Huawei has unveiled in Paris its latest flagship smartphones, the P30 series. The top model, the P30 Pro comes with an entirely new quad back camera, designed again with Leica, while the standard P30 has a triple camera. The phones are available to pre-order and will be in shops from 05 April, starting at EUR 749 and going up to EUR 1,099.
The quad camera is the main new feature of the P30 Pro. In addition to wide angle, ultra wide angle and telephoto lenses, it comes with a so-called Time of Flight (ToF) lens, for improved bokeh effects as well as functions like facial recognition. The other lenses include a 40-megapixel, f/1.6 wide angle (27mm) sensor with OIS and AI image stabilisation; a 20-megapixel, f/2.4 ultra wide angle (16mm, 120+ degrees) sensor and an 8-megapixel, f/3.4 telephoto lens (125mm) with 5x optical zoom and OIS.
To improve light exposure and night photos on the camera, Huawei and Leica developed a RYYB (Red-Yellow-Yellow--Blue) sensor, replacing the traditional RGBG sensor. The new design means an increased maximum ISO value of 409,600. Additional AI and stabilisation functions help create new features such as Silk Water effect and Super Portrait mode and support low-light 4K video recording at 60 fps with a range of editing options.
The standard P30 comes with three back cameras, similar to the Mate 20 Pro released late last year. These are a f/1.8, 40-megapixel wide angle, 16-megapixel f/2.2 standard lens and 8 megapixel f/2.4 telephoto lens. The front camera on both models offers 32 megapixels and an aperture of f/2.0.
The phones run Huawei's latest top processor, the Kirin 980 and will be available in black as well as the new colours Breathing Crystal, Amber Sunrise and Aurora. The Pro model will be available with 8 GB RAM and a choice of 128, 256 or 512 GB internal storage, while the P30 comes with 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage. Memory on both can be increased with Huawei's own NM cards.
The standard P30 has a smaller screen than the P30 Pro model, at 6.1 inches versus 6.47 inches, while both have an OLED with FHD+ resolution, top 'dew drop' notch and in-display fingerprint reader. The P30 Pro provides a bigger battery of 4,200 mAh compared to 3,650 mAh on the standard P30 and both offer 40W SuperCharge for fast charging. The latter still includes a 3.5mm audio jack, while the Pro model does without and adds a vibrating screen instead of separate speakers to enhance music playback. The P30 Pro offers IP68 certification against water and dust, while the P30 comes with a lower IP53 certification.
The new P series comes exactly a year after its predecessors the P20 and P20 Pro, which Huawei said sold over 16 million units.
