My experience after a year of use with the Huawei P20 Pro

Huawei P20 Pro

At the gates of launching its new Huawei P30 Pro, a server continues to use the terminal presented just a year ago, the Huawei P20 Pro, as its head mobile. A device that was committed to the rebirth of photography, as its slogan read, with a triple camera system and enough Artificial Intelligence to assist the user in any scene and portrait. Well, a year later I review what has given of itself and what aspects I would like to see improved in the new star mobile of the Chinese manufacturer.

Huawei P20 Pro data sheet

screen6.1-inch, 2,240 x 1,080-pixel FHD +, 18.7: 9 OLED, 408 pixels per inch
Main chamber- 40 mp RGB sensor (light fusion technology), f / 1.8

- Monochrome 20 megapixel sensor, f / 1.6

- 8 megapixel telephoto sensor

Camera for selfies24 megapixels, f / 2.0, Full HD video
Internal memory128 GB
ExtensionNot
Processor and RAMKirin 970 with NPU (Neural Processing Chip), 6GB RAM
Battery4,000 mAh, fast charge
Operating systemAndroid 8.1 Oreo / EMUI 8.1
ConnectionsBT 4.2, GPS, USB Type-C, NFC
SIMnanoSIM
DesignMetal and glass, IP67 certified, colors: black, blue, pink and multicolor
Dimensions155 x 73.9 x 7.8 mm, 185 grams
Featured Features5X Hybrid Zoom, Intelligent Image Stabilization, Handheld Long Exposure, 960 Frame HD Super Slow Motion, Face Scan Unlock, Infrared
Release dateAvailable
Pricefrom 580 euros

Photography, the star in the crown

Perhaps it is because of my instagrammers or photographers inclinations (nothing fancy really), but the photographic aspect continues to determine my choice of terminal . And I cannot deny that I have enjoyed its three cameras. Especially the main and telephoto lens. Although I have also struggled quite a bit with her Artificial Intelligence.

In case you do not remember, Huawei still used in this terminal its color sensor system (20 megapixels) plus the monochrome sensor (40 megapixels), and a third sensor in which a telephoto lens is mounted with a 3x optical zoom . What is necessary to capture scenes of all kinds (except for rough landscapes in the absence of an ultra-wide angle lens as in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro).

My experience has been growing with these cameras on the Huawei P20 Pro. Over the months and as situations go by, I have learned where to get the most out of it and how to achieve the best results. But all this on a very solid basis that has made, during this year, compare the cameras of the rest of the terminals that have passed through my hands with this one .

portrait mode

The night mode stands out, which without the need for a tripod has almost always allowed me to portray the best scene in the dark. I already said it half a year ago, when I was always the one who took the snapshot among the group of friends for having this virtue. Of course, with the arrival of the Google Pixel 3 XL on the market, things changed.

Huawei-P20-Pro-5

I have also had very good experience capturing textures on clothing and skin in bright scenes . The evolution of the market has made me go through mobile phones that have not always achieved the same. Today it still amazes me in places with good lighting, with an amount of detail that other manufacturers would like.

10x zoom

My photo fights

With the use I have learned to play with Artificial Intelligence and the treatment of the image that the Huawei software applies on the photos. Although at first the oversaturation of vegetation mode, blue sky or other autodetected scenes made me despair , I soon learned to disable it or to use it conveniently with document scanning or portrait mode. A technique that has allowed me not to have to fiddle with the interface of the camera application every time I wanted to take one or another photo. In the same way, I have learned to use light to my advantage and to portray scenes against the light without losing information due to contrast. Techniques that I have been refining little by little and that have made me feel almost a photographer without being any of that.

my photo fights

I have also learned to struggle with portrait mode. It only appears when it detects the user's face. Its cutout and blurring is more than decent for the mobiles that appeared a year ago, although with the arrival of new terminals it has been a bit forced and less natural than it seemed during the first uses. Of course, you have to pay attention to backlit portraits and other ways of using this image treatment together with the beauty mode, which always applies even when you deactivate it. Some resources that have obtained a few photos worthy of being published on an Instagram profile almost as if they were taken by a reflex camera without a professional level.

Artificial intelligence

Performance without limitations

Under the hood the Kirin 720 processor of this Huawei P20 Pro has not left me cold this year either. It was really powerful and solvent in its early days, and it continues to bring me joy today. Returning to the topic of Instagram, it is one of the terminals that has allowed me to develop all my creativity in Instagram Stories . And it is that it allows to anchor elements in specific points and moments of the recorded video, something that other devices do not allow. It is not exclusively a question of processing power, but it is an advantage over other more expensive mobiles that cannot do it.

Huawei

Pokémon GO, Fortnite or even the latest edition of Candy Crush Saga are common games that also find no problems when running on the Huawei P20 Pro. I don't usually play long games, but neither overheating nor jerks are present in my games. The experience is always fluid or as fluid as I have been able to experience on other high-end mobiles. And today, with current games and applications, it remains.

Performance without limitations

Other apps like GPS don't disappoint either. The performance when using Waze, Android Auto or Google Maps, except for some occasional scare until relocating, has been correct and agile. Nothing to get lost and spend several minutes waiting to find my location or in what direction I am looking.

Instagram Stories

The battery starts to waver

I constantly use applications that use the GPS function , and of course I avoid the saving mode of the terminal at all times. Its fast charge continues to save my life and makes me forget about the charger and the battery percentage just by putting the mobile to charge for a few minutes when I go out of the house. But overall autonomy appears to be flagging in the past two months.

Battery that begins to falter

Although I have always boasted of autonomy with the Huawei P20 Pro, in recent weeks I have noticed that the battery does not hold the same. For most of this year, autonomy has allowed me to spend the day with intensive use without any problem. Only when I have abused a game or an application with GPS (and I mean abuse in every sense of the word) did I need to charge it for a few minutes if I was going to leave the house. If not, I was able to finish the day with more than 10% of the remaining battery. Now it doesn't happen like that. Especially when I leave the house and I do not use the WiFi network so much, but the data of my rate. This is when the battery drops below 50% around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. Which has started to make me wonder if I won't need to charge the terminal at some other time of the day if I go out again. Or that you need to charge the mobile obligatorily around 10 pm.

Huawei P20 Pro and Pokémon GO

Of course, let's not lose sight of the fact that I am a heavy user , that is, I make intensive use of the terminal. All this by installing applications that do not always come from the Google Play Store, and that therefore may have some type of malware or abuse mobile resources in some way.

This links the idea that I have not felt the real need, at least to date, to format the mobile. Not by filling the memory, not by malfunction or performance failures, not because the battery failed. Now, after a year in my possession, this idea begins to carry weight . Although, as I say, on a day-to-day basis, it still has a more than necessary autonomy for intensive use.

loading port

Up-to-date and secure

No, Huawei is not one of the manufacturers that updates its terminals faster to the latest versions of the Android operating system. But it is one of those that does it, and of those who release security patches. During this year I have jumped to Android 9 Pie , and I have installed several security patches and improvements.

up-to-date and secure

I have also had to update some of the pre-installed EMUI 9 applications (which has also been updated this year), even though I don't use them too much. But it is a real plus to know that there is new content for the themes, or that your own application store is being improved. Even when you discover it by opening it by accident.

But the issue of security in the software makes me remember to review the hardware as well. Since I configured face recognition I have not had any problem unlocking the terminal quickly. Even today I keep unlocking it inadvertently with the light from the screen reflecting off my face in dark environments. She recognizes me without any problem. And the same happens with the fingerprint reader, which responds really fast to access the mobile. At this level there is no complaint.

storage

Conclusions after one year of use

After reviewing my experiences with the Huawei P20 Pro it is clear to me that being a terminal of 900 euros, it gives a lot of itself in this year of experience. It continues to stand out for its photographic configuration , which responds really well in any situation that arises, especially in dark environments thanks to its night mode.

conclusions after one year of use

The performance also remains as the first day. Or, at least, I have not seen any problems with new games and applications . Multitasking remains extensive and the jump between applications is agile. All this updated to the latest version of Android and EMUI. It may not have the prettiest customization layer, but you soon learn to make use of its lock screen shortcuts, to get used to changing the screen's white balance according to the surrounding light, or to take advantage of gestures like continued screenshots (what would my WhatsApp sauces be without them ...).

It is his battery that has suffered in recent months. And it seems that autonomy, in my specific case, has been significantly reduced. Of course, its fast-charging capabilities hold up to save the day .

screen

Taking into account that the terminal was launched for a price of 900 euros (currently it can be found for about 580 euros), it is possibly one of the most balanced terminals in terms of quality / high-end price of the past 2018 . A great option for those who have bought it or have taken advantage of a discount later to get it.

Now, with the launch of the Huawei P30 Pro, it remains to be seen if it is worth updating a terminal that responds well over time and that in its day cost 900 euros for a photographic update that already requires 1,000 euros in its most basic model of 128 GB .

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