Huawei P20 Pro – Camera Analysis of First Photos from the phone + Adobe Lightroom edited versions

Android, Reviews, Tech News

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.

Useful Links

Photo source – Jonathan Morris

Latest deals on Huawei P20 Pro and cases

Huawei P20 Pro – What’s in the box ? Details of everything included

Android, Tech News,

In case you’re wondering what’s in the box of the Huawei P20 Pro, I can confirm it includes an awful lot of goodies. So what does Huawei include?

Below is the full list of what is included –

– The phone itself, the Huawei P20 Pro

– The battery is built in, all 4,000mAh

– High current charger for super fast charging

– USB Type-CTM digital headset

– Warranty card

– Quick start guide

– A protective case – ideal so you don’t scratch phone within minutes of opening box by accident

– USB Type-CTM to 3.5mm headphone adapter

– Eject tool

As you can see, Huawei have you covered completely in the included stuff in the box.

Huawei P20 Pro – The Photographers Dream Smartphone – With a 68mp Leica Triple Rear Camera Setup

Android, Tech News,

Yesterday, Huawei announced the new Huawei P20 Lite, P20 and P20 Pro. They also announced the luxury version of the Huawei P20 Pro, the Porsche Design Mate RS.

Let me start by saying the P20 lite and standard P20 are not a patch on the P20 Pro. My advice is to buy the P20 Pro as it is a totally difference phone to the lower models. Here’s why?

– The rear cameras feature a co-engineered Leica Triple Camera New AI-assisted camera system. The 3 lenses are as follows. A 40mp RGB sensor. a 20mp monochrome sensor and a 8mp zoom sensor. The P20 Pro can do 3 x optical zoom and up to 5 x lossless zoom.

– The front camera is 24mp.
– A huge 4,000mAh battery.
– 6gb ram & 128gb storage
– 6.1 inch full vision OLED display.
– Bluetooth codecs APTX, APTX HD , LDAC , HWA
– DxOMark – The camera leap frogged everything else by a massive margin. Here’s is what DxOmark said in summary –

“With an overall score of 109 points, the Huawei P20 Pro sets a new benchmark for smartphone cameras on DxOMark.com, outscoring all of its closest rivals, such as the Apple iPhone X, the Google Pixel 2, and the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus by a margin that is close to or higher than 10 points. Much of this is due to the Huawei’s outstanding still image capabilities that earn it an unprecedented Photo score of 114 points. The large sensor in the main camera combined with the B&W sensor allows for excellent low-light performance and class-leading dynamic range; the dedicated 80mm equivalent tele-lens in combination with the high-resolution monochrome chip, delivers the best zoom performance we’ve seen on a smartphone to date. The monochrome chip is also used to help generate the P20 Pro’s excellent bokeh-simulation.

And the P20 Pro is no slouch either in video mode, thanks to class-leading image stabilization, a good autofocus, and very low noise levels. At 98 points, it just manages to push the Google Pixel 2 off the number one spot in the video ranking, making the P20 Pro the best all-around mobile device for imaging that money can currently buy.”

So one of the shooting modes on the P20 Pro is handheld night mode. Using the AI camera you can take up to 6 seconds hand held long exposure night shot. It can also shoot an ISO over 100,000.

There is a lot more to the P20 Pro, but hopefully you get that this is a leap forward in camera innovation over anything else currently on the market. The P20 Pro is available from all UK carriers and most major retailers too.

Now of course, if money is no object, there is the Porsche Design version. This is called the Porsche Design Mate RS. It comes in a stunning black and in China there is a red finish. The cost 1,550 euros.

The Porsche Design features the same camera setup as the P20 Pro, in fact most of the phone is the same, except for the following upgrades.

– the fingerprint sensor is embedded under the front glass of the phone. There is also a second fingerprint sensor on the rear.
– storage is increased from 128gb of the P20 Pro to either 256gb or 512gb.
– The speakers are upgraded
– Porsche Design skin and logos. Phone is curved beautifully.
– 10 watt Qi Fast Wireless Charging is added.

My review of the P20 Pro will be coming soon in a few weeks time. Below are some useful links –

Huawei P20 Pro incl accessories on Amazon UK
Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS
Huawei website

Soussons Forest, Dartmoor National Park – Shot on the Samsung S9+

Android, Photography, Tech News, , ,

Yesterday I visited Soussons Forest in Dartmoor National Park and took some photos with my Galaxy S9+. The above shot in the forest is of 3 of my labradors running along the path. Tiggy is out front with Sophie and George holding up the rear.

Photographing trees allows for some superb tree symmetry.

My 4 labradors loved running along the path. Also it was the first day in ages where it wasn’t snowing.

First shot shows Fury in the lead. And the next shot is of George and Sophie running together.

Stunning views.

The forest colours are fantastic to capture.

The above shot used the 2 times zoom of the S9+. Without the optical zoom the shot would be rubbish. In the distance you can see Bellever Tor.

Catching the sun for that special shot.

And finally, logging occurs in the forest.

Aune B1s Portable Headphone Amp Review – Class A Amp

Audio, Reviews, Tech News

Welcome to my review of the new Aune B1s Portable Headphone Amp. The Aune B1s was sent to me by Aune to evaluate.

The Key Specifications

– Frequency response (from 10 Hz to 20 kHz): ±0.02dB
– THD + n: 0.00015% @300Ω
– SNR: 124dB @300Ω
– Crosstalk: <110dB @300Ω
– Max output: 6.443Vrms 18.4dBu(10Hz to 20kHz)
– Headphone output power: @300Ω 84mW , @600Ω 42mW ,@32Ω 74mW
– Class-A: 25mW/16R 50mW/32R
– Size: 125×65×18（mm）
– Weight:230g

For the review of the Aune B1s a range of headphones were used. Sennheiser HD579, HD598 HD660s, Sennheiser Momentum in ears, Sony XBA-1 Balanced Armatures, Fiio F9 Pro in ear and Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro 80 and 250 ohm headphones.

Genres tested included rock, pop, classical, blues and jazz.

The main video part of the review covers off the sound in more detail along with the results using the above headphones.

In summary, warmer headphones like the Sennheiser sounded much nicer and were a good match. The Sony XBA-1 sound awful.

Using the Aune B1s allowed for plenty of power to drive my Beyers DT770 Pro, both the 80 and 250 ohms. The same applied to the over ear Sennheiser.

Where the pairing worked, more detail and soundstage occurred. Jazz and blues genres in my opinion worked the best.

Conclusion

The Aune B1s is a neutral sounding amp and therefore its pairing is best suited to warmer sounding headphones. Otherwise the sound lacks excitement as it is so neutral.

Useful Links

Best selling Aune products on Amazon UK

Bose Soundsport Free Wireless Earphones Review vs AirPods, Sony WF-1000X, Optoma NuForce BE Free8 & More

Audio, Headphone, Reviews, Tech News, ,

Welcome to my review of the Bose Soundsport Free Wireless Earphones. These are Bose’s answer to Apple’s AirPods and all the other totally wireless earphones on the market.

Key Specifications

– Truly wireless for total freedom of movement
– Volume EQ adjustment for music sound clear and powerful
– Earbuds are sweat and weather resistant (with an IPX4 rating) and come with 3 different pairs of Stay Hear+ Sport tips (in sizes S/M/L) that provide a comfortable and secure fit
– Up to 5 hours of play time with each charge and an additional 10 hours with the charging case
– Track lost earbuds with the Bose Connect app’s “Find My Buds” feature
– Bose Connect app also updates the firmware

Conclusion

The Bose Soundsport Free Wireless earphones are excellent and recommended depending on where and with what device you’re using them with in terms of bluetooth capabilities.

Useful Links

Bose Soundsport Free Wireless earphones latest pricing on Amazon UK
Optoma NuForce BE Free8 Wireless Earphones latest pricing on Amazon UK

Optoma NuForce BE Free8 review
Sony WF-1000X review

Amazon Easter Sale – My Favourite Picks for Today

Amazon, Tech News,

Amazon Easter Sale is live today with lots of good offers on a number of different product lines. For example –

– Fire 7 Tablet £34.99 http://amzn.to/2FZk7bo upto £30 off the larger ones

– Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder 55% off now £9 http://amzn.to/2G3ZVFa

– Up to 40% off Logitech Gaming Access http://amzn.to/2GSflOm

– More deals http://amzn.to/2pxRUCc

Deals of the day are available on a number of different items. These include –

– Echos
– Sandisk memory
– Oral-B
– Masterclass Cooking Essentials
– Car Phone Mounts
– Cooking Books
– Bosch
– upto 35% off TV’s from LG Toshiba Panasonic, HiSense etc
– BenQ projector
– up to 45% off Lily’s Kitchen pet food
– up to 40% off Revlon-
– up to 30% off mens clothing

And so many more deals, just click here for the latest – http://amzn.to/2pxRUCc

Dartmoor National Park – The Snow Roads several days later

Android, Photography, Tech News,

2 lanes become 1 because of the snow

The main roads in the South West of England may have all been cleared of snow, but up on Dartmoor National Park, that’s not the case.

Snow landscape on Dartmoor

There is still plenty of snow across the landscape, but due to the blizzard conditions and drifts when it fell from Saturday through to Monday morning, the snow ended up being up to 10ft deep in many places on Dartmoor.

Several days later still snow on the roads on Dartmoor

Even after gritting and ploughing, there is just too much snow in places. Many lanes haven’t been ploughed yet either and are literally filled up as high as car roofs.

Snow Roads on Dartmoor

Is winter over? Nope. The forecast is for more snow next week over Easter. All the above photos were shot on the Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Snow Storm hits Princetown on Dartmoor National Park – Photos from the Samsung Galaxy S9+ featuring Snow Dogs

Android, Photography, Tech News,

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

The snow started falling Saturday 17th March 2018, it briefly stopped for 4 hours on Sunday 18th March between 6am and 10.30am, and then it returned at full pelt until 3am on Monday 19th March 2018. Below are photos taken on the 18th March 2018. All the footage is shot on the Samsung Galaxy S9+.

Plus a short video.

The top photo and the one below are of the road leading out of the village. About 300 yards further down, the road was totally blocked with a huge snow drift lasting about 100 yards.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

The above shot is at the entrance to Princetown.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

You can just about see the Tors in the distance. This was using the 2 x optical zoom of the S9+. The wind was still very strong.

Heres a tweet showing the road further down, that even caused 4 x 4’s to get stuck, including a Police Land Rover. The local police spent 90 mins digging themselves out.

Heres a short video of the conditions https://www.pscp.tv/w/1OyKANbOmWWGb

Part of the main road in Princetown.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Above, its not snowing anymore, but the wind is blowing strongly.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

The snow is deep, in many places with 10ft plus snow drifts. Below Fury, Sophie and Tiggy enjoying the snow.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Nothing stops George from having a run.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Above. Hard to tell the 2 girls apart, but Fury is looking down at Sophie.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Above, Tiggy and Sophie.

Snowmageddon on Dartmoor

Above, George and Sophie.

And has winter left for good? More snow is forecasted over Easter!

Samsung Galaxy S9+ Review One Week Later – shot entirely on the S9+

Android, Reviews, Tech News, , ,

Welcome to my review of the Samsung Galaxy S9+ one week later. The entire video was shot using the front and rear cameras of the S9+, outdoor at the start of the second snow blizzard that was just returning on Dartmoor National Park.

I have also discussed my views on the audio and some comparisons as well. New camera samples are included, previously not seen before or shared by me.

Video Review

Useful Links

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+ sim free phones, cases and Accessories on a Amazon UK