Iphone X Max Huawei P30 Pro

The Huawei P30 Pro has the all-time photographic camera of any Android telephone, according to our testing. But how does it compare to Apple's current flagship phone, the iPhone XS Max? With the P30 Pro'southward Leica quad-photographic camera array, it has the benefit of being able to see both really far into the distance with a 5x optical or 10x hybrid zoom, and see in the night with its nighttime mode. The iPhone XS Max only has 2 cameras at the dorsum, a broad-bending and telephoto lens, just excels thanks to some computational photography tricks that are new to Apple phones.

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I took both these phones to some of San Francisco's nearly scenic spots, including Coit Belfry and North Beach, to see what they could capture, from portraits to landscapes and of course zoom.

A note on the P30 Pro. Huawei's phone isn't officially sold in the US, due to political pressures, though information technology is bachelor globally. You lot can find the Huawei P30 Pro on B&H and Amazon from third party sellers (buyer beware). Nosotros've included information technology in our camera showdown based on its prowess -- this a phone that the likes of Samsung, Apple tree and Google will want to beat.

We've also previously compared the P30 Pro camera to the Samsung Milky way S10 Plus.

iPhone XS Max vs. P30 Pro camera specs

	iPhone XS Max	P30 Pro
Rear photographic camera	Dual 12-megapixel	Leica quad-photographic camera
Broad-angle lens	26mm f/1.8	27mm f/one.6 (40-megapixel)
Ultra-wide angle lens	North/A	16mm f/2.2 (20-megapixel)
Telephoto lens	51mm f/2.4	Periscope 125mm f/3.4 (viii-megapixel)
Fourth dimension of flying camera	N/A	Yes
Optical image stabilization	Yes, both rear cameras	Yeah, except ultra-wide
Front camera type	TrueDepth 27mm f/2.2	f/2.0
Forepart photographic camera resolution	seven-megapixel	32-megapixel
Autofocus (rear camera)	Dissimilarity, phase	Stage
4K video	Yep (24/30/sixty fps)	Yeah (30fps)
Sound	Stereo recording	Stereo recording
Video extended dynamic range	Yes, up to 30fps	No
Stabilization on front camera	Yes (1080/720p)	No

Landscapes, full general photos and HDR are fantastic

For nearly photos in this category, the P30 Pro and iPhone are very shut and you won't be disappointed with either. Images are tack abrupt and well exposed. Both have HDR modes to help heave dynamic range, chosen Smart HDR on the iPhone (toggle information technology from the settings carte) or HDR on the P30 Pro (find it in the More department within the camera app). Each does a good job of boosting the dynamic range that's captured and avoids diddled-out highlights and muddy shadows.

Colors are true to life on both phones, with the exception of shooting on Principal AI with the P30 Pro. This mode identifies what's in the scene, and then adjusts colors and effulgence to heighten the prototype. It can recognize scenes like flowers, skies or trees. Bluish skies look really blue, while greenery and foliage expect extra vibrant.

Photos look fantastic when shot in this mode, but they are more vivid and saturated than those from the iPhone XS Max which are more than true to life. The white balance on the P30 Pro can besides look a little warm or yellowish compared to the same image taken on the iPhone, although it's not consistent as to when this happens.

iphonexsmax-p30pro-100crop — A comparison betwixt a still life taken on the P30 Pro and iPhone XS Max. One hundred % crop inset.
Lexy Savvides/CNET

As e'er, your mileage will vary depending on what screen yous view on. If you lot're reviewing on the telephone screens themselves, images from the P30 pop and wait more pleasing than the iPhone when compared side-by-side. When viewing on a estimator screen, the images from the P30 Pro look more than muted, but still more vivid than those from the iPhone XS Max.

If yous're a fan of having an ultra-wide angle lens to capture sweeping landscapes, the P30 Pro can't be beat in this respect. But do exist aware that the photos taken with this lens tin appear more saturated and bright than those taken on the regular wide-bending lens, especially if you are using Master AI. You may want to turn off Master AI if y'all shoot ofttimes with this lens, if you're not a fan of the saturation.

p30-ultrawide — Taken on the ultra-wide lens with Master AI turned on, the saturation is taken to the extreme. As pretty as this looks, the sky and water were not this blue in reality.
Lexy Savvides/CNET

The P30 Pro is the rex of zoom

There'southward no uncertainty about it. If you lot've heard anything most the P30 Pro's photographic camera it's likely well-nigh that crazy periscope zoom lens that offers both 5x optical and a 10x hybrid zoom. (Typically, telephoto lenses can exist beefy, so the P30 Pro turns the camera array sideways and then a prism bounces the light onto the sensor, merely like an bodily periscope.)

p30pro-zoom-export — A comparison between the different zoom levels on the P30 Pro.
Lexy Savvides/CNET

If that'due south not plenty, the P30 Pro tin even become to 50x with digital zoom. You'll really want to endeavour using a tripod or some sort of stabilization hither, unless yous accept the most stable arms, because that level of zoom really exacerbates any hand milk shake.

I really couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some of the 50x shots from the P30 Pro. Sure, they're non crystal clear just being able to get this close and get a fairly usable shot in daylight is pretty incredible considering this is a phone, not a standalone digital camera. Stick to the 5x or 10x shots and you'll be very impressed with the results.

The iPhone'due south 2x telephoto lens is no match for the P30 Pro. While the optical zoom at 2x looks precipitous and offers a greater reach than the wide-angle lens, when you lot pinch in to 10x digital zoom to try catch up to the P30 Pro, the results are pretty muddy.

But the iPhone excels at portraits

Each phone has a dedicated portrait mode to blur the background backside your field of study to brand them stand out.

On the iPhone, it uses both cameras to achieve the result and you can alter the blur level using a imitation f-stop slider between f/1.4 and f/16. There are too different lighting effects, including stage lighting and monochrome lighting.

The P30 Pro's portrait style lets y'all choose different mistiness effects before you accept the shot, like making the bokeh (or blur) unlike shapes. It too has its own version of phase lighting and a dazzler mode where you lot can adjust the shape of your face, among other features. The default blur level is pretty subtle and y'all tin't conform the level of blur after the shot has been taken if you use portrait style.

In the portrait above, the epitome from the P30 Pro looks much softer than that from the iPhone XS Max (yes, the white remainder is a fiddling cool on the iPhone shot, only y'all tin can make a quick adjustment in mail service-processing).

Unlike the iPhone which can take portrait mode photos of any subject, the P30 Pro can only accept portraits of people. I managed to trick it with a man sculpture, but if you desire to capture flowers or pets with that blurred groundwork effect, yous'll want to apply discontinuity priority way instead. This mode will likewise let you accommodate the depth of field and betoken of focus after the shot has been taken.

When y'all practise use portrait mode, the iPhone captures more facial item. Edge detection is good on both then neither really gets it incorrect when it comes to identifying pilus or where to get-go blurring the background, merely faces on the iPhone XS Max more often than not look sharper and more than in focus than the P30 Pro. Even if yous employ discontinuity priority manner with a shallow depth of field on the P30 Pro, it nonetheless doesn't give equally precipitous a result as the iPhone's portrait style for faces. The P30 Pro also struggles with its portrait mode in low lite situations (surprising given the photographic camera's strength in nighttime mode as outlined beneath).

While the P30 Pro has a manual mode (chosen Pro way) in the default camera app that gives you command over exposure variables such every bit ISO, discontinuity and shutter speed, the iPhone doesn't give you that same control in the standard app. Instead, yous'll need to utilise a third-party app.

Get ready for your selfie closeup on the P30 Pro

Desire to capture your visage in 32 megapixels? Get the P30 Pro. Apart from its over-the-top resolution, the front-facing photographic camera captures more particular on photos than the iPhone. Information technology likewise has a wider perspective to get more in the shot. Both selfie cameras take portrait mode likewise and do a skilful job of identifying your confront from the background.

Smart HDR on the iPhone evens out shadows and highlights so the lighting looks less harsh on the iPhone, merely I like the images from the P30 Pro more than as they're sharper and more vibrant.

Note that at that place's no autofocus on the P30 Pro'south selfie photographic camera but I didn't observe it was a significant downside, even when filming video.

Nighttime style on the P30 Pro is amazing

Slide across on the principal camera interface to night mode and you'll capture details in the dark that you tin can hardly run into with the naked eye -- or the iPhone. Like to Night Sight on Google Pixel phones, this mode lengthens the exposure time and reduces ISO to cut down on noise. It even produces a great effect when yous accept a light source in the frame as it brightens the scene and makes for a more fifty-fifty exposure.

The iPhone doesn't look bad by comparison when there is a light source in the photo, just it but tin can't keep up compared to what the P30 Pro produces. Images don't expect as sharp or as vibrant.

When the lights get fifty-fifty lower, the iPhone XS Max does show a lot of racket and loses detail in the image, especially equally the ISO climbs. Every bit for flash photos, both practise a good job. The iPhone XS Max definitely illuminates the scene more, but I adopt the look from the P30.

Want the best video on a phone? That'southward the iPhone XS Max

Video has always been the iPhone'south strong point and information technology'southward no different here. Where the P30 Pro excels in however images, the iPhone is ahead for video. The image on the P30 Pro can look oversaturated, specially on the ruby-red channel like you lot can see in the clips in the video on this page. Dynamic range on the video image is also not every bit wide as on the iPhone XS Max with some shadows appearing a little muddy.

Here'southward what else you demand to know nigh video on both:

Video stabilization: Optical image stabilization (OIS) is on the P30 Pro'southward broad and periscope lens, simply not on the ultra-wide lens. The iPhone has OIS on both lenses. Both perform well and move is smooth. But y'all just get the benefit of electronic and optical stabilization on the P30 Pro when you shoot at 1080p.
Low light recording: Both practice well, simply again the P30 Pro'southward epitome looks overly saturated and red. It has more dissonance than the iPhone.
Frame rates: Only the iPhone records in 4K at 60fps, while the P30 Pro is limited to 30fps at this resolution. The iPhone also has a mode called motorcar low light FPS which drops the frame rate automatically from 30 to 24fps to get a better exposure when the camera detects in that location isn't enough lite.
Dual-view video: The P30 Pro lets you take video from the broad and telephoto lens at the same time.
Sound quality: Both sound rich and full thanks to stereo microphones.
Wearisome motion: Bachelor at 240fps on both, merely the iPhone is full HD while the P30 Pro is but 720p. Information technology's much smoother and more in focus on the iPhone at this resolution. You tin can too hitting 960fps on the P30 Pro but at that setting, I could never get a usable video.

And so which telephone has the best cameras?

The P30 Pro is the articulate winner for still images, peculiarly at night and with zoom. But the iPhone excels with its portrait mode and is the winner for video recording. I like the selfies taken on both only think they popular just a flake more than from the P30 Pro. If you're a neat photographer you will exist very happy with either phone and of course, selecting a telephone is more than only choosing a camera. I found myself picking up the P30 Pro when I knew I was going to need a camera to accept me from day to night with ease. Just I did miss the simplicity of the iPhone XS Max. Apple's phone is physically easier to photograph with as sometimes the curved edges on the P30 Pro meant I accidentally swiped to an incorrect setting, and the blueprint is also more glace when using without a case.

Video correction: The labels for the selfie video are the incorrect way around at 5:00. The iPhone XS Max is on the right, while the P30 Pro is on the left.