Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG
If you’re trying to decide between buying the Huawei P30 or Huawei P30 Pro, here are the key differences you should be aware of.
Larger display and battery
If you’re after the a larger display and battery, the P30 Pro represents a clear upgrade on the regular P30.
The Huawei P30 features a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display and a 3650mAh battery.
The Huawei P30 Pro features a 6.49-inch FHD+ OLED display and a 4200mAh battery.
Camera
While the regular P30’s triple-lens Leica rear camera is nothing to scoff at, the quadriple-lens camera on the P30 Pro is a clear upgrade.
Where the P30 Pro offers up to 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom and 20x digital zoom, the P30 Pro pushes boundaries by offering 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid and 50x digital zoom.
Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG Though both devices do make use of Huawei’s new SuperSpectrum sensor, the reason why the P30 isn’t capable of matching this is due to the absence of a periscope prism and Time-of-Flight sensor from the camera configuration.
The P30 Pro can reach ISO of 406,900. The P30 can only reach as high as 204,800 ISO.
. The P30’s triple-lens setup shakes out to the following:
- 40-megapixel SuperSpectrum sensor (f/1.6)
- 16-megapixel ultrawide angle lens (f/2.2)
- 8-megapixel telephoto lens (f/2.4)
The Huawei P30 Pro’s quad-lens setup consists of the following:
- 40-megapixel SuperSpectrum sensor (f/1.6)
- 20-megapixel ultrawide angle and macro lens (f/2.2)
- 8-megapixel telephoto lens (f/3.4)
- Time of Flight sensor
Both the P30 and P30 Pro feature a 32-megapixel (f/2.0) front-facing camera.
Acoustic display
In addition to being physically larger, the Huawei P30 Pro’s display also features an integrated ‘Acoustic Display’ speaker – similar to what’s found in the LG G8 ThinQ and Sony’s Bravia OLEDs.
If you opt for the cheaper Huawei P30, you’ll still get a teardrop-notch style display but that display will feature a traditional speaker grill.
More RAM and storage space
Though the two handsets feature the same Kirin 980 processor, the amount of RAM and on-board storage differs between the Huawei P30 and Huawei P30 Pro.
The Huawei P30 features 6GB of RAM and 128GB of on-board storage.
The Huawei P30 Pro features 8GB of RAM and 256GB of on-board storage.
Both the P30 and P30 Pro can have their memory expanded via Huawei’s Nano Memory cards, which are available through JB Hi-Fi and MobileCiti.
IP68 water resistance and faster & wireless charging
The Huawei P30 Pro also features several flagship features that aren’t found in the cheaper P30.
This includes IP68 water resistance, wireless charging and Huawei’s 40W super fast charging.
Should You Buy the Huawei P30 Or Huawei P30 Pro?
If you’re looking at buying either the Huawei P30 or P30 Pro, it really comes down to how invested you are in the camera side of the equation. The flagship perks like the acoustic screen are nice but the quad-lens camera on the P30 Pro really is the main reason to consider spending the extra $500.
While the higher zooms possible on the P30 do make it the superior device, you also should consider how often you’ll realistically make use of them before opting for the Pro. The triple-lens camera on the standard P30 can still shoot incredible low-light shots and it still features an in-screen fingerprint sensor. You miss out on a few things like wireless charging but, for the asking price, we’d still rate the Huawei P30 as an incredibly competitive premium handset.
