Huawei P20 Pro vs the competition: Is the new camera absolutely better?

The Huawei P20 Pro is the world’s aboriginal amateur camera smartphone and has a 40MP capital sensor. But is it bigger than added flagships?

The Huawei P20 Pro is actuality and with it comes a record-breaking DxOMark score, three cameras, and a accomplished agglomeration of photography tricks. With smartphones like the Pixel 2 XL and iPhone X ambience the criterion for smartphone cameras aftermost year, and the Galaxy S9 Plus laying affirmation to the head this year, how abundant bigger is Huawei’s camera?

As allotment of our absolute attending at the new camera, we had an hour with the P20 Pro aftermost anniversary and airtight a few pictures to analyze adjoin the latest flagships. The Pixel 2 XL is broadly believed to be the best smartphone camera on the market. If you accept the DxO scores, the P20 Pro is decidedly better. The aforementioned goes with the Galaxy S9 Plus and iPhone X, which both accomplish agnate array to the Pixel 2 XL.

We conducted this shootout with beta software and alone had a abbreviate bulk of time with Huawei’s new flagship, so we could alone get a aboriginal attending at how the camera fares. We’ll accompany you a abounding abundant camera shootout in the advancing days!

Neither the Google Pixel 2 XL nor the iPhone X accept committed “bokeh” modes, instead relying on a account approach to abduction capacity with either one or two cameras, and application software to becloud out the background.

Those two blurred the accomplishments a bit, but Galaxy S9 Plus and Huawei P20 Pro are in a alliance of their own in this bokeh battle. Both captured a lot of detail, admitting the P20 Pro seemed to handle the colors bigger and kept the leaves in focus back abashing out the background.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

The Huawei P20 Pro ability accept the best bokeh effect, but the aftereffect is unnatural. If that’s what you’re attractive for, it’s the best. Personally, I adopt the added attenuate abashing aftereffect of the iPhone X, admitting it struggled to brighten my face.

The Galaxy S9 Plus produced a account with a absolute out sky. Attractive at the acknowledgment of my face, the background, and the bulk of accustomed (or unnatural) bokeh activated to the final result, the Pixel 2 XL is the bright champ here.

Winner: Google Pixel 2 XL

With this test, the ambition was to acquisition which phone could abduction the detail in the architectonics after overexposing the sky. In particular, we capital to abduction the detail surrounding the windows, as able-bodied as the folds in the authentic wall, the brickwork, and the blush of the sky.

The P20 Pro produces a hardly darker account than we expected, with a credible abridgement of detail in the architectonics architecture back zooming in. The iPhone X has a slight brume beyond the image, about as if it is overcompensating for the absolute out sky, which resulted in a hardly done out image.

There’s not a lot of aberration amid the Pixel 2 Xl and the Galaxy S9 Plus here, but the S9 wins actuality by a fraction. The colors were added authentic than the Pixel 2 XL’s result, which over-aggressively activated its HDR effect.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

How does anniversary phone handle a arena with a black sky and a bright and abundant subject? Our cruise through Chinatown took us to this architectonics with mosaics, graffiti, lanterns, blaze escapes, and statues.

There’s actual little to aces from amid these devices, but the champ should apparently be the Pixel 2 XL. The Huawei P20 Pro comes a actual abutting second, but the Pixel 2 XL is the best at accurately breeding the colors in the scene, after overexposing the sky.

Winner: Pixel 2 XL

The focal point of this arena is the abbey in the accomplishments — to analysis which smartphone produces the best colors in a actual active scene. Judging by the colors of the abbey itself, the Huawei P20 Pro is the champ as the added smartphones produced images either hardly beneath or overexposed.

The P20 Pro additionally did an accomplished job bearing active colors in the grass, trees, and the background, while befitting the sky appropriately exposed. The runner-up would be the Pixel 2 XL, which comes boss close, admitting the account isn’t appropriately exposed.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

There’s actual little to differentiate these images, admitting the P20’s committed greenery approach (that activated automatically acknowledgment to the onboard AI). In actuality the P20’s angel is a little absolute out. Clearly the software approved to administer a absolute preset of settings advised for greenery, after absolutely allegory this authentic arena (and these cutting conditions).

Picking a champ from the actual three was hard, but the Galaxy S9 Plus wins all-embracing as it has the best detail zoomed into the image. In particular, it captures the baptize on the petals as able-bodied as added capacity of the burst petals compared to its rivals.

Winner: Galaxy S9 Plus

This aphotic abbey provided an absorbing accountable and a claiming for these smartphones. All of them affiance accomplished lowlight photography. The after-effects assorted widely, as you can see.

The iPhone X and Galaxy S9 Plus both overexposed the scene, which led to acceptable color, but a credible abridgement of detail. The Galaxy S9 Plus outperforms the iPhone X actuality by a ample margin, which is abnormally credible back you zoom into the pews abutting the camera.

This leaves the Pixel 2 XL and the Huawei P20 Pro, and the aftereffect is a tie. Both accessories are bigger than the added in altered areas. The Pixel 2 XL does a abundant job of capturing the capacity in the all-embracing arena but over-exposes slightly. The P20 Pro captured hardly beneath detail, but had added authentic exposure.

Winner: Tie

The Huawei P20 Pro ability accept a 24MP front-facing camera, but added megapixels doesn’t necessarily beggarly bigger pictures. It bootless to appropriately betrayal this picture, consistent in a absolute out angel best befuddled in the trash. The Galaxy S9 Plus selfie is hardly done out, abrogation the iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL as the two finalists.

Which of these two wins will abundantly be bottomward to your claimed preference, depending on whether you adopt darker or lighter images. The iPhone X had a produced a lighter image. The Pixel 2 XL bigger captured the colors of the background. I’d alone rather allotment the iPhone X selfie as it’s the added active of the two.

Winner: Apple iPhone X

It ability assume like a simple scene, but with a sliver of the sky at the top, baptize at the bottom, argument on the bank abaft and, of course, the avalanche itself, there’s a lot activity on in these pictures. The focal point was the centermost of the angel and it’s actuality we can draw our champ from (as able-bodied as at the basal of the waterfall).

Zooming into the image, the iPhone X is the aboriginal to affectation noise, followed by the Galaxy S9 Plus. The Pixel 2 XL comes second, but the detail of the Huawei P20 Pro’s capital camera shows. Attractive at the basal of the waterfall, its angel remained appropriately exposed, clashing the added devices. There’s additionally added detail in the avalanche itself.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Huawei’s new camera has some absorbing tricks up its sleeve, and there’s no abstinent that 40MP resolution accompanying with the f/1.7” sensor admeasurement gives it some advantages over the competition. Yet, the Pixel 2 XL proves software and able algorithms accomplish up for a lot of accouterments disadvantages. Even the best accouterments needs accomplished software to aftermath the best photos.

Which of these smartphones do you anticipate is the winner? You can see the abounding camera samples at the articulation in the button below. Let us apperceive which one was your admired in the comments below!

Stay acquainted — we’ll be afterlight this column with our low ablaze impressions tomorrow, followed by a abounding shootout in the advancing days. For added on Huawei’s new flagship, analysis out these links below!