Huawei’s P series has always led the charge with mobile photography. And the new Huawei P60 series carries on the tradition. The company gave us a couple of hours to play around with the new Huawei P60 Pro. And it left quite a favorable impression on me. Let us take a quick look at what’s on offer.
All eyes on those cameras
The cameras are difficult to ignore on this smartphone. There’s a triple-camera array with a capable set of cameras on the back, including a 13-megapixel Ultra Wide Angle Camera for those expansive landscape shots. But the true stars are the primary 48-megapixel primary and 48-megapixel telephoto. Huawei sets up the cameras in a design it calls the Eye of Light. It’s meant to mimic the look of traditional cameras.
I really want to talk about the main and telephoto sensors. Huawei imports the physical aperture on the Mate 50 Pro into the 48-megapixel primary sensor. It lets you set 10 different stops ranging from f/1.4 to f/4.0 in the Pro mode. But there’s also the simpler Aperture mode, which you can use to get that background blur you want to achieve. Comparing it to its predecessor, the P60 Pro is said to capture three times more light. So, you get amazing shots with a high dynamic range in different lighting conditions.
As for the telephoto camera, it also gets a 48-megapixel lens with that RYYB sensor and a large f/2.1 aperture. Like the main sensor, it has optical image stabilization, too. This setup allows you to get up to a 200x zoom range.
What excited me about the Huawei P60 Pro is what this meant for the photos I took. I don’t geek out over specs, I’m more on the experience that devices like this smartphone offers. And this phone made that easy to do.
I didn’t think I’d be praising the macro capabilities of a smartphone, but I guess I just needed the right phone. The telephoto sensor on the Huawei P60 Pro gets a preset Super Macro mode where you can get up close and personal with an image without getting too close. And it records macro videos too, which isn’t something we often see.
I was impressed with how it retained the shadows and details on that little bench. And it did that inside a hotel conference room with subpar yellow lighting. I couldn’t stop trying to capture details in the little things around me.
Another feature I couldn’t stop tinkering around with was the Aperture mode. Huawei simplified the experience by default. It let me pick from the preset options to adjust the background blur easily. And then in Portrait mode, it adjusted the blur all on its own, cleanly separating me from the background. And it did so even as a moved around while the person I asked to shoot just kept pressing the shutter.
Huawei’s been singing the praises of its 3.5x portraits, letting you zoom in and get that clean background separation without being too close to the subject. You’ll see a couple of those off-the-cuff samples below.
I’m itching to get my hands on this phone more to see how it does in low light. That is one of its biggest selling points for this handset and I regret not getting that chance to play around with that more. You’ll get an update when we finally get extended time with the Huawei P60 Pro.
Other key specs
The Huawei P60 Pro gets those signature flagship features in other aspects. The 6.67-inch screen gets the Kunlun Glass protection, which the brand claims offer 10x stronger than the typical glass. The Huawei executive demoing the phone in front of us dropped it face down and roughly chest high onto a wooden desk without a scratch.
And it’s a display you’d want to protect. This OLED screen features an LTPO panel, allowing the device to change its refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. That makes things smooth and buttery to use while improving power efficiency.
But then, we need to talk about its striking back, too. I got to hold the Huawei P60 Pro in Rococo Pearl, a very classy, Rococo-style inspired look. Huawei used natural mineral pearl powder to achieve this one-of-a-kind mother-of-pearl look. No two Rococo Pearl units have the same pattern. This phone also gets an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
The Huawei P60 Pro runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G chipset, EMUI 13.1, up to 12GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. It’s a serviceable setup. But you must understand that Huawei is still at odds with the West, so it can’t push that boundary in that respect yet or even give you access to Google services.
I’m also keen to talk about its battery and charging capabilities. It gets a reasonable 4,815mAh battery paired with 88W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and reverse wireless support. Huawei includes a power adapter in the box that supports USB-C and USB-A charging, allowing you to use this charger with your other devices.
Huawei P60 Pro: Price and availability
If you’re ready to get your hands on the Huawei P60 Pro immediately, it’s already available in Europe and the UK. You’ll be spending a minimum of EUR 1,199 or GBP 1,199.99, respectively. It’s already available in those markets.
In the Philippines, you can now purchase the Huawei P60 Pro through offline and online Huawei Stores, authorized retail outlets, and e-commerce sites Shopee and Lazada at a starting price of PHP 58,999 (around USD 1,057) for the 8GB + 256GB model.
You can get the 12GB + 512GB model for PHP 69,999 (~USD 1,254). You can take home a free Huawei WATCH GT3 worth PHP 12,999 if you pre-order from May 12 to May 25, 2023. Installment payments at offline Huawei Stores are also available via Home Credit for up to 18 months and participating credit cards for 24 months with 0% interest.
If you pre-order now, you’ll get a one-year Extended Warranty valued at PHP 3,999 (~USD 72). Trade-in is also available for both Huawei and non-Huawei smartphones. Apart from enjoying a discount from the trade-in, you can also get PHP 8,000 (~USD 143) add-on voucher when you trade in a Huawei smartphone, while for a non-Huawei smartphone, you can get up to PHP 7,000 (~USD 125) add-on voucher. This offer is available in selected stores nationwide.
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