So about 4 weeks ago, I dropped my phone and the screen cracked...yup, it happened to me but thankfully it still fell under the warranty period with Huawei HiCare so after filling up a quick online form, the couriers were here in no time to pick up my phone for its free screen replacement. Now, I live my life with my phone and it goes everywhere I go, what to do? Coincidentally I was due a review phone, from Huawei as well! It was a device from the P20 series, but wasn't sure which one it would be, I was hoping for the Pro but when it arrived, I saw it was the standard P20. A bit bummed, I figured it was better than nothing and I had a phone to use while mine is in for repairs so I used that as my primary phone for the past 3 weeks and as you'll find out, I was won over by the P20 in every way possible.
DESIGN
Huawei in general make great looking devices, we've become used to their great build quality, unibody design and great feel in hand, with the P20 much is the same. Slightly bigger than the P10, finished off in a more square full metal unibody, the P20 really is a delight to hold and feel. The back had a nice chrome, mirror type paint finish in a metallic blue, with the dual lens Leica camera protruding ever so slightly, flip it over and a nice large 5.8" LCD greeted you. Now the P20 does come with full view display, meaning they make use of as much as the phones surface as possible, hence at top you will notice notch, quite like the iPhoneX. But if this bothers you, on the device settings, you have options to black out that top section so your screen is a perfect rectangle but for me it was pretty cool. Huawei have retained the button at the bottom of the phone from the P10, which doubles as a finger print reader. The sides of the device has a sliver chrome finish and on the right side, you'll find the volume and power buttons as per the norm with their device. Below is where things are changed slightly, with the doing away of the ear phone jack and only the power USB port present.
DURABILITY
Now the device is IP65, dust and splash proof rated but it looks so good, I wouldn't want to put that to the test but in saying that I did pull the phone out in occasions I generally wouldn't. Like in heavy rain, while riding in a golf cart. In saying that, Huawei again offers their HiCare for this device and for them to be so confident in this regard, it shows their put their money where their mouth is when it comes to the build quality and their ratings on their devices.
PROCESSING
The Huawei P20 comes with Android 8.1, otherwise known as Oreo and is run on a Hisilicon Kirin 970 chipset which has an Octa-core CPU, which basically translates to 8 mini CPU's, of which 4 run at 2.4GHz and the other 4 at 1.8GHz, this has an overall improved processing speed, and with an on-board capacity of 128GB plus the 4GB of RAM, there really was no issues at all with speed and performance. In fact, I even used to leave multiple applications open while using it, so things like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter, all of which are heavy data and battery intensive applications, along with Google Play and other background apps running and not one issue. I think the massive hard disk space plays a big part with this, and with everything being cloud base, I don't really think many will fill all 128GB so it's nice to know that it's there.
CAMERA
Big talking point on the P20 Pro is the triple Leica Lens, on the P20, it still uses Dual Lens Leica technology but to a greater degree than the outgoing P10. The camera makes use of the AI capabilities and its able to learn in a split second what you're taking a picture off. Whether its food, a sunrise, sunset, text, beach, you name it, it has 100's of built in settings to take the perfect picture almost every time. The shutter speed has improved with the dual 12 MP camera, so that means taking quick moving pictures that won't be blurred. Video's on the camera records at 2160p@30fps and are crystal clear. The issue with the Huawei mic seems to have been sorted out as well, so when you're at a concert, you won't get heavy feedback in your videos. On front, you have a 24MP secondary camera, this makes selfies all that much more better, with is also using AI tech, to automatically detect the scene and adjust the exposure to suit. The front facing camera also doubles as a face reader to unlock the phone when you look at it, so no need for the security codes or finger print, simply look at your phone and it unlocks.
VERDICT
As much as I was disappointed not to have received the P20 Pro, I was not disappointed at the performance of the P20. This phone is probably under rated because of the shadow cast upon it by the Pro much like the iPhone 8 is with the iPhone X but the point of the matter is, it's a really great device! And personally, I think you're scoring with this one as it is much more cheaper, as you'll be paying between R500 and R600 month on contract for the P20 versus R700+ for the P20 Pro. While the Pro might have its key features, for an everyday smart phone that does everything well with no hassle, there really is no reason to doubt the P20.
Some pictures, taken with the Huawei P20, unedited and auto adjusted by the AI for the perfect picture.
