Introduction
1x, 2x... 5x. Zooming smartphone cameras are no longer a novelty - in fact a numbers race is forming. Asus' Zenfone Zoom couldn't make waves, but Huawei appears on the right track to do so with the P20 Pro and its 3x zoom camera. We figured we'd pit it against the Galaxy S9+ - the latest phone to come out with what's become the standard 2x zoom.
Zoom is only going to be part of it all, though. We'll be looking at how the two compare over a variety of shooting scenarios - day, night, portraits, selfies, portrait selfies. The P20 Pro appears to have the upper hand - higher resolution, more reach, an extra monochrome camera. The S9+ does stand out with the changeable f/1.5-f/2.4 aperture on its main cam.
We'll also examine video - the Galaxy's specsheet reads better in this department with a 4K/60fps mode and stabilized 4K/30fps, while the P20 Pro can only stabilize 1080p/30fps footage. Samsung's slow-mo implementation is also miles ahead, if you're into that sort of thing.
If you need to brush up on the numbers, this handy table below will help you, though a a quick trip to our comparison tool couldn't hurt either.
| Huawei P20 Pro | Samsung Galaxy S9+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Main (wide-angle) camera | 40MP, 7296 x 5472px, downscales to 10MP, 3648 x 2736px | 12MP, 4032 x 3024px |
| Sensor | 4:3 aspect, 1/1.7" sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size, Quad Bayer array | 4:3 aspect, 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4µm pixel size |
| Lens | f/1.8, 27mm | f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, OIS |
| Telephoto camera | 8MP, upscales to 10MP, 3648 x 2736px | 12MP, 4032 x 3024px |
| Sensor | 4:3 aspect, 1/4" sensor size | 4:3 aspect, 1/3.6" sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size |
| Lens | f/2.4, 80mm, OIS; 3x zoom | f/2.4, 52mm, OIS; 2x zoom |
| Monochrome camera | 20MP, 5120x3840px, 1/2.7" sensor size; f/1.6, 27mm lens | N/A |
| Flash | Single LED Flash | Single LED Flash |
| Video recording | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60/30fps | 2160p@60/30fps, 1440p@30fps, 1080p@60/30fps |
| Slow motion | 1080p@120fps, 720p@960fps | 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps |
| Video IS | EIS (only in 1080p/30fps) | OIS+EIS (except 2160p/60fps) |
| Video features | Stereo audio | Stereo audio |
| Front camera | 24MP, f/2.0, 26mm, 720p@30fps | 8 MP, 1/3.6", 1.22µm, f/1.7, 25mm, 1440p@30fps |
That's the basics dealt with, but we'll go a little deeper on the next page, comparing the camera architecture, hardware and app UI.
Seven cameras between these two phones
The Huawei P20 Pro has three cameras on its back, the Galaxy S9+ makes do with 'just' two, and the phones have a single selfie camera each - a total of seven cameras we have on our plate. It almost feels like a missed opportunity - we've seen models with a pair of front-facing cameras, but not these two.
Two cameras are too mainstream, Huawei thought, and installed three on the P20 Pro. Logically the star of the show, the P20 Pro's number one shooter packs 40MP on a large 1/1.7" sensor - Samsung's 1/2.6" one may be large when compared to others, but it's tiny next to the Pro's. Then again, as we pointed out, the 40MP shooter does not, in fact, have 40MP of color resolution, but is instead meant to capture two different exposures simultaneously and produce better looking 10MP images. The physical size advantage still stands, however.
The 40MP sensor has a 27mm-equivalent stabilized lens in front with an f/1.8 aperture - quite bright given the sensor size. Big sensor and wide aperture make for a for a larger camera bump than what we're used to. Might as well stick a telephoto camera in there as well - an 8MP sensor behind an 80mm-equivalent lens with an f/2.4 aperture. The matter of lens equivalence is a bit moot, however, as you're getting 10MP images in 3x mode - there's something going on under the hood that the numbers don't explicitly reveal.
Joining these two is the good old 20MP monochrome camera, with its own dedicated and much smaller bump. 27mm-equivalent f/1.6 aperture lens on this one, the spec sheet reads. As with all high-end Huawei cameras of late, the hardware and software on the P20 Pro is a joint effort between Huawei and German optics specialists Leica.
For autofocus, the P20 Pro can rely on a combination of depth detection from the multiple cameras, contrast and phase detection, and a laser that works at up to 2.4m. A light temperature sensor should assist with white balance, while a single LED flash is there to illuminate your subject in the dark.
In comes the Galaxy S9+. A more conventional, dual camera, the one on the Galaxy still has a unique trick of its own - the primary shooter can pick between two apertures depending on the shooting conditions, either f/1.5 or f/2.4. The angle of view is equal to that of a 26mm lens on a 35mm camera. Behind the lens, it's another iteration on the 12MP 1/2.6" sensor with 1.4µm pixels and dual pixel autofocus.
The secondary rear cam is based on another 12MP sensor, albeit a smaller one, with 1.0µ pixels. This lens has a fixed f/2.4 aperture and is stabilized, just like the wide-angle one. The angle of view matches that of a 52mm lens in 35mm camera terms making for a neat 2x zoom.
Moving on the front of the phones, the P20 Pro has three times the resolution of the Galaxy, on paper at least - 24MP vs. 8MP. Huawei's 26mm-equivalent f/2.0 aperture lens is slightly narrower and dimmer than the 25mm f/1.7 one on the S9+ but, more importantly, the Galaxy has autofocus and the Pro doesn't.
Camera apps
The Galaxy's latest app is a bit too much like Apple's camera app, but its intuitive and easy to use. Side swipes switch between shooting modes, including Auto, Portrait, Panorama, Pro, and Super slow-mo, and you can add, remove and rearrange the modes. What you can't do, however, is have a dedicated video mode - we'd prefer a separate viewfinder instead of the press-and-hold the record button for preview that Samsung insist is the right way.
An up/down swipe will switch between front and rear cameras, which is handy and we feel should be the default action in every camera app. There's a Pro mode which lets you adjust pretty much all photographic parameters, including (and that's unique to the S9 and S9+) aperture.
Galaxy S9+ camera app
The P20 Pro's camera app is a bit more scattered and confusing and lacking in convenient swiping functionality - front/rear camera requires a tap, and switching modes needs to happen with a slide in the modes bar instead of anywhere on the screen.
Access to the monochrome camera has been hidden in the More position of the mode slider - B&W shooters may find it too roundabout.
There's a Pro mode where you can manually adjust shooting parameters, just like on the Galaxy. There's also an Aperture mode and Portrait mode, both meant to do subject isolation and faux bokeh. The former lets you choose the aperture value being simulated - lower f-number leads to more blur. The latter is geared towards human subjects and you get settings for beautification and simulated lighting.
Huawei P20 Pro camera app
We should mention that we found ourselves battling Huawei's Master AI scene recognition more often than we enjoyed its results, so it might be wiser to leave it off. Taking a more natural image and adding dramatic filters in post processing seems like the better idea.
Daylight
In good lighting the Galaxy S9+ and the Huawei P20 Pro capture photos that leave us struggling to pick one over the other. Where there are differences, they are minor and in areas that are open to subjective interpretation.
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
First things first, though - we're very much convinced that Huawei's Master AI needs some serious rethinking and as it stands right now, it's best left off. It's these Master AI-less photos that we'll be comparing in our analysis. Having said that, we're including a sample from multiple scenes with the feature on, so you know why we fell the way we do. You don't need to look for them to notice the vignetting of blue skies, heavily increased contrast, and pumped up the saturation in greens.
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Turn off Master AI, and the Huawei P20 Pro will still have an extra few units of saturation in the greens and blues over the Galaxy, but in an entirely non-objectionable way. Or, if you're on the opposite side of the argument - more pleasant greens and blues than the Galaxy.
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI on) • P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Noise reduction is one area where we're not seeing the typical difference we're used to observing between a recent Galaxy and pretty much every other phone. That's another way of saying that the P20 Pro's images are very much noise-free. And Huawei's done it without the slightly plasticky Samsung look. Nice.
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
Daylight samples: P20 Pro (AI off) • Galaxy S9+
The Huawei P20 Pro, like all Huawei flagships from recent years, also has a dedicated monochrome camera. You can have 20MP of black and white melancholy, something you can't get from the Galaxy S9+.
P20 Pro B&W samples
Zoom-zoom-zoom, 3x zoom
We figured that with all the hype around the P20 Pro's zoom camera, a zoom comparison was in order. Now, since the Samsung's telephoto camera offers a 2x zoom, while the P20 Pro's is at 3x, we shot both phones at both magnification, meaning a digitally zoomed 3x from the Galaxy's telephoto cam and who knows what mathematics from the Huawei.
The Galaxy S9+' wide-angle camera is a 26mm equivalent, while the one on the P20 Pro is at 27mm. The Galaxy's tele is at 52mm, so we tried to match that with the Huawei. The P20 Pro says 80mm on the tin for the tele, while EXIF reports an 83mm equivalent - we just aimed for 3.0x on the Galaxy, which should be around a 78mm equivalent. There's a bonus shot from each scene with the P20 Pro set at 5x.
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
Overall, the Galaxy's telephoto camera isn't as contrasty as its main one and the Huawei P20 Pro has an edge in this respect. The truly optical nature of the S9+'s 2x shots do make them sharper and more detailed, if only just.
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
At 3x the Huawei's photos are sharper, with better defined detail, particularly with distant subjects. We're pointing that out because the snail shot, taken at a couple of meters of distance, is rendered much better on the Galaxy. You're likely going to be bringing distant subjects closer when using the zoom, so the P20 Pro should be the better option though not by a wide margin.
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
Zoom samples, P20 Pro: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x
Zoom samples, Galaxy S9+: 1x, 2x, 3x
Low light
One of the key points in the Huawei P20 Pro's promo materials is its night mode - an advanced pseudo-long exposure mode with frame stacking. It takes one initial shot to establish what's in the frame and then starts adding more light, selectively, in darker areas. You should keep still, obviously, but not as still as in a real 4-second exposure. Even so, not all photos are keepers.
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Night mode can result in dreamy, fairytale-like images when there are lights in different colors in the photo, and it can also develop darker shadows in more subdued lighting. Oftentimes shooting this way will produce details you aren't seeing while you're there looking at reality.
Point sources of light, on the other hand, won't be as overexposed as on other phones, because the P20 Pro will simply selectively stop exposing those areas. On the flipside, Night mode can also introduce ghosts for moving subjects in the frame. Point being - it's not necessarily the better option for every scene.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S9+ has that extra wide aperture, optical stabilization, image stacking of its own, and some very advanced noise reduction algorithms, so it's not exactly a slouch either. The best bit about is perhaps that you don't have to deliberate which mode to use - Auto works just fine.
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
One side effect of the Huawei's Night mode processing is that fine textures tend to be chiseled away resulting in more paintbrush-like look. It's visible when you zoom in up close, while the photos look livelier on the phone's display and when viewed at fit to screen magnification on a computer.
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
Low-light samples: P20 Pro Night mode • P20 Pro photo mode • Galaxy S9+
In any case, we're liking the low-light output from both these cameras. The Galaxy is easier to live with, because you just snap away without much thought, but on the P20 Pro you can get some pretty amazing shots with Night mode, given the right scene, while the regular mode images are at least as Good as the Galaxy's.
Portraits
As we mentioned, the P20 Pro has a couple of faux bokeh modes, one called Portrait, the other - Aperture. We shot in both, naturally, as well as in the Galaxy's Live focus mode.
First off, let's say that the Huawei is better suited to portraits to begin with, thanks to is 80mm-equivalent lens, than the Galaxy with its 52mm-equivalent optics - it lets you stand back from your subject plus there's some optical background blur to be had, even before you start with the faux stuff. Yes, we shot the P20 Pro exclusively in its 3x setting, because wide-angle portraits are just not right.
Bokeh samples: P20 Pro Aperture mode • P20 Pro Portrait mode • Galaxy S9+ Live focus
Of the two modes on the P20 Pro, the Portrait one is better suited to human subjects. Aperture mode produces weird blotches on faces, also making them softer in the process - hence our team member's sad face. The Galaxy's Live focus mode does make for warmer and generally more pleasing skin tones.
Bokeh samples: P20 Pro Aperture mode • P20 Pro Portrait mode • Galaxy S9+ Live focus
Selfies
The selfie contest this time around is an easy one - the Galaxy just wins. Hold on, what happened to the 3:1 resolution advantage of the P20 Pro? Well, 24MP is fine and dandy and you can, indeed, extract heaps of detail from its front-facing cam, only you need to be a particular distance away from the phone, and we find it to be too close. The Galaxy is a lot more versatile thanks to its autofocusing 8MP shooter.
P20 Pro selfie samples
Galaxy S9+ selfie samples
There are the mandatory beautification modes on both phones, and they'll do an equally fine job of removing skin imperfections (along with all texture and potentially eyelashes). Also available are faux-bokeh selfies, again with similarly good subject separation, though the P20 Pro's subject is also blurry, because fixed focus.
P20 Pro selfie samples: Regular • Half beautification • All of it • Faux bokeh
Galaxy S9+ selfie samples: Regular • Half beautification • All of it • Faux bokeh
Video
Lastly, video. Both phones can record 4K video at 30fps - that's been the flagship standard for several generations. Starting with the S9+, Galaxies can also capture 4K at 60fps - the P20 Pro can't. Another limitation on the Huawei phone comes in the form of stabilization - or, rather, lack thereof in 4K. The Galaxy, on the other hand, will happily stabilize 4K/30fps footage.
The S9+ will also happily record multiple super slow-mo video bursts of sorts - you can have several 0.2s-long 720p/960fps segments within the same clip. The phone can also start slow-mo recording automatically once there's action in a pre-defined portion of the frame. The Huawei implementation is a lot clunkier with just a single super slow-mo recording in a fixed length clip that you need to time perfectly on your own.
Video quality
Both phones will record in your choice of h.264 of h.265 codes, depending on whether you prioritize compatibility or small file size. For that matter, the P20 Pro should be on top of your list of you want to save space - even when using the less efficient h.264 codec, it keeps bit rates surprisingly low.
For our tripod-mounted balcony videos the P20 Pro allocates 28.3Mbps of 2160p video (48.1Mbps on the Galaxy) and a tiny 5.6Mbps in 1080p/30fps (14Mbps on the Galaxy). This changes slightly when shooting handheld 4K clips (a bump to 33.8Mbps on the P20 Pro, no change on the Galaxy), and more dramatically in 1080p/30fps (13Mbps on the P20 Pro, no change on the Galaxy). We've always assumed that a variable bit rate should vary based on the intricacy of the content, and not on the mode of support, but hey - Huawei begs to differ.
Anyway, 4K videos come out good looking from both phones though they do differ somewhat. For example, Huawei's footage is more saturated, with the greens that dominate our test scene really popping out, and a cyan sky that really wasn't. Detail is comparable, though the Galaxy's more aggressive sharpening makes its videos appear crisper.
Both phones' videos are contrasty and well exposed. However, one issue we noted during the P20 Pro's review, which also manifested itself during this comparison is the Huawei's odd (and more than a little annoying) exposure pulsation - or rather, is it an issue of encoding?
That pulsation goes out of the way when you're examining stills, but examine them nonetheless.
4K video screengrabs: P20 Pro • Galaxy S9+
The P20 Pro also has no answer to the Galaxy's 2160p/60fps mode. The higher frame rate comes at little to no cost in detail and if you can stomach the extra-large file size (some 72Mbps bit rate), there's no reason not to shoot in 60fps.
Moving on to plain old 1080p, the level of detail remains similar, though we're seeing a tiny bit extra in the Huawei's screen grabs, which borders on amazing, given the difference in bit rate. The P20 Pro's colors are still a bit over the top, and that's saying something considering we're comparing with a Samsung, and Samsungs like their colors punchy. Unfortunately, the pulsation is present in 30fps as well, though not in 60fps - go figure. It's worth pointing out that the 60fps videos from the P20 Pro actually come out at around 51fps, and 30fps ones are never really 30fps, but 29-ish fps.
On to the screengrabs for some pixel peeping, we know you like that.
1080p video screengrabs: P20 Pro (60fps) • Galaxy S9+ (60fps) • P20 Pro (30fps) • Galaxy S9+ (30fps)
Stabilization is very competent on both phones in 1080p - if anything, the P20 Pro manages to marginally better smooth out the shake from walking. The Huawei phone can't do much in 2160p though, where no electronic stabilization is available. The Galaxy S9+, meanwhile remains steady and unimpressed with this guy's marching walk and shaky hands.
In case you'd like to see how detail compares in these stabilized videos (well, not the Pro's 4K one, anyway) feel free to check out the screengrabs.
Stabilization video screengrabs: P20 Pro (4K, no EIS) • Galaxy S9+ (4K) • P20 Pro (1080p) • Galaxy S9+ (1080p)
And since zooming in is a recurrent theme in this comparison, we figured we'd shoot some videos at the 2x and 3x settings on the two phones. Mind you, that means a native 2x and a digitally zoomed 3x on the Galaxy, and a digitally zoomed in 2x and sort of native 3x on the Huawei - we're still not 100% certain how the P20 Pro operates in all magnifications.
As the screengrabs below will show you, surprisingly or not, the Galaxy S9+ is the definitive winner in terms of captured detail in both zoom settings. And not just at 2x where it should have the upper hand in theory (as indeed it does in practice), but also in 3x, where we expected the P20 Pro to have an edge. Not only it doesn't, it's not even competitive.
Zoomed-in 4K video screengrabs: P20 Pro (2x) • Galaxy S9+ (2x) • P20 Pro (3x) • Galaxy S9+ (3x)
Final words
Another day, another camera comparison proves to us that high-end modern smartphones take great pictures. And on top of that, the shootout makes it painfully obvious that finding a way to stand out from the rest is getting ever more difficult.
We thought (and Huawei did too) that a 3x zoom on the P20 Pro will do the trick. And for the most part it does make a difference, but it's not the gamechanger we initially pegged it to be. You see, it turns out that phones with a 2x camera, like the Galaxy S9+ for example, can take half-decent 3x photos too, they just don't have the '3x' button in immediate reach.
And before you assume we're saying the P20 Pro is a bad phone - we are not. And it isn't, we think we've managed to carry that across already. The 2 fewer MP it has, compared to the S9+, don't really mean much. It takes great photos in pretty much all conditions, and its multiple camera setup brings versatility no other existing phone can quite match. If for no other reason, then just because of the monochrome cam.
We're particularly fond of its Night mode that brings out detail from shadows lost to human eyes and is capable of creating lively colorful images from scenes others will render dark and dull. And it's plain Photo mode night photos are plenty awesome too.
One positive side effect of the P20 Pro's 3x camera is portraits at... appropriate distances. 80-ish millimeter equivalent focal length is just about right for head-and-shoulders shots and having it natively on the P20 Pro comes with an inherent advantage of some actual background blur before we get to the synthetic stuff. Both phones do a reasnably good job with subject separation, but the Galaxy's portraits do end up sharper.
But the P20 Pro fails to impress in video, and does so in multiple areas. No stabilization in 4K video means jerky handheld clips bordering on unusable, while the (admittedly very smooth) EIS in 1080p leaves vids softer than your average FullHD. And for all its zoom creds, the P20 Pro can't get anywhere near to the Galaxy's video quality at 2x and 3x magnification.
We've known this all along, but more is not necessarily better when it comes to megapixel count and another example comes when comparing selfies. The P20 Pro's 24MP front-facing cam is capable of resolving tons of detail, but its fixed focus means we need to stick our faces in the phone to get all those wrinkles in sharp focus. Arm's length doesn't work.
In the end, both these phones will satisfy your cravings for high-quality photos, and each will do something slightly better than the other. Well, alright, the Galaxy is the obvious choice for video and selfies, while Huawei needs a little more work on the former and, the way we see it, a conceptual redesign of the latter (lower pixel count, autofocus). We've given you the samples, check them against your priorities and take your pick.
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