Huawei P Smart 2021 smartphone review: not a special snowflake

Huawei made P Smart 2021, clearly listening to people's aspirations, as if based on a sociological survey. We tick the following boxes: a large screen with minimal bezels, four rear cameras, one of which is 48 megapixels, a mini-jack, a capacious battery (5000 mAh), a 128 GB drive with a dedicated memory card slot. And it seems that the absence of Google services is no longer so striking... Or is it still striking - and this set is not enough?

Huawei P Smart 2021 is quite likely one of the last smartphones that was developed in parallel with its almost identical twin, Honor. We recently talked about the Honor 10X Lite model, which differs from the P Smart 2021 only in a changed shell (Magic UI instead of EMUI), a different design and slightly different wireless modules.

⇡#Technical characteristics

Conclusion

It is very exciting to watch how leading manufacturers develop and implement their technologies. The development of AI in smartphones is an interesting and promising direction. A few years ago, it was hard to think that a smart gadget with an excellent design would be so affordable. The bet on design has worked: a bright smartphone in a blue-violet gradient or the recently introduced white colors is pleasing to the eye. When using Huawei P smart +, there is no feeling that someone has fooled you by selling you a dummy. The main focus of the device is on the capabilities of the cameras, which, as practice has shown, can take excellent shots. Even a person who is directly involved in photography will be satisfied with the results of the shooting.

Specifications

⇡#Design, ergonomics and software

There is no point in discussing the design of Huawei P Smart 2021. You will be able to describe it yourself, even if you have not seen this device, simply based on your acquaintance with other smartphones released in 2020. A large screen with minimal frames, the front camera is in a hole (the only intrigue is in the corner or in the center; here in the center), the back is mirrored, with beveled edges, and in its corner there is a massive block with four lenses. This is such a modern classic.

The back, however, is made not of glass, but of plastic, but in appearance it looks like glass, although the difference is, of course, already noticeable to the touch. The edges are also plastic - to understand this, you need to pay attention to the absence of veins for antennas; they are not required here.

Huawei P Smart 2021, front panel: front camera in the hole in the center of the top of the display, even higher is the earpiece

Another must-have element in 2020, but specifically for an inexpensive smartphone, is a fingerprint scanner on the side panel. Rear scanners have become blatantly unfashionable - the current style requires as much as possible to avoid inclusions on both the front and rear panels. So the power key here is large, flat and slightly recessed into the body.

Huawei P Smart 2021, rear panel: in the corner there is a block with four cameras and a single LED flash

There are two color versions: bright green (as in our case) and midnight black.

Huawei P Smart 2021, left side: slot for SIM cards and memory cards

Huawei P Smart 2021, right side: power/lock key combined with a fingerprint scanner and volume key

The dimensions of the Huawei P Smart 2021 inspire, if not awe, then at least respect - prepare your pockets wider and train your fingers. A smartphone with a 6.67-inch screen should be chosen with full awareness of how such a huge thing fits in your hands. I note that the back here is quite slippery, but it doesn’t go to extremes - I wouldn’t say that the gadget just tears out of the palm of your hand and slides away from any surface. Nevertheless, the kit includes a silicone case, and it is better to carry the P Smart 2021 in it, even though it will inflate the already rather large dimensions of the device.

Huawei P Smart 2021, top edge: microphone

Huawei P Smart 2021, bottom edge: mini-jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, speaker

The functional elements are standard, without any unpleasant surprises: a USB Type-C port, a mini-jack, a pair of microphones, a slot for SIM cards and memory cards with a pin lock, and I have already mentioned the features of the power key above.

The side-mounted fingerprint scanner suffers somewhat from an insufficient coverage area, which is why sometimes you have to touch it several times before it finally fulfills its duties, but it suffers from hypersensitivity, which leads to unnecessary unlocking of the device right in your pocket (like the Sony Xperia 1 II/5 II), bypassed him. In addition, the scanner can be duplicated by a facial recognition system, which, however, relies only on a single front camera, without additional sensors.

Screenshot gallery

EMUI 11 has not yet reached entry-level or mid-level smartphones - it remains exclusive to Huawei Mate 40 Pro. Here is the very familiar EMUI 10.1.1 without Google services and without the prospect of their appearance. We have already written a lot about all the features of coexistence with a smartphone without Google, but I won’t repeat it. AppGallery is in place, as is the Petal Search service, which allows you to search the Internet for apk files of applications that are not available in the company store. Not all will be installed, but most will be installed - American sanctions do not pose any serious obstacles to the use of a smartphone. Otherwise, the EMUI shell, as always, is beautiful, works quickly and pleases with a reasonable interface.

Software

The smartphone, as a representative of 2021, uses the current version of the Android 9 OS with the latest version of the proprietary EMUI 9 shell as its software core. I have already said a lot about the shell, and at the same time it is noticeably improving with each version. Its main advantages are good optimization, convenience and thoughtfulness in detail, modern design, a large toolkit of all sorts of “useful things” and ample opportunities to customize the smartphone “to suit you.”

As for the built-in software set, it includes everything you need - from a device manager to a proprietary music player. The latter, together with the integrated Huawei Histen software, allows you to achieve very pleasant sound when listening to music on headphones.

⇡#Display and sound

Huawei P Smart 2021 has a 6.67-inch diagonal IPS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution (2400 × 1080 pixels). The same as in Honor 10X Lite, plus competitors from Xiaomi (Redmi Note 9S/Pro, POCO X3 NFC) also sport screens with similar characteristics. The pixel density is low, but sufficient for the picture to be perceived normally - 395 ppi.

The viewing angles are wide, there is an effective oleophobic coating, and there is a “factory” film glued to the screen. It will quickly become covered with scratches, but at first you don’t have to remove it.

The measured maximum brightness level without software enhancement during auto-adjustment is 455 cd/m2 - the average result of an LCD screen. The contrast is normal - 1186:1.

The screen settings are familiar: there is a dark theme, you can set the font size and resolution. Color reproduction can be adjusted by choosing from two presets (“bright” and “normal”), plus it is possible to adjust the color temperature to your taste. I measured color rendering with the Vivid and Normal presets at the default color temperature.

Huawei P Smart 2021, bright mode, gamma. Yellow line – P Smart 2021 indicators, dotted line – reference range

Huawei P Smart 2021, bright mode, color temperature. Blue line – P Smart 2021 indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

Huawei P Smart 2021, bright mode, color gamut. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – P Smart 2021 coverage

The P Smart 2021 screen does not go far beyond the sRGB standard - even in bright mode, the color gamut is only slightly superior to the traditional triangle. At the same time, he achieves the sensation of saturated colors primarily with the help of increased color temperature, at the level of 8,500-8,800 K - cool shades are perceived as brighter, white looks downright snowy. The gamma is adequate - 2.19. The average DeltaE deviation for the extended Color Checker palette (shades of gray + a wide range of color shades) is 5.80, with a norm of 3.00.

Huawei P Smart 2021, normal mode, gamma. Yellow line – P Smart 2021 indicators, dotted line – reference range

Huawei P Smart 2021, normal mode, color temperature. Blue line – P Smart 2021 indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

Huawei P Smart 2021, normal mode, color gamut. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – P Smart 2021 coverage

In normal mode, the color gamut already exactly corresponds to the sRGB standard, the color temperature warms up, approaching the reference value of 6,500 K, and the gamma remains virtually unchanged (2.21). The average deviation DeltaE on the Color Checker scale is already within the normal range - 2.40. Fans of natural shades will love the Huawei P Smart 2021 screen.

Huawei P Smart 2021 carries on board both a mini-jack and Bluetooth version 5.1 - however, it has nothing special to please the audiophile, the sound path itself is standard, the sound produces mediocre, and Bluetooth lacks support for key high-resolution data transfer profiles, such like aptX and aptX HD, although it should be compatible with LDAC. The external speaker is monophonic, also quite ordinary.

Smartphone Huawei P smart (2021) color black instructions

This HUAWEI smartphone comes pre-installed with its own AppGallery platform. AppGallery is the world's third most popular app store with quality services and applications. Discover HUAWEI smartphones with AppGallery now!

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

HUAWEI P smart 2021 features an exquisite design and high-quality finish. Thanks to its rounded edges, the stylish smartphone is pleasant to the touch and fits comfortably in your hand. HUAWEI P smart 2021 is presented in two radiant shades.

CHARGING IN MINUTES

HUAWEI P smart 2021 supports HUAWEI SuperCharge 22.5W fast charging, allowing you to watch videos for two hours after 10 minutes of charging. Now you can spend time comfortably and not think about the need to frequently recharge your smartphone.

NON-ENDING FUN

The 5,000 mAh battery and AI power saving algorithm provide 38.2 hours of 4G talk time, 16.6 hours of online video playback and 12 hours of 4G web browsing. Long battery life will allow you not to worry about the charge level of your smartphone.

AI-powered QUAD CAMERA

HUAWEI P smart 2021 features an AI-powered quad-lens camera that makes it easy to capture the best moments of your life at any time of the day. With this camera you can create both photographs of mountain ranges and distant attractions, as well as close-up shots.

CLEAR AND VIBRANT DETAILS

The high-resolution 48MP module helps you capture unforgettable moments and keep all the details bright and clear. You can see every little detail in a photo, whether you're shooting a portrait or a landscape.

NIGHT SHOOTING

The advanced HUAWEI SuperSpectrum sensor and AI-powered algorithms allow you to capture the beauty of the moment even in dim lighting. Capture cityscapes and captivating portraits at night with ease.

CLEAR IMAGES ON A LARGE SCREEN

HUAWEI P smart 2021 is equipped with a screen with Full HD+ resolution and a diagonal of 6.67 inches, the usable area of ​​which is 90.3%, thanks, among other things, to the optimally located front camera. Enjoy clear images on the big screen.

QUICK PREPARATION FOR WORK

The fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button ensures the safety of using the device. Activate and unlock your smartphone in seconds by touching the button on the side.

OPTIMUM MEMORY CAPACITY

With 4GB of RAM, the smartphone runs smoothly even when running multiple apps at the same time, allowing you to quickly switch between them. 128 GB of internal memory is enough to store your favorite videos, photos and games.

BRANDED APPLICATION STORE

HUAWEI AppGallery is Huawei's official platform for searching, downloading, managing and sharing mobile apps. HUAWEI AppGallery continues to develop a global ecosystem that gives you access to a variety of mobile applications. Enjoy exclusive store content, special offers and promotions.

⇡#Hardware and performance

Huawei P Smart 2021 has a simplified version of the HiSilicon Kirin 710 platform - Kirin 710A, which is made using a 14-nanometer process technology instead of a 12-nanometer one. This is such an inexplicable downgrade even relative to last year’s Huawei/Honor, not to mention its closest neighbor in the lineup Huawei P40 Lite with its Kirin 810 (which never became widespread).

The composition of HiSilicon Kirin 710A has not changed: four ARM Cortex-A73 clocked at 2.0 GHz and four ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.7 GHz. The graphics subsystem is the same - ARM Mali-G51 MP4. There is also a dedicated processor for operations related to machine learning.

It is very interesting that according to the results of synthetic tests, Huawei P Smart 2021 slightly outperforms its twin Honor 10X Lite, which has the same hardware platform and the same amount of RAM. This can only be explained by the difference in software optimization. But there is no radical advantage; the gaming potential of the P Smart 2021 remains very limited, but in productivity mode you can squeeze something out of this smartphone. As you can see, of all the smartphones in our selection, Huawei P Smart 2021 is noticeably behind only Redmi Note 9S/Pro.

But there are problems with throttling - in the CPU Throttling Test benchmark, a drop in peak frequency of up to 54% was recorded. It occurs towards the end of the 15-minute session, but it does not represent a short dip, but a stable decline, and this is a bad signal. There will be problems in long gaming sessions.

Huawei P Smart 2021 is equipped with 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB of UFS 2.1 flash. And despite the fact that we are talking about a Huawei smartphone, there is a separate slot available for a common microSD card - firstly, not for branded NM, but for regular microSD, and secondly, it is not combined with a SIM card tray.

⇡#Communications and wireless communications

The smartphone has two slots for nano-SIM; both cards can work with LTE. The speed at which the LTE modem can transmit data is not specified, but it is known that at least all the bands necessary for the correct operation of networks are supported.

Slot for two nano-SIM cards and a microSD memory card

One of the puzzling points about the Huawei P Smart 2021 is the Wi-Fi module, which only works with the 2.4 GHz band (802.11b/g/n). When even ultra-budgeters have learned to work with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, such a limitation looks strange. Otherwise, everything is as usual - Bluetooth 5.1, navigation module with support for GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS and BeiDou. The Russian version has NFC - the lack of support for Google Pay may be confusing, but it can be replaced using the Wallet and Sber Pay services available in the AppGallery.

Our review: Huawei P Smart 2021 - a smart smartphone, for smart people

Details Category: Reviews Published: 03/12/2019 08:00 Author: Lewkee

Today we will talk about a new representative of smart smartphones from the Chinese manufacturer Huawei - P Smart 2019 . Looking ahead, we will say that we really liked the device, however, we still have questions for the manufacturer. And, naturally, we will talk about our impressions and operation of the device in this review.

⇡#Camera

Huawei P Smart 2021 received four cameras at once: two of them are directly responsible for photography with two different viewing angles, another is for macro photography, and the fourth is a so-called depth sensor to help create artificial bokeh (most often you can do without it ).

The main camera has a 48-megapixel Quad Bayer sensor (physical dimensions - 1/2.0 inch) with an ƒ/1.8 aperture lens, phase detection autofocus and an equivalent focal length of 28 mm. The second camera is responsible for an expanded viewing angle - it is an 8-megapixel module (physical dimensions - 1/4.0 inch) with an ƒ/2.4 aperture lens, giving a coverage angle of 120 degrees. It lacks autofocus.

The quality of shooting with the main camera is as expected - or at least expectedly good: after all, we have already seen a whole lot of smartphones with 48-megapixel modules. Huawei’s skill in setting up software processing and using neural network calculations to “finish up” the result also helps here - during the day this is not so noticeable, and I would not say that the dynamic range is radically expanded thanks to “artificial intelligence”, and the detailing maintains a balance between naturalness and trying to take the sharpest photo possible. In low light, the neural networks (can be turned off, just click on the AI ​​icon at the top of the camera application) are already in full swing: colors become brighter, saturation increases, and contour sharpness catches the eye. But for a smartphone in this price range, I would say prioritizing flashiness over naturalness is the right choice. At a minimum, you can get a normal picture that you are not ashamed to publish on social networks in almost any light. Especially by turning on the night mode, which we’ll talk about in more detail below. The wide-angle camera performs well in good lighting, but fails in the dark - especially since the night mode is no longer available for it. I will note the stable white balance, which does not change when choosing a viewing angle.

Zoom is only available digitally – up to six times. Good quality is maintained if you take a picture in normal lighting conditions with a 2x zoom. It is also worth saying that by default, shooting with the main module is offered with a resolution of 12 megapixels, but if you wish, you can select a 48-megapixel mode.

The main camera does not have an optical stabilizer, which does not interfere with taking sharp pictures even in low light - not only at dusk, but also at night. Using night mode with multi-frame exposure stitching and subsequent “finishing” of the picture using machine learning technologies is not at all necessary. With it, the picture looks less natural, “overstuffed”, but brighter and clearer - the system works in the traditional way for Huawei. Be that as it may, in its class, Huawei P Smart 2021 is probably the best smartphone in terms of night photography.

The third camera is responsible for macro photography. Due to the two-megapixel sensor, the pictures are of low resolution, but with sufficient lighting you can squeeze interesting close-ups out of this camera.

The fourth camera is a depth sensor used in portrait mode, in which a single focal length is available, pushing for shooting full-length or half-length portraits: this way spatial distortions are not noticeable. The blur is of high quality, there are proprietary filters in the form of “discs”, “hearts” and the like. The system draws no worse than in the Huawei P40 Pro.

The camera application is typical for smartphones with EMUI: horizontal navigation, a set of familiar settings. A “professional” mode with manual settings is available, but without the ability to shoot in RAW.

Gallery of pictures

In video shooting, the capabilities of Huawei P Smart 2021 are limited to Full HD resolution with a frequency of up to 60 frames per second. There is conditional (not very effective) digital stabilization.

The front camera has an 8-megapixel sensor and ƒ/2.0 aperture optics. There is no autofocus or flash. The shooting quality is average (the dynamic range is weak, the camera is lukewarm in terms of color rendering, the angle is too wide), but there is a portrait mode and a beauty feature.

⇡#Autonomous work

Huawei P Smart 2021 has a capacious battery - 19 Wh (5000 mAh, 3.8 V). Despite the simple hardware platform (don’t forget about the 14nm process technology, which affects energy efficiency), it does not provide much of an advantage in terms of autonomy over its competitors. It simply compensates for the “damage” that a large screen causes. Be that as it may, the P Smart 2021 lives quite quietly all day long with a standard usage scenario (a little social networks, a little messenger, a little calls, a little game - and in total a lot of time with the screen on) - it’s hard to ask for more from a modern smartphone .

In our traditional test with Full HD video playback at maximum brightness, with Wi-Fi turned on and notifications running, Huawei P Smart 2021 showed an average result of just over 10 hours.

The current USB Type-C port is used for charging, and a fast charging adapter (22.5 W) is included. With its help, you can charge Huawei P Smart 2021 in about an hour and forty-five minutes.