Huawei P50 Pro review satisfying specifications

Introduction

The Huawei P50 and P50 Pro premiered back in July 2021, but their reach was limited to China only. And while it seems the Huawei P50 won't be making a worldwide debut, the P50 Pro is now available across various markets, side by side with the foldable P50 Pocket.

The P50 Pro and P50 Pocket duo are now on sale in many countries across Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. And the Huawei P50 Pro with the latest Leica-powered camera has arrived for review. But before we get down to business with its full review, we wanted to give you a glimpse of what's coming.

So, the Huawei P50 Pro employs the latest flagship developments Huawei has made in its labs, the newest Leica camera, all wrapped into a new luxurious-looking waterproofed body. The jarred manufacturer is still not on good terms with the US and suffers from the consequences of the US tech ban, so don't expect to see Google's Services appearing anytime soon, if at all.

The Huawei P50 Pro has a top-notch 6.6" OLED of high resolution (1228p), with 10-bit colors, HDR10+ support, and a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate. It may appear to be a curved panel, though this is more of an illusion created by the curved glass above the screen.

The phone runs on the Snapdragon 888 chipset but omits its 5G modem (due to the ban on using any 5G tech) and maxes out at 4G cellular connectivity. Some markets (like China) may receive the P50 Pro with Kirin 9000 chipset, but it will not be 5G-enabled either.

The most interesting bit of the Huawei P50 Pro is the quad-camera Leica setup on the back, which is divided into two signature black circles. This iteration of the high-end imaging setup contains a 50MP primary with OIS, a 40MP monochrome, and a 13MP ultrawide-angle camera. The B&W snapper is making a comeback!

The telephoto on the Huawei P50 Pro is quite interesting - it features a 64MP imager with a standard RGB filter and periscope 90mm f/3.5 lens with OIS for 3.5x optical zoom over the main camera. Thanks to the native 64MP resolution, this camera allows up to 10x of lossless zoom (by cropping).

The selfie camera is quite interesting, too. It's a 13MP one with an 18mm f/2.4 wide-angle lens for outstanding group shots. The camera app allows for two additional (crop) modes corresponding to 21mm (0.8x) and 27mm (1x) FoV. Autofocus is available as well, finally!

The rest is pretty much what you'd expect from a recent flagship smartphone - dedicated stereo speakers, under-display fingerprint scanner, all sorts of connectivity options, lots of RAM and storage options, and even hybrid dual-SIM with optional NM expansion.

The global Huawei P50 Pro runs on EMUI 12, while the Chinese one is based on Harmony OS 2.0. We aren't sure if there is an actual difference besides the name and the translations, but we can confirm the core beneath the EMUI is Android 11.

Huawei P50 Pro review satisfying specifications

• Body: 158.8x72.8x8.5mm, 195g; glass front, glass back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.60" OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 1228x2700px resolution, 19.79:9 aspect ratio, 450ppi.
• Chipset: Kirin 9000 (5 nm), Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 4G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x3.13 GHz Cortex-A77 & 3x2.54 GHz Cortex-A77 & 4x2.05 GHz Cortex-A55), Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Mali-G78 MP24, Adreno 660.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; NM (Nano Memory), up to 256GB (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: HarmonyOS 2.0 (China), EMUI 12 (Europe), no Google Play Services.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, AF; Telephoto: 64 MP, f/3.5, 90mm, PDAF, OIS, 3.5x optical zoom; Monochrome: 40 MP, f/1.6, 23mm (B/W).
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.4, (wide), AF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 1080p@960fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps.
• Battery: 4360mAh; Fast charging 66W, Fast wireless charging 50W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port.

 

The Huawei P50 Pro seems to be getting everything right, and the only omission, obviously, is the Google suite of apps and services. But when you can't have something, you just can't, so better not dwell on that any longer than necessary.