P30 Pro: Almost perfect, but why not?

[sup3r1or]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to have a discussion here on P30 Pro. Over the last 3 years and 2 months I was stuck with Galaxy S7, while the phone was good (minus initial breakdowns) I had to move on. I understand there is no perfect phone, but I also seem to think companies on purpose make it that way, so 6 months later down the line they can justify another phone.

From S7 to 8 there was big design change, I waited a year, 8 to 9 was nothing new. S10 became too expensive.

Mate 20 pro was the phone I fell in love with, my biggest problem was 6GB of Ram was the only version released in Thailand. If it was an 8GB ram version I would buy it immediately, even over 30 pro (more on that below). If I am to keep my phone for 2 years, jump from 4Gb of ram to 6 GB after 3 years is not acceptable for me.

I bought the P30 Pro 2 weeks ago, I love the phone, it is close to perfect, but what would make it the perfect phone for me:

Why on earth in 2019 the phone of this size was equipped with 1080p display? Mate 20 Pro has 2k screen, my S7 from 3 years ago has 2k screen. Everything on this phone looks huge, the icons and the spaces between them. With good light, you can see pixels in some apps like Gmail. Now I know it helps the battery, but I would rather have the option to decrease screen resolution myself. This is by far the biggest let down of them all in the phone, it might not be a deal breaker, but if there ever would be use for VR like Gear VR, this would become a big problem.

Fingerprint scanner, while I like the idea of under the screen finger print reader... optical seems not as great as I thought it would be. Of course the tech Samsung uses (ultrasonic) might not have been available then, I would settle for power button scanner. This one is hit-and-miss quite often and at night the flashes are quite bright, while face unlock does not work at all at night. It does however on mate 20 pro with 3d cameras, I don't mind the notch as long as it serves its purpose.

That's it, everything else I love about this phone. I don't care about headphone jack, I don't mind that weird proprietary memory card issue.

What are your thoughts

 

[chris377]

hello, I also came from an s7 but im super excited about p30 pro. have u set the screen to fhd+? personally i dont see any difference on the display to my s7, p30 pro display is excellent for me. this helps to make this phone a 2 day battery phone, with wifi\mobile data active all the time, plus syncing with watch 24\7, even during sleep as i use the watch to analyse my sleep.
also i find the fingerprint scanner excellent even with a tempered glass screen protector. before i put on the protector it had 99% success. but even with the glass on it rarely misses. maybe change your screen protector. also i rately use the fps anyway because the phone unlocks with my face before i even click on the fps. only at complete darkness the face unlock doesnt work. anyway everyone has a different taste but for me this is the best of the best right now.
I was also considering s10 but the primitive fast charging tech put me off. The p30 fasts charge like crazy. Also all the rumours about the camera are true. I know i sound like im working in huawei but im not, i just love this phone

 

[FutureMech]

FHD+ is totally fine, I use it with mine mate 20 x, and that's a 7.2 inch phone.
You can always change the DPI settings under the developer settings, use nova launcher you can easily adjust the icons size.

S10 optical in screen fingerprint isn't great either, the tech is too new

 

[Mathrania]

Thats right. The display compared with any other 1080p display is bad in p30 pro. I hate to see my work mail or Gmail under the lights (at my work desk or outdoors). You can literally see the curves in the text, which is bad. Otherwise the phone is good... I returned mine. Will wait for Mate 30 pro.

 

[sup3r1or]

hello, I also came from an s7 but im super excited about p30 pro. have u set the screen to fhd+? personally i dont see any difference on the display to my s7, p30 pro display is excellent for me. this helps to make this phone a 2 day battery phone, with wifi\mobile data active all the time, plus syncing with watch 24\7, even during sleep as i use the watch to analyse my sleep.
also i find the fingerprint scanner excellent even with a tempered glass screen protector. before i put on the protector it had 99% success. but even with the glass on it rarely misses. maybe change your screen protector. also i rately use the fps anyway because the phone unlocks with my face before i even click on the fps. only at complete darkness the face unlock doesnt work. anyway everyone has a different taste but for me this is the best of the best right now.
I was also considering s10 but the primitive fast charging tech put me off. The p30 fasts charge like crazy. Also all the rumours about the camera are true. I know i sound like im working in huawei but im not, i just love this phone

If, was still like I were 5 years ago and changed phone every year it would be fine. Now with kids and when cheap phones are getting better and better it is hard to make excuse for me. They concentrated on the photography so much that they forgot about other things, screen for one. Like people mentioned you can see pixels in some bright conditions. Besides having this resolution on such a huge and long display makes dpi dip significantly. For 1000 usd they could and should have done better. I plan to use it for a least 2 years or so.
Other things I can probably leave without: stereo speakers, no video stabilization at 4k?

 

[Mathrania]

And camera was hyped up by those who got a free paris trip. Otherwise, in Huawei P30 pro keynote, they never talked about day time photography, it was just zoom and night mode, where the camera is good actually, otherwise not good in every daytime scenario. I can guarantee that this phone is not Camera King as some people have mentioned. Mate 20 pro is a much better phone than p30 pro. (No, i dont own mate 20 pro anymore) .

If, was still like I were 5 years ago and changed phone every year it would be fine. Now with kids and when cheap phones are getting better and better it is hard to make excuse for me. They concentrated on the photography so much that they forgot about other things, screen for one. Like people mentioned you can see pixels in some bright conditions. Besides having this resolution on such a huge and long display makes dpi dip significantly. For 1000 usd they could and should have done better. I plan to use it for a least 2 years or so.
Other things I can probably leave without: stereo speakers, no video stabilization at 4k?

 

[BruceCk]

I hoped the P30 Pro would have a 2K flat screen, but the P30 was much better than I was expecting, and I'm very pleased with mine. 1080 width on the smaller size is pretty good on type, and I'm very fussy about that, being short-sighted, I can see clearly close up. Not quite as good as my old HTC 10 at 1440 width on a 5.2" screen though. The flat screen is far preferable for me, I hate the reflections and vignetting you get on a curved screen.

The low light performance is amazing, even without OIS, and the 3x tele is probably more useful in the real world than 5x, though a great party trick. I like the P30 size too.

 

[Eggmundo]

I hoped the P30 Pro would have a 2K flat screen, but the P30 was much better than I was expecting, and I'm very pleased with mine. 1080 width on the smaller size is pretty good on type, and I'm very fussy about that, being short-sighted, I can see clearly close up. Not quite as good as my old HTC 10 at 1440 width on a 5.2" screen though. The flat screen is far preferable for me, I hate the reflections and vignetting you get on a curved screen.

The low light performance is amazing, even without OIS, and the 3x tele is probably more useful in the real world than 5x, though a great party trick. I like the P30 size too.

Nice. So the P30 doesn't feel at all compromise-y?

 

[BruceCk]

Nice. So the P30 doesn't feel at all compromise-y?

Not to me. I'm careful with my phones, so shower-proof is fine. I'm not fussed about wireless charging, and avoid fast-charging to prolong battery life. The sound is fine, and proper earpiece probably better. Battery life is amazing, though you need to stop EMUI killing backup apps or they don't work. At less than 5x zoom on the Pro, it crops the main sensor, so for me, using the 3x 81mm equivalent tele as a prime lens is useful more of the time. I will usually treat them as three primes, and the ultra wide and main cameras are missing very little compared to the Pro. The former is probably sharper in the corners with the lower resolution. The AI mode gives great results in low light. I generally prefer it to Night Mode, but that has it's place.

Against the P30 - gestures don't work well with a TPU case with a lip on the flat screen, as that gets in the way a bit, and the edge of the screen protector can be felt (I removed mine). I'm happy with the three virtual buttons though. I haven't tried many portraits yet, but I suspect the Tof sensor on the Pro would improve edge cutouts compared to the laser AF on theP30.

 

[darkehawke]

Display is fine. You honestly can't make out pixels unless you're superman. Even the galaxy displays are 1080 most of the time. I've come from a 2k display and it's not an issue.
The 5x zoom is amazing and absolutely useful.
I have got some amazing pics with it.
Mostly the phone is just great.

The gripes I have are no stereo speakers. Not a big deal as the bottom firing is loud but stereo speakers would have been great

And the phone is so slippery you need a case.

Oh and having the front camera at a fixed focus point is just annoying

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Great write-up. The phone does come with its shortcomings, certainly the screen and lack of secure facial recognition are probably its biggest flaws, other than that I must say I have been thoroughly enjoying the P30 Pro.

The sheer speed, fluidity and camera prowess of this device makes it feel like a whole new level of beast. I am also loving the small notch that allows more notifications in the Notifications Bar and the ridiculously good battery life.

With that said, the Mate 20 Pro to me is still a better value for money deal overall if Camera is not a big deal, the Mate 20 Pro still has a top camera, but also has a 2K Display and Secure Facial Recognition.

The 8GB RAM in the P30 Pro does make it that bitter more awesome though and the 1 they are selling here in South Africa is the 256GB variant.

 

[Mathrania]

Well, then me and some of us are superman. I compared this with other FHD+ device. The display on youtube videos and stuff is fine... But on notifications, you can clearly see the curves on the grey text on white backgrounds. This gets better on black backgrounds, but i used it for couple of days and returned only because of the disply. May be some of use expect a real fhd display from $1k phone in 2019. After using note 9, mate 20 pro... I could not handle this display.

The software is fine and dual speakers doesn't matter as the bottom firing speaker is good enough. No complaints about the phone other than display. The same display looks good on P30 (minus pro).

Display is fine. You honestly can't make out pixels unless you're superman. Even the galaxy displays are 1080 most of the time. I've come from a 2k display and it's not an issue.
The 5x zoom is amazing and absolutely useful.
I have got some amazing pics with it.
Mostly the phone is just great.

The gripes I have are no stereo speakers. Not a big deal as the bottom firing is loud but stereo speakers would have been great

And the phone is so slippery you need a case.

Oh and having the front camera at a fixed focus point is just annoying

 

[neil74]

Not to me. I'm careful with my phones, so shower-proof is fine. I'm not fussed about wireless charging, and avoid fast-charging to prolong battery life. The sound is fine, and proper earpiece probably better. Battery life is amazing, though you need to stop EMUI killing backup apps or they don't work. At less than 5x zoom on the Pro, it crops the main sensor, so for me, using the 3x 81mm equivalent tele as a prime lens is useful more of the time. I will usually treat them as three primes, and the ultra wide and main cameras are missing very little compared to the Pro. The former is probably sharper in the corners with the lower resolution. The AI mode gives great results in low light. I generally prefer it to Night Mode, but that has it's place.

Against the P30 - gestures don't work well with a TPU case with a lip on the flat screen, as that gets in the way a bit, and the edge of the screen protector can be felt (I removed mine). I'm happy with the three virtual buttons though. I haven't tried many portraits yet, but I suspect the Tof sensor on the Pro would improve edge cutouts compared to the laser AF on theP30.

I have both (will be selling one) and I agree and disagree the thing is whenever I use it I do feel that the P30 is just slightly compromised. It is mostly the wireless charging as I have got so used to just putting my phones down on a pad and have them dotted all around the house, it shouldn't be but is. Nothing shouts 'not flagship' in 2019 like no wireless charging. The IP rating not so much as I only really care about not worrying if I get caught in the rain, the lack of OIS in the main camera coupled with the slightly dimmer glass is also a shame. I would really to see a proper P30 non-pro camera vs the rest comparison ( e.g. S10s and Pixel) all reviewers seem to want to do is compare the pro.

So I think it is the standard P30 that is almost perfect, it has the overall specs, it has a flat screen in a size I am starting to regard as the sweet-spot and if you ignore the pro for a minute it has a terrific camera too. It is just that every time I pick it up I know it is missing stuff!

For anyone wanting a full on flagship in a slightly smaller package the standard S10 maybe remains the best option still?

 

[Eggmundo]

I have both (will be selling one) and I agree and disagree the thing is whenever I use it I do feel that the P30 is just slightly compromised. It is mostly the wireless charging as I have got so used to just putting my phones down on a pad and have them dotted all around the house, it shouldn't be but is. Nothing shouts 'not flagship' in 2019 like no wireless charging. The IP rating not so much as I only really care about not worrying if I get caught in the rain, the lack of OIS in the main camera coupled with the slightly dimmer glass is also a shame. I would really to see a proper P30 non-pro camera vs the rest comparison ( e.g. S10s and Pixel) all reviewers seem to want to do is compare the pro.

So I think it is the standard P30 that is almost perfect, it has the overall specs, it has a flat screen in a size I am starting to regard as the sweet-spot and if you ignore the pro for a minute it has a terrific camera too. It is just that every time I pick it up I know it is missing stuff!

For anyone wanting a full on flagship in a slightly smaller package the standard S10 maybe remains the best option still?

S10s are ruled out for me due to Exynos.

 

[neil74]

S10s are ruled out for me due to Exynos.

Fair enough, it is rough that non-US customers get an inferior product this year.

 

[Mathrania]

Why does Samsung do that? Why not snapdragon for everyone?

Fair enough, it is rough that non-US customers get an inferior product this year.

 

[sup3r1or]

S10s are ruled out for me due to Exynos.

What is wrong with Exynos? They always performed better until this gen.

 

[neil74]

Why does Samsung do that? Why not snapdragon for everyone?

I think they have to use SD in the US for contractual reasons but prefer to use their own chip elsewhere. It is something like that anyway.

 

[sup3r1or]

Yes, I live in Asia for last 10 years all Samsung phones here shipped with Exynos, which until this year was more powerful. They use SD there because it is compatible with US networks. EXYNOS does not support most US networks.

 

[JZ VR]

Yes, I live in Asia for last 10 years all Samsung phones here shipped with Exynos, which until this year was more powerful. They use SD there because it is compatible with US networks. EXYNOS does not support most US networks.

SD845 was better last year too, by a noticeable margin and it's not just performance, apparently SD version this year has better audio, pics, AI performance, GPU, CPU, ISP, battery life etc. Unacceptable for a phone at this price.