural processing unit, allowing for Huawei to dig into the AI space. The AI capabilities in the device have been tweaked so much around the Camera’s automation. With this, the Camera can automatically adjust its settings when taking a picture to suit the best for the subject. For example, if you are taking a picture of a leaf, the Camera will automatically adjust its settings to suit the best quality for it.

However, still with the Neural Processing Unit in its Kirin 970 chipset, the P20/P20 Pro falls behind 2018’s major flagships on features such as Digital/voice assistant.  It looks like the much anticipated HiAssistant (Huawei’s digital assistant) will come another day.

Huawei added a faceUnlock feature to its new phones using 2-D mapping to authenticate users and take only a half second. Like the iPhone X, the feature also works in the dark is not secure enough to authorize payments.

It comes with a generous 128GB of built-in storage – there are no other options. It’s admirable that Huawei has opted to drop the 16GB/32GB and 64GB options for its flagship, and there’s still microSD support of up to 256GB if you want even more space for your apps and media.

The battery in the P20 is a 3,400mAh unit while the P20 Pro is a 4,000mAh. Huawei’s own fast-changing technology is present too, so it shouldn’t take you too long to charge up your phone if you’re in a hurry.

Design and display

The design of the P20 now has a glass back with metallic edges. The glass curves down towards the edges giving it a better feel that is completely different from the P10.

The screen comes with OLED display with a resolution of 2,240 x 1,080 pixels (408 pixels per inch)

The Chinese Company are also trying to go bezel-less but the P20 remains with a thick black band at the bottom which holds the fingerprint scanner unlike P20 Lite with the scanner at the back.

The 18.7:9 aspect ratio display with a notch at the top of the display maybe similar to most of the flagship phones in 2018 but the difference here is that you can effectively turn the notch on or off.

Both the P20 and P20 Pro are disadvantaged not to have the 3.5 headphone jack, and this could be one of the biggest lapses for one of 2018’s most exciting phones. Was this move meant to make the phone water proof? Thankfully, the bigger P20 Pro has a rating of IP67 making it a seal but the smaller P20 fails at a rating of IP53.

Camera

The P20 has a triple camera embedded with artificial intelligence capabilities, super-slow-motion video recording, and extreme low-light functionality. The lenses collectively mean the main camera packs a 68-megapixel boost.

However, it remains just a dual rear shooter with a 12MP f/1.8 RGB sensor and a 20MP f/1.6 monochrome one. That is the exact way it was with the P10 but there’s now 960 frames per second slow-motion mode that records at 720p which is by rating still fall below Sony’s Xperia XZ2 recording at 960fps in 1080p.

However, they remain high performers though since partnering with Leica.

Sim

Dual SIM, GSM+GSM with Nano size for SIM1 Nano (Hybrid) for SIM2 supporting 4G network that can be downgraded up to 2G.

Verdict

The Huawei P20 hasn’t impressed as much but the P20 Pro has all the new features that are worth having a go at, and maybe politics will have less for Mr. Yu Chengdong’s worries against Samsung and Apple on the market.