Announced and on sale to consumers in March 2019, the Huawei P30 range is Huawei’s 9^th generation of smartphones in its flagship P series.

In this review, we’re going to look at everything you’ll find in the Huawei P30 if you decide to buy this handset. We’ll also look at how the Huawei P30 stacks up against Samsung and Apple’s latest flagship smartphones, as well as highlight the differences in the standard Huawei P30 against the P30 Lite and P30 Pro models.

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Huawei P30: In a Nutshell

In this section we’ll provide a short overview of the Huawei P30, giving you a summary of the key features in this smartphone. If you want to know about the Huawei P30 in detail, then continue to read on through this guide.

As we’ve learned to expect from Huawei, the P30 is a very impressive handset, with the camera being the undoubted star of the show. The Huawei P30 boasts a triple lens rear facing camera, with the cameras themselves being 40MP, 16MP, and 8MP, and delivering 3x optical zoom alongside a vast array of other features and tools that will make your pictures look incredible. These cameras are complemented by an improved 32MP wide lens selfie camera.

The screen display is 6.1-inches, OLED Full HD+ and offers versatility and a brightness setting whether you’re discretely watching something in a dark area or trying to see your screen in bright sunlight.

The Huawei P30 comes in a 128GB model as standard with 6GB of RAM in the “regular” model, while an additional 256GB of storage can be added via the shared SIM slot.

How Much Does the Huawei P30 Cost?

What you will pay for your Huawei P30 depends on a range of factors, not least whether you choose to buy your handset outright from a retailer or choose to acquire the phone on a contract from a mobile network.

Upon launch in March 2019, the Huawei P30 cost £699, but as of March 2020 prior to the launch of the new generation P40, the handset was available to buy outright for £499. By contrast the Huawei P30 Pro was priced at £899 at launch, and is now available for £699, while the P30 Lite is available at a lower cost of £299.

Huawei P30 Pro Deals

What’s New in the Huawei P30?

One of the main areas of focus both for brands when launching new smartphones and for consumers when choosing them is the upgrades and improvements that feature in the latest handset. What’s new in the Huawei P30?

Improved Camera Performance

If you’re a long-time user of Huawei handsets, you’ll know that the P in the model number stands for photography.

As we’ve come to expect from Huawei, the camera on the P30 packs a significant punch and is a big upgrade on the previous generation’s P20. The P30 carries a triple lens camera headlined by a 40MP wide lens, up from 20MP on the P20, while the selfie camera on the P30 improves to a 32MP wide lens from a 24MP wide lens on the P20.

Even Better Battery Life

Along with camera performance, battery life is another area where Huawei phones are known to excel. With the battery on the P20 weighing in at an already impressive 3,400mAh, the unit on the P30 comes in at 3,650mAh, giving you more power to take photographs and go about your daily business. You should easily get an extra 6 – 8 hours of regular use out of the battery on this phone in comparison to the P20.

Headphone Jack

While many thought the P20 would be the end of the headphone jack on Huawei smartphones for good, it’s back in the P30, although Huawei did launch a range of wireless headphones alongside other wearables such as smart glasses and watches.

If you prefer to use wired headphones though, you’ll be in business with the Huawei P30. Who’d have thought that a smartphone that launched in 2019 would be boasting a headphone jack as a new feature?!

Huawei P30 vs Huawei P20 Comparison

Now that we’ve looked at some of the new – or returning – features on the Huawei P30, let’s take a closer look at how this handset compares to the previous generation P20.

*Launch prices, both handsets now available cheaper.

While the price of the P30 at launch was £100 more than the P20, the scale of the upgrades included in this handset make the price one that is well worth paying.

The screen is bigger and the display much improved, the camera adds another lens and doubles the potential resolution as well as introducing optical zoom to a Huawei P series handset for the first time. The selfie camera has had an upgrade, and the battery has got better too, all while bringing back the headphone jack! There aren’t many drawbacks to the Huawei P30 in comparison to the previous generation smartphone.

Huawei P30 vs iPhone 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S20 Comparison

Whether you’re looking to upgrade an existing Huawei handset, are looking to experience a new operating system or brand, or are just generally looking around for the smartphone you’re going to buy next, it’s always worth comparing different phones.

The below table compares the Huawei P30 to the latest flagship smartphones from Apple and Samsung, the iPhone 11 and the Galaxy S20.

The comparison across all three of these phones is excellent, as in different areas each smartphone has its strengths. On that basis, you can be confident buying the Huawei P30 or any of these handsets depending on which one most fits your needs.

If you want a great camera without paying top of the market prices, then the P30 is a great choice. If you’re looking for more internal storage then the iPhone 11 is a great buy, while if you want the very best camera and don’t mind paying top prices then you can opt for the Samsung Galaxy S20.

Comparing all Three Versions of the Huawei P30

As well as launching a standard model of the P30, Huawei has also released a P30 Lite and a P30 Pro model, meaning if you want the P30 but aren’t sure exactly what you need out of your smartphone, you can choose the same model but with reduced or higher spec based on your requirements.

Compare Huawei’s three P30 models in the table below.

In a similar fashion to when we compared the Huawei P30 to other manufacturers’ flagship smartphone models, there’s plenty of difference across the P30 range for you to choose the exact handset based on what you’re likely to use it for.

If you want a phone with a great camera but aren’t too bothered about your handset having the best processing power or battery, the P30 Lite is incredible value at its price. You’d probably pay more to buy a digital camera that wouldn’t be as good as the camera you’d be getting in this phone!

If you’re looking for extra processing power and a longer lasting battery, as well as even more features and technology built into your camera, then the Huawei P30 Pro is a great option, particularly as it’s the only P30 model that offers more than 128GB internal storage.

Huawei P30 Design

The Huawei P30 is a smart and stylish smartphone. Despite being loaded with technology, a bigger battery than the P20, and a range of new features, it remains a mid-sized smartphone. If you’re currently a Samsung user, the Huawei P30 is almost exactly the same size as the Galaxy S10 if you’re looking for a comparison.

Like most modern, premium smartphones, the front and back of the P30 is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass with the phone housed within an aluminium frame. One downside of the P30 is the camera bump on the rear of the handset, although the phone will still look amazing in your hand, particularly given the range of colours in which it is available and Huawei’s usual glossy finish. This is definitely a handset to get people asking you what you’ve got. No-one will assume you’re using an iPhone with a vibrant and colourful P30 in your hand!

Huawei P30 Display

While the display on the Huawei P30 is not “full screen” in the same manner as Samsung handsets are, Huawei are almost there, and the P30 certainly looks better than the iPhone 11 in this regard.

The screen size itself is 6.1-inches in OLED with Full HD+ capability, with the standard screen resolution set at 2340 x 1080. The Huawei P30’s display really stands out when exploring the brightness settings, giving you a vivid colour set and ensuring you can keep using your phone effectively even in the brightest sunlight. When using the maximum brightness settings the colours do pale a little, but not enough to spoil the quality of the picture or that you will notice to any great extent.

Whatever you’re planning to predominantly use your Huawei P30 for, it’s going to look great on this display!

Huawei P30 Camera

The headline feature on a Huawei P series phone is always going to be the camera, even when the phone is loaded with a range of additional features. The camera quality is what will drive many of you to consider a Huawei smartphone in the first place, and it’s what Huawei most focuses on when launching and marketing their latest handsets.

In addition to the incredible triple lens camera itself, the Huawei P30 comes loads with a range of tools and effects that will help you make your photos even better.

The cameras themselves are a 40MP wide lens, a 16MP ultra-wide lens, and an 8MP telephoto lens.

The 40MP lens is loaded with Huawei’s Super Spectrum technology. This changes the way in which the phone captures light in comparison to other smartphone cameras, helping you to take photos that look more natural and less like an obvious photo. This technology also plays its part in the impressive capability of this phone when it comes to taking photographs in low light settings and when using the P30’s night mode functionality.

While the enhanced colour mode is a fantastic means of boosting how vivid your shots look, it doesn’t work that well in conjunction with night mode, if anything making the shots look too bright and colourful rather than a realistic capture of what you’re pointing at.

In addition to the 3x optical zoom offered in the camera, users can also enjoy 30x digital zoom for photography or 10x digital zoom for videos. The P30 Pro goes even further, offering 50x digital zoom! The zoom functionality on the P30 will capture high levels of detail, but the quality of the photographs taken does start to reduce the further zoomed in you are.

When it comes to shooting video, the rear facing cameras can be used to shoot resolutions from 720p HD to 4K Ultra HD. While video effects are unavailable at the highest resolutions, the video quality you’ll get should reduce the need for you to add too much to your videos anyway.

The selfie camera on the P30 comes in at 32MP, and takes incredible quality, detailed shots that can be enhanced further using a range of lighting effects and features that are built into the phone.

Huawei P30 Software

The Huawei P30 runs on an Android operating system and is fitted with a HiSilicon Kirin 980 chipset and octa-core CPU, which help to drive impressive performance in this smartphone. You’ll be able to use multiple apps at once comfortably without seeing a decline in the speed of your device.

This device comes with 128GB internal storage and is powered by 6GB of RAM.

The Huawei P30 uses a shared SIM slot so that you can add a nano memory card to add up to a further 256GB of storage if you wish to. One drawback of doing this is that Huawei smartphones are only compatible with Huawei memory cards, so if you don’t wish to buy it you should set up cloud storage for photos, videos, and other things that typically take up the largest amounts of space in your handset.

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Huawei P30 Battery Life

The battery life on the Huawei P30 is impressive. Even if you’re using your phone fairly heavily throughout the day, you’ll still have plenty of juice left when it’s time to head home in the evening. The phone has built in AI to close apps that are using battery in the background and optimise your phone and battery based on your usage patterns.

Whether you’re watching HD videos, gaming, or creating your own photo and video content, the P30 will keep you with the battery life you need.

The P30 also supports Huawei’s SuperCharge technology, which is a charger sold separately that Huawei’s claims will give you 100% charge in as little as 17 minutes, which is truly incredible. In the box you’ll get a standard Huawei charger, and even this can fully charge your battery in around an hour, which is still far better than what most smartphones and chargers are capable of.

One downside to the P30 is that it doesn’t support wireless charging, so you will need to keep your charger on you and find somewhere to charge your device if you’re already running low on battery when you leave the house.

Huawei P30 Pros and Cons

We’ve covered everything you need to know in our Huawei P30 review, but is it worth buying?

The Huawei P30 is Worth Buying, If…..

You want an amazing camera without paying the higher price of a Samsung Galaxy S20. The camera on the P30 is up there with the very best available on a smartphone and the tech in the phone gives you an incredible array of tools and effects to make your shots even better.

The phone also offers impressive battery life and processing power, and is a great “all round” phone while boasting the standout camera.

The Huawei P30 Isn’t Worth Buying, If…..

You need more than 128GB internal storage and don’t want to be tied into buying another Huawei product. You always have the option of uploading your own photo and video content to the cloud to save space, but if you want everything on your device and want to choose your SD card, look elsewhere as you’re also limited to an additional 256GB with the P30.

Wrap Up: Huawei P30 Review

The Huawei P30 is a very good smartphone. Boasting an exceptional camera, as well as a great look and a powerful processor, there isn’t really that much not to like, although slight drawbacks like the lack of wireless charging functionality might be a dealbreaker for anyone who relies on these functions to get them through the day, albeit the battery life on this phone is hugely impressive, too.