Huawei has been known to always push the envelope with smartphone cameras. The P20 Pro from earlier this year showed us the capability of modern day optics. With the Mate 20 Pro, we see the return of the 40, 20 and 8MP cameras with further improvements via hardware and software. Its range of photography and videography options appeals to both average users as well as professional photographers.
Scene recognition and wide-angle lens
Boasting dedicated hardware powered AI, the Mate 20 Pro's scene recognition in pictures is much improved. By recognizing the subject in the frame, the phone can alter white balance, saturation and exposure to bring out detail. This works well with simple photos of food and more complex ones where multiple objects are in frame.
In most modern-day smartphones, the camera's field of view is limited. Often, you find yourself crouching to capture a building (like the many gorgeous ones in the UAE) in a frame. But with the new wide-angle lens of the Mate 20 Pro, you don't have to worry. Instead of the standard 1x zoom mode, this lets you capture photos at 0.6x zoom for encompass more detail.
So, if you find yourself in a situation where you want to capture a skyline, this feature is perfect but thats not all. The versatilityof the Huawei Mate 20 Pro also allows for impeccable macro photos too. The wide-angle lens alongside the phone's super macro AI preset lets you capture close up photos of objects like flowers or jewelry without sacrificing sharpness.
Zoom capabilities
We have become accustomed to having zoom capabilities on smartphones that do not sacrifice detail. These come with 2x optical zoom to ensure no loss in detail. But the Huawei Mate 20 Pro furthers that providing 3x optical zoom with no detail loss. Further zooming up to 10x is possible using Huawei's hybrid zoom and digital zoom functionality respectively which combines AI stabilization to keep far away subjects in focus.
Night mode
As exceptional as smartphone cameras are these days, many fail to deliver on night time photography. The challenging conditions are responsible for this, but Huawei's Mate 20 Pro excels here too. A dedicated night mode is available to users to elevate detail. The functionality understands the subject in question and adjusts light and noise levels accordingly.
Night time dynamic range from the camera is unlike other phones and the same level of processing is carried over to front facing selfies. Albeit not night mode, front facing portrait mode in less than ideal lighting impresses keeping natural skin tones. A unique trick here comes in the form of altering background blur where you can control the blur shapes to be either the regular circle, hearts or disks among others.
Videography
Over the years, more and more users rely on their smartphones to capture video. While stabilization is one major aspect of this, video features play a crucial role as well. High quality 4K resolution video capture is made possible on the Mate 20 Pro with adequate stabilization thanks to assisted optical and electronic image stabilization. This makes smooth looking video possible while on a brisk walk or run (video above). But once again, Huawei harnesses the power of AI in videography. A unique feature bundled allows you to highlight a subject in color with the rest of the background remaining black and white. This works even when the subject is in motion and makes for an artistic look with not sacrifice in video quality.
Verdict
With the multitude of features like the ultra-wide lens, AI, hybrid zoom and much more bundled into Huawei's Mate 20 Pro camera experience, you cannot fault it. It is a huge improvement over the P20 Pro launched earlier this year and picks up right where it left off. And it wouldn't be wrong to say that it offers one of the most versatile smartphone camera experiences of 2018.
