This might’ve sounded preposterous a couple of years ago but as reality stands right now, Apple doesn’t make the best phone in the world — at least not by every mainstream measurable metric. In the last couple of years, Android smartphone makers have caught onto Apple especially in the realm of design, performance, camera quality and battery life. And today, there is no better phone than the Huawei P30 Pro that embodies this seismic shift in the balance of power in the smartphone sector. The Huawei P30 Pro is not only a better phone than the iPhone XS Max, but it is also just the best smartphone money can buy right now. Let me explain.
- The P30 Pro is a diva when it comes down to looks and the iPhone XS Max doesn’t hold a patch on it. With its snazzy gradient colours and curved glass facia that only has a teardrop for the sake of the selfie camera instead of a notch for a high tech facial recognition system, this phone looks like it has come from a galaxy far far away. It is also very ergonomic as it is narrower than the iPhone while also housing better water resistance of IP 68 compared to IP 67 on the iPhone. And yes, we’ve also dropped it more than 15 times and it has come away with just a minor ding on the corner edge. By now, I would’ve been in the Apple store doling out in-excess of Rs 40,000 for a broken glass back.
- Its camera technology is game-changing. The iPhone XS managed an iterative camera update with smart HDR processing and improved imaging hardware — but the P30 Pro is in a league of its own with its game-changing 4 camera system. Not only the P30 Pro takes better images in all conditions, but it also has a superlative portrait mode powered by a time of flight sensor, it has insane zoom capabilities that includes up-to 10x lossless zoom and 50x digital zoom that allows you to capture subjects like the moon from far far away. And lastly, it has a crazy night mode which can take images even in pitch dark. While doing so, it also combines practical video capabilities which while inferior to the iPhone will be good enough for most people.
- Battery life on the Huawei P30 Pro knocks the pants off any smartphone in the market. With its 4,200mAh battery, this phone delivers true all-day battery life with heavy duty usage. I can tell you that on an average I’ve been charging my P30 Pro around once in 3 days with extreme camera, email, phone call, WhatsApp and social media usage. Couple this with the fact that Huawei stacks the fastest wired charger in the market which juices the phone up to 100% in 2 hours, fastest wireless charging that happens at 15W and even reverse wireless charging — the iPhone seriously can’t compete here with its puny 5W charger and 14-hour battery life.
- Real world performance of this phone is on par with the iPhone with apps switching rapidly and games loading fast while the phone not slowing down. THE Kirin 980 processor comes with some great enhancements which allow it to compete with the blistering A12 processor on the iPhone. Even the gaming performance is good with GPU Boost 3 and the games looking realistic. Of course, these aren’t iPhone level of graphics and brute force performance, but for most people, this is good enough as the difference to the layman is imperceptible. And yes, we tested this — playing PUBG we found that the Huawei P30 Pro had almost the same graphics while staying cool, and the kicker here was that the phone lasted longer than the iPhone.
- Android as a software platform is more adaptable. Huawei’s EMUI allows for theming and iOS-like gestures too so people who catch the fancy of the iPhone will actually not mind this phone at all. Even if that’s not the case, because it is based on Android, one can put a third party launcher and customise the user interface to your heart’s content.
- Last but not least is the fact Huawei is a pioneer in network technology. Apart from designing a lot of the network infrastructure that telcos in India have deployed, the Kirin 980 integrates its own 4G modem with custom antennas on the phone. What does this mean? Stronger signals for starters converting to clearer phone calls and better mobile 4G connectivity. This also in-turn converts to better battery life which is one of the reasons why this phone is the undisputed champion of battery life amongst modern flagships.
