HUAWEI always manages to do something extraordinary with their new P-series line of smartphones. Last year, they released a foldable version with Dutch couture designer, Iris van Herpen — the P50 Pocket. This model took on the 3D micro-sculpture design that Iris van Herpen is famous for, and was gilded in an iridescent gold finish to complement the premium look of the phone.
Above: The HUAWEI P50 Pocket in premium gold set against an iris van herpen scarf.
This year, they’ve wrapped their new P60 Pro in a Rococo Pearl texture, and being a natural material, that means every phone is unique with no two having the exact same finish.
Above: The HUAWEI P60 pro in rococo pearl, photo courtesy huawei.
DESIGN AND SPECS
The pearl texture is the mobile industry’s first, and incorporates natural mineral pearl powder to achieve the Mother of Pearl-like texture (there’s also a deep feather-sand Black version of the phone that’s gorgeous in its own right too; it uses anti-fingerprint feather-sand glass to create the soft sand-like texture, but reflects light beautifully like a diamond).
Above: The HUAWEI P60 pro in black, photo courtesy huawei.
Apart from the premium finishes that the phone comes in, the P60 Pro has a new Quad-Curve Display where all four sides are slightly curved resulting in a more immersive display. The rest of the general specs are what we would expect from HUAWEI’s highest-end device — the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, a 6.67″ durable Kunlun Glass display, a 120Hz screen refresh rate, IP68 dust and water resistance, and supercharging (charges to 50% in 10 minutes).
Above: the 88W charger that comes in the box, photo courtesy huawei.
It’s an impressive phone to hold and use, but what’s exciting with every HUAWEI P series launch is the smart imaging features that get better and better with every new device. With the P60 Pro, we once again see a full upgrade and reconstruction of the camera’s optical system.
CAMERA
There are three lenses: a main 48MP Ultra Lighting Camera (the aperture of f1.4-f4.0 is a physical one and can auto-adjust), a 13MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera (f2.2), and a 48MP Ultra Lighting Telephoto Camera (f2.1). There’s 3.5x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom, macro mode, portrait mode, a light painting mode, and a whole bunch of other Pro functions to explore.
Above: the three lenses on the huawei p60 pro, including a main 48mp ultra lighting camera with an adjustable aperture of f1.4-f4.0.
What’s notable is that since its global launch in March this year, it holds the number one ranking on DXOMARK for smartphones (at the time of writing). The review says that it has outstanding performance in macro mode and that there are high level of details at all zoom ranges. Here’s our experience with the camera system:
Above: a good mix of highlights and lowlights inside the USS attraction, Lights, camera, action!
Above: super macro shot of grilled salmon skin. incredible detail and nice bokeh.
Above: good clarity and detail on the mahjong tiles.
Above: the camera system is definitely good enough for product shoots. Here we’re using the phone’s portrait mode at 3.5x zoom.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The HUAWEI P60 Pro is a beautiful premium device with really high-end specs for a phone. If you’re a HUAWEI user, this is a worthwhile upgrade, especially for the camera. You’ll undoubtedly enjoy the smoothness and clarity of the screen, the speediness of the processor, and one of the best camera systems in a smartphone.
Above: The Huawei P60 pro with Huawei watch buds.
Some things to note though — this isn’t a 5G phone, and it runs the EMUI 13.1 operating system. It’s Android at its base, but there’s no Google Play Store or Google apps out of the box. But it’s easy enough to set up and install; just open the HUAWEI AppGallery and search for the Google app you want. I managed to sync and transfer my pictures from the P60 Pro to Google Photos, and then download them to my Mac for featuring in this article.
With any HUAWEI smartphone, it’s more a mental hurdle the consumer needs to get over; that you can’t use your Google apps on the device etc. etc. But that’s really not true. It just takes some workaround (yes, it’s not as convenient or straightforward as a Samsung, OPPO or Xiaomi), but it works.
The Huawei P60 Pro is priced at $1,548 and available on Huawei’s official store on SHOPEE.
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