Huawei is adding pressure to the competing Apple iPhone XS Max and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus smartphones with the release of the P30 and P30 Pro smartphones, which come packed with powerful camera systems. These devices feature the HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor, an optical SuperZoom Lens, a new HUAWEI Time of Flight (ToF) Camera, and enhanced optical and AI image stabilization technology.

HUAWEI P30 Pro

The HUAWEI P30 Pro features a double 3D curved glass body and a 6.47" OLED Dewdrop display with an in-screen fingerprint sensor. it is powered by the company's 7nm Kirin 980 mobile chipset, comes up to 8GB of RAM and 512GB of memory storage.

Instead of a traditional top-front speaker, the HUAWEI P30 Pro uses HUAWEI Acoustic Display Technology to provide a larger display and increased hearing area. The electromagnetic sound levitation will project sound from the vibrations in the display to your ear.

For the adventurous souls, HUAWEI P30 Pro is also protected with IP68 water and dust resistance.

Its 4,200mAh (typical value) battery supports Huawei's intelligent power saving technology and can charge up to 70% of its capacity in 30 minutes with the TÜV Safety Certified 40W HUAWEI SuperCharge. The P30 Pro also supports 15W wireless charging as well as reverse wireless charging.

The smartphone uses the Leica Quad Camera System, which includes a SuperZoom Lens, a 40 MP Super Sensing Camera with the HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor, a 20 MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens camera, an 8MP telephoto camera, the HUAWEI ToF Camera and a 32MP front camera.

The 1/1.7-inch HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor looks at light in a new way. The RYYB HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor deviates from the traditional RGGB Bayer filter by replacing green pixels with yellow pixels, yielding a high maximum ISO rating of 409,600 on the HUAWEI P30 Pro and 204,800 on the HUAWEI P30. This shift in sensor technology, combined with HUAWEI AIS, OIS and the HUAWEI P30 Pro’s f/1.6 wide aperture, delivers extraordinary photography and videography experiences across a wide range of scenarios and lighting conditions—including extreme low light—producing images with enhanced detail, color and clarity.

Through a new periscope design, the SuperZoom Lens supports high fidelity magnification of 5 times optical zoom, 10 times hybrid zoom and 50 times digital zoom. A prism element in the telephoto camera bends light at a 90-degree angle to maximize focal length while minimizing camera height, without disrupting device design.

Huawei promises that you can see the splendor hidden in the night with up to ISO 409,600 on the HUAWEI P30 Pro. Even in extreme dark situations, you are able to capture moments like a romantic candlelight dinner or fireflies dancing in the bushes.

Unique to the HUAWEI P30 Pro is a HUAWEI ToF Camera that captures depth-of-field information to deliver accurate image segmentation. Precise distance measurement allows for the simulation of multiple levels of bokeh. The Super Portrait feature captures even the smallest details, such as individual strands of hair. It combines depth information and proprietary algorithms to produce outstanding images with defocused backgrounds and highlights the subject of the image in any scenario.

Analyzing over hundreds of thousands of backlight and low light photos, AI HDR+ delivers clarity in your shots with the AI evaluating several frames and segmenting different parts of the photo to combine the best features. The light and colour are balanced in different layers to bring your face into focus.

The 32MP front camera on the HUAWEI P30 Pro will recognise you to produce selfies by contouring your face with accurate brightness and sharpness.

The HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor enables low-light video capture so night scenes appear bright and highly detailed. HUAWEI AIS and OIS support stabilization for all video capture settings, resulting in a steady shot. Additionally, the SuperZoom Lens allows for crisp close-ups, while the AI Video Editor enables users to add background music and special effects to their videos, turning the HUAWEI P30 Series into a mobile production studio.

On the video front, Huawei is promising to add a Dual Video recording function that will shoot simultaneous video from both the main and the telephoto sensor, combining them into a single widescreen side-by-side video. This will come as part of a future software update.

In addition, the upgraded HUAWEI Vlog’s features and effects are pre-installed in the HUAWEI P30 Pro for simple editing. Highlight videos are automatically edited with dramatic filters, different speed and background music. You can also add some texts to name the memory.

Huawei is also offering a AR measurement toolkit in the HUAWEI P30 Pro. The HUAWEI TOF Camera can accurately and instantly measure the length, width and depth. Utilizing the Face Recognition technology, now measuring the height of a person is just a simple task of scanning from toe to head.

You can also project your HUAWEI P30 Pro to a bigger screen and when you face towards the rear TOF camera, it will begin to detect your movement. You can immediately enjoy playing Fancy Skiing.

The HUAWEI P30 Pro also features HUAWEI SuperCool technology to improve thermal performance, keeping the phone cool even during heavy use.

Huawei is pricing the P30 Pro at €999 with an 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or €1,099 for the 8GB / 256GB configuration, or €1,249 for 8GB / 512GB. It will be available in a new blue gradient color variation called Breathing Crystal, along with a Pearl White, an iridescent red called Amber Sunrise, Huawei’s signature Aurora, and a basic Black.

P30

The P30 model comes with a 6.1" OLED HUAWEI Dewdrop display (2340x1080) and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. It is powered by the same Kirin 980 SoC, comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of memory storage.

The smaller phone will also have a simpler three-camera setup, omitting the periscope zoom and the fourth, depth-detecting sensor. It uses the Leica Triple Camera System, which includes a 40 MP Super Sensing Camera, a 16 MP Ultra Wide Angle Lens, and an 8 MP telephoto lens.

The P30 maintains the RYYB sensor of the P30 Pro, along all the P30 Pro features for low-light photography, altough it supports a lower up to ISO 204,800.

Other features inlude the AI HDR+ for balanced light and colour in seflies and the HUAWEI AIS Long Exposure Shot for capturing pictures in nature.

The 32MP front camera on the HUAWEI P30 will recognise you to produce expert selfies by contouring your face with accurate brightness and sharpness.

The HUAWEI P30 also harnesses a SuperSpectrum sensor for more light to capture moments in the night, supports HUAWEI's Dual-View Video function
and comes with HUAWEI Vlog’s features and effects pre-installed.

The P30 still has a headphone jack and an earpiece, both items that the Pro model lacks.

The P30 will cost €799 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Smart glasses in partnership with Gentle Monster

Huawei is also launching connected glasses in partnership with Gentle Monster, a Korean sunglasses and optical glasses brand.

The collection of glasses will come with integrated electronics. Huawei is positioning the glasses as a sort of earbuds replacement, a device that lets you talk on the phone without putting anything in your ears. There’s no button on the device, but you can tap the temple of the glasses to answer a call for instance.

The antenna, charging module, dual microphone, chipset, speaker and battery are all integrated in the eyeglass temple. There are two microphones with beam-forming technology to understand what you’re saying.

There are stereo speakers positioned right above your ears. The company wants you to hear sound without disturbing your neighbors. Interestingly, there’s also no camera on the device.

The glasses are IP67, come in a leather case with USB-C port at the bottom. It features wireless charging as well.

Glasses won’t be available before July 2019.

FreeLace neckbuds pair and charge by plugging into your phone

Announced alongside the launch of the P30 Pro and P30 Android smartphones, Huawei’s FreeLace neckbuds can be disconnected from one another, exposing a USB-C plug that can be jacked into your Huawei phone to facilitate Bluetooth pairing or simply charge up the buds.

This eliminates the need for a separate charging cable. The Huawei FreeLace are rated to last for 18 hours of music or 12 hours of calls on a single charge, and they can be fast-charged to run for four hours off of five minutes of being plugged in.

The design is IPX5-certified for water and sweat resistance, and it’s balanced in weight, with two elongated modules housing batteries and the in-line volume and playback controls. The audio driver inside of each bud measures 9.2 mm in diameter.

Huawei’s FreeLace will only do their automatic pairing magic with devices running Huawei’s latest EMUI 9.1. For everything else, you’ll be going through the standard Bluetooth pairing process. The neckbuds will charge off any phone capable of outputting power from its USB-C port.

Huawei is releasing the FreeLace for a price of €99.