The Huawei Mate20 Pro we recently looked at is a wonderful smartphone but Huawei has already forged ahead and released its all-new handset, the Huawei Mate30 Pro. Alongside it, the Chinese smartphone powerhouse has also brought along the P30, a smaller device that holds back on some of the P30 Pro's high-end features. Let's see how they compare to the flagship phones from Samsung and Apple.
The Specs
Huawei P30
Huawei P30 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S10
iPhone XS
Dimensions
Height: 149.1mm, Width: 71.3 mm, Depth: 7.57mm, Weight: 165g
Height: 158.0mm, Width: 73.4mm, Depth: 78.41mm, Weight: 192g
Height: 149.9mm, Width: 70.4mm, Depth: 7.8mm, Weight: 157g
Height: 157.5mm, Width: 77.4mm, Depth: 7.7mm, Weight: 208g
CPU
HUAWEI Kirin 980 processor with AI
Qualcomm SDM855 Snapdragon 855
A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine
Memory
128 GB, 6 GB RAM
128/512 GB, 8 GB RAM
256 GB, 8 GB RAM
64, 256 and 512GB of storage
Display
6.1 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels, ~422 ppi density
6.47 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels, ~398 ppi density
6.1 inches, 1440 x 3040 pixels, ~550 ppi density
6.5 inches, 2688 x 1242 pixels, ~458 ppi density
Operating System
Android 9.0 (Pie); EMUI 9.1
Android 9.0 (Pie); One UI
iOS 12
Cameras
40MP HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor (Wide) + 16MP (Ultra-wide) + 8MP (telephoto) Front: 32MP
40MP HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor (Wide) + 20MP (Ultra-wide) + 8MP (telephoto) Front: 32MP
Rear: 12 MP (wide) +12 MP (telephoto) + 16 MP(ultrawide), Front: 10 MP (wide)
Rear: 12MP (wide) + 12 MP (telephoto), Front: 7 MP
Communications
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, Satnav, NFC, USB 3 (Type C)
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5, Satnav (GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO), NFC, USB 3 (Type C), ANT+
4G and LTE compatibility, 802.11ac Wi-Fi with 2×2 MIMO, NFC with reader mode and Bluetooth 5.0, Lightning connector
Sensors
Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2
Facial recognition, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer, compass
Battery
Non-removable 3650 mAh battery
Non-removable 4200 mAh battery, wireless charging, reverse charging
Non-removable Li-Ion 3400 mAh battery, wireless charging, reverse charging
Non-removable Li-Ion 3174 mAh battery, wireless charging
Price
From $1099
From $1599
From $1349
From $1799
What's that all mean
The two new Huawei handsets land smack-bang in the middle of the very congested high-end smartphone market. But they manage to do that, while offering some great features, at competitive prices.
If you compare the Huawei P30 and Samsung S10, they have the same size display. While the Galaxy S10 has a front camera under a hole in the display, the Huawei P30 retains a very small notch front and centre. The Huawei has a lower resolution and less pixel-dense display but has a larger battery with P30 Pro boasting better than all-day battery life. And Huawei's P30 undercuts the S10 by $250.
The P30 Pro, at $1599, is definitely on the pricey side – the Samsung Galaxy S10 starts at $1349. With that said, it does pack in 256GB of onboard storage which is more than the norm for a base model. The one place where it lags the others on the spec sheet is with the display. Despite being larger than the P30, the P30 Pro retains the same resolution and, therefore, a lower pixel density.
While this spec would have been cutting edge a couple of years ago, it now lags the market. But that brings us to the trade-off.
Does the lower-spec screen justify the price tag? It's cheaper than an iPhone XS Max with the same amount of storage – an iPhone XS Max with 256GB of storage costs $2049. That's $450 more than the Huawei P30 Pro.
All this creates an interesting conundrum if you're looking for a new smartphone. Is the lower spec screen a worthwhile trade-off to save some money? If you can live with it, then the extra dollars in your wallet can be put to some other use.
Originally published in Lifehacker Australia on 27 March 2019: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/03/specs-showdown-huawei-p30-huawei-p30-pro-samsung-galaxy-s10-and-iphone-xs-max/