HUAWEI P60 Pro First Shots in Shenzhen, China - Photography, zoom BEAST!

Ahead of its official local launch, tech giant HUAWEI allowed us to borrow the P60 Pro on our media trip in Shenzhen, China last week.

HUAWEI P60 Pro in Rococo Pearl

To those who missed it, the HUAWEI P60 Pro is equipped with one of the strongest camera specs found on a smartphone today.

One of the strongest camera specs today!

In particular, the device features a HUAWEI XMAGE camera system boasting the 48MP Ultra-Lighting Camera with Phase Focus, Contrast Focus, and OIS. This is one of the biggest sensors on a phone at 1/1.43-inch and it even has an f/1.4 to f/4.0 variable aperture with a total of 10 stops. Its f/1.4 aperture is one of the brightest and largest openings on a smartphone lens today. Super macro mode is also available in this main shooter.

HUAWEI also added a 13MP f/2.2 25mm Ultra-Wide Angle Camera and a 48MP f/2.1 Ultra Lighting Telephoto Camera with 3.5x optical zoom with 125mm equivalent.

The telephoto camera that HUAWEI uses here is a special one as it has the brightest f/2.1 aperture. It also has OIS and can help the phone achieve up to 100x digital zoom. For selfies, it uses a 13MP f/2.4 Wide Angle sensor.

Both the back and front camera configurations can record up to 4K at 60fps. The ultra-wide cam has a limitation at 4K 30fps.

Camera UI

The camera UI is still identical to the Mate 50 Pro on first look and it still has the adjustable aperture mode. What's different here is it now has a "zoom ring" to allow users to operate zoom from wide to 100x by sliding their fingers.

As you may have noticed, the main highlight of this device is its cameras. We took it a spin to see how it performs in different scenarios.

Let's have a look!

HUAWEI P60 Pro First Shots

Wide, 1x

Since HUAWEI is so proud of the zooming capabilities of this smartphone, the first thing we tried was its zoom. We started with the ultra-wide mode followed by the 1x mode in this sunny morning situation.

Similar to all the other high-end phones we have tried recently, the output is vibrant, crisp, and rich. But to be honest, it isn't that special for a high-end device.

3.5x and 10x zoom

But when you switch to the 3.5x zoom mode, this is where you will see why this camera configuration is special. Under this mode, you can easily create shots with DSLR-like bokeh (background blur) to make the subject stand out further.

After that, we got curious and switched to 10x mode. At 10x mode, it is even more impressive. So far, this is the clearest and highest quality 10x mode I've seen on a phone.

3.5x zoom outdoor and indoor

I enjoyed the 3.5x mode so much that we tried it again. I took another zoom photo (ice cream) and it delivered an amazing result once more.

The 3.5x zoom mode of the P60 Pro is a game-changer!

For indoors, we suspected that it might get a dip in picture quality. But it didn't. It took a shot (FreeBuds 5 earphones) that has a similar quality to my old 50mm Portrait lens. If this is not impressive for a phone, I don't know what is.

Telemacro Samples

HUAWEI said that this phone also has telemacro capabilities. This means that it is capable of taking clear super close-up shots when zooming and it doesn't feel gimmicky, unlike the plethora of macro shots you will see on most smartphones today.

Amazing telemacro capabilities!

Most of the shots we took using the macro mode of this phone are highly detailed for a phone and it feels like having a microscope in your pocket. Unlike other devices we tried in the past that only work well in daylight, HUAWEI P60 Pro's telemacro is more than acceptable even indoors with artificial lighting.

Wide to 100x zoom

Of course, we are not done with trying super zoom yet. This time, we tried its 100x zoom mode.

Obviously, the output will not be as good as the closer zooms. BUT, this is still one of the most detailed 100x zoom modes we have tried. The face of Sir Art Samaniego of Manila Bulletin is still very much recognizable even at this distance.

This is something that I will not upload regularly to boast on social media, but it can help its users recognize and see things that even our naked eye can't see.

Going back to the 3.5x zoom, we think that P60 Pro owners can use this to take artistic-looking shots. Even if you don't use the Portrait mode, the background blur is impressive enough for a phone.

Both are at 3.5x zoom

Some of our photographer friends advised us to take food photos using zoom would help lessen shadows and make the shot stand out better.

1x Portrait mode

AND YES, the Portrait 1x mode of the device could also take very good-looking shots with excellent edge detection. 

Ultra-wide in daylight

We also tried its new 13MP f/2.2 25mm Ultra-Wide Angle Camera. On paper, it might not look or sound that great. But, we are talking about a high-end HUAWEI smartphone here.

Indoor ultra-wide

And just like we thought, it performed very well. The dynamic range on this indoor shot is superb and you can even see some details in the sky. Colors are also very near life-like and details remained crisp.

Another indoor ultra-wide

For indoor shots with artificial light sources, the dynamic range is still excellent and grain is minimal. Also, we noticed that it isn't as distorted as other ultra-wides.

Auto low light photo with starburst-like effect (no edit)

The main shooter of this device is one of the most advanced today and we can see it clearly in this night shot. First, the shot is not overexposed and it still looks like night. Second, it has a starburst effect that is very rare on a smartphone thanks to its 6 aperture blades. Third, noise reduction is excellent for a phone. Note that this was shot in auto mode.

Reflection shot 1

Reflection shot 2

Do I need to explain further? Take a look at the reflection night photos with wallpaper-like quality above.

3.5x zoom dim light

Let's go back to the 3.5x zoom mode. AND YES, it is still impressive even in dimmer lighting conditions. This is the most impressive 3.5x zoom I've seen on a phone yet.

Portrait selfie

Wide selfie HDR

Also, how could we forget about selfies? The 13MP shooter of this one is versatile that can go from Wide, 0.8x, to 1x. The Portrait mode also has great edge detection and its Wide mode has great colors and dynamic range.

Quick thoughts

We have yet to fully explore what its cameras can do, but the HUAWEI P60 Pro is arguably the most impressive smartphone shooter I've tried this year.

It is an amazing mobile photography buddy that could help even beginners take well to great images. Our favorite feature of the device is its 3.5x zoom mode, but the rest of its cameras are also top-notch.

Thanks to the P60 Pro, despite its few weak points, made me rarely use my mirrorless camera to document our trip to China.

Other specs

The HUAWEI P60 Pro features high-end overall specs. It arrived with the ultra-durable Kunlun Glass-protected back and front, IP68 water and dust resistance, a Quad-Curve 6.67-inch LTPO OLED 120Hz screen with 2700 x 1220 resolution + an In-Display fingerprint sensor,3.2GHz 4nm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 octa-core processor, 4,815mAh battery capacity with 88W SuperCharge (10 mins, 50 percent charge), 50W Wireless SuperCharge, stereo speakers, and an IR Blaster.

In China, the device has a starting price of CNY 6,988 (around PHP 56.7K) for the 256GB version to CNY 7,998 for the 512GB model (around PHP 63.6K).

It will be available in the Philippines soon, but we do not know its official local price tag yet.