Huawei P10 Plus Dual Lens Camera Review

The Huawei P10 Plus was recently launched in April 2017 for the Singapore market. I was excited to read about the launch of the new Huawei P10 and P10 Plus since I am an existing Huawei P9 user, having done a review last year, I was very impressed with the mobile phone photography quality produced by the Huawei P9 during my review that I went on to get a Huawei P9 smartphone for my own usage.

During the Huawei P10 Plus review period, I had some priceless moments and a great time testing this dual lens smartphone. My 5,000th instagram shot was a double rainbow over the skyline of Marina Bay Sands at Marina Bay Singapore using the Huawei P10 Plus! The other was producing an impromptu video for my friend’s new food outlet – Keith Crackling Roast, shot in 4K video with the Huawei P10 Plus. He’s a Huawei Mate 9 user, thanks to my persuasion and conversion after letting him try out my Huawei P9 smartphone!

The Huawei P10 Plus dual lens camera setup is an improvement from the highly successful Huawei P9 series that set the stage for the dual lens camera smartphone in the Huawei smartphone family. In the later paragraphs, readers can view the number of different functions and capabilities packed inside the Huawei P10 Plus dual lens camera smartphone. On the Huawei P10 Plus, you can find the Leica Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH lenses driving it, resulting in one of the best dual lens camera smartphone in the market (in my personal humble opinion).

Dual lens camera technical specifications

Main Camera

  • 20 MP Monochrome + 12 MP RGB, F1.8
  • OIS (Optical Image Stablization)
  • Dual-tone Flash
  • PDAF + CAF + Laser + Depth Auto Focus
  • 2x Hybrid Zoom
  • 4K Video Recording

Front Camera

  • 8 MP AF, F1.9

Modes

  • Photo
  • Monochrome
  • Video
  • HDR
  • Panorama
  • Night Shot
  • Light Painting
  • Time-lapse
  • Slow-mo
  • Watermark
  • Audio Note
  • Document scan
  • Good food

Photo Mode

  • Wide aperture
  • Portrait mode with artistic bokeh and beauty level
  • Colours: Standard, Vivid and Smooth
  • Touch & hold shutter icon – burst shot
  • Capture smiles: take photos automatically when smiles are detected
  • Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
  • Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Photo Mode (Pro)

  • RAW + JPEG
  • No burst shot
  • No capture smiles
  • Can adjust ISO, Shutter, EV, AF, WB, Metering
  • Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
  • Horizontal Level
  • Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Monochrome Mode

  • Wide aperture
  • Portrait mode with artistic bokeh and beauty level
  • Colours: Standard, Vivid and Smooth
  • Touch & hold shutter icon – burst shot
  • Capture smiles: take photos automatically when smiles are detected
  • Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
  • Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Monochrome Mode (Pro)

  • No burst shot
  • No capture smiles
  • Can adjust ISO, Shutter, EV, AF, WB, Metering
  • Assistive Grid: Fibonacci spiral (left), Fibonacci Spiral (right), Phi grid, Grid, off
  • Horizontal Level
  • Resolution: 20M 5120×3840 (4:3), 12M 3968×2976 (4:3), 9M 3968×2240 (16:9), 9M 2976×2976 (1:1), 8M 3264×2448 (4:3), 6M 3264×1840 (16:9)

Video Mode

  • Wide aperture mode
  • Beauty mode
  • Resolution: UHD 4K (16:9 stereo), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo at 60fps), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo), HD 720p (16:9 stereo), VGA 640×480 (4:3), QVGA 320×240 (4:3) and MMS (176×144)

Video Mode (Pro)

  • Can adjust EV, AF, WB, Metering
  • Wide aperture mode
  • Beauty mode
  • Resolution: UHD 4K (16:9 stereo), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo at 60fps), FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo), HD 720p (16:9 stereo), VGA 640×480 (4:3), QVGA 320×240 (4:3) and MMS (176×144)

Light Painting Mode

  • Tail Light Trails
  • Light Graffiti
  • Silky Water
  • Star Track

Night Shot Mode:

  • ISO: Auto or manual from ISO100 – 1600
  • Shutter: Auto or manual from (1/4s – 32s)

Time Lapse Mode

  • HD 720p

Slow-mo Mode

  • FHD 1080p (16:9 stereo 120fps) and FHD 720p (16:9 stereo 120fps)

Huawei P10 Plus versus Samsung Galaxy S8+

In my earlier introductory article when I started with the Huawei P10 Plus review journey, I also have the Samsung Galaxy S8+ together with the Huawei P10 Plus to observe and compare the differences between them.

Pro mode comparisons

Panorama comparisons

Samsung Galaxy S8+
Huawei P10 Plus

4K video comparisons on YouTube

During my review period using the Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S8+, I observed and compared both smartphones on their strengths and weakeness through the photographs and camera user interface.

Some key observations between them are

  • Samsung Galaxy S8+ can do 360 panorama while Huawei P10 Plus is unable to do it, some users like 360 panorama, some users don’t.
  • Samsung Galaxy S8+ handles the shadows better than the Huawei P10 Plus (for photographs shot straight out from their respective cameras)
  • Huawei P10 Plus photos are more authentic and accurate than the Samsung Galaxy S8+
  • Huawei P10 Plus camera app user interface has more functions and capabilities (it might seem more complex for some users however, photographers would like it) than the Samsung Galaxy S8+ camera app
  • Both smartphones are able to produce 4K videos, I produced 2 simple test shot videos shot by the Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung S8+. First and foremost, I have to declare that I am not an expert nor trained in videography and I am still learning the basics of videography. From my two simple sample shot videos, my humble and personal view is that they are quite close to each other in terms of 4K performance and output.

In my earlier introductory article titled “Journey with me along with the Huawei P10 Plus”, I shared my thoughts and views on Huawei P10 Plus versus Samsung S8+. At the end of my review stint, writing this review, my thoughts and views on them were further reinforced through my observations and comparisons between them.

My views are that while Huawei P10 Plus and Samsung S8+ are both very good smartphones in the market. From my review, observations and analysis, the Huawei P10 Plus has stronger camera capabilities and functions over the Samsung S8+, moreover, the authencity and accuracy of the Huawei P10 Plus suits me perfectly, the photographer that I am.

What are some of the key aspects/capabilities/observations from the Huawei P10 Plus dual lens smartphone that stands out for me?

1) Low light photography with Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH : With a f/1.8 lens, this allows a lot more light to enter thus making it easier for low light/night photography with the Huawei P10 Plus.

2) Sharp and detailed photographs produced with the Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH: Since I am currently using the Huawei P9, therefore I know first hand on the sharpness and details of the photos produced by the Huawei P series. The Huawei P10 Plus is able to produce sharper and more detailed photos.

3) Monochrome photography: One of the key aspects of the Huawei P10 Plus camera, when I first experienced it with the Huawei P9, I was already blown away by their monochrome photography capabilities.

On the genre of monochrome photography, photographers have different “tastes, preferences, expectations and appreciation” on the blacks, shadows, highlights, contrasts of monochrome photography. Therefore, let me invite you to view my dedicated photo album on monochrome photography shot with the Huawei P10 Plus.

Personally, the Huawei P10 Plus is the perfect smartphone camera for monochrome street photography.

4) High ISO performance: From my observations, the Huawei P10 Plus is able to handle high ISO better than other smartphones available in the market.

5) 4K video: Huawei uses the newer H.265 codec, it creates some challenges for computers/websites that are using the slightly older H.264 codec. In time to come, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue when the market adopts the H.265 codec altogther.

Final thoughts, views and opinions on the Huawei P10 Plus

After finishing reviewing the Huawei P10 Plus and returning it back to the public relations agency. I felt something was missing after returning back to my Huawei P9, it’s still an excellent smartphone and still in good working condition. The quality and improvements of the Huawei P10 Plus are excellent and in my personal opinion, a great upgrade and improvements over the Huawei P9, makes me miss the Huawei P10 Plus and I would love to upgrade from the Huawei P9 to the Huawei P10 Plus if any opportunity arises.

Equipped with 4K video capabilities, the Huawei P10 Plus is now not only a photographer’s smartphone, this feature has helped me explore my amateur videography, applying it for my vlogging, live updates, producing small 4K videos for photography, travel, live events reportage and social media coverage. Do check out some of my videos shot with the Huawei P10 Plus during the review period, on my YouTube channel.

In my personal humble opinion, the Huawei P10 Plus is the smartphone that I highly and strongly recommend to photographers and photography enthusiasts. It is packed with an excellent dual lens setup with the Summilux-H 1:1.8/27 ASPH lens, functions and user interface is what a photographer like me wants, the controls. The quality and output displayed in the photographs, showing it on the laptop or desktop computer, the quality, details and sharpness are superb. Do visit my Flickr collections to view the photographs shot with the Huawei P10 Plus!

Personally, the Huawei P10 Plus is the perfect photographer’s smartphone for the photographer.

I would like to thank Huawei Singapore and Hill+Knowlton Strategies Singapore for the opportunity to review the Huawei P10 Plus.

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

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