Huawei P30 lite vs Samsung Galaxy A50, the stylish camera phone to get is?

If you are looking for a mid-range phone with the looks to match your style and the cameras that can help you take great photos, Huawei's P30 lite and Samsung's Galaxy A50 are some of the best in its class.

P30 lite and S10+

Huawei P30 lite retails for PHP 16,990 while Samsung Galaxy A50 is priced at PHP 17,990.

Now let's see who between the two is better in the design and camera department!

Build/Design

Glass-like back design

P30 lite and Galaxy A50 are made out of similar materials. Both highlights a 3D glasstic back design and durable plastic frames. In front, the screens of both phones are made out of glass. There's no mention of glass protection on both devices though.

Like most mid-rangers, the phones are not equipped with an IP rating for water and dust resistance.

Make sure to put a case to avoid unwanted damages when dropped as well.

The phones are stunning for the price!

Design-wise, the phones looks stunning for the price. The paint finish on both devices are quite impressive.

Huawei P30 lite comes in midnight black, sapphire blue, aurora purple, and pearl white. The unit I have is the pearl white version with sleek chrome paint shades found on the triple-cam and fingerprint scanner behind and the sides. The blue P30 lite highlights a cool multiple s-line reflection at the back.

Galaxy A50 on the other hand comes in blue, white, and black colors. The black A50 has a cool rainbow reflection. Both comes with protruded cameras.

Only the P30 lite has a fingerprint scanner at the back. The fingerprint sensor of A50 is in the display. Based on our experience, traditional fingerprint scanners are still faster and more reliable than In-Screen fingerprint scanners.

Bright screens

In front, P30 lite has a smaller 6.15-inch FHD+ display with sharper 415 ppi and a small dewdrop notch.

On the other hand, Galaxy A50 has a larger 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with small Infinity-U notch. It is just as small as the notch of the P30 lite. 

Tiny notches

The result? Both has slim bezels and more screen real estate with 90 percent of screen-to-body ratio.

P30 lite might be perfect for those in need of a more compact and slimmer phone. It measures at just 152.9 x 72.7 x 7.4 mm. A50 is a bit bigger and thicker at 158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7 mm due to its larger display and battery capacity.

Top

Bottom

Left

Right

The phones also arrived with easy to reach buttons and ports. I'm glad to announce that they both have USB-C reversible ports.

Personally, I slightly like P30 lite's finish and compact size overall. It is easier to hold with one hand.

Camera

Triple-cam

P30 lite and A50 are both packed with 3 cameras at the back.

P30 lite loads with a 24MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle secondary lens and a 2MP f/2.4 depth camera.

Galaxy A50 features a 25MP f/1.7 main cam + 8MP f/2.2 123-degree ultra-wide lens + 5MP f/2.4 Live Focus depth sensor.

Both cameras are also assisted by PDAF, AI, and LED flash.

P30 lite and A50's camera apps

P30 lite's camera app is feature-rich. It has the easy to reach AI scene detection toggle, up to 6s Super Night Mode, Portrait Mode with different bokeh effects and face beauty, robust Pro mode (ISO 100 to 3200, 1/4000 to 30s, EV -4.0 to + 4.0, manual focus, 2800K to 7000K color temperature), light painting mode (light trails, star trails, silky water), and many more.

A50's app is a bit more limited, but it has auto HDR and an adjustable Live Focus camera with up to level 7 blur.

In our experience, focus speed is about the same for both phones, but P30 lite's macro capability is a bit ahead. It also has the faster shooting and saving speed.

Rear Camera Samples

Scene 1 - Bright daylight

It's a close match in bright day as both got an image with plenty of details. But, the contrast and colors are punchier with the P30 lite. In real-life, the colors of the building is not as pale as the colors rendered by A50.

Scene 2 - Ultra-wide

Galaxy A50's 123-degree wide cam has a wider field of view versus P30 lite's 120-degree lens. However, its barrel distortion has a love it or hate it fisheye lens-like effect. P30 lite's output looks cleaner for me. In this scene, it got the image with punchier colors and sharper details again.

Scene 3 - Against the light

Galaxy A50 has a nice auto HDR feature with AI Scene Optimizer while P30 lite relies on either AI or HDR only. The result, Samsung's output has the better exposure and dynamic range.

P30 lite, A50 cropped

But when cropped, P30 lite's output showed that it has the shot with the sharper details and truer colors. Most will also prefer a shot with sharper details as you can simply adjust its exposure with Snapseed or other apps.

Scene 4 - Ultra-wide against the light

Similar result with the main cam. Again, A50 delivered the wider shot with better exposure, but P30 lite got the image with sharper details and less barrel distortion. Artifacts are slightly lesser on P30 lite's shot as well.

Against the light 100 percent crop

Details on the A50 are noticeably softer when cropped.

Scene 5 - Close-up

Close-up

P30 lite's shot has punchy colors. But this time, A50's color reproduction is more accurate. Details and exposure are a bit better too.

Scene 6 - Portrait bokeh

The shot by P30 lite is a bit overexposed for me. The face beauty is a bit too aggressive as well. The edge detection and background blur to subject separation are quite impressive on both phones. I'm with A50 in this scene.

Scene 7 - Indoor dim

The next shot showed that P30 lite can take accurate colors indoors. But, A50's dim food shoot looks a bit more appealing. Details are a bit sharper on the A50 as well.

Scene 8 -  Low light

It's a close match in low light. P30 lite controlled the highlights better with slightly lesser noise. A50 got the brighter image with the wide dynamic range.

Scene 9 - Super Night Mode

Sadly, A50 doesn't have a handheld night mode feature yet. On the other hand, Huawei P30 lite's allowed the phone to take handheld long exposure shots up to 6s. The result? Night shots with sharper details, less noise, better exposure/colors, and wide dynamic range.

Scene 10 - Ultra-wide night

P30 lite and A50's wide shot both got an image with similar details and colors. I just like P30 lite's low light wide shot a bit better due to its less distorted look.

For selfies, both phones are packed with high resolution shooters. P30 lite has the 32MP f/2.0 AI selfie snapper while A50 highlights a 25MP f/2.0 front camera.

Modes are limited for selfies. P30 lite comes with AI with HDR for against the light shots. A50 can let you choose a cropped or uncropped selfie. Both has their own portrait mode. 

P30 lite's portrait mode comes with different bokeh and lighting effects aside from the face beauty mode. A50's portrait mode only has the facebeauty effect.

Selfie Camera Samples

Scene 1 - Well-lit selfie

A50's shot looks more appealing on first look, but it is beautified in comparison to P30 lite. Details are crisper and colors are truer with P30 lite as well.

Scene 2 - Indoor selfie

Indoor selfie

Again, A50's shot looks whiter versus P30 lite's shot. P30 lite also retained the details a bit better than A50.
Scene 3 - Low light selfie

Samsung's low light selfie has a wider dynamic range with more accurate colors. P30 lite's selfie is a bit sharper though.

Videos

Both phones can record up to 1080p videos. Only P30 lite has up to 60fps at 1080p and up to 480fps slow-mo mode. Shake is just less on the A50, but details are better on P30 lite.

For selfies, both can take up to 1080p 30fps cropped videos. Cropped is lesser on the A50. Its color reproduction and details are slightly better as well. But, P30 lite's produced the selfie video with brighter exposure. It should be the better selfie video camera phone in low light as well.

Huawei P30 lite vs Samsung Galaxy A50 Specs Comparison

Device	Huawei P30 lite	Samsung Galaxy A50
Display	6.15-inch 2.5D curved IPS screen w/ FHD+ 2312 x 1080 resolution at 415 ppi	6.4-inch 2.5D Super AMOLED screen w/ FHD+ 2340 x 1080 resolution at 403 ppi
CPU	2.2GHz 64-bit Kirin 710 octa-core processor	2.3GHz 64-bit Exynos 9610 octa-core processor
GPU	Mali-G51 MP4 w/ GPU Turbo	Mali-G72 MP3
RAM	6GB	6GB
ROM	128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB	128GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB (dedicated)
Back Camera	24MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 120-degree ultra wide-angle lens + 2MP f/2.4 w/ PDAF and LED flash	25MP f/1.7 + 8MP f/2.2 123-degree ultra wide-angle lens + 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor w/ PDAF and LED flash
Selfie Camera	32MP f/2.0 w/ AI face beauty	25MP f/2.0
Battery	3,340mAh w/ 10W fast charging	4,000mAh w/ 15W fast charging
OS	Android 9.0 Pie w/ EMUI 9.0	Android 9.0 Pie w/ One UI
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz), 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE, HWA, aptX, and aptX HD, FM Radio, OTG, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM (hybrid)	WiFi 802.11ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5, FM Radio, GPS, GLONASS, dual SIM
Sensors	Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic	Accelerometer, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others	Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB-C, Colors: midnight black, sapphire blue, aurora purple	In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, USB-C, Colors: blue, white, black
Dimensions	152.9 x 72.7 x 7.4 mm	158.5 x 74.7 x 7.7 mm
Weight	159 g	166 g
Price	PHP 16,990	PHP 17,990

Our thoughts

For this comparison, my personal pick is the P30 lite due to its easier to hold style, arguably better design, and a slightly more refined triple-camera setup. It is also the phone with more camera modes such as the Super Night Mode, light painting mode, and portrait effects that could help you be more creative with your shots.

Don't get us wrong, both are mid-rangers with stylish looks and capable cameras. Some may go for the A50 due to its larger screen size and more stabilized videos.

How about you? What do you think?