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Huawei P20: Snappish snaps, but for £200 less than Pro, it’s Notch bad

Mercurial imaging detracts from a solid advance

A Match for the Best?

How does the P20 compare to Apple's phablet flagship? The first picture shows the same scene, so you can judge.

Huawei P20 Sample Image

Huawei P20 - Click to enlarge

iPhone 8 Plus Bike 1x

iPhone 8 Plus (1x) - Click to enlarge

Here's how the P20's 2x zoom compares to the iPhone 8 Plus' 2x zoom. Both are apparently lossless.
iPhone8P 2X

iPhone 8 Plus using 2x zoom - Click to enlarge

Huawei P20 2x Zoom Bike

Huawei P20 using 2x zoom. Oh dear - Click to enlarge

This demonstrates well how the Huawei's oversharpening and smoothing are interfering. The wall is horribly mottled, and the Huawei has erased a dried up mudsplash (just above the crank set) that's clearly visible in the iPhone photo.

This one surprised me, as it's an interesting use of the Night Mode. I'm shooting up at an overcast sky, around sunset, but with the Huawei I used the long exposure feature to grab more light. The Huawei won out for a change, whereas the blossom captured by the Apple device are either too light or dark.

8Plus Blossom

iPhone 8 Plus - Click to enlarge

P20 Blossom NightMode

Click to enlarge

The Verdict

The Huawei P20 is a strong contender at a price point that rivals have vacated, and in many ways represents the state of the art in clever design. The compact design maximises the area for the stuff you're interested in and the basics of calling and endurance are admirably addressed.

All four major carriers are stocking it, and shopping around should find you a bargain. Much of the promise of the £200-more-expensive Pro is on offer here. But so are the frustrations.

It's a pity those four flagship tick-box features (memory card expansion, wireless charging, waterproofing, audio jack) are missing, for I think it would clean up at this price. When three years go I called Huawei "Apple and Samsung's worst nightmare" there was much mockery. No one's laughing now, but you wonder if Huawei's biggest enemy isn't a competitive rival, but itself. ®

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