Huawei P20 review: a flagship with a minimum of compromises

Chinese smartphones have long ceased to be second- or even third-class gadgets. Today they can give odds to the most advanced smartphones of our time, made in the USA or Europe. Moreover, the bulk of smartphones are manufactured in China. This industry is developing so rapidly that in many ways the Chinese have almost caught up with the Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. And even surpassed them in some aspects. Of course, professionals from the Middle Kingdom often sin by copying, but there are more than enough original features that other companies then adopt.

The Huawei P20 gadget model is quite promising in terms of functionality, which we will now review. Against the backdrop of a relatively affordable price with an excellent functional and visual solution, these Chinese smartphones are being raked in almost buckets. And few buyers regret it. Even if the smartphone breaks, you don’t feel sorry for it, because the price is quite affordable. And this smartphone came out not very long ago - it was announced in March of this year, and launched on the market even later - in May. At the same time, the P20 and P20 Pro models quickly found warm support among users.

Specifications

We can talk for a long time about the technical characteristics of Huawei P20. The parameters of this smartphone model are very good:

• Android 8.1, EMUI 8.1;
• High-quality screen 5.84”, 2240×1080, 425 ppi. It has automatic brightness adjustment (brightness 400 cd/m2). The viewing aspect ratio is also good - 18.7:9 (2,074:1). LTPS IPS;
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) 4x4 MIMO, Bluetooth v4.2, USB Type-C 3.1, NFC, IR transmitter;
• The HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset is used with 8 cores (4xCortex-A73 2.36 GHz + 4xCortex-A53 1.8 GHz) and 64 bit, 10 nm. i7 coprocessor. Graphics accelerator Mali-G72 MP12;
• Battery Li-Pol 3400 mAh. There is a fast charging function;
• Regarding Honor's characteristics in terms of memory, the Huawei Honor P20 has 4 GB of RAM (LPDDR4) and 128 GB of internal memory (UFS 2.1);
• Supports two nano-SIM cards. There is one radio module;
• To identify the user, there is a fingerprint sensor on the front panel, and the gadget can also recognize the owner using the facial recognition function. In addition, the gadget has light, proximity, acceleration sensors, a compass and even a gyroscope;
• The cameras on the smartphone are as follows. Front camera, 24 megapixels, autofocus, f/2.0. Main camera 12 megapixels (color)/20 MP (b/w) megapixels, f/1.6/1.8, OIS, LED flash, 4K video recording;
• Full dimensions of Huawei P20: 149.1 x 70.8 x 7.65 mm. Weight – 165 grams.

Model P20 lite

The Huawei brand refers to companies that give several names to one flagship. The reasons for this strategy remain hidden from buyers. Nova 3e was recently released in China, and later it appeared in Europe under the name p20 lite. The company's top manager explained that the letter "e" in the Chinese version means its exclusivity.

Huawei P20 Lite smartphone

The design of the P20 Lite is similar to the iPhone X. The borrowed detail is the “visor” at the top. The Huawei inscription is present on the bottom frame, and it is also on the back side. The model is presented in blue and black colors.

This smartphone carries the Kirin 659 chip and has 4 GB of RAM. We list other specifications of the new mobile device:

• there is a 64 GB drive;
• battery capacity - 3000 mAh;
• 5.84-inch display;
• fast charging support;
• dual rear photo module;
• front camera with 24 megapixel sensor resolution;
• Android 8.0 Oreo.

The p20 lite gadget received an atypical display with a diagonal of 5.84 inches. Perhaps the developers were tasked with fitting the case into exactly these dimensions. The non-standard resolution of 2280x1080 is also eye-catching. There is a cutout at the top, but it does not affect the clarity of the image.

A separate topic is smartphone cameras. On the back of the gadget there are 16 and 2 megapixel photo modules. The front camera is also 16 megapixels. No other parameters are stated, but it is known that the 2-megapixel camera measures depth of field and takes photos with a blur effect.

The device will be fast for most tasks, although it is inferior to the flagship versions. The Kirin 659 chipset provides high performance for applications, games and everyday use of the gadget. The new product is released on the “fresh” Android 8, supplemented with the EMUI 8 interface.

Main features of the device:

• elongated display;
• the presence of a cut-out “visor”;
• combination of NFC with simple Wi-Fi;
• dual camera;
• combination slot.

Probably, the price of the “light” model will not please buyers. The gadget is on sale in Poland for 369 euros.

Modern design in Iphone X style

People who do not understand the technical characteristics and operating nuances of smartphones look first at the design. In this context, the Huawei P20 smartphone also did not disappoint.

Despite the fact that the developers clearly wanted to emphasize the similarity of the Huawei P20 with the Iphone X line, the smartphone turned out to be original. The materials used to create its body are glass and plastic. In particular, the main part of the gadget (front and back panels) is made of tempered glass. It was decided to make the edging using aluminum alloy. It turned out quite stylish.

The Huawei P20 body has no sharp corners. They are neatly smoothed. At the same time, even the edges are pleasantly sloping, allowing you to comfortably hold a rather massive gadget in your hand. But the main highlight of this smartphone is not even this, but its very elongated shape.

The design of the Huawei P20 Black Eml L29 smartphone is frameless. But it was not possible to completely get rid of the frame. The developers left the so-called bang, like the Apple iPhone X. It houses the speaker and the front camera. And under the display we also managed to place a fingerprint scanner. Therefore, the fingerprint sensor has noticeably stretched out and become flatter.

As already mentioned, the gadget lies very comfortably in the hand. Despite the fact that the panels are glass and glossy, they do not slip. At the bottom there is a multimedia speaker and USB Type-C. And on the back side there is a vertical block with a dual camera and a powerful flash. And at the top there is an additional microphone. On the right side of the panel are the power and volume control keys. On the left side of the panel there is a slot for nano-SIM cards.

The material and workmanship are very high quality. There are no noticeable creaks - all the parts fit like a glove. Inside there is a 3400 mAh battery with Huawei SuperCharge fast charging function.

Smartphones appeared on the market in the following colors:

• Blue(Midnight blue);
• Twilight (Ultra violet);
• Black (The new deep black).

The dimensions of the gadget are slightly different from the P10 model. Height – 149.1 millimeters, thickness – 7.7 millimeters, width – 70.8 millimeters and weight – 165 grams. In general, we can say that the Huawei P20 smartphone is not only attractive, but also durable. And not least because the developers gave preference to high-quality materials.

Appearance

If you compare the Huawei P20 and P20 Light in appearance, the devices are practically no different. Both devices are not slippery, and the phones are the same in terms of the number of colors. In order not to describe the models completely, because there are a lot of reviews on the Internet, for comparison it makes sense to indicate only the differences - they are minimal.

1. The older model has a fingerprint scanner located under the screen. Due to this, the diagonal is slightly smaller than that of the P20 Lite. The latter has a scanner located on the back; it is a traditionally round module.

2. The next difference is that the older device has a laser focus. It is located under the camera and just above the flash. The Lite version does not have autofocus.

3. The P20 has a glass back panel that resembles a mirror; the P20 Lite has a back panel made of several layers that shimmer beautifully in the sun.
4. Another point that can make it clear which device is cheaper is the side edges. The edges of both devices are sloping, but the P20 has a distinctly metallic feel to it. The P20 Lite also has a metal frame, but it's made to feel like plastic.
5. The younger device has a lower quality oleophobic layer. The model quickly becomes covered with fingerprints, both front and back.

The arrangement of elements, control buttons - everything is completely identical. If you look at the phones and don’t pick them up, it seems that they are almost twins. But when the devices fall into the palm of your hand, the difference becomes noticeable. This was done so that, after looking at the models, the buyer became interested in both devices, but when he took them in his hand, he felt the difference and bought a more expensive version.

Conclusion. The models do not differ in design, and no participant in the competition receives a point. But in terms of tactile sensations, the P20 is a cut above and due to this, it takes the lead with a score of 2:0.

Display

One of the main features that a buyer pays attention to before making a choice is the gadget’s screen. The Huawei P20 uses an elongated screen with an aspect ratio of 19:9. Such an original solution became available for the gadget thanks to a dedicated “forelock” where the earpiece and front camera are located.

The Huawei P20 display itself has a diagonal of 5.84 inches and 425 ppi. Its resolution is 2240x1080 pixels. That is, this figure is even slightly higher than that of a FullHD+ screen. LTPS matrix.

You can unlock the screen using the face recognition function. It works fine, just like the fingerprint scanner. Although in fairness, it must be said that the facial recognition function on the Huawei P20 sometimes does not cope with the task. But this does not interfere much with using a smartphone.

The decision to enlarge the screen made it possible to keep the gadget quite compact, but at the same time use an overall matrix. It turned out that the display occupies more than 80% of the front panel area. There are frames, but they are so thin that they are almost invisible. The smartphone has unexpectedly pleasant viewing angles and high brightness.

So, the display parameters are as follows:

• Type IPS LCD (Full View Display, LTPS, cutout in the screen);
• Resolution 2244 x 1080;
• Screen protection is provided by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, 2.5D;
• Screen diagonal 5.8 inches (18.7:9);
• Color rendition 16.7 million shades;
• Pixel density 429 ppi.

The display supports multi-touch.

Video recording

The device can shoot 4K videos and it does it quite well. It won’t be able to compete with the iPhone X and Google Pixel 2, but it shoots decently among other competitors.

Image stabilization (digital only) works perfectly, but only when recording Full HD and 30 frames per second. If you set the frequency to 60 fps, then stabilization will no longer work.

Like the Samsung S9, our hero learned how to shoot Slow Motion video at 960 fps. The quality is quite good, but the resolution suffers. It is only 1280 by 720 pixels. Sony Xperia XZ2 can shoot the same thing at Full HD resolution.

Sound

On the Huawei P20, quite close attention was paid to sound. The smartphone has a loud external speaker, which allows you not to miss a call because the person did not hear the melody playing.

Despite the fact that the quality of the speaker is high, slight distortion is still observed at low and high frequencies. But this is a common problem for smartphones in this series, which does not greatly affect the enjoyment of using the Huawei P20. In particular, because people listen to music on headphones, and when there is a call, few people enjoy the melody.

As for the conversational speaker, it showed its best side. In a conversation, the person on the other end can be heard perfectly. No extraneous noise or distortion was noticed.

For convenience, the developers included Bluetooth 4.2 in the package. In addition, the gadget supports almost all major LTE frequencies. Let's take a closer look at the multimedia capabilities of the Huawei P20:

• Loudspeaker – yes;
• Supports audio formats: AAC, AAC+, AMR, ASF, FLAC, M4A, MIDI, MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA, eAAC+;
• Audio jack – yes;
• FM radio – yes.

There are two perforations for a multimedia speaker. There is no stereo sound, as there is only one speaker. Because of this, if you block it with your hand while holding the phone horizontally, the sound is noticeably lost. There is no 3.5 mm jack. It is impossible to listen to music with headphones and charge your smartphone, which causes some discomfort.

Equipment

I received my sample without a kit, so we will study the accessories in absentia:

• power unit
• USB C cable
• USB-C -> 3.5 mm headphone adapter
• case
• headset with USB-C plug

The smartphone can immediately be criticized for the lack of a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

How is it usually done? They cut out the audio output and add protection from water and dust. In the case of Huawei P20, there is neither one nor the other. There is only splash protection (IP53), so you should not swim with the P20.

Cameras

Definitely, one of the strengths of the Huawei P20 is its excellent camera. The gadget received a stylish and powerful dual Leica camera model. The main camera has a 12-megapixel sensor. Its distinctive feature is excellent image stabilization and good aperture ratio (1.8). It is paired with a monochrome 20-megapixel module with an aperture ratio of 1.6. The front camera is also strong – 24 megapixels and F/2.0 aperture.

Another important detail is the large pixel size. Thanks to this, you can shoot even in relative darkness. In any case, the image will be clear. Digital noise in photographs is kept to a minimum. As a result, photos taken with this smartphone resemble in quality photos taken with a DSLR camera. And, of course, I’m very pleased with the range of the camera. It is wide and dynamic, which makes the picture quality even higher.

When reviewing the Huawei camera, you need to indicate that the user has the ability to record video. Moreover, in the popular 4K format today. The device can be unlocked through the facial recognition system installed on the front camera.

Let's take a closer look at the camera's characteristics:

• The main camera consists of two parts: 12 megapixels + 20 MP, 4000 x 3000 pixels (RGB + monochrome);
• Dual two-color flash;
• Front camera: 24 megapixels and F/2.0 aperture. There is a front flash:
• The gadget has geo-tags;
• It is possible to make video calls;
• Video is recorded in 2160p (4K). Takes 30 frames per second;
• Uses 2x zoom;
• Ability to use panoramic photography;
• There are different modes available on cameras. For example, portrait, night (with shutter speed up to 5 seconds), etc.;
• Autofocus, regulation using gestures, Time Lapse, HDR;
• Detects smiles and focuses when you tap on the screen.

In Huawei P20, the developers tried to implement the artificial intelligence algorithm as much as possible. The smartphone determines what exactly we are photographing and automatically improves the image. As a result, even if you take a photo in a dark room, you will get a clear picture and not blurry spots. And all because the camera compensates for the lack of lighting by reducing shutter speed.

Huawei P20 takes photos quickly. There are no shutter lags (they are minimal). Even pictures taken automatically look great. Moreover, if the lighting on the street is good, then it is almost impossible to distinguish between pictures taken on this gadget and on the more advanced P20 Pro model.

Zoom

The first Huawei P20 camera with 12 megapixels is equipped with a lens with a focal length of 27 mm. The second module is already 20 megapixels and is covered with glass with the same focal length. However, given that the resolution of the second camera is higher, overlaying images on top of each other gives us a conditionally optical, 2x zoom.

The thing is very useful, because you can easily bring closer an object that is located in the distance and for which there is no way to get closer. Yes, this is not the 10x hybrid zoom in the Huawei P20 Pro, however, the tool works well here too. Let's look at examples, immediately followed by 100% crops to evaluate the quality of the images.

Night

The P20 handles night shots just fine! High detail, not suppressed by noise reduction, excellent white balance, and so on.

Separately about the “Night” mode, which, as always, is excellent. By the way, this scenario is present on all devices from Huawei and distinguishes them from their competitors. For a great shot taken at Night, you will definitely need a tripod. In this mode, the automation sets a high shutter speed for 10-15 seconds, depending on the lighting level. As a result, the pictures are perfectly balanced in light, bright, almost daytime. Of course, you can’t get away with this.

Professional mode

The device can shoot in RAW (only in Pro mode) and does it very well. Here are a couple of examples of images, the first of which was shot on automatic in JPEG, and the second was developed from RAW format (.DNG in this case):

If you do a little magic when converting a photo from RAW, you can get a very interesting result:

Another example. Automatically, the bright red tulip petals merge into one mess. If you shoot in RAW, then during development you can stretch the image and colors at the same time to a higher level.

That is why I recommend that you definitely adopt the “Pro” mode. It would be a sin not to use all the capabilities of the Huawei P20 camera to the fullest.

Memory and memory card

In terms of memory, the developers spared nothing. Users can also get a good amount of RAM (4 GB is more than enough for the gadget to work fully). They also did not spare the built-in memory. With 128 GB of free space, this is quite enough even without additional memory card slots.

More details about the memory of this smartphone:

• Volume of permanent memory (ROM) – 128 GB (UFS);
• Random access memory (RAM) – 4 GB (LPDDR4X;
• There is no separate slot for a memory card; there is a micro-SD, which is used instead of a second SIM card.

conclusions

So, Huawei P20 is a mid-range device in the line. This device truly deserves to be called a flagship. The performance of the smartphone is up to par. The operating time of the smartphone is excellent. 3400 mAh with an energy-efficient processor and moderate use is enough for one and a half days of continuous operation. In busy mode, the battery life will be a full daylight hours. The camera allows you to create masterpieces with minimal effort and knowledge in photo and video shooting. Nice design and compact size make the smartphone very comfortable. It is also worth noting the fast operation of the fingerprint scanner and facial recognition for unlocking. Well, the shortcomings of the display, which at the moment are caused more by the lack of optimization of Android 8 Oreo and individual applications under the cutout in the upper part, are easily eliminated using the settings. The price remains. In Kazakhstan, the official price of Huawei P20 is set at 299,990 tenge (approximately $915). In Russia, this smartphone costs much less - 44,990 rubles (approximately $715).

Connection

Users who have already purchased a Huawei P20 and used it have no complaints about the connection. Signal reception, wireless interfaces and sensors are excellent.

Let's discuss this indicator in more detail:

• The gadget has a hybrid nano-SIM slot for 2 SIM cards;
• The GSM communication standard is used;
• The following 2G networks (GSM) operate: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 MHz;
• It is possible to work with the following 3G networks (HSDPA): HSDPA 850, HSDPA 900, HSDPA 1900, HSDPA 2100 MHz;
• Supports the following 4G networks (LTE): LTE 700, LTE 1900, LTE 900, LTE 1700, LTE 850, LTE 2600, LTE 1800, LTE 800, LTE 2100, LTE 2300 MHz.

Screen

Unlike the P20 Pro, which used an AMOLED display, the Huawei P20 has an IPS screen with a diagonal of 5.8″, occupying ~80.4% of the front panel (for the P20 Pro – 6.1″ and 82%, respectively). They have the same resolution and proportions - 1080x2240 pixels, aspect ratio 18.7:9 (as a result, the pixel density of the P20 is higher - ~429 PPI versus ~408 PPI for the P20 Pro). The screen is covered with glass with an oleophobic coating; a protective film is glued to it out of the box.

In the screen settings (Settings – Display – Color and eye protection – Color mode and temperature) you can switch between two video modes – “normal”, in which the color gamut turns out to be quite narrow (somewhat less than the sRGB space), which leads to rather dull colors , and “bright”, where the coverage is maximum and is not much different from that of AMOLED screens. The colors become much brighter and more saturated. The color temperature in the “normal” mode almost perfectly corresponds to the standard value of 6500K, in the “bright” mode it is noticeably higher - this gives the image a noticeable coldish tint; However, it is very easy to fix this; just switch the corresponding parameter in the same menu item from “default” to “warm”. In general, it is worth noting that the screen is well calibrated and displays a high-quality picture.

Vivid mode:

Normal mode:

According to our measurements, the maximum screen brightness when filled with white is 350 cd/m², the minimum is 1.3 cd/m². Outdoors the display noticeably dims, so in mild autumn sun the brightness has to be turned up to maximum to get acceptable visibility.

Battery life and performance

The Huawei P20 has a non-removable Li-Po 3400 mAh battery. It supports Huawei Super Charge fast charging mode, but you cannot charge the gadget wirelessly.

The operating time in different modes is as follows:

• Standby mode – no more than 290 hours;
• Music listening mode – no more than 40 hours;
• Talk time – no more than 14 hours;
• Video viewing mode – no more than 8 hours.

The Huawei P20 has an octa-core Kirin 970 processor with a maximum clock speed of 2360 MHz. At the same time, four cores use the Cortex-A73 architecture, which has high power. The processor was equipped with an NPU chip. His task is to be responsible for the work of artificial intelligence built into the gadget. High performance is ensured by a high-quality Mali-G72 MP12 graphics accelerator.

Essentially, the Huawei P20 has almost the same specifications as the P20 Pro. Of course, there is less RAM, but this is not a big deal. This gadget showed its performance in GeekBench. It scored 1886 points in the single-core test and 6728 points in the multi-core test. At the same time, for comparison, the performance of the Galaxy S9 in multicore is 9 thousand points, and the iPhone X is 10 thousand.

The device in question can easily cope with any task. For example, a smartphone can easily handle almost all games at maximum settings. However, it gets warm when playing.

Loading apps is fast too. The interface does not sag and works relatively smoothly. Of course, the work cannot be called ideal, but the gadget behaves more than worthy, so it can be included in the list of top flagships.

Review and characteristics of the flagship Huawei P20

P20 is a new smartphone from the leading Chinese brand, in which it has implemented its best developments.
It’s not in vain that there was such a leap in the name, because they could have released P11, but instead we immediately get P20, which hints at a huge leap in terms of technical characteristics and functionality. But for the most part, this applies to the Pro version, which received a triple main camera that can do 5x zoom without loss of quality and, in general, can be described as the best on the mobile market. The Huawei P20 review shows that it has a new design that looks great and stands out from the competition. The device feels confident in its price category, but unlike the Pro version, it is not so far removed from its predecessor. The manufacturer continues to collaborate with Leica, which produces some of the best lenses on the market. Therefore, on the back side there is a double Leica Summilux module, but this is not the only feature of the device. It uses an artificial intelligence system that is part of the Kirin 970 processor. The AI ​​is especially useful when working with the camera, it selects the ideal mode depending on the subject and shooting conditions, which allows you to get the best result. As a result, the quality of photos in low-light conditions has increased, which is also helped by artificial intelligence. Let's review the Huawei P20 for the first time and see how the new flagship from the manufacturer turned out.

Buy Huawei P20 on Aliexpress

Price

Naturally, after considering all the above-described parameters of the smartphone, you want to buy it. Or at least find out how much such a miracle costs. So, the price of the gadget is quite high, considering its parameters. This is a device that combines quality and an affordable price threshold.

In domestic stores, prices for Huawei P20 start at 39 thousand rubles. The average cost of a smartphone is 42,750 rubles. The minimum cost that we were able to find in stores is from 38,580 rubles, and the maximum is up to 47,690 rubles.

Bottom line

Huawei managed to create what seems to be the best device for photo and video shooting at the moment. At least that's what the numbers and data say. We'll see how the P20 series performs in practice after the start of official sales. The dates are set as follows:

• Huawei P20 will hit shelves on March 27 at a price of €649 (about 46,000 rubles)
• Huawei P20 Pro will be released on April 6 at a price of €899 (about 64,000 rubles)

It is quite possible that smartphones will reach Russian stores a little later than the official launches.

Huawei

Smartphone impression

Of course, this smartphone has its drawbacks, like any gadget. While making a full review of the Huawei P20, we must not forget about them. Let's look at them in more detail:

• No wireless charging;
• There is no stereo sound (there is only one speaker);
• The facial recognition feature sometimes lags;
• No memory card.

Despite the above disadvantages, Huawei P20 is one of the best models in terms of price-quality ratio. It has an excellent camera, holds a charge for a long time and has many other positive qualities. To summarize, we can say that the Huawei P20 is an inexpensive gadget that has the features of the most expensive flagships. Therefore, the device can be called a worthy choice.

Battery

Both models have a non-removable battery, but the older model has a larger 400 mAh battery. If we translate this into hours of use, then the P20 can withstand about 1.5 days of load, the P20 Lite will last 18-20 hours. From the point of view of watching videos and games, the results are the same - 5 hours of toys, 7-8 hours of movies. The P20, with a slightly larger battery, has a serious advantage in autonomy, and this was achieved thanks to a processor that is more intelligent than its younger brother.

On a note! Huawei P20 Pro, the oldest brother in the family, can work without charging for about two days, which is very worthy for a modern flagship.

The P20 has SuperCharge charging technology, a junior QuickCharge device . The difference lies in the battery charging time. The older model will reach 65% in 30 minutes, and 100% charge in 70 minutes. The younger device will receive 50% of the battery in 30 minutes, and can get the full amount in 100 minutes. The difference is significant.

Conclusion. After assessing autonomy, the point goes to P20, and the score becomes 3:1