My first 24 hours testing the Huawei P20 Pro

New glass design, large OLED screen without frames and with notch, a lot of power and, above all, three cameras on the back. Sounds good right? This is what I thought when they told me I was going to test the Huawei P20 Pro . The recently presented Huawei flagship arrives ready to shake the high-end of Android phones. Forget everything you saw on the Huawei P10 Plus, because everything has changed.

The Huawei P20 Pro has two clear weapons to make users fall in love. The first is its photographic section . The company is committed to a team consisting of a triple sensor, thus separating itself from its more direct rivals. In addition, it is enhanced with a powerful artificial intelligence system.

The second, its new design, which includes a large screen with the famous notch in the center. Will it be enough to convince the most demanding users? I tell you what the Huawei P20 Pro is looking like after my first 24 hours with it . But I can tell you that it looks really good.

Huawei P20 Pro data sheet

First impression out of the box

I'll tell you about the cameras right away, but they say that the first impression is what counts, right? Well, the first impression when taking the Huawei P20 Pro out of the box could not be better.

The rear is almost like a mirror

In the hand you feel a robust terminal, of high quality. Its shiny glass back is really pretty. But also very dirty. Traces are marked with the slightest touch of our fingers. Something that can be a headache for the most maniac, but that occurs in almost all high-end terminals.

It reflects so much that it can be used perfectly as a mirror . My test terminal has a nice blue color, which stands out thanks to the aforementioned brightness. The frames are metallic, in chrome color.

Frames in a dark chrome

Within a few seconds of having it in hand, its weight is noticeable. My phone for daily use (when I'm not testing other terminals) is usually an iPhone X, a phone that weighs 174 grams. And the 11 grams of more that the P20 Pro weighs is noticeable . Don't get me wrong, it's not annoying, but the first time you pick it up it catches your attention.

After inserting the SIM card (later I will tell you a surprise that I found) I turn on the terminal, since it comes with 100% battery. As soon as I turn it on, I see that the screen is another of the strengths of this mobile. Its 6.1-inch OLED panel with FHD + resolution looks outrageous.

Notch of the P20 Pro vs notch of the iPhone X

But what is that little notch at the top? Indeed, it is the famous notch, island, eyebrow or whatever you want to call it. It is much smaller than that of the Apple terminal . I see that Huawei has used it to place the front camera and a small speaker.

After a tedious initial configuration process, since we must configure Android options and also EMUI, we arrive at the main menu of the terminal. There is a lot of factory installed software, but I will talk about that in the in-depth analysis. I can't wait to try the triple camera!

Are three cameras better than two?

The triple rear camera of the Huawei P20 Pro

Huawei has placed the three cameras in the upper left corner and in a vertical position. When I put my phone on the table for the first time to look for the SIM, I notice that it is slightly lame. Sure, it's because the two main cameras stick out of the case . Interestingly, the third sensor is fully integrated. Under the three sensors is the flash.

But before I start shooting, it is worth remembering what I have in my hands. On the one hand, Huawei's "traditional" double camera, that is, an RGB sensor and a monochrome sensor. However, this year they have pushed them to the limit, with 40 megapixels f / 1.8 for the color sensor and 20 megapixels f / 1.6 for the black and white sensor .

In addition, a third telephoto sensor with 8 megapixels and f / 2.4 has been added . The latter has optical image stabilization.

The data is encouraging, so let's see how the cameras work. I open the application and see that it has changed slightly compared to other Huawei phones. Now the modes are changed by sliding left and right , with an interface more similar to that of Samsung and Apple phones.

We have a large number of modes available . So many that they have had to place a "More" button on the modes line. Don't forget it, because in this section we have some of the most interesting modes.

Photo with lots of sun, 1x zoom

At the moment I leave it in "Photo" mode, the normal one is going on. As soon as we focus on something, we see that on the screen, for a minimum moment, small moving squares appear and behind them a sign that tells us what we are photographing. The artificial intelligence system that includes the Huawei P20 Pro has been put in place to identify the scene.

Picture with very good natural light

In the photo that you have just above, the artificial intelligence system of the P20 Pro detected that it was photographing a plant. So he changed the colors to enhance the green and red of the plant.

Time to test the zoom. The incorporation of a third telephoto lens allows us to zoom up to 5x . We have it located at the top of the screen and we simply have to click on it to enlarge the image. Of course, we must be in Photo mode, since in Portrait mode we only have zoom up to 3x .

5x zoom in good natural light

5x zoom from an eighth floor

In the previous photo, just by pointing the terminal, he recognized that he was photographing vegetation and changed the colors to highlight the green of the trees.

I go out for a walk to make it a little more difficult for him. Let's see how you do with one of the most difficult things to photograph for any camera: the moon.

5x zoom to photograph the moon

The results are really amazing if we consider that we are taking the photo from a mobile. Even more so if we take into account that I am taking the photo freehand and that I have a rather unstable pulse.

Leaving aside the zoom a bit (quite addictive), I go on to try other modes. For example, the black and white mode , so characteristic of Huawei's top of the range in recent years.

Black and white mode

And I can not stop trying the portrait mode , so fashionable lately. The Huawei P20 Pro also offers the possibility of shooting with different lighting effects, just as the iPhone X does. But we will leave that for in-depth analysis.

Portrait mode with 3x zoom

Night falls, which is perfect for me to try the “Night Mode” of the Huawei P20 Pro. According to the manufacturer, the AI-assisted stabilization that the terminal includes allows shooting with long exposure (8 seconds) freehand .

In my case, I tested it in extreme conditions, with practically total darkness. Here you have the photo in normal mode and the photo in night mode.

Night photo in normal mode

Same photo in night mode

The second photo has been taken in "Night mode". When we shoot in this mode, a countdown appears in which we must keep the terminal pointing for the time indicated .

The result is really impressive. First highlight the original photo, which shows a very good quality for the almost complete darkness of the scene. But is that with the "Night Mode" what is not seen in the original reappears . Yes, it is true that we have considerable noise and it is not as clear as it could be, but you have to bear in mind that the original is totally dark.

Selfie with the front camera

The front camera has a 24 megapixel sensor with f / 2.0 aperture . Although it shows that it has a lot of definition, I think it burns the photos a bit. Perhaps it is because of the beauty mode, from which we can configure its intensity. I will do more tests during these days to draw a better conclusion.

An old acquaintance inside

Huawei had many fronts to turn to. A complete redesign, a revolutionary camera and an improved technical set. So, for this last point, they have decided to take advantage of what they already had.

The Huawei P20 Pro includes the Kirin 970 processor inside . It is the same that we saw in the Huawei Mate 10 and it behaves like a charm.

The P20 Pro has no problem with the most demanding games

In these 24 hours I have made intensive use of the terminal and everything has worked perfectly . I've even been playing PUBG for a while, setting the game itself to high graphics by detecting the terminal hardware.

I have not had any problems with multitasking either. Everything opens quickly, without lags or waiting. Surely its 6 GB of RAM have a lot to do with it.

Many pre-installed apps

But, do you remember that I had to tell you about the surprise that I found when I removed the SIM tray? Well, the Huawei P20 Pro does not have a microSD card slot . Hence, the company has decided to provide the terminal with 128 GB of internal storage . A capacity that, on the other hand, will be more than enough for almost any user.

I will talk more about EMUI in the complete analysis, but I can tell you that it works perfectly . Perhaps on some application that comes pre-installed, but in general its appearance and operation are more than correct.

Want more

After 24 hours using the Huawei P20 Pro, I can only say that I am wanting more . You want to discover everything that hides the new Huawei flagship.

Its design, without being revolutionary, has conquered me. It may not be as spectacular at first glance as the Samsung S9 +, but as soon as you handle it a bit you realize that you are in front of a great mobile .

Huawei P20 Pro

But it is that the first impressions with the cameras cannot be better . It is too early to say, but we may be looking at the best mobile photography of the moment. What he does with night photography is really impressive. However, we will test it thoroughly over the next few days to see what it is capable of and, why not, where it fails.

In a few days we will publish the in-depth analysis of the terminal, but we already tell you that it does not disappoint . If you are interested in it, you should know that the Huawei P20 Pro will arrive in Spain on April 12 with a price of 900 euros .