The Huawei P20 Pro is the first phone with 3 Leica co-engineered rear cameras totally 68mp. There is a 40mp RBG, 20mp monochrome and 8mp telephoto sensor. Using advanced AI and computational photography the Huawei P20 Pro is able to pull off some masterstrokes. So let’s take a look at some photos from the P20 Pro, all shot in auto at 10mp. My thanks to Jonathan Morris for allowing me to use his photos. I would imagine the software is not quite final retail but it still gives a good idea on the quality. My retail P20 Pro arrives next week.
With all these photos, auto mode with AI on, was used. There is a clear pattern of how the P20 Pro decides on what settings to use when AI option is enabled. The field above is slightly dark in places, but gives a real feel for what the eyes could see. This pattern is repeated in a number of shots.
The same goes for the house above. The P20 Pro does have auto HDR as one of the AI options, but this is not always the best option.
The AI mode selected blue sky, so made everything extra blue. Quite vivid and maybe too over the top for some but I actually don’t mind it.
You can turn of the AI if required. The forest path above is really well balanced and I do like this picture.
The above photo is taken with HDR on, which was selected by the AI feature whilst in auto mode. The post processing and look is something I quite enjoy, but what do you think so far?
Ok so let’s up the ante and show you my 5 second edits in Adobe Lightroom mobile of the above shots. Before anyone asks, I did not use snapseed. I am not a fan of snapseed filters. The Lightroom edited shots are 3 times larger in size too. These aren’t adjusted perfectly either, I just wanted one type of edit to see what difference it made to the photos.
So with all these shots, I applied the same editing sequence in Adobe Lightroom mobile, for speed and uniformity.
Every shot has auto tune ticked, +10 on clarity, +5 on dehaze, -7 on vignette and +5 on the shadows on top of the auto adjusted amount.
But do you like the enhanced look? What do you think of the house now?
The blue sky IMO is way OTT now.
In some of the shots, the quick editing makes a difference, but I do prefer some of the original versions. But what is your opinion?
Stay tuned for a lot more Huawei P20 Pro coverage.
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Great work as always Gavin!! Reading between the lines for a camera that is supposed to be soooo much better than all other phone cameras, you used Snapseed on your first post. Pics all look great, but seems current top phones would look the same…and maybe better.
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Thanks Jeff. It’s too early to comment properly. It’s not final release firmware. And there are many other aspects of the camera not discussed yet. However, post processing using Adobe Lightroom does provide a different look 🙂
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Have to admit I expected the photos would be better balanced straight out of the camera. Like surely in a side by side (untouched) comparison with the pixel 2, the pixel 2 would have done far better straight out of the camera?
Now I’m not saying that the p20 pro isn’t the best camera out there (that’s quite likely the case and your post processing shows what can be achieved), but I wonder will most people dismiss it based on the kind of side by side comparisons we see round the internet.
Awesome work as always Gavin.
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It will be interesting to see what shots I get with my retail unit on release software. You’ll be happy to hear there will be lots of written posts going forward.
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But Gavin said the auto seems to not try to make everything artificially perfect. I’ve never been a fan of HDR that makes everything bright. I like this better, although the light room products are even better. I suppose light room could make anything better.
In any case, I think the selling point is using it for zoom.
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I think the phone has taken some really good pics, 1st two have improved after the lightroom touch up. Not so sure about the others after the lightroom touch up.
Looking forward to your in depth reviews, including audio performance if possible.
Do you know if the phone has an SD card slot? Some say it has, some say it hasn’t.
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It most definitely doesn’t have a SD card slot.
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Do you know what the audio quality is like? Does it compare with the LG V30 for example? I’m looking to replace a Dragonfly Red/CCK/iPhone X combo with something less clunky and the V30 looks like the best option so far.
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