Huawei has officially announced its long-awaited P30 Pro smartphone – price tag £1,099 – which boasts a new four-camera array, revamped Night mode and AI, and 10x hybrid optical and electronic zoom.
The Huawei P30 Pro camera setup consists of a main lens that is f/1.6 and paired with a 40-megapixel sensor with image stabilisation. There’s also an ultra-wide lens that is f/2.2 with a 20-megapixel sensor (and no IS), and an f/3.4 zoom lens with an 8-megapixel sensor with IS.
TOF Camera
Of the four cameras on the rear of the Huawei P30 Pro, three are imaging lenses. The fourth camera is Huawei’s new Time of Flight (TOF) camera, which the company describes similar to what sonar is for gauging depth.
The TOF camera emits light like a sonar emits sound. This light then bounces off objects within your scene, enabling the TOF camera to detect scale and distance.
The Huawei P30 Pro also uses the TOF camera for augmented reality, and it means third-party developers can create apps that can run on the top of its core Google AR tech.
Main Camera
Likewise the P30 Pro’s main sensor is all new technology. In order to achieve better low-light performance with the P30 Pro, Huawei went back to the drawing board and looked at light channels.
Traditionally, in a sensor you’ll have RGB (red, green, blue) channels, but Huawei went for RYB (red, yellow, blue). This is because Huawei found less noise in the yellow channel than in the green and offers a wider spectrum of light.
This new sensor also has pixel binning and allows for 3D object scanning on the main camera.
Lenses
The P30 Pro’s newly developed ultra-wide lens brings improved rectilinear distortion correction. The camera’s AI is now able to spot this distortion and corrects it automatically.
As with the P20 Pro, all of the Huawei P30 Pro’s lenses are developed in conjunction with Leica.
The Huawei P30 Pro also offers 5x optical lossless zoom with image stabilisation – and this zoom and IS is mechanical, not digital.
The P30 Pro also boasts 10x hybrid optical and electronic zoom, and you can also continue zooming all the way up to 50x with digital zoom.
P30 Pro Display
Another interesting feature of the Huawei P30 Pro is that there is no speaker. Sound no comes through the display, which vibrates.
The display itself is 6.5 inches from edge to edge and offers 2K resolution. It’s also water resistant to IP67-68 standard.
A new 4200mAh battery charges to 80% in 30 minutes thanks to a built-in 40 watt charger. In heavy use Huawei says you can expect 11.8 hours of battery life. With standard use you’ll get around two days per charge.
The P30 Pro can also charge wirelessly and reverse charge other devices.
Other camera specs
Like some flagship DSLRs, the Huawei P30 Pro now offers a maximum ISO of 409,600.
This is aided by a new AI dynamic range, which creates a heat map around your subject and enables you to shoot without flash.