Huawei P50 Professional assessment: Google compromise not viable in 2022

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The Huawei P50 Professional is the most recent flagship smartphone from the Chinese language producer that continues to expertise a commerce embargo in the USA. This implies it continues to be disadvantaged of Google Cell Providers (GMS), one thing that’s deemed important for all Android smartphones. On this complete assessment of the Huawei P50 Professional, I’ll let you know whether or not this smartphone that lacks 5G connectivity whereas having a pedigree for capturing nice photographs, alongside the EMUI 12 software program expertise that’s based mostly on a gimped Android 11 and offered at a worth of $1,200 (after conversion from Euros since it’s unavailable Stateside) deserves your consideration and your hard-earned cash.

Good

Wonderful AMOLED display screen
Extensive-angle and telephoto seize wealthy, detailed photographs
Efficient night time mode
Snapdragon 888 sans 5G chipset continues to be highly effective
Enough battery life
Very stylish design
IP68 certification
Wi-fi charging (50 watts)/wired charging (66 watts)

Dangerous

No Google companies (GMS)
Advertisements in EMUI 12 and plenty of bloatware
No 5G compatibility
Costly
Proprietary NM port to develop storage

Huawei P50 Professional in a nutshell
The Huawei P50 Professional has been out there for buy since January 26, 2022 in Europe, however positively not within the US. It arrives in a single configuration of 8/256 GB that’s offered €1,199 (you’ll find it on the market in US markets through third-party on-line distributors for $1,200 thereabouts). It’s the newest addition to Huawei’s P vary, which focuses on images.Dubbed “a legend reborn” by its producer, the Huawei P50 Professional is content material to take care of the established order set two years in the past by the P40, P40 Professional and the Mate 40 Professional. “Good {hardware} and a top-notch photograph expertise, however lacks Google companies or 5G.” Personally, I refuse to offer in to this mental laziness that I’ve seen all too typically in many of the Huawei P50 Professional critiques that I’ve come throughout.Sure, the Huawei P50 Professional’s specs are nonetheless worthy of a high-end Android smartphone. An AMOLED display screen with a 120 Hz refresh fee, a Snapdragon 888 SoC (with out 5G), a quad-Leica 50+64+13+40 MP digital camera module with a periscopic telephoto lens, and a 4,360 mAh battery (a bit small for a flagship) that accepts 66-watts wired quick charging and 50-watts wi-fi charging.However all the above shouldn’t be sufficient for me. It isn’t sufficient for anybody, anymore, as of late. And that is even when EMUI 12’s software program expertise that’s based mostly on an amped-up Android 11 stays viable for geeks and different technophiles who’re looking out for a substitute for the Google suite. Minimizing the nuisance of this incomplete person expertise shouldn’t be the reply.
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Design: Glass again, curved display screen and IP68 certification as if nothing had occurred

The Huawei P50 Professional has a classy-looking glass design with a digital camera module organized in two golden round islands, and arrives in two colours: Cocoa Gold and Golden Black. It is the latter that coloured my assessment unit.
What I appreciated:
The glass again and the curved display screen.
The double golden matrix for the digital camera module.
IP68 certification.
What I disliked:
No 3.5 mm jack.
Expandable storage through proprietary NM slot solely.

The Huawei P50 Professional is fairly gentle for a flagship, weighing in at 195 grams. / © NextPit

Sure, I do know, you have made it clear that you just want plastic to glass backs and flat relatively than curved screens. However I haven’t got to agree with you on both level. Personally, I actually just like the look of the Huawei P50 Professional, the place it sports activities a really premium design. The Golden Black shade is solely beautiful!The 2 round islands that home the 4 Leica photograph lenses on the again have been organized in such a method that they’re surrounded by two golden rings with a elegant black coating that covers the remainder of the smartphone. The whole machine is contained in a capsule-shaped block that does not stand out an excessive amount of. The curved display screen is good to the contact and did not hassle me in any respect when it comes to grip, regardless of my fats fingers.

I actually just like the look of the double matrix configuration for the digital camera module. / © NextPit

The smartphone is IP68 licensed in opposition to mud and water immersion for as much as 1 hour and as much as 1 meter deep. I discover the amount button positioned a bit too excessive for my style and I remorse that you just nonetheless should make use of the proprietary NM playing cards with a view to develop storage. However there are some Android flagships that do not even permit this type of freedom, so it is okay.

I do know you do not like curved screens, but it surely did not hassle me on the Huawei P50 Professional. / © NextPit

Display: AMOLED in Full HD+ decision at 120 Hz. Thus far so good!

The Huawei P50 Professional packs a 6.6-inch AMOLED show with a Full HD+ decision of 1228 x 2700 pixels, which interprets to a 450 dpi pixel density and a 120 Hz refresh fee of 120 Hz alongside a sampling contact fee of 300 Hz.
What I appreciated:
A really brilliant and well-calibrated show.
120 Hz refresh fee.
300 Hz contact sampling fee.
Curved display screen (is dependent upon private choice).
What I disliked:
Curved display screen (is dependent upon private choice).
No QHD+ at this worth (I do know, I am bitching).

The centered notch that homes the 13 MP selfie digital camera. / © NextPit

I will not go return to the curved/flat debate since everybody has their very own preferences, and all are equally legitimate. The display screen of the Huawei P50 Professional is great. The 6.6-inch slab may have supplied a QHD+ decision as a substitute of settling for Full HD+ at that worth level. However right here, I could also be nitpicking a bit an excessive amount of on the specs.To the bare eye, the AMOLED panel provides a wealthy colorimetry and that’s very correct.My colleague Stefan positioned the Huawei P50 Professional beneath the magnifying glass of a calibration software (Spyder 5) coupled with HCFR software program to look at the display screen’s colorimetry. We have an interest within the idea of the common deltaE right here, which is the common distinction between the colours reproduced in a given shade house.

The black triangle with the factors “+” represents the theoretical excellent colorimetry. The white triangle with the grey dots represents the measurements of the Huawei P50 Professional. The smartphone is flawless on heat tones (purple, yellow, magenta) and has a slight tendency to push on cool tones (inexperienced, blue). / © NextPit

And on the Huawei P50 Professional, this common deltaE is 2.05, a greater consequence than the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE (deltaE of two.4) which is our solely level of comparability for now for the reason that implementation of this assessment protocol. The Huawei P50 Professional display screen can also be a lot brighter than the Galaxy S21 FE with a mean of 643.8 cd/m2 (candela per sq. meter) in opposition to 399.6 cd/m2 for the Samsung.The 120 Hz refresh fee is clearly nice to make use of even when this characteristic is already widespread throughout the cheaper price ranges. And the 300 Hz contact sampling fee contributes to the standard of the gaming expertise by making the display screen and contact controls responsive.

The Huawei P50 Professional makes for a superb machine with its well-calibrated display screen / © NextPit

Interface: EMUI 12 based mostly on Android 12 with out Google companies (GMS)

The Huawei P50 Professional runs on EMUI 12, its interface that’s based mostly on Android 11 however is disadvantaged of GMS. As an alternative, Google Cell Providers is changed by HMS or Huawei Cell Providers.
What I appreciated:
Giant folders on the house web page.
Customization choices.
Multitasking options (split-screen, floating window).
What I disliked:
Many pre-installed purposes.
Presence of adverts within the interface.
No GMS.
Lack of synchronization for GMS apps put in through APK.

Huawei’s EMUI 12 overlay relies on Android 11 / © NextPit

That is the massive black spot of the Huawei P50 Professional, the software program expertise. Visually, I discover the interface to be relatively clear and I actually just like the folders which you could develop on the house display screen, so you do not have to faucet on them to entry the apps they include. It makes navigation extra fluid and intuitive.

These giant folders are maybe my favourite characteristic of EMUI 12. / © NextPit

I additionally appreciated the Assistant As we speak pane, a type of ‘OnePlus Shelf’ (that is the one equal instance I can consider), an all-in-one web page that brings collectively a bunch of widgets shortcuts to your favourite apps, a information feed, the climate, and so forth. The primary launch might be fairly a complicated expertise as a result of the web page is filled with adverts. However when you had been to take the time to customise it, you possibly can actually make it a pleasant management heart.

There are a whole lot of adverts in MIU… properly EMUI 12. / © NextPit

Add the windowed mode and split-screen for productiveness and we’re executed with all optimistic parts that I bear in mind from EMUI 12. Properly, come on, there’s additionally the System+ characteristic that lets you switch sound out of your Huawei TV to your Freebuds, for instance, with out Bluetooth/WiFi pairing or having to undergo further settings.

No strategy to create pairs of purposes, although. / © NextPit

As for the remaining, I clearly remorse the tinkering and imperfect options that Huawei provides to fill the void of Google companies. I’ve talked at size about my doubts about Huawei’s unglued different in a rant. Principally, I do not deny that it’s fairly potential to make use of your Huawei P50 Professional in a standard method in 7 to eight circumstances out of 10 every day.The largest handicap for me is the entire incompatibility (and to my data unavoidable) with Google Pay, which in itself is already a deal-breaker. However sure, you possibly can set up many of the purposes that aren’t out there within the AppGallery within the type of “PWA” that are, most frequently, easy shortcuts to the online model. For the remaining, you possibly can undergo the Petal Search software and obtain the APK recordsdata.

On the whole, Huawei redirects you to secure APK shops. / © NextPit

One other resolution is to make use of a third-party utility like GSpace. It lets you create a form of digital machine in your smartphone that’s suitable with GMS and lets you entry the Play Retailer and obtain Google (or third-party) purposes like Gmail.

Do not hesitate to share your options or ask me to make a information to the other ways to put in apps in your Huawei machine. / © NextPit

Lastly, I might say that the occasional adverts within the interface and the extra systematic ones after I open the AppGallery are the tip of the iceberg of a failed software program expertise.

Efficiency: Secure with none overheating points

The Huawei P50 Professional embeds the
Snapdragon 888 and never its in-house Kirin 9000 chip, which his reserved for the Chinese language model. Qualcomm’s
high-end SoC is stripped of its 5G modem and paired to 8GB of RAM.
What I appreciated:
Flagship-like efficiency (you may have to match with the brand new Galaxy S22 and Xiaomi 12).
No overheating points.
Secure sport framerates.
What I disliked:I do not assume we must always essentially blame Huawei for not having a 5G-equipped SoC. In spite of everything, the expertise continues to be removed from being widespread. However I believe it may be blamed for being offered as costly and even pricier than 5G flagships. Anyway, having stated that, the efficiency of the Huawei P50 Professional is completely related for its worth vary. The smartphone performs properly in graphics benchmarks with out breaking the financial institution, with some relatively worthy scores in addition.
Huawei P50 Professional

Graphics benchmark

Mannequin/Benchmark
Huawei P50 Professional
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
Google Pixel 6
Xiaomi Mi 11

Geekbench 5 (single/multi)
903/3187
1096/3002
1031/2803
722/2259

3DMark Wild Life
5866
5712
6721
5390

3DMark Wild Life Stress Check
5832
5603
6707
5407

3DMark Wild Life Excessive Stress Check
1547
1484
2017
1226

And above all, the smartphone handles temperature management very properly, notably through thermal throttling within the method I noticed on the Galaxy S21 FE just lately. As soon as the body fee is slowed down at a chosen time to restrict overheating, the framerate can also be maintained at a continuing degree.As for the temperature, it by no means exceeded 30°C, both in a 1- or 20-minute benchmark session. That is fairly uncommon for a non-gaming flagship machine. In case you had been to activate the efficiency mode within the settings, you possibly can restrict the thermal throttling and the P50 Professional will permit itself to go as much as 40°C or perhaps a bit increased, but it surely’s not one thing that I might advocate each when it comes to consolation to your palms and sturdiness of your battery.I used to be in a position to play Name of Responsibility Cell (APK) with the graphics maxed out in addition to the FPS fee with out struggling any slowdowns. I additionally managed to put in my favourite sport of the second, Misplaced Gentle. However I did not succeed with Genshin Impression although.

On prime, a 1-minute simulation of an intensive gaming expertise with efficiency mode activated. Beneath, a 20-minute simulation with efficiency mode activated. On a brief session, there have been no overheating points. / © NextPit

Audio: Good stereo sound

The Huawei has two stereo audio system which might be positioned symmetrically alongside the highest and backside edges of the smartphone. Then again, it lacks a 3.5mm jack, like nearly all trendy flagships.
What I appreciated:
Ample sound quantity.
Good bass (for a smartphone).
General wealthy sound.
What I disliked:
No 3.5 mm jack.
Audio system positioned alongside the perimeters (they’re obstructed when taking part in video games).
Huawei does not appear to want any Dolby Atmos certification to supply a high quality sound with its stereo audio system. The general sound is relatively wealthy with a wholesome quantity of bass, which is uncommon on a smartphone. Spatialization additionally appeared to achieve success and gives a level of immersion when taking part in.I am not the sort to take heed to my music at full blast with out headphones when touring on public transport however, from the consolation of my room, I discovered the amount to be sufficiently ample. You possibly can completely watch a film or stream a collection whereas munching in your chips with out lacking out on the dialogue. Whereas there is no such thing as a 3.5mm jack, this has sadly turn out to be a basic rule of thumb that we must always maybe cease reproaching producers for, as there may be little hope that it’ll turn out to be commonplace once more.

Photograph/video

The Huawei P50 Professional encompasses a quad-camera module on the again that’s divided into two “arrays” or round islands. There’s a 50 MP wide-angle lens, a 13 MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 64 MP periscope zoom lens and a 40 MP monochrome lens. The selfie digital camera depends on a 13 MP sensor with autofocus.
What I appreciated:
Stage of particulars captured in wide-angle.
Pretty correct colorimetry.
Optical zoom at 3.5x and hybrid at 10x.
Very good night time mode.
What I disliked:
Extremely wide-angle is a bit disappointing, even through the daytime.
Portrait mode is a bit difficult to deal with and comprises a whole lot of artifacts.
Stage of particulars in selfie shouldn’t be constant.

The selfie digital camera provides three ranges of crop for solo or group self-portraits. / © NextPit

Huawei P50 wide-angle and ultra-wide angle photosThe Huawei P50 Professional inaugurates what the producer dubbed the True-Kind Twin-Matrix Digicam that’s composed of two round islands, or the well-known matrices. The primary matrix (prime) consists of two important True-Chroma lenses of fifty and 40 MP every, the place one is devoted to paint whereas the opposite is a monochrome sensor that makes its return on the P vary after being absent on the P40.Additionally on this important array is a 13 MP extremely wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 100° FOV. This lens can also be able to capturing macro pictures as much as 2.5cm from the topic.I discovered the extent of element within the wide-angle photographs to be glorious. There’s little or no to no noise, whereas the photographs have a notable sharpness to them. The colorimetry is relatively pure even when typically a little bit boring, however it’s maybe my pronounced style (and disgrace, I do know) for the colours which might be a little bit saturated that makes me say that.As for the extremely wide-angle lens, the pictures look appropriate however lack the quantity of element in comparison with the wide-angle. I did not discover the macro mode of this lens very fascinating both, with photographs typically affected by artifacts on the edges of the picture or exterior the main target space.Huawei P50 Professional zoom photosThe second matrix of the digital camera module is devoted to zoom. There’s a devoted 64 MP telephoto lens with f/3.5 aperture and optical stabilization (OIS). Huawei explains that its digital camera module is able to zooming in as much as 200x (digital).In any case, in 3.5x and 10x, the 2 default magnifications supplied by the digital camera utility of the P50 Professional proved to be very efficient. We are able to understand textures and particulars that didn’t come out in wide-angle and we don’t really feel that there was any lack of high quality suffered. I did not consider making a comparability with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely however the telephoto lens of the Huawei P50 Professional satisfied me.Huawei P50 portrait mode picturesThe portrait mode of Huawei didn’t all the time make me drool. The main focus is relatively wonky. Properly, perhaps I ought to have taken photos of individuals and never objects, however being the social hermit that I’m, I haven’t got any human being beneath my arm in the mean time.However even after I was cautious to not shake and to border my topic correctly, I may discover artifacts and a few badly cropped areas with pixel mush.Huawei P50 Professional selfie photosThe rendering for its selfie digital camera stays relatively basic and in keeping with what we discover on most rivals. The extent of particulars shouldn’t be loopy and the absence of stabilization makes the main target typically a little bit difficult. However having two magnifications – wide-angle and extremely wide-angle – is fairly cool as a result of I can take group selfies with all my imaginary buddies. It is actually cool.Huawei P50 Professional night time picturesAt night time, I used to be stunned to typically want the colours with out night time mode activated, which has a little bit tendency to make the pictures look extra yellow than they actually ought to. With or with out night time mode, wide-angle photographs all the time seemed good to me, with sharpness, little noise and pure publicity. The night time mode doesn’t artificially illuminate the scene and permits the algorithm to “clear up” the pictures, particularly by blurring gentle sources that crack the picture or these which might be a little bit “droopy”. The usage of the extremely wide-angle lens shouldn’t be advisable in low gentle situations, whereas the telephoto lens performs properly at 3.5x.Movies shot with the Huawei P50 ProThe Huawei can document as much as 4K at 60 FPS with its main lens in addition to the selfie digital camera and 4K at 30 FPS with the telephoto lens and the extremely wide-angle.We profit from the optical stabilization on the primary lens and the telephoto lens and electronics for the remaining (and for all sensors by default in actual fact).
Major digital camera in 4K at 60 FPS

Major digital camera in 1080p at 60 FPS

Selfie digital camera in 4K at 60 FPS

Battery: A small battery that holds up fairly properly

The Huawei P50 Professional packs a reasonably small (on paper) 4,360 mAh battery that accepts 66 watts wired quick charging and 50 watts wi-fi charging.
What I appreciated:
Right battery life.
Environment friendly quick charging.
Charger included within the field.
What I disliked:
The battery drains a little bit too rapidly when gaming.
With regards to battery life, the Huawei P50 Professional does not likely innovate. The 4,360 mAh battery is barely greater than the one discovered within the P40 Professional that was launched in 2020 (4,200 mAh). And in 2022, you possibly can’t actually get enthusiastic about 66 watts of quick charging anymore, except you are a Samsung or Apple person (I could not resist, so sorry about that!).However wanting doing higher, the Huawei P50 Professional holds its personal at what I might name an appropriate degree. Utilizing PCMark benchmark which simulates a relatively unrealistic and resource-intensive theoretical utilization, the Huawei P50 Professional took 12h36 to go from 100% to twenty% battery life.It is a greater than honorable rating. However in on a regular basis use, I didn’t all the time have this impression of a linear battery drainage. Once I was gaming, for instance, I discovered the battery drain to be surprisingly larger than what I am usually used to. As for charging, I discovered it to be environment friendly sufficient:
5 minutes of charging: 0 to 25%.
half-hour: 73%.
49 minutes (nearer to 50): 100%.
I did not take a look at the 50-watt wi-fi charging although, so am unable to return to any conclusions.

The Huawei P50 Professional will simply final a full day of use. / © NextPit

Technical specs

 
Editor’s Selection

Product

Picture

Weight & Dimensions
72.8 x 158.8 x 8.5 mm / 195 g

Display
AMOLED / 6.6 inch / 1228 x 2700 p / 450 dpi / 120 Hz refresh fee / 300 Hz contact fee

Reminiscence
8/256 GB / Expandable through NM port (not microSD)

SoC + GPU
Snapdragon 888 (4G) / Adreno 660

OS
EMUI 12 based mostly on Android 11 (with out GMS)

Photograph Module

Major wide-angle lens: 50 MP / f/1.8 aperture / PDAF / Laser Autofocus / OIS
Periscope telephoto lens: 64 MP / f/3.5 aperture / PDAF / OIS / 3.5x optical zoom / 7x lossless zoom
Extremely wide-angle lens: 13 MP / f/2.2 aperture / 100° FOV
Monochrome lens: 40 MP / f/1.6 aperture
Selfie: 13 MP / f/2.4 aperture / Autofocus

Video

Rear: 4K at 30/60 FPS / 1080p at 30/60 FPS / 1080p at 960 FPS / gyro-EIS
Selfie: 4K at 30 FPS / 1080p 30/60/240 FPS

Audio
2 stereo audio system / No 3.5mm jack

Battery
4360 mAh / wired charging 66 watts / wi-fi charging 50 watts

Value
€1,199

Conclusion

Would I like to recommend the Huawei P50 Professional to the common client? No.
Would I boycott Huawei and its smartphones? No, under no circumstances.
I perceive completely properly that some customers can discover their satisfaction utilizing it. Anti-GAFAM customers who’re fed up with Google and Apple and their respective ecosystems, photophiles who wish to use the P50 Professional primarily as a cellular digital camera.Or tinkerers who’ve been operating on customized ROMs for years anyway, and are most likely laughing their asses off at my whining concerning the absence of GMS in EMUI 12.
However the exception does not make the rule. If tomorrow, a buddy (imaginary or not), my sister, considered one of my roommates or no matter asks me if she or he ought to fork out €1,200 for the Huawei P50 Professional as a substitute of a Samsung Galaxy S21 Extremely or an Oppo Discover X3 Professional, I am going to say “no”. Huawei is the form of nearly good scholar who desires to verify all the proper bins on an examination however forgot to place his title on his paper earlier than handing it in.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Extremely
Oppo Discover X3 Professional
To conclude, the Huawei P50 Professional is a flagship machine with plain qualities however I do not advocate it, therefore my very low rating (which continues to be common). If I can not even think about shopping for or making the P50 Professional my day by day driver, how may I counsel others to choose it up? For me, the Huawei P50 Professional is just for use as a digital camera cellphone you probably have the means. For the others, such because the hobbyists who stay with out Google, you’re actually extra erudite than I’m on tech and you’ll, I believe, gladly skip my suggestions.
Then again, for many who wish to trade ideas, show me flawed, widen my typically slim horizons, and even make me change my thoughts, be at liberty to slide me a DM.
 

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