Huawei P30 Pro camera samples: Is it really a 'Super Camera Phone'?

Huawei P30 Pro went on sale in India on Monday, April 15, bringing Indians closer to owning the absolute flagship killer that challenges popular choices from Samsung and Apple. Huawei P30 Pro is priced at Rs 71,990, but there are some incredible launch offers to make this price well worth your while. That's on top of the excellent value for money Huawei P30 Pro offers its consumers.

Huawei P30 Pro is an all-rounder smartphone, with the best of hardware and software choices done right to make sure consumers get optimum user experience. Be it design, camera, battery or performance, Huawei P30 Pro knows how to impress.

While I inch closer to completing my review of the P30 Pro, it's unfair to give a special shout out to the phone's impressive camera. After all, the company spent quite a lot of time talking about the P30 Pro's camera and demonstrating some bold examples at the launch both in Paris and India. It's time for a reality check.

The Super Camera Phone

You'll see a lot of smartphone companies claiming their phone has the best camera. But Huawei's claim comes closest to the reality. Dubbed by the company as the "super camera phone," Huawei P30 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup at the back, featuring a 40-megapixel 1/1.7-inch SuperSpectrum Sensor with f/1.6 aperture (27mm) lens, a 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture (16mm) lens, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with an f/3.4 aperture (125mm) lens and Periscope zoom setup, and a Time-of-Flight (TOF) camera for better edge detection.

Now that's a setup that is hard to compete with, but Huawei upped the game by using an all-new custom RYYB Sony IMX600 sensor, which promises better low-light performance. After testing the camera, I won't be surprised to see other phone brands go with RYYB instead of RGGB sensor to excel in low-light photography.

Other highlights of the P30 Pro include dual OIS, a flicker sensor, and an impressive 409,600 ISO. Finally, the unmatched zooming capability of the P30 Pro is something you've heard a lot already. The P30 pro can shoot 5x in optical, 10x in hybrid and results in both modes aren't losing details. To blow your mind further, there's up to 50x digital zoom support so you can shoot the moon without spending anything on extra gear.

Enough words, check out some of the samples shot from Huawei P30 Pro that put the camera to test in challenging and different situations.

Let me show you how well the portrait mode works in different situations.

Zooming in was never fun on a smartphone, but Huawei P30 Pro changed that. Check out some shots I took below to demonstrate up to 50x zoom on the P30 Pro. Swipe to see zoom results:

Here's another famous sample after a lot of scepticism. I was mind-blown by this. To be perfectly clear, the first photo of the black hole was not shot on the P30 Pro even though some popular memes suggest otherwise. But I sure did shoot the moon from the Earth using the P30 Pro. 

With Huawei P30 Pro, it's also possible to get closer than close to the subject with Super Macro Mode. Let the Master AI do the switch to different modes whenever and wherever it deems necessary. See some more results here.

If you keep hearing a new Pixel 3 challenger is in the market, it is Huawei P30 Pro. Check out some low-light samples that challenge the dominant leader.

Finally, the P30 Pro is also quite capable of taking advantage of its ultra-wide angle lens to shoot your surroundings without having to take a step back. Here are a few more samples from the phone.

In case you're wondering about selfies, Huawei P30 Pro packs a 32-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 lens along with AI HDR+ that optimises selfies in different light conditions. 

Stay tuned for an in-depth review of Huawei P30 Pro soon.