By now the Huawei brand has taken the right pace in the production of its smartphones, dividing them into three bands: Lite, Standard and Pro. The first goes to position itself for that segment of customers looking for low-cost smartphones, the second for those who want more. and the third for those looking for the top of the range. We’ve thoroughly tested the P20, and here’s what we think.

Packaging

The packaging of the P20 has a minimal style, containing a 5V / 4.5A power supply, a USB / USB-C cable and a pair of stereo headphones. Nothing else is present, if not some leaflet, thus proposing a basic but functional packaging.

Design

The aesthetics are very reminiscent of the iPhone X (and all those phones with notch), but offering a physical button at the bottom with fingerprint reading functions (unlike the P20 Lite, which removes it in favor of the virtual ones). This choice remains a bit anachronistic, but nothing that you don’t get used to within the first few hours of use. The frame is made of metal, while the back is made of glass, gaining less weight than many of its competitors. The physical keys are housed on the right side, and are the power one and the volume management.

Specifications

• Colors: Black, Midnight Blue, Pink Gold
• Dimensions: 149.1 × 70.8 × 7.65mm
• Weight: 165 grams
• Display: 5.8 inches, 2244x1080px, TFT
• CPU: Huawei Kirin 970 (4 × 2.36 GHz, 4 × 1.8 GHz)
• OS: Android 8.1, EMUI 8.1
• RAM: 4GB
• Memory: 128GB
• Rear camera: 3rd dual Leica camera, Big Pixel 12MP RGB f1.8 + 20MP BW f1.6, 2x Hybrid Zoom, AIS, LED
• Front camera: 24MP, f2.0
• Battery: 3400mAh
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz, Bluetooth BT 4.2 aptX, aprtX HD, LDAC, NFC
• Connector: USB Type-C

Despite being mid-range, the P20 has one of the most powerful processors on the market, as well as significant technical characteristics. The Kirin 970 also allows you to take advantage of artificial intelligence, helping in the management of resources.

Performance

The combination of the processor with 4GB of RAM and an optimized operating system make this smartphone very fast and agile, although it has no excellence in running large games. For the rest, its being small helps in handling, making Huawei P20 one of the most comfortable smartphones to use on the market.

Camera

The Leica dual camera system allows the smartphone to take high quality photos, exploiting depth and capturing crisp, clear images. The laser autofocus helps, giving the smartphone an autofocus capability within 2.4 meters. The Pro version is still the best, but if you love taking pictures you will find a good product in this P20 too.

Display

Huawei P20 has a 5.8-inch display, which reaches FullHD + with an IPS panel. Its slender shape makes a screen of this size comfortable, helping to use it with a single hand. The notch appears, like the whole series, which contains all the sensors – as well as the front camera. Of course it is not on par with the AMOLED of its older brother, but it defends itself well, with a decent brightness.

Software

Android 8.1 Oreo (in the form of EMUI 8.1) is the basic version with which it is distributed: the Huawei interface takes advantage of the canons of its old productions, faithfully reproducing the old operating system. The software manages the additional features very well, allowing facial unlocking, the use of gestures or the customization of the interface.

Autonomy

Huawei P20 has a 3400 mAh battery, capable of running the smartphone for at least a full day, perhaps more. Certainly, the management of Huawei’s AI allows you to greatly optimize resources, making this battery more long-lived.

Price

The smartphone was released at the dayone at the price of 679 €, but now it is possible to buy it around 400 €, grabbing one of the best mid-range smartphones in circulation.