Huawei P20 Pro
Three cameras and a mirrored purple back delineate the Huawei P20 Pro from other phones. But how does it compete with the likes of the iPhone X, Galaxy S9 Plus and Pixel 2? To find out I took hundreds of photos and videos in a variety of environments.
The next slides are comparison photos taken with each phone. No post-processing was done.
Galaxy S9 Plus - Park
The next five photos were all taken at Dolores Park in San Francisco.
iPhone X - Park
The iPhone X's photo has a nice punchy look.
Pixel 2 - Park
The Pixel 2 did a good job at protecting the highlights, but the overall image is a tad dark.
Huawei P20 Pro - Park
This was taken in the Huawei P20 Pro's regular photo mode.
Huawei P20 Pro - Master AI
I used the Master AI on this photo which identified the sky in the picture and optimized it.
iPhone X - Portrait mode
The next four photos are from Portrait mode on each phone.
Huawei P20 Pro - Portrait mode
Her face looks more flat in this photo than the other phones.
Pixel 2 - Portrait mode
The Pixel 2 did a great job getting the details in her face. But the background is a little off.
Galaxy S9 Plus - Portriat mode
This one is my favorite of the bunch.
iPhone X - Low light
These next photos were taken at the Hotel Utah of Youth In A Roman Field performing.
Galaxy S9 Plus
Saturated red light in a dark environment like this club is one of the worst setups for photography. I'm impressed with how the Galaxy S9 Plus handled it.
Pixel 2
I like that the Pixel 2 handles high contrast low light scenes like this so well. There is still noise in the shadows, but it didn't clip the highlights on the performer's face.
Huawei P20 Pr0 - Low Light and zoom
I used the P20 Pro's 3x optical zoom here.
Huawei P20 Pro - Master AI
A picture taken with "Blue Sky" optimization turned off.
Huawei P20 Pro - Master Ai
A picture taken with "Blue Sky" optimization turned on.
Galaxy S9 Plus
I used pro mode on the Galaxy S9 Plus to get this shot.
Huawei P20 Pro
I also used Pro mode here, too. Only the Huawei P20 Pro and Galaxy S9 Plus out of the four have a pro mode.
Pixel 2
I'm impressed with what the Pixel 2 was able to get especially zoomed in so far.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus
I like the way the Galaxy S9 Plus captured this scene.
Huawei P20 Pro - Night mode
I used Night mode here.
Huawei P20 Pro
This photo was taken in the regular camera mode on the P20 Pro.
Women's Building
Four pictures of the Women's Building in San Francisco.
Side-by-side - Zoom compare
Four photos taken from the same place. The iPhone X and Galaxy S9 Plus photos (top and bottom left) were both taken with 2X optical zoom. The Huawei P20 Pro photo (bottom right) was taken with 3X optical zoom. And the Pixel 2 photo (top right) was taken with 2X digital zoom.
Huawei P20 Pro - Zoom
This was taken with the Huawei P20 Pro's 3X optical zoom.
Galaxy S9 Plus - Zoom
This was taken with the Galaxy S9 Plus' 2X optical zoom.
Pixel 2 - Zoom
This was was captured with the Pixel 2's 2X digital zoom.
iPhone X - Zoom
This picture was taken with the 2X optical zoom on the iPhone X.
Huawei P20 Pro - Night mode
This photo was taken with in regular photo mode on the Huawei P20 Pro.
Huawei P20 Pro - Night mode
This photo was taken in Night mode which takes a series of photos over a 4 second exposure.
Huawei P20 Pro - Night mode
Though it wasn't night, I took this photo inside a theater with the P20 Pro's Night mode.
Huawei P20 Pro - Zoom
This was taken with the P20 Pro's 3X optical zoom.
Huawei P20 Pro - Zoom
This was taken with the P20 Pro's 5X Hybrid zoom (digital and optical zoom).
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
The remainder of pictures were all taken with the Huawei P20 Pro. This was at a Wu-Tang Clan concert in San Francisco.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
HBO hosted a Westworld event. You were given either a black hat or a white hat.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
The dome atop San Francisco city hall lit up to celebrate the Golden State Warriors.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
The San Francisco Chronicle building at sunrise.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
A close up of the clock tower taken with the Huawei's 3X optical zoom.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
The Castro Theater during the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
This gentleman played piano covers of Radiohead and the Rolling Stones at the Westworld event.
Huawei P20 Pro
With three rear cameras and a partnership with Leica, the Huawei P20 Pro has lots of promise as a image making machine. I compared it to three of the best camera phones out there: The iPhone X, Pixel 2 and Galaxy S9 Plus.
The following are pictures taken with each for comparison.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
Inside the Toronado Pub.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
A cat that doesn't want her picture taken.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
A life-sized drone from the Westworld event.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
A sweet old white Ford Bronco.
Huawei P20 Pro - Photo
For a more in-depth look at the four phones, check out our in-depth camera comparison of the Huawei P20 Pro, iPhone X, Pixel 2 and Galaxy S9 Plus.
iPhone X
This was the best shot of that same moon that I was able to get with the iPhone X.