While Huawei might not be the name it was several years ago in the West, it remains a dominant powerhouse in its home market, offering up some of the best camera phones around. Huawei is now stepping back into the global market, unveiling the Pura 90s Pro Max and Pura 90s Pro, bringing its latest pair of 5G photography-focused flagship phones to Europe.

The phones are known simply as the Pura 90 Pro Max and Pura 90 Pro in Huawei’s home market, with a mysterious “s” added to the international versions. Huawei has not explained what the letter stands for, although the overseas lineup appears to retain the same camera hardware that made the Chinese models so interesting.

The headline act is undoubtedly the Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max, which has a 200MP telephoto camera built around a large 1/1.28-inch RYYB sensor. That is around the same size as the main camera sensors used by many competing flagship phones, except Huawei has placed it behind an approximately 96mm-equivalent f/2.6 lens, offering roughly 4x optical zoom rather than the more common 3x.

Huawei also claims the telephoto camera offers optical stabilization equivalent to seven stops, as well as a close-focusing telephoto macro mode. The company is particularly promoting its performance at longer digital zoom settings, including a new 20x ultra telephoto video mode.

Video also now sends more of the original image data to the phone’s processor before enhancement – which Huawei claims produces cleaner, more detailed footage.

A full-resolution 200MP photo mode will be available at the native 4x focal length. But for more conventional shooting, the sensor will use pixel binning to improve light gathering and produce more manageable image files.

The telephoto is joined by a 50MP main camera with the latest LOFIC tech for high dynamic range, as well as a proper 10-step physical aperture running from f/1.4 to f/4.0. Whilst variable aperture is an unthinkable omission in a digital camera, it is still very rare to find this in a phone. This should give photographers greater control over exposure and depth of field than the fixed apertures found on most rival phones. There is also a 40MP, 13mm-equivalent f/2.2 ultra-wide camera.

Huawei’s also included its second-generation True-to-Colour Camera 2.0, which works alongside all three cameras to analyze the light and colors within a scene. Huawei says this should improve color accuracy in difficult conditions, particularly when shooting under mixed artificial lighting where skin tones, neon lights and strongly saturated colors can quickly confuse a smartphone’s processing.

There are plenty of AI features as well, although one of the more interesting additions is designed to help photographers before they press the shutter. The phone can analyze a composition and suggest that the photographer physically moves forward, backward, or sideways to improve the framing. This seems to be a new frontier of camera AI, with Google, Samsung, and Sony all debuting versions of this tech in the last 12 months.

The smaller Pura 90s Pro retains the 50MP main camera with its f/1.4-f/4.0 variable aperture, but swaps the 200MP telephoto for a 50MP f/2.1 telephoto macro camera. Its ultra-wide camera also drops to 12.5MP, although it keeps the True-to-Colour Camera 2.0 system.

Away from the cameras, the Pura 90s Pro Max has a 6.9-inch LTPO OLED display with a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a 2880 x 1308 resolution. The screen uses Huawei’s anti-reflective and scratch-resistant Kunlun Glass, while the phone weighs approximately 230.5g.

The Pura 90s Pro is a little more manageable, with a 6.6-inch 1-120Hz LTPO OLED display, a 2760 x 1256 resolution, and a weight of around 213.5g.

Both phones have a 6,000mAh battery in their Chinese specifications, but the international version will ship with a 5,200mAh cell to meet EU regulations. The Pro Max supports charging at up to 100W over a cable and 80W wirelessly, while the Pro offers 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, so long as you use a compatible charger.

Not afraid of standing out, the design is an interesting one, with one of the more unique camera bumps around. The standout Pura 90s Pro Max finish is Orange Ocean, which blends orange and blue across both the rear panel and metal frame. More demure Blush Gold and Graphite Black versions will also be offered, while the Pura 90s Pro comes in White, Mulberry Black, and Orange Soda finishes.

Huawei has not yet confirmed final pricing or precise country-by-country availability for Europe. Buying and living with a new Huawei phone still remains more complicated than it should be. The Pura 90s phones do not officially include the Google Play Store or other Google apps and services. Huawei offers its own AppGallery store, and many popular apps can be installed through alternative methods, but software that depends on Google Play Services may not work correctly.

That remains frustrating because on camera hardware alone, the Pura 90s Pro Max looks like it could be one of the most interesting camera phones of the year.

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"It's not the gear, it's the photographer," a phrase that's often debated, but in many genres, still rings true. Especially now that camera phones have come further than ever – packing 50MP sensors, computational photography, and even variable apertures – yet are still underestimated by many photographers.

This award- winning series, shot entirely on smartphones, proves just how capable they really are – even when the camera is a decade old...

Kuanglong Zhang has been named the overall winner of the 15th Annual Mobile Photo Awards (MPA), impressing judges with a striking portfolio captured exclusively on smartphones – with models from 2016 to 2023.

15th Annual MPA winner

The jury praised his work for its "diverse palette and a deeply convincing, impressive range of subject matter", pointing out Zhang's eye for color, framing, and detail.

Zhang's work highlights just how much creativity and skill can be captured with older phones, smaller sensors, and the device we carry every day – even if it no longer should be a surprise that award-winning images can be created on smartphones...

Zhang was thrilled to hear the news of his international victory and stated, "...Winning this award truly means so much to me.

"I'm really looking forward to growing alongside the MPA, and to inspiring people around the world to discover mobile photography – and to see that phones are more than capable of creating images that are both warm and full of heart, with a beautifully crafted feel."

The camera phones

Zhang's winning images were captured using a mix of older and newer smartphone cameras – from early single-camera systems to modern multi-lens flagships.

1. Huawei Mate 60
Released primarily in China in 2023, it is the most advanced device in Zhang's lineup. The Huawei Mate 60 features a 50MP main camera and variable aperture (f/1.4-4), offering a level of manual control rarely seen in smartphones.

2. Oppo Find X6 Pro
Launched 2023, the Oppo Find X6 Pro is a China-exclusive flagship with a 50MP triple-camera system built for high-end imaging performance.

3. Vivo X60 Pro+
A top camera-focused phone, released in 2021. The Vivo X60 Pro + was co-engineered with Zeiss. It features a quad-camera setup. 48MP ultra-wide lens, and advanced gimbal stabilization.

4. OnePlus 9RT 5G
A China-first release in 2021, followed by a wider global rollout in 2022, the OnePlus 9RT 5G packs a 50MP Sony IMX766 main sensor and is known as a "flagship killer".

5. iPhone 11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro Max launched back in 2019, and its specs only tell half the story. As highlighted in our review, "it's the real-world results from this triple-camera phone that matter". It features a versatile triple-lens system with 12MP sensors.

6. iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 is the oldest smartphone on the list and was launched in 2016! Its highest camera features a 12MP sensor with a fast f/1.8 aperture – still capable of producing award-winning images in the right hands.

To discover all category winners and for more information, visit the Mobile Photo Awards website.

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Looking for competitions to enter? Here are 10 global photo contests now open for entries from March to July.

In a year when compact cameras boasting up to 60MP sensors hit the market, Time's "Best Inventions 2025" list highlights a different trend. The most celebrated cameras aren't just about raw resolution – they cleverly blend modern technology with nostalgic design elements.

Standout models include the Pentax 17, a half-frame film camera tailored for a smartphone generation craving authentic experiences; the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo, which merges instant film printing with digital controls; and the Kodak Charmera, a collectible keychain camera that nods to Kodak's disposable legacy.

These cameras prove that innovation can happen by revisiting the past with fresh eyes. Let's explore why these nostalgia-driven cameras captured Time's spotlight amid a year dominated by high-spec digital imaging.

Best inventions 2025

Camp Snap

In a market dominated by AI-enhanced, screen-saturated devices, Camp Snap's innovation lies in what it leaves out. This screen-free digital camera offers a rare, distraction-free experience – capturing 8MP photos with zero filters, apps, or instant previews. Designed for kids but embraced by nostalgic adults, it supports up to 500 shots per USB-C charge. In an age of constant digital feedback, Camp Snap redefines simplicity as a bold, modern design choice.

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo

The Instax Wide Evo stands out in 2025 by combining instant prints with digital control. Also awarded by the Good Design Awards, it offers a unique hybrid experience: Bluetooth image transfer, customizable lens effects, and a manual print crank for large-format Instax Wide film. Though digital image quality is limited, its intuitive interface and physical print process make instant photography tactile and fun.

Pentax 17

The Pentax 17 is the first major 35mm film camera release in nearly 20 years, designed for a smartphone generation. The half-frame format doubles shots per roll, matching vertical smartphone habits. The sharp lens and reliable zone focusing deliver great images, while its simple controls suit casual shooters. Its revival of film with modern sensibility makes it a noteworthy innovation in today's digital-dominated market.

Special Mentions

Polaroid Flip

The Polaroid Flip combines retro instant camera design with advanced features. Its sonar autofocus uses ultrasonic pulses to detect the subject and select the best lens automatically. A screen display shooting modes, film count and exposure settings, enhancing usability. Remote control via the Polaroid app adds modern convenience. By merging classic aesthetics with smart tech, the Flip brings a user-friendly twist to classic instant photography – making it a standout choice for those who want vintage vibes with modern ease.

Kodak Charmera

The Kodak Charmera revives Kodak's disposable legacy in a miniature digital form, perfect for 2025's gift market. This keychain camera features a 1.5MP sensor and a built-in LCD screen, delivering surprisingly decent images reminiscent of early camera phones. Solid in collectible blind boxes with seven designs, it blends nostalgia with novelty.

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Remember Huawei? Before the infamous Chinese tech giant became famous for alleged threats to national security in the west, it made some of the best camera phones you could buy. Since then, a ban on using Google Services in 2019 has hamstrung Huawei's more recent camera phone offerings, at least for western consumers, but this doesn't seem to have dented the brand's appeal in its Chinese homeland. So much so, that in September last year it launched quite possibly the most audacious camera phone in recent years: the Mate XT Ultimate Design. That September launch was China-only, but now Huawei has just rolled out this incredible phone globally. So what's all the fuss about?

The Mate XT Ultimate Design is the world's first tri-fold camera phone. Where other foldables have two phones sections linked by a single hinge (whether that be to let the screen fold horizontally or vertically) the Mate XT Ultimate Design has three sections and two hinges. Fully unfolded, this gives a tablet-rivalling 10.2" display area with a 3,184 x 2,232 resolution and 16:11 aspect ratio (almost equivalent to the 3:2 ratio of a photo taken on an APS-C or full-frame camera). Alternatively, the device can be used in a 7.9" dual-pane config, and in regular single-pane mode the screen size is 6.4 inches. To achieve a tri-fold design without the phone being thicker than a Tolkien volume when folded away requires some very clever engineering: the Mate XT Ultimate Design is a mere 3.6 thick when fully unfolded (excluding the camera bump). This allows it to be a 12.8mm when folded, which though hardly svelte, is only marginally chunkier than a conventional foldable like the 12.1mm-thick Galaxy Z Fold 6.

As with all foldable phones, the priority is on keeping the device thin, rather than maximising camera quality. As a result, the Mate XT Ultimate Design's camera array is good, but it won't rival the camera abilities of a flagship non-foldable phone like the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Its primary, wide-angle camera uses a 50MP sensor and a variable-aperture f/1.4-f/4.0, 24mm lens. This is teamed with a 12MP, 125mm periscope telephoto module giving 5.5x optical zoom. The final camera in the rear-facing trio is a 12MP, 13mm ultrawide snapper.

Naturally, a phone this outrageous will inevitably have a suitably jaw-dropping price tag: €3,499 (currency conversion: $3,655, £2,895). And you'd better be very careful with it, as Huawei has also published a Chinese price list detailing the cost of replacement parts for the Mate XT Ultimate Design. Expect to pay a cool CNY 7,999 ($1,099, £870) for a replacement screen, while a new logic board costs even more: CNY 9,099 ($1,250, £990).

Still, since when has living life at the bleeding edge ever been cheap?

It's no secret that the most impressive smartphone cameras have been coming out of China lately – the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, OPPO Find X8 Pro, and Vivo X200 Pro to name a few – and the latest example is the Huawei Mate X6, the first foldable phone with a variable aperture.

Taking the primary camera all the way from f/1.6-4.0, the Mate X6's mighty main camera sits alongside an autofocusing ultra-wide and a periscope telephoto, impressive stuff for such a slim foldable.

Hot off the heels of the impressive Honor Magic V3 and Vivo X Fold 3 Pro – two other top-tier sharp-shooting foldable – the Huawei Mate X6 checks our camera boxes, but it doesn't just impress us with its imaging. Huawei's flexible flagship is thin, light, and looks more futuristic than the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

While Huawei phones aren't the obvious choices they once were, given the fact Google apps, including but not limited to Gmail, Maps, and YouTube, don't run natively, they remain unwaveringly popular in China and very visible in other regions less reliant on Google Services like the UAE and Africa.

A variable aperture on a smartphone?

The Huawei Mate X6 isn't the first smartphone to feature a variable aperture. The tech was introduced on the Samsung Galaxy S9 with little benefit owing to the phone's small sensors and how little the aperture actually changed, going from f/1.5 to f/2.4.

The Honor Magic 6 Pro and Magic 7 Pro go one step further and up the sensor size to 1/1.3 inches, with a variable aperture from f/1.4 to f/2 which is still very limited. However, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which features a large 1-inch sensor and an f/1.6 to f/4.0 aperture, is the first widely available phone to push the tech into very meaningful territory.

Long before Xiaomi was getting in on the variable aperture action, though, Huawei was leading the charge with its 2022 flagship, the Mate 50 Pro, and its subsequent P60 Pro and Pura 70 Ultra all combine this aperture range with different-sized camera sensors. The Mate X6 is not only the latest Huawei phone with a variable aperture but also the first foldable to support the camera tech.

Huawei Mate X6 camera

Looking at the camera system beyond its variable aperture, the Mate X6 has a triple camera mix, with a primary 50MP camera, a 40MP ultra-wide camera, and a 48MP telephoto camera with a 4x optical reach and support for telemacro photography.

The telephoto camera's 90mm equivalent focal length is great going for a foldable, and the fact the ultra-wide camera lens supports autofocus makes the camera mix very competitive on paper.

Huawei also includes an Ultra Chroma sensor to measure color temperature more accurately, helping pick up notoriously difficult colors such as gold, as well as nuances in shades of green and red.

One question mark when it comes to the Mate X6's camera specs is the primary camera's sensor size. Some sources suggest it to be an Honor Magic 7 Pro-matching 1/1.3-inch sensor, but Huawei hasn't followed up with a confirmed size when we put the question forward.

So while the Pura 70 Ultra's 1-inch sensor matched with that variable aperture, along with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, is something of a gold standard for photography, we're guessing the Mate X6's sensor is a fair bit smaller but still competitive for a foldable.

Huawei Mate X6 design and screens

Big-screened foldables have a standard phone-sized screen on the front, and a square-ish tablet display within. They aren't quite as popular in the West quite as flip phones like the Motorola RAZR 50 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, likely owing to the fact they're bulkier and pricier. Despite this, you'd be hard-pressed to call the Huawei Mate X6 bulky, with its waif-like design and ultra-sleek aesthetic.

It weighs just 239g, less than an iPhone 14 Pro Max but a bit more than the new titanium 16 Pro Max, and measures just 4.6mm thin when unfolded and 9.85mm when unfolded.

Available in a few finishes, we tried out the red vegan leather option (pictured), which looks striking, though it's also available in a composite fiber material that sports a grey shimmering pattern. Looking like a mash-up between the Huawei Mate X5 and the Honor Magic V3, the Mate X6 in red could be the best-looking foldable we've used to date.

The latest in a line of more durable foldables, the Mate X6 is IPX8 water resistant, and the middle frame is 7-series aluminum alloy, with 2nd generation Kunlun Glass on the front, combining scratch and shatter resistance.

With a 6.45-inch cover screen and a 7.93-inch inner screen, the Huawei Mate X6 has two comfortable-sized displays, with polished metal corners and a quad-curved body making the whole phone feel elegant and rounded whether open or closed.

Both screens are OLED, with the outer screen shining at up to 2500 nits and the inner screen peaking at 1800 nits brightness. They also support HDR Vivid, with 120Hz refresh rates and minimum brightness as low as 1 nit and 1440PWM dimming checking those eye-comfort boxes.

Huawei Mate X6 additional specs

Huawei's keeping a lid on the specifics behind the chipset in the Mate X6 no doubt owing to the geopolitical implications of China-made silicon, so while we can't shed too much light on that, it's fair to say the Mate X6 won't be a gaming powerhouse.

Typically, foldables throttle power and underclock chipsets to reduce heat buildup given how thin they are, so if you're thinking about performance, you're still better off with a non-folding phone.

On the plus, foldable battery sizes are on the up, with the 5,110mAh battery in the Mate X6 amongst the largest of any foldable device, and with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, it also powers up quickly, especially compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Running Harmony OS, Huawei's operating system that runs Android apps, just not in the same way other phones do; many apps will be available via Huawei's AppGallery, though some will be out of bounds, as will services that exclusively require login via your Google ID.

If you can get past that fact, Huawei has introduced some nifty multi-tasking mechanisms to take advantage of the big inner display, with three-app off-screen multi-tasking complete with stereoscopic transitions for added visual flair.

Huawei Mate X6 early impressions

The Huawei Mate X6 is a beautiful-looking foldable with enticing camera specs.

Foldables are niche, big-screened foldables are more niche, and Huawei phones are arguably more niche still, given their software limitations. So, while we've loved getting hands-on time with the Mate X6, and its camera could be the best of any foldable we've tested, we're sure most will be admiring it from afar.

One thing the phone does do, along with the Mate XT, Huawei's tri-fold phone, is reiterate that Huawei's making seriously impressive hardware and that its commitment to imaging, both in terms of hardware and software, is going strong.

Wrapping up with an anecdote, during a recent trip to China, we noticed many Huawei Mate XT and Mate X5s in the wild. Unlike in Europe and the US, seeing foldables in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai is relatively commonplace, and every foldable we saw was made by Huawei.

So long as Huawei phones continue to be popular on home turf and in territories like the UAE, we anticipate there won't be any let-up in pushing design and camera innovation, and this should continue to drive innovation for other phone makers too, Apple, Google, Samsung, we're looking at you.

If you like the look of the Mate X6, are thinking about a foldable but don't know which one to take the plunge on, check out our guide to the best flip and fold phones of 2024, and if you aren't quite ready for a flexible display, here are our top camera phones of 2025.

It's been reported that shipments of foldable screens to camera phone manufacturers has declined year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024, indicating a potential reduction in demand for foldable phones. The news comes from Analysts at the Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), who have observed 40% growth in the market for foldable phone displays between 2019 and 2023, but only an expected 5% market increase in 2024. Next year the market for foldable screens is predicted to contract.

Explanations for this foldable decline include lower than predicted sales of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, resulting in Samsung's procurement of foldable screens expected to be at its lowest since 2021. Samsung and Huawei are key players in the foldable phone sector, however shipments of screens to Huawei is said to have been delayed due to release dates of some of its foldable phones being pushed back, likely due in part to continued restrictions on Huawei's trading in some regions.

DSCC also stated that: “some smartphone brands are discontinuing their clamshell efforts due to lack of price elasticity, limited margins, modest sales and overheating concerns, while some smartphone brands are exiting the infolding market due to lack of demand from the high price points”.

“Given the excitement and opportunity in incorporating AI capabilities, several brands are focusing on that opportunity rather than alternative form-factors.”

Should we really be surprised that sales of foldable phones appear to be declining? Ultra-premium, book-folding devices like Samsung's Galaxy Z-Fold series, Google's Pixel Fold and Honor's Magic foldable phones command prices well over £1000/$1000, instantly limiting their market to a relatively small percentage of wealthy buyers. And even if such consumers are willing to spend this much on a phone, foldables may not offer enough perceivable benefits over a traditional, non-foldable flagship phone. Questions over foldable display longevity will also concern some perspective buyers.

There is one possible saviour for the foldable sector, however. Apple has yet to launch a foldable handset, and rumors suggest it may be readying such a device for 2026. DSCC also speculates that “at least one other brand” could have a tri-fold phone in the works. This could prove to be a more compelling foldable option, with the prospect of a phone that could turn into a genuine tablet alternative, with a more traditional landscape aspect ratio, enabling better multi-tasking and significantly larger video playback than current foldables offer with their near-square screens.

Story credit: Mobile World Live

Last month, it was rumored that DJI is planning to launch a mirrorless camera. Now those rumors have evolved to include Huawei, with speculation that the two Chinese giants could team up to release a new interchangeable lens camera [ILC]. 

While I'll start by saying that this would be absolutely massive, and could utterly transform the industry, before I get too carried away I need to put a couple of asterisks next to things.

Firstly, as with all camera rumors, this automatically needs to be taken with a dollop of salt. And when it comes to the addition of Huawei to the mix, this information comes from a Weibo post that was written way back in March – two points that require two further servings of sodium. 

Disclaimers out of the way, though, there are plenty of reasons why this might be true – and why it really could work, creating a new power in the camera industry. 

The rumor

As noted, this is a post from Chinese social media network Weibo back in March that was unearthed by the website Fast Technology: 

"Huawei may join hands with DJI to enter the SLR camera market. As we all know, DJI has strong technical strength in the field of drones and will apply its unique advanced anti-shake technology and intelligent flight shooting mode to SLR cameras. Huawei has rich experience and technology in the field of mobile phone photography, which can bring better image quality and more convenient operation experience. 

"It is believed that once the two powerful Chinese technology companies join forces, they will have a strong impact on traditional SLR camera brands such as Nikon, Canon, Sony and other companies. It is even very likely that they will be 'far ahead' in the field of SLR cameras."

The reality

Let's start with the practicalities: DJI is already a member of both the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) group and the L-Mount Alliance, and it already makes devices using MFT sensors (in its Zenmuse X5R aerial camera) as well as full-frame sensors (in the DJI Ronin).  

So there's no learning curve here. This isn't like when fellow Chinese brand Yongnuo decided to launch a mirrorless camera (the Yongnuo YN450) and had to learn from scratch. DJI isn't just an overambitious drone manufacturer; it has been working with mirrorless sensors for years – and clearly knows what it is doing with them. 

It's not just sensor tech that DJI has mastered, either. Just look at the success story that is the Osmo Pocket range: a fantastic line of cameras that are technically and functionally fantastic, and have created an entirely new product category (which is so good that even Canon wants to follow suit). 

And of course, there's the small matter of Hasselblad – which is owned by DJI, giving it direct insight and expertise in mirrorless cameras. Up until now the two brands have been kept very separate, which I don't see changing – and I would be absolutely astonished if this new camera is medium format. But behind the scenes at least, I've no doubt that DJI will be taking cues from Hasselblad in terms of things like image engines, color science and so on.

Where does Huawei fit in? Well, until the unfortunate trade dispute with the US (more on that in a minute), Huawei phones were widely regarded as the best camera phones you could buy, with cutting-edge computational features that used software to squeeze the best images out of sensors – an area that traditional camera companies still haven't caught up on.

Rumors from elsewhere on the web are suggesting that DJI would launch a full-frame L-Mount camera, rather than a Micro Four Thirds affair. Given the decline in popularity of MFT bodies, this would certainly make sense – though at the same time, given how much of DJI's stabilization wizardry and imaging tech is based around working with smaller sensors, I wouldn't count anything out.

Either way, what we're potentially looking at is a new camera system that's going to have hundreds of lenses at launch, a super-friendly user interface, brilliant stabilization, a smartphone app that actually works, and bleeding-edge computational photography features that could give us the kind of "better pictures on my phone" results than current cameras are capable of (think taking photos of sunsets or cloudy skies with your phone versus a camera). 

Even respected YouTuber and photographer Tony Northrup thinks this could be huge. "This should be alarming to all the Japanese manufacturers," he commented when Mirrorless Rumors reported on the story. 

"If you consider the DJI Pocket 3, its tech makes traditional cameras seem 20 years old. Wireless mics connect automatically with no receiver. The app works with no frustration, and files transfer over WiFi at least 10X faster than Canon, Sony, or Nikon apps. The controls work just as well for vertical video. Most importantly, you don't have to read the manual to get the most out of the camera, which is absolutely not true of other modern cameras. Oh, and it's $500.

"If DJI brings that simplicity to ILCs, it's not going to change the minds of most readers of blogs like this, but it will sway influencers and first-time camera buyers, for sure."

So, what's the catch? Well, again, right now this is all just rumor and speculation. Until DJI says something (and we've checked – it is being extremely tightlipped) it's all just something else that someone said on the internet. 

We also can't forget the whole US trade dispute thing. Because not only was Huawei blacklisted by the US in 2018, but Congress is currently trying to ban DJI drones again. Can two companies who've already had headaches selling products in the USA really make a go of it by making a new product together? 

It's going to be very, very interesting to see if there's any fire to this smoke…

You might be interested in the best mirrorless cameras currently on the market, along with the best DJI drones you can buy right now.

The Honor Magic V3 has officially launched in the UK and other Western markets, competing head-on with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open. While other super-slim foldables like the Huawei Mate X5 and Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 have only launched in China, Honor is following up its impressive world's-thinnest Magic V2 with a much more camera-focused package further afield.

The phone's super-thin 9.2mm folded, 4.35mm unfolded profile doesn't take the camera bump into account, which is probably a good thing, as within the fine-looking octagonal camera module is a triple camera setup that includes a periscope zoom.

The most notable updates for the newly announced version of the Magic V3 for global markets are the return of Honor's partnership with Parisian photography studio Studio Harcourt and some new interface enhancements.

Costing £1,699 (roughly $2,235 and AU$3,320), the Magic V3 may be expensive, but it undercuts both the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 despite a more impressive spec roster.

Honor Magic V3 camera explained

The Honor Magic V3's camera is a tale of two halves, hardware and software. The phone's main camera mix consists of a wide, ultra-wide and telephoto camera, and there are two selfie cameras, one within the cover screen and the other on the right side of the main display.

Wide camera

The 50MP wide camera on the Honor Magic V3 has a 1/1.56-inch sensor, PDAF and OIS, as well as a wide f/1.6 aperture. The sensor size might sound small for a phone of the V3's price, but it's on the larger side for a foldable, with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold's main camera sensor measuring in at just 1/2 inch.

Ultra-wide camera

The Honor Magic V3's ultra-wide camera dials down the resolution slightly, with a 40MP sensor. It bests the ultra-wide of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by including autofocus, so it can capture close-up shots, and matched with an f/2.2 aperture, for objects that are 10cm or less from the lens, pulls out decent depth blur.

Telephoto camera

Where the Magic V3's camera really pulls ahead of Samsung is zoom, with the 50MP periscope module packing five times more pixels than the Z Fold 6's tele camera, and featuring a larger 1/2.51-inch sensor, as well as a slightly further optical reach of 3.5x.

Selfie cameras

Both of the Magic V3's selfie cameras are 20MP sensor, f/2.2 lens combinations, though one great feature of foldables is the fact you can take selfies using the primary camera by opening the phone and using the cover screen as a viewfinder. The Magic V3 supports this feature, and in our tests, is great for vlogging too.

Studio Harcourt and camera software

Honor introduced its partnership with Studio Harcourt at the Paris launch of its upper-midrange Honor 200 Series. With three capture modes, Harcourt Classic, Harcourt Vibrant and Harcourt Colour, the Magic V3 can shoot full-color or monochrome portraits that pack a unique style while also offering control over dynamic range and artificial bokeh.

While some reviewers wrote these modes off as filters, the Harcourt Classic mode in particular rekindled our love of black and white portraits and reminded us they are a great way to get the most from smartphones' modestly sized sensors when we tested the 200 Pro.

Honor's camera system also excels at stopping time with its Motion-sensing Capture feature, the Magic V3 gets Honor's AI zoom which it showcased on the Magic 6 Pro, and the phone captures 4K video at up to 60fps across all three rear cameras.

Honor Magic V3 features and specs

Another aspect of the Magic V3 that's been upgraded for its global launch is the interface. Unlike the Magic V2, Honor has loaded up a taskbar on the inner display for speedier unfolded navigation.

A new feature called Magic Portal allows for quick sharing across up to five supported apps with a drag and a drop, and this works on both the cover and main display.

Honor's bringing back the magic capsule for the V3 - an Apple Dynamic Island by a different name - and the phone also supports a part-folded hover mode with third-party apps. This means you can part-fold the phone like a laptop, and the bottom half of the display turns into a touchpad.

While the new software is newsworthy, given the global overhaul, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate the Honor Magic V3's hardware. Measuring just 9.2mm when closed and weighing 226g, it's thinner and lighter than some non-folding phones, and alongside the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, it feels lifted straight out of the future.

Despite its slimline profile, the Magic V3's screens are larger than those of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. On the front, its 6.43-inch display packs a wider aspect ratio than Samsung's foldable for more comfortable typing, while the inner display is 7.92 inches, also significantly larger than the Z Fold 6.

As thin and light as it is, the Magic V3 is also powerful with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset matched with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. It also has a larger battery than the main competition with a 5150 mAh silicon-carbon cell, and with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, it powers quickly too.

We're testing out the Magic V3 now, so check back for our full Honor Magic V3 review, and to see what the foldable competition looks like, check out our guide to the best flip and fold phones of 2024. 

The Honor Magic V3 can currently be bought with an £300 early bird discount, for £1,399.99

A couple of weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban new DJI drones in America – which is now sitting around awaiting the Senate's attention. At first many panicked and rushed to sell their drones – but that might be a very bad move. 

I actually spoke to DJI about the proposed ban, who openly called it worrying, but even if it passes it is not likely to be retroactive – meaning that existing DJI products would still work.

In fact, for the drones to stop working, the American government would have to ask a company that it keeps labeling as a "Chinese company" to send a software update that would brick them. Not only would that be exceptionally fascist, but it is asking a lot of a company you've just barred from doing business; when the US government banned Huawei phones, that company didn't brick old models either.

At the moment, DJI has the best contenders in most categories of our best camera drones guide – as well as best thermal drones and best beginner drones. Of course, some businesses will insist you use non-DJI drones, so we do have a list of the best non-DJI drones, but even some of those are licensed clones.

In terms of camera drones especially, there isn't really a lot of competition from American companies. Skydio, for example, pulled out of the consumer market and only sells higher-priced commercial models, while most never even tried.

A DJI ban will, at first, simply leave a bit of a vacuum, so the best tech will be the drones you're not allowed to buy any more – or at least, come from a company not allowed to get FCC licenses on new models.

That could actually increase the value of all the DJI models on sale up until the ban, the DJI Air 3 and DJI Mavic 3 Pro being prime examples. Any other models DJI manages to get approved while the FCC is still acting free of a ban would be valuable, too.

The same applies to DJI's cameras, like the rumored Osmo Action 5, though DJI's competitive advantage in that space is far lower than with drones.

I've already seen commentators on YouTube and Reddit discussing this issue and saying how they plan to keep their DJI drones aloft as long as possible.

It's also unlikely that an American company would be interested in entering the consumer drone market, given the frequent changes of legislation around consumer use. The US alone is too small a market – and drone rules have changed far more than, say, light aircraft licenses.

It's also true that the same congresswoman, Elise Stefanik, who promoted the first ban (which, we should remember, still hasn't passed) is already promoting a massive tax hike on Chinese drones.

If passed, that would over time make all DJI drones (and, frankly, most that compete on any level with them) much more expensive – again adding value to the used drone market.

All of which is to say, you might judge it to be a very good time to snap up a DJI drone after all.

(All of this is relevant only to the country threatening the freedom to buy drones – America. The market in the rest of the world won't be threatened, and any Mavic 4 or the like will arrive as usual).

You might also be interested in the best FPV drones, the best indoor drones, the best underwater drones and the best drones for kids.

After a generation in which reasonably free global trade has meant access to products from anywhere, competition, and (relatively) accessible prices, things seem to be changing. Photographers without drones might be sitting back unconcerned, but things could be a lot more worrying.

Last week, I interviewed DJI's Head of Global Policy Adam Welsh and he couldn't tell me for sure whether the proposed ban on the company's products working its way through Congress would affect the company's cameras or not. 

DJI don't know, because the law is so vaguely worded, and that's not a great state of affairs for anyone who likes cameras.

DJI drones and cameras are manufactured in China for a Chinese-owned company, but it's far from the only technology area to have been targeted in America, and the government seems to be getting quicker at getting bans through. Previous victims include Hikvision (security cameras) and Huawei (phones and tech), so we know it can happen, and seems to be doing so more often.

TikTok has been banned already, by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and India. There are also restrictions on use in Australia, EU states, and the USA on having the app on phones used by government officials, but the law proposed in the USA is more like the Taliban one.

Ironically the ban on TikTok – which amounts to forcing the owners to sell it – actually somewhat depends on help of the Apple App Store and Google Play stores to close off access – ironic because this monopoly is itself the subject of various anti-trust disputes in countries including the USA.

What we do know is that (if the rule doesn't get changed by the Senate before the bill is passed), new DJI "surveillance devices" will be banned. Personally I'd say that phrase can describe a camera, like DJI's excellent Osmo Action 4 which tops our guide of best action cameras, and as a camera consumer, I personally would much rather see companies like GoPro have to work for my custom by producing better products rather than having their lawyers sweep competitors out of the stores.

The real worry, though, is where this ends (assuming it does). Because what is happening now is incremental, but we all know how much of our equipment comes from China one way or another. 

While the context is clearly different, Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous poem 'First They Came' hints at the chipping away of various companies and communities which faces us as camera consumers. Each supplier seems reasonably happy to lose a competitor – indeed it might be lobbying for it – but there is an overall momentum which might be harder to stop.

If the protectionist voices – largely but not exclusively Republican – in the US government are successful in stopping DJI from selling into America, as they have been with Hikvision and Huawei, is your next camera at risk?

Canon has more or less seen this risk off at the pass, bringing manufacturing back home to Japan. Nikon stopped their small camera manufacturing in China back in 2017, but that had more to do with the success of phones than a desire to leave China at the time.

Sony, recognising the growth of China as a market, retained its Chinese manufacturing facility but transferred production of products for the US and Europe to Thailand according to Nikkei Aisa.

Other companies like Insta360 – dominating the rapidly growing new camera tech, 360-degree cameras, and Chinese – might have a little more to worry about though, but we've not heard anything yet.

So – in short – you should be able to buy your next camera so long as the American bans are motivated at least in part by political control (DJI & TikTok are 'Chinese') and not the place the components are manufactured, but – because no one is taking any chances – it'll almost certainly be adding to the cost of every camera already.

It doesn't look like the DJI ban will be retroactive, even if it does happen, so check the best camera drones available now and feel safe as you do, but if you really want to look for other options we have a best non-DJI drones guide too!

The US government's ban on DJI drones – which might well become law – was initially proposed by Saturday Night Live favorite Elise Stefanik (R). If it becomes law it will require DJI products to be added to a banned list at the FCC.

(Update: this is now even closer to being law having passed the lower house today - it still needs to face the Senate).

The legal phrasing is that "telecommunications or video surveillance equipment" from DJI will be added to List of Equipment and Services Covered By Section 2 of The Secure Networks Act, but you can bet from the name of the law – Countering CCP drones – that they consider any DJI drones to be "video surveillance equipment" and that the FCC will take a broad view.

Other companies that have been added to this list are Huawei (phones), Hikvision (CCTV cameras) and they are effectively banned from the US.

New DJI products would not have any access to things that the FCC license, which includes Wi-Fi and radio, so that essentially rules out not just drones but cameras like the DJI Action 4.

Existing products wouldn't stop working overnight, but it seems unlikely that DJI would even be allowed to supply software updates, so services would immediately stop.

A worse possibility is that all existing DJI drones are considered criminal users of the FCC spectrum, with revocation of existing licences. This would be very difficult to enforce; the government didn't come around and collect people's existing Huawei phones.

Competitors that haven't been able to keep up technologically must be rubbing their hands with glee at either prospect. 

Rather than producing products of similar quality at competing prices, they will now be protected from having to try. Americans will get less choice, and face higher prices, at least at first, simply because of DJI's dominance in so many parts of the drone market, especially higher-end consumer / prosumer types which are popular in photo and video applications.

In many cases there isn't much else in the best drones list available to replace DJI which isn't also Chinese, like the Potensic Atom for budget customers. American customers will rightly worry that their politicians will simply turn on the next most successful company if it is Chinese – or just 'not American'. These worries are around online already. 

Certainly, the DJI ban is very fortuitous for competitors like Skydio, but it's more unfair for most pilots as Skydio don't even sell to consumers any more.

Perhaps DJI's consumer products won't be considered "surveillance" (or at least it'll try and make a case), while – no doubt anticipating this situation – DJI have begun licensing tech to a Texas-based company, Aznu.

It isn't just drones, either. What if, as an American, you want to buy one of the best action cameras though? Would you be able to choose a DJI Osmo Action 4 – currently our pick? It's probably surveillance equipment. So, failing that, can you even consider the 8K Insta360 Ace Pro or, because the company is Chinese, are you left with only GoPro?

Smartphone photography is big business, so it's no wonder brands like OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo have all partnered up with iconic photography brands like Hasselblad, Leica, and Zeiss to boost their imaging cred. 

Smartphone fans consider Vivo something of a darling with its exceptional X Series, despite the fact its phones aren’t always widely available in the West. But for customers who don’t know much about brands like Vivo, Oppo or Xiaomi, an iconic camera brand logo around the back of a phone could add a much-needed trust factor. But are these camera partnerships all empty marketing, or can they really give you confidence that taking the plunge will actually get you better photos? 

In this three-part piece, I will examine the three hottest smartphone brands with camera maker partnerships: Vivo and Zeiss, OnePlus and Hasselblad, and Xiaomi and Leica. I will also outline the scope of the collaborations, discuss critical reception, and cover the phones showcasing the joint camera tech. Finally, I will share my conclusion as to whether the partnership is a bad take or a winning shot.

So strap in as we deep-dive into the partnership between Chinese phone maker Vivo, behind the well-reviewed X100 Pro, and German imaging icon, Zeiss, best known for its quality lenses.

This isn’t Zeiss’s first rodeo

Unlike Xiaomi and Leica, or Hasselblad and BBK Group (OnePlus and Oppo), Vivo and Zeiss seem to have a partially open relationship.

My first trip to Zeiss HQ in Germany wasn’t with Vivo, it was in 2012 with Nokia, testing out the Nokia 808 Pureview, the first phone to use pixel binning, an image processing technique Zeiss actually had a hand in pioneering. This speaks to Zeiss's longstanding involvement in mobile photography.

While the partnership between HMD Global (Nokia’s parent company) and Zeiss ended in 2021, Zeiss branding has adorned Sony Xperia phones for years, with Zeiss’s T* coating featured on high-end models like the Xperia 1 V. This reduces visual imperfections like refraction and reflection.

What’s different about the partnership with Vivo, however, Is how deep the integration is across both hardware and software. I caught up with the Vivo team to get a full more detailed understanding of the collaboration.

Vivo and Zeiss: hardware

While speaking with Vivo’s in-house imaging experts, they shared a cooking analogy that sets the scene for how Vivo sees the collaboration. When you make a dish, you improve your chances of success if you use excellent ingredients. With photography, the ingredient is the raw data that falls on the sensor. Zeiss helps Vivo get the best-quality information to the sensor as a starting point.

According to Keshav Chugh, Vivo's camera R&D product manager, both Zeiss optics and a Zeiss T* coating help the primary camera get the best-quality raw data possible for the flagship Vivo X100 Pro and Vivo X100 Ultra, recently announced in China. You can see some samples from the Vivo X100 Ultra below in Keshav's X post. 

Vivo goes so far as to call its flagship’s primary camera a Zeiss 1-inch Main Camera, and the telephoto camera a Zeiss APO Floating Telephoto Camera, the first apochromatically corrected lens in a smartphone. While tele lenses typically suffer from worse chromatic aberration (purple fringing) than wider lenses, Vivo’s lens system, certified by Zeiss, reduces this effect and performs competitively in my tests.

Vivo and Zeiss: software

Vivo’s photo processing has been making waves over the last couple of years thanks to its impressive photo quality and progressive take on computational photography. When discussing the AI of it all with Vivo, the team was keen to hit home, before you even get to tuning, Vivo and Zeiss’s collaboration focuses on making sure the foundation of the photo is rock solid. In other words, images should pack minimum Delta E (variance between what’s seen, what’s captured, and what’s displayed). This is especially important in portraits, with the X100 Pro featuring six Zeiss-inspired portrait digital lenses.

At 24mm, Vivo’s portrait look emulates Zeiss’s Distagon flare, at 35mm, it’s the Zeiss B-Speed triangular cinematic spot, at 50mm you get a circular flare, or alternatively a Biotar rotary focus flare as a second 50mm option. Punching in further, and an 85mm portrait pulls up Zeiss’s Sonnar cream spot and finally, a tight 100mm portrait creates a Planar dreamy spot paired with soft, low-saturated, platinum tones. When you think some flagship smartphone Portrait Mode options are: on or off, Vivo and Zeiss’s efforts are impressive even before you come to take a portrait photo. Vivo was keen to stress that while many portrait modes are mathematical calculations to create blur, its own version is more bespoke.

Many people, myself included, shy away from portrait mode on smartphones. It can look clunky and overdone. But because Vivo offers such a range of options and you can dial up or down the effect after taking your shot, it's easy to refine the results to a level of subtlety that doesn't detract from the quality of a photo.

As for Vivo’s general photo processing, this is mostly handled by Vivo and certified by Zeiss, and what’s also interesting (if slightly off topic), Vivo applies different photo processing to China-focused devices compared to its global phones. Global devices feature no generative AI (gen AI) to enhance a picture, upscale dynamic range, apply opt-in beautification, etc. Vivo phones launched in China, on the other hand, do feature gen AI, and they also feature opt-out beautification to reflect typical regional user preferences.

Zeiss also lives in two more areas within Vivo phones. The first is in the Zeiss Natural look. This dictates the aesthetic of your photo, with Zeiss Natural being the most balanced of all the looks on offer, while Vivid and Textured, the two alternatives, add more stylistic processing.

Finally, Vivo’s Zeiss co-branded phones enjoy a branded watermark, complete with shooting parameters so you can easily see just how hard the camera (and the processing) have worked to get the shot.

Vivo and Zeiss: a marriage made in…

If Vivo’s recent phones are anything to go by, this partnership is most certainly a marriage made in heaven. Vivo’s X100 Pro is the most reliable camera phone I’ve ever used for point and shoot photography. Its processing isn’t always the most authentic, so Vivo’s phones might not be the top choice for photography purists, especially when zooming in beyond 10x owing to how much it cleans up shots – but as I covered in my feature on the X100 Pro’s processing, it was a crowd pleaser at my family Christmas. After I took a few group shots, everyone loved how the phone’s camera simultaneously flattered and captured the mood of the day.

Vivo phones and where to find them

While you could buy the Vivo X80 Pro and X90 Pro in Europe, the more recent X100 Pro, and the V30 Pro – its upper-midranger – are mainly available in Asian and Middle Eastern markets. This could be owing to a patent dispute with Nokia that has prevented brands like Oppo and Vivo from selling their phones in Europe. With Oppo returning to Western markets with the Reno11 F this year, and Vivo issuing a statement that the dispute has been resolved, there is a chance we could be welcoming Vivo phones back to Europe in the future. 

Until then, anyone who lives somewhere Vivo phones aren’t widely available will have to import one. Having used both the X100 Pro and V30 Pro in the UK and across Europe, I can confirm both phones work well, with full access to the Google Play Store and network bands. However, if you do decide to import a Vivo phone, there are pitfalls, not least of all the limited after-sales support.

Vivo's just revealed that its X Fold 3 Pro will be launching in India in June, making it the first foldable from Vivo to launch outside China. This wider release is a promising sign for anyone enamoured with Vivo's Zeiss imaging and on the market for a foldable for two reasons. The first is that Indian devices run what is termed global software, so they natively support Google services like Android Auto, making them more attractive imports. The India launch could also be the first wave of a wider release plan that includes the West.

Running down the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro's imaging highlights, it features three cameras, a 50MP main camera with a large 1/1.3-inch sensor, a 64MP periscope camera with a 1/2-inch sensor, and a 50MP ultra-wide with a 1/2.76-inch sensor and PDAF. As you can see in Vivo's tweet, linked above, the camera gets Zeiss portrait highlights, and given how good Vivo is at eking out quality images from mobile hardware, it could be the best foldable camera around when it drops.

Vivo and Zeiss: the future

There's no getting around it, the future of smartphone photography is generative AI. And with Vivo and Zeiss having announced an extension of their partnership in May 2024, we can look forward to both brands taking their next AI-imaging steps together for the foreseeable future.

But why is AI such a silver bullet for smartphone photography? Smartphone sensors and lenses are small, a particular challenge on the telephoto end, and AI looks set to be the weapon of choice for compensating for this inherent limitation. With Vivo at the cusp of incorporating computational photography in its phones, we're guessing it will be pioneering more advanced AI models in its upcoming devices, especially when it comes to zoom.

I touched on how much Vivo cleans up zoomed-in shots in the X100 Pro with its 50MP telephoto camera, and the new Vivo X100 Ultra, with a 200MP telephoto camera, looks set to be the cleanest zoomer the internet has ever seen based on early reports out of China. By instantly bracketing, masterfully pixel-binning, and using object recognition to clean up zoomed-in detail incredibly well, Vivo really is leading the charge, out-performing technically more complex, further-reaching zooms like the 85-170mm continuous zoom on the Sony Xperia 1 VI.

As for where Zeiss fits into Vivo’s imaging story, provided the lens specialist can keep delivering its expertise, lenses and coating, the mutually beneficial partnership should continue to bear fruits for both businesses.

So while Leica appears to be swaying Xiaomi in a very classical direction with its photo processing on the Xiaomi 13T and 14 Ultra, and Hasselblad seems to be meeting OnePlus and Oppo in the middle with measured computational photography on the OnePlus 12 Pro and Open, I’m arguably more excited by what Vivo and Zeiss are on track to do. Sure, the purist photographer in me may die a little when my X100 Pro takes a photo that looks much better than real life, but when you’re taking photos that look this good on a smartphone without labouring too hard over your shot, it’s very hard not to be impressed and excited by the shape of things to come.

Check out the best camera phones in 2024

After reviewing the Sony Xperia 1 VI, it's clear that the telephoto macro trend in smartphones is really hitting its stride. Telephoto macro photography, also known as telemacro, involves using the telephoto lens to capture close-up photos and offers numerous benefits. It adds distance between the subject and the photographer (particularly handy for shots of insects). This, in turn, eradicates shadows typically associated with macro photography and also eliminates wide-angle distortion. 

Telephoto macro lenses are anything but a new concept. The popular Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L from 2009 is still one of the best macro lenses available in 2024, serving up high-impact close-up capture to pro photographers. However, it is a relatively new concept on smartphones, with the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and Sony Xperia 1 VI being the best implementations to date. But can you really take a smartphone macro camera seriously?

I reviewed the Huawei P60 Pro and was blown away by how incredibly detailed its macro stills were. You can see some examples of stills captured on it above. What particularly impressed me about the Sony Xperia 1 VI more recently is its telemacro video, captured at up to 120fps at 4K resolution. Huawei has also integrated a tele-macro camera into its new Pura 70 Ultra, producing crisp Instagram-style telemacro snaps.

But Huawei and Sony are far from the first smartphone makers to dabble in macro photography on their phones; they simply represent the latest (and most impressive) incarnations of the feature to date. In this piece, I’ll explore the different ways to take a macro photo on your phone, explore other macro offerings, and dive into Huawei and Sony’s best-in-show phones in more detail.

A history of smartphone macro photography

Macro photography has been possible on smartphones for years. Before dual-camera phones hit the scene, It was a simple case of getting as close to the subject as the main camera would allow, and cropping into your shot. The next big step forward was the auto-focusing ultra-wide camera, featuring 4cm macro capture, with the Huawei Mate 20 Pro being the first (or one of the first) to pack this tech. It was great for GoPro-style barrelled expansive macro pictures, but not flower or insect shots and other typical macro staples, making its utility limited and requiring a bit of distance.

Alongside all these high-end macro developments, budget smartphones were being loaded up with a poor substitute for a dedicated macro camera. These 2MP resolution fixed focus modules locked on at around 4cm from a subject, gracing hundreds of phones including the Poco X3 Pro and Realme 8 Pro. 

These 2MP macro cameras were little more than marketing tools to unlock terms like triple camera and quad-camera while delivering worse results than a crop from the primary camera. It’s great to see smartphone makers start to ditch this trend with budget offerings like the Nothing Phone (2a). 

The real era of the telemacro camera began with the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 11, which had a 5MP macro camera with autofocus and a 48mm equivalent focal length (roughly 2x zoom). This is also featured on the Xiaomi-made Redmi Note 10 Pro, a significantly cheaper phone, taking respectable telemacro photography to a mainstream price point.

Two years later, the Xiaomi 13 Pro took telemacro capture to new heights with a 50MP 75mm camera. This was the first phone to combine a quality high-resolution sensor with macro focus and serious reach for impressive macro results.

It wasn’t just Xiaomi that was getting in on the macro action. Fellow Chinese smartphone maker Oppo launched its Find X3 Pro, which featured a telemicro lens captured with an almost microscopic focus. This was actually the camera phone that helped me identify the specific type of weevil that was wreaking havoc in our pantry, living in our bags of flour, chomping on our dried pasta, and making its way into our chocolate chips. It was super-helpful for that specific situation, but because it had such a microscopic lens that didn’t extend to traditional macro-type photography, the Find X3 Pro telemicro camera’s practical use was limited.

Before we talk about the latest generation telemacro cameras, specifically from Huawei and Sony, it’s worth talking about almost telemacro cameras. That is to say, the cameras that can capture relatively close-up subjects using telephoto cameras like zooms on the OnePlus Open, Oppo Find X7 Ultra, Vivo X 100 pro and Xiaomi 14 Ultra. These are all fantastic for product photography, with the far-reaching focal length combined with near-focus creating beautiful depth when snapping subjects around 20-70cm away, and are my choice over the zoom lenses on an iPhone, Pixel, and Galaxy flagship right now.

The problem with the iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular, is its tetra-prism telephoto camera can’t focus nearer than around 1.2m from a subject, so it’s the worst telephoto camera for close-up photography on any mainstream smartphone I’ve tested.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Onto the best telephoto cameras for close-up photography out now, and the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is my choice for photos. It has a 1-inch sensor primary camera that pops out and has a variable aperture. As impressive as the main camera is, though, the telemacro camera with its 50MP resolution, f/2.1 aperture, and 5cm near focused distance, is the star today.

Fire up the camera and you could just take a standard 3.5x zoom picture of a close-up subject, and it will focus near or far like a champion. You can also get much more impactful shots if you open the dedicated super macro mode. The reason this mode is so much more high-impact is because its processing crisps everything up masterfully to make your photo clarity pop, and you can also activate manual focus for those hard-to-lock-onto subjects.

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra can also capture 4K video at up to 60fps, and this looks very impressive and sharp out of the camera. However, if you want to take the reins on focus, it records with a much more stepped, less smooth focus panning than our video macro champ, the Sony Xperia 1 VI.

Sony Xperia 1 VI

On paper, the Sony Xperia 1 VI’s telephoto camera is probably the most impressive piece of smartphone camera engineering around. It has a continuous zoom from 85mm to 170mm with a periscope structure, and on top of its moving parts and relatively wide aperture, it also has macro capabilities at the 120mm mark.

Focusing as close as 4cm from a subject, the Xperia 1 VI captures with a ridiculously shallow depth of field, but also an impressively wide focus range. Its photos look very flat out of the camera, making them easy to edit if you know what you’re doing but not ideal for anyone who wants a point-and-shoot shot to share.

What’s more impressive than the Xperia 1 VI’s telemacro photos, though, is its telemacro video. Able to capture it up to 120fps, the phone gives you plenty of scope for slowing down footage, but also does an excellent job of smoothing out focus so you can create beautiful, silky, professional-looking focus pans that wouldn’t look out of place on a landscape documentary.

Thanks to that 120fps video, the Xperia 1 VI’s macro footage is also excellent when you can’t quite capture a winning still shot, as you can simply pull a 12MP 16:9 still from the video and edit the results.

Can smartphones really compete with dedicated cameras?

As with all things smartphone camera-related, it would be misguided to think Huawei and Sony’s new phones will make macro lenses on dedicated cameras redundant. What they will do, however, is provide incredibly compact alternatives when photographers need to travel light. 

So while a macro lens might not sway your decision when deciding on your next phone, if you love capturing close-up, detail-rich photos and video, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, and Sony Xperia 1 VI could be the best camera phones of 2024, delivering powerful pocketable cameras that niche down and level up like no other.

If you want to go the camera route, take a look at the best cameras for macro photography, along with the best macro lenses to pair with them. 

Apple is no longer the world’s biggest smartphone maker by volume, as Samsung took over the top spot, according to analysts Counterpoint Research.

The global smartphone market continued its comeback in the first quarter of the year as shipments increased six percent year on year, with a total of 296.9 million. 

Samsung took a 20 percent share of the smartphone market shipments, up from 17 percent from the previous quarter, while Apple shipments fell to 17 percent. Overall Apple’s shipments went down 13 percent year on year.

Samsung’s success was partly due to a strong performance from its Galaxy S24 range, as well as the release of the Galaxy A55 and Galaxy A35, which had improved photography and security features. 

According to Counterpoint Research, the majority of the market’s shipment surge to strong performances across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. 

• Check out our guide to the best camera phones on the market

Global smartphone revenue grew by seven percent year on year, the biggest growth recorded in the first quarter of calendar year.

Despite being beaten on shipments, Apple led the smartphone market revenue with a 43 percent share, in spite of a 11 percent decline in its revenue year on year. Samsung’s smartphone market revenue grew by two percent year on year.

Senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research Prachir Singh reported that the Middle East and Africa were the fastest growing regions and this was down to big shipments from Tecno, Honor and Xiaomi.

He cited strong Lunar New Year sales and Huawei's re-emergence as reasons behind China’s shipment success.

Apple saw its smartphone sales rapidly decline in China to their worst performance since the start of the pandemic in 2019.

Year on year, Singh explained that Europe, especially Central Europe and Eastern Europe, grew the most, describing their first quarter of 2023 as difficult. He added that the markets of North America and Japan had declined.

Check out our guides for the best gimbals for iPhones and Android phones, and the best lenses for iPhone and Android to elevate your phone photography.

Also, take a look at our guide to the best iPhone for photography.

Huawei has revealed its a new range of camera phones - with the new Pura series replacing the P family of handsets which were first launched 12 years ago. The most notable feature of the new flagship Huawei Pura70 Ultra is a distinctive rear camera set-up with a massive-looking main lens which extends from the body of the phone when the camera is engaged. 

The motorized lens system will be very reminscent of traditional digital compact cameras, in sound as well as in its motorized action - and is perhaps designed to appeal to those who have been switching back to these early digicams. Cnet reports that pop-up mechanism was tested for 300,000 retraction cycles - equivalent to about 150 per day for five years. 

The 50-megapixel main camera uses an unusually large 1-inch-type sensor with a maximum aperture of f/1.6 and sensor-shift image stabilization. Also on the rear of the phone you will find two other lenses. Alongside a 40MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens, there is a 50MP f/2.1 3.5x optically-stabilized telephoto lens, that offers an impressive-looking 35x macro focusing facility. The maximum video recording resolution is 4K.

Around the back there is a 13MP f/2.4 selfie camera.

Weighing 226g, the Pura70 Ultra a 6.8in OLED screen with an adaptive refresh rate of between 1-120fps. The phone has 16GB of RAM with 512GB of non-expandable storage, and a 5200mAh rechargeable battery.

The phone will be available in four colors - black, brown, green and white - and will go on sale in Europe later this month for €1,499 - which is equivalent to around $1,600 / £1,300 / AU$2,450.

2024 is nearly here - but this is our rundown of the best ten smartphones of the last 12 months.

As we've come to expect in recent years, the camera hardware in this year's phones has received fairly incremental improvements compared to previous models. Instead, it's the computational side where the biggest photographic enhancements could be found this year. Google continues to pave the way for advanced AI image capture and auto enhancement, albeit with stiff competition from Apple, Samsung and Huawei. Thankfully it's not just the flagship phones where you'll find great image quality, as in 2023 we've been treated to several top-notch mid-range camera camera phones for shooters seeking maximum bang per buck.

So here's our countdown of our favorite camera phones of the year. There are phones on this list that we'd also recommend as the best camera phones you should buy, but some are more controversial choices. These might not make the most sense as a real-world purchase, but we rate such handsets as they stand out from the crowd in their own way.

Let's countdown our top ten phones of 2023, in reverse order…

The Asus Zenfone 10 is one of a handful of small, powerful phones with unique features that make it an excellent option for anyone looking for a pocket-friendly alternative to the big-screened iPhone Pro Maxes and Galaxy Ultras of this world. 

The latest Zenfone stands out from an increasingly homogenous crowd thanks to its gimbal stabilised primary camera. Unlike conventional optical image stabilization where an element wihing the camera lens is able to move in order to compensate for camera shake, the entuire primary camera module - lens & sensor - in the Zenfone 10 is mounted in a gimbal gyroscope. This makes it capable of compensating for movement up to +/- 3 °, in every direction. The result is silky-smooth video footage, more alike to a decent action camera than a camera phone.

Then there's the Zenfone 10's top-tier internals, a super-smooth screen, a tried and tested design, stereo speakers, and refreshingly compact dimensions that enable comfortable one-handed use. Compact flagship phones have become a rare breed in 2023, so the fact that Asus has managed to produce such a compelling package in the Zenfone 10 makes it all the more impressive.

In full: Asus Zenfone 10 review

You'd be forgiven for dismissing the original Nothing Phone (1) as just a one-hit wonder that only made headlines thanks to its show-off rear panel light show. But this year Nothing has silenced the doubters and released a follow-up, the predictably named Nothing Phone (2).

The Phone (2) packs mightier internals than before, along with faster charging, a brighter display and a new, more refined interface. Its cameras may be very similar to those of the Phone (1), but we applaud Nothing for sticking with two good-quality cameras. There aren't any depth sensors or 2MP macro fillers tarnishing a competent camera array.

Those signature rear-panel Glyph Lights also make a return, and are subtly upgraded. Factor Nothing's fresh take on the user interface, and the Nothing Phone (2) continues the appeal of its predecessor: it's an innovative camera phone, in a year that's given us a slew of handsets with little to differentiate them.

In full: Nothing Phone (2) review

The Galaxy S series always steals the limelight, and for good reason. But when it comes to the Samsung phones people actually buy, it's the A series that steal the sales, with the A5x range offering the most compelling performance while still staying (relatively) affordable. 2022's Galaxy A53 5G was somewhat hampered by then-ongoing supply chain shortages, but 2023's A54 has no such shortcomings.

The A54 combines powerful (if arguably over-saturated) camera performance with OIS (not always a given at this price point) and a user experience that feels very similar to a Galaxy S-series phone. IP67 ingress protection, a gorgeous display, excellent battery life, and Samsung's commitment to regular OS updates make the Galaxy A54 the most compelling competition to the formidable Pixel 7a for the title of 2023's best value camera phone.

In full: Samsung Galaxy A54 review

Folding phones may not have dominated the camera phone market in 2023, but the year has still seen a steady stream of folding handsets, like the Google Pixel Fold, Samsung Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5. While each of these makes a much more sensible real-world buy, it's the left-field Huawei Mate X3 that's our winning foldable of 2023, thanks to its no-compromise hardware.

Quite simply, the Mate X3 packs the highest-quality foldable hardware you can buy. Its lightweight and slim design makes it feel comfortable to use when closed, its secure hinge makes opening and closing it a satisfying, reassuring experience, and the added water resistance helps it compete directly with the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The phone's price, lack of 5G, and hamstrung software experience all work against it – and will stop most even considering picking one up – but as a technology showcase, the Mate X3 is a marvel that schools the foldable competition – not least of all with its powerful cameras.

In full: Huawei Mate X3 review

Another year, another flagship iPhone. We really shouldn't be surprised/disappointed any more that a new iPhone sits firmly in the evolution rather than revolution camp, which is why it isn't higher up our list. That, and its signature new feature - the periscope telephoto camera - really isn't new technology, at least in the Android sector.

That said, the iPhone 15 Pro Max enjoys a more refined design than any past iPhone, a fantastic screen, and a seamless ecosystem that makes using it with a Mac, iPad, and AirPods very intuitive. The phone also has a powerful camera with the broadest optical range of any Apple phone thanks to the aforementioned periscope telephoto module.

If it has to be Apple, and you want the best (and are happy to pay top money for it), the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a stellar performer. If only Apple spiced things up a bit more, rather than sticking to the long-established recipe. I guess there's always next year...

In full: iPhone 15 Pro Max review

Pixel a-series phones have long been our go-to choice for a cameraphone with maximum bang per buck. 2023's Pixel 7a continues this, and is the most rounded Pixel a-series offering yet. It inherits much of its haardware from the old Pixel 7 and 7 Pro that's no bad thing, as those phones were already excellent performers. The more compact form factor of the 7a compared to a Pixel 7/8 Pro won't suit everyone, but we appreciate the more pocketable dimensions.

What's certainly not small is the Pixel 7a's camera performance. Google's image processing algorithms are supremely powerful, and help the 7a produce terrific image quality. The phone's extra image enhancement and retouching features add even more value to the camera performance.

At this price point, the Pixel 7a is a clear winner for sheer photographic ability, and it's the most complete smartphone you can buy in 2023 for the money.

In full: Google Pixel 7a review

Back in February we got our hands on the OnePlus 11. It lacked the flagship 'Pro' moniker, but that didn't stop it exceeding our expectations in almost every area: this was the most balanced phone we'd seen from OnePlus in years.

Despite missing out on wireless charging, it sports a slick glass and metal design, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon power, all at a very attractive price: $699 / £729, at the time of launch. And at the price, it was the best camera phone on the market. Though not the absolutely greatest in any one area, it did a great job in all deparetments: design, screen, primary camera, performance, and battery life, and with no significant drawbacks - unless that lack of wireless charging is a deal-breaker.

Though not a cheap phone, the OnePlus 11 5G is one of our favorite phones of the year as it proved itself as a genuine flagship killer. With a phone this good, dropping four-figure money on a true flagship phone was very hard to justify.

In full: OnePlus 11 5G review

Last year's Pixel 7 Pro flew to the top of our best camera phones list when it launched because of its fantastic value and powerful camera system. But for 2023, the Pixel 8 Pro's main selling point was its image processing software capabilities. However that's not necessarily a bad thing, as Pixel phones have long been a triumph of software processing over simple hardware specs.

Tools like Magic Editor and Best Take helped showcase what Google's algoryths could do, and the new Pro mode was on hand if you wanted to take control youself. Google's commitment to a whopping seven years of software updates also made the Pixel 8 Pro a smart long-term proposition. Add in the usual streamlined Android experience, and an overal camera package that's a match for anything from Apple or Samsung, and the Pixel 8 Pro is a genuine contender for the best camera phone of the year.

In full: Google Pixel 8 Pro review

In 2023 Samsung continued its dominance of the flagship camera phone market. Boasting an incredible 200MP primary camera sensor, the S23 Ultra was always going to be a force to be reckoned with, while the faster, more efficient processor and subtle refinements to the whole user experience make the S23 Ultra not only a camera phone champion, but a fantastic smartphone in general.

Quite simply, the S23 Ultra represents the best balance of camera hardware, software, and versatility available on a smartphone. As we eagerly await next year's S24 Ultra, it's testament to just how good that the S23 Ultra is that even almost a year after launch, it's still able to fend off the more recent iPhone 15 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro.

In full: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

If the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best all-round camera phone of 2023, then why do we rate the Huawei P60 Pro as the absolute number one camera phone of the year? Well, this isn't a guide telling you what to actually buy, rather it's our favorite camera hone of the year. And on these grounds alone - pure camera performance - the P60 Pro beats anything from Samsung, Apple or Google.

This shouldn't be all that surprising, as a few years ago phones like the Huawei P20 Pro and P30 Pro dominated the flagship phone market, and not just for their camera prowess. However, since the Huawei vs. Google debacle in 2019, Huawei phones have faded from public consciousness thanks to their inability to use Google Services like YouTube, Google Maps and the Google Workspace. Many assumed this would mark the death of Huawei P-series phones, but no, Huawei hasn't just kept the range alive, it's doubled down on the camera tech in each successive generation. To the point that the current 2023 P60 Pro is - at least in terms of raw camera performance - the best camera phone on the market right now.

This is a phone that changes the game for macro photography, and its variable aperture adds a level of control we've not seen elsewhere. Its instant night photos are also a revelation, besting the competition for quick night snaps across all its cameras. If you can live without Google apps and also 5G support, the P60 Pro is an awesome photography powerhouse.

In full: Huawei P60 Pro review

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What is a periscope camera? Short answer: not a submariner snapping photos through the vessel's pop-up spy tube. Actual answer: an ingenious solution to getting a (relatively) long focal length into a device like a camera phone which would otherwise be too small to house an ordinary long lens.

Conventional wisdom dictates that to get serious zoom, you need a serious lens. Paparazzi shooters don't lug their hulking great bazooka lenses around just so they can look the part and scare A-listers. In order to magnify a distant subject, there also has to be a lot of distance between the front element of the lens and the camera's image sensor. Some optical trickery can be used to reduce the physical length of the lens while maintaining the same focal length, but that'll only get you so far. Big zoom = big lens, period.

Of course that's bad news for phone manufacturers, who for many years have prioritized making phones as slim as possible. To get around these space confinements while offering some degree of camera 'zoom', most manufacturers resorted to the dirty cheat of digital zoom, which simply blows up the central region of a photo, thereby reducing image quality due to pixelation.

Some manufacturers tried harder, instead making more camera-centric phones which actually had a proper, optically zoomed lens: a notable example of this being the rather funky Samsung Galaxy K zoom from 2014. However, sticking a great big extending zoom lens on a phone necessarily makes the device much bulkier than a conventional camera phone. So how do you get proper optical zoom, but still maintain a slim device? Answer: the periscope lens, also called a folded lens.

Periscope telephoto lenses are distinct from normal telephoto lenses. The latter is orientated just like any other lens, aligned front to back in the body of a phone. However this setup will only give you 2-3x zoom before the lens gets so long that it pokes way out the back of the phone. With a periscope lens, you instead take a conventional lens, but rotate it and the image sensor through 90 degrees so both are directed side to side within the phone body, rather than front to back. All you then need to do is add a prism to bounce the light entering the phone around the 90-degree 'corner' and focus it down the sideways lens to the camera sensor. By using this clever trick, a periscope lens can theoretically be as long as the phone is wide, though obviously other components in the phone will restrict the final length of the periscope lens.

So problem solved: you can have a long focal length lens in a small device, without reducing image quality. Err, not quite. Sure, that periscope lens may physically be a bit longer than the wide and ultrawide lenses in the phone, but it's still incredibly small: much smaller than it would need to be in order for the diameter of the lens elements to fully cover an image sensor the same size as that used in the phone's primary (wide-angle) camera.

Take, for instance, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Its 200 megapixel primary camera sensor measures a healthy 1/1.3" in size, and captures images through a 24mm (equivalent) wide-angle lens. The S23 Ultra's periscope camera uses a 230mm lens, giving (roughly) a 10x zoom increase over the wide-angle camera module. So in order to maintain the same 1/1.3" sensor size, you'd expect the periscope lens to physically be about 10 times longer than the wide-angle lens. But it isn't, and not even close. The only way you can downsize a lens while still maintaining the same focal length is to also reduce the camera sensor to the same extent, which is why we find the S23 Ultra's periscope camera using a microscopic 1/3.52" sensor - that's less than a quarter the size of the 1/1.3" sensor in the phone's wide-angle camera module.

As any camera / camera phone manufacturer is very keen to point out, bigger sensors = better image quality, and conversely smaller sensors have a detrimental effect on image quality. A smaller sensor contains smaller, less light-sensitive pixels, which in turn generate more image noise, resolve less detail, and capture less dynamic range. Consequently, while a phone with a periscope camera does indeed have proper, bona fide optical zoom, photos taken using this camera module will have inferior image quality to those snapped using the primary camera module. Not exactly something the phone manufacturers are keen to divulge, but it's a simple fact.

So there you have it. The periscope lens: a clever, deceptively simple invention to get big zoom out of a small device, but not without drawbacks when deployed in a camera phone. At the end of the day, if you want big zoom, without compromising image quality in any way, there's still only one way to get it: a big-ass lens!

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Just days before Apple's iPhone 15 announcement, it has emerged that China has expanded its ban on iPhones – rocking the American company's market value. 

The launch of the iPhone 15 family next week, on September 12, is the biggest event on the Apple calendar. However, with the greater Chinese territory (also comprising Taiwan and Hong Kong) accounting for 20% of sales between April and June, Apple's market capitalization has plunged by $297 billion. 

• These are the best iPhones for photography

That's according to Nikkei Asia, which notes that the expanded ban now also includes Apple Watches and AirPods. 

"China's restrictions on the use of iPhones by central government employees are expanding to local governments and state-owned companies, Nikkei has learned," says the report. 

"Central ministries and agencies have restricted the use of foreign-brand products in official business since around 2020. Such curbs have since been expanded to employees of local governments, including prefectures, and cities, and state-owned enterprises since around August this year, sources, including a government employee, told Nikkei."

The article notes that most people working in state-owned companies have two phones – a Huawei phone for business and an iPhone for their own use. The fear is, with the US-China trade war showing no signs of abating, that the Apple ban will sooner or later spread to personal users as well.

"Many government employees already have two iPhones and Chinese-branded products, but if the [Communist] Party's guidance spreads to private companies and individuals, the impact on sales will be inevitable," an analyst told Nikkei Asia.

There has been a huge clampdown on the use of Chinese technology in the West, with the US famously blacklisting Huawei and Xiaomi phones as well as banning TikTok on its own governmental devices. Newton's Third Law, perhaps?

Looking for Apple alternatives? Check out the best Samsung phones, the best Xiaomi phones, the best budget camera phones and the best burner phones. 

Just days before Apple's iPhone 15 announcement, it has emerged that China has expanded its ban on iPhones – rocking the American company's market value. 

The launch of the iPhone 15 family next week, on September 12, is the biggest event on the Apple calendar. However, with the greater Chinese territory (also comprising Taiwan and Hong Kong) accounting for 20% of sales between April and June, Apple's market capitalization has plunged by $190 billion (approximately £152 billion). 

• These are the best iPhones for photography

That's according to Nikkei Asia, which notes that the expanded ban now also includes Apple Watches and AirPods. 

"China's restrictions on the use of iPhones by central government employees are expanding to local governments and state-owned companies, Nikkei has learned," says the report. 

"Central ministries and agencies have restricted the use of foreign-brand products in official business since around 2020. Such curbs have since been expanded to employees of local governments, including prefectures, and cities, and state-owned enterprises since around August this year, sources, including a government employee, told Nikkei."

The article notes that most people working in state-owned companies have two phones – a Huawei phone for business and an iPhone for their own use. The fear is, with the US-China trade war showing no signs of abating, that the Apple ban will sooner or later spread to personal users as well.

"Many government employees already have two iPhones and Chinese-branded products, but if the [Communist] Party's guidance spreads to private companies and individuals, the impact on sales will be inevitable," an analyst told Nikkei Asia.

There has been a huge clampdown on the use of Chinese technology in the West, with the US famously blacklisting Huawei and Xiaomi phones as well as banning TikTok on its own governmental devices. Newton's Third Law, perhaps?

Looking for Apple alternatives? Check out the best Samsung phones, the best Xiaomi phones, the best budget camera phones and the best burner phones. 

The Huawei Mate X3 is the most impressive foldable we’ve tested to date. Not only does it combine a full, phone-sized cover screen with a big main display, but it’s also thin, light, and IPX8 water and dust resistant.

 Launching alongside the mighty P60 Pro, Huawei’s flagship camera phone, the two-in-one folding Mate X3 also promises a best-in-class camera experience, thanks to its periscope camera, which is usually reserved for thick, traditional flagship mobiles like the Google Pixel 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

• Read our guide to the best Android phone for photography

But you’d expect the very best specs in a phone that costs £1,999 / € 2,199.00 / $2,550, and you’d also expect it to be easy to use too.

Given the fact Huawei’s kit is held back by no access to 5G or Google services, though, is the Mate X3’s incredible hardware little more than a tragically brilliant flourish amidst an overriding compromise, or does it stand tall as a triumphant package inside and out? The answer: a little bit of both. 

Huawei Mate X3: Design

There’s one area the Mate X3 is an unequivocal winner, and that’s design.

Before you even look at the phone in the flesh, its dimensions are standout for the right reasons.

Folded, the Mate X3 is just 11.8mm thin – not much thicker than many non-folding smartphones. But the real silver bullet is its weight – it's just 239g. That means Huawei’s managed to make this phone 1g lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max (both phones pictured above), despite the fact it packs two screens and a periscope camera.

With the Mate X3, Huawei really has shot down the foldable competition’s hardware one by one, making the Galaxy Z Fold 4 look chunky, the Honor Magic Vs look clumsy, and the Google Pixel Fold, unnecessarily squat.

Now we’ve covered the sheer brilliance of the phone’s dimensions, we can appreciate its flourishes. First up – water resistance – IPX8 rated, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 4. While Samsung loaded up its phones with a hinge gap to strike that IP rating, Huawei’s foldable snaps shut with two perfectly flat sides giving it the edge.

What’s most impressive about the Mate X3 isn’t just that its design beats out competition that’s almost a year old from Samsung, it’s that it bests the current slew of foldables coming out of China right now as well.

Available in Black, Dark Green, Gold, Violet, and White, the Mate X3’s style combines with its slender credentials to create a mature, premium-looking experience.

We tested the vegan leather green option, and it feels solid, both when open or closed, measures just 5.3mm thin when flat – barely thicker than the USB-C charging port, and the hinge feels smooth at virtually every point in the opening process – not quite Samsung solid, but still superb.

Huawei Mate X3: Screens

There are two types of foldable – flip phones and large-form – and the Mate X3 falls into the latter category. That means it has two screens you’ll be interacting with a lot. On the front, there’s a traditional-sized, 6.4-inch cover screen, while inside is a 7.85-inch, nearly square tablet screen.

The first thing to mention is that unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Mate X3’s cover screen is a relatively traditional 20.9:9 aspect ratio. That means that it isn’t as narrow as Samsung’s foldable, so the whole experience feels less cramped.

The Mate X3’s screens are both 120Hz OLED panels that are bright, punchy, and look mighty in the flesh. Both are also sharp, with over 400 pixels in every inch, so whether watching, gaming, or reading, visuals are on point.

More impressive than the standalone screen quality is the lack of a crease along the center of the main display. A combination of factors affects the screen crease – hinge mechanism being the most notable – and a reduction in crease size usually requires a larger hinge. The fact Huawei’s managed to create a skinny, big-screened folding phone with a smaller crease line than the much chunkier competition is incredibly impressive.

Practically speaking, the larger inner display is perfect for reading, showing off photos, and enjoying a split-panel view of apps like Outlook and WhatsApp. It's also great for gaming, and desktop versions of most websites are easy enough to read too.

When it comes to streaming content, old school, 4:3, and even 16:9 content is best placed on the main display, while super wide 21:9 videos look great on the front display, so when watching cinematic movies, you don't have to open up the phone.

With excellent brightness levels and viewing angles, use across both screens is great whether outdoors or indoors, cementing the Huawei Mate X3 as the most polished foldable around from a hardware point of view.

Huawei Mate X3: Camera specs

The main camera on the Huawei Mate X3 is a 50MP sensor matched with an f/1.8, 23mm lens with OIS. We don’t know how big any of the sensors in Huawei’s new phones are – it holds its cards very close to its chest – but based on the depth of field pulled up in close-up shots, it’s probably a little smaller than that of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Foldables don’t tend to have powerful telephoto performance, but the 12MP, f/3.4, 125mm periscope camera on the Mate X3 has a mighty optical reach, equivalent to five times zoom, and packs OIS.

The final part of the rear camera trinity is a 13MP, f/2.2, 13mm ultra-wide. This is also the phone’s macro camera thanks to the fact the lens gets autofocus.

There are two selfie cameras on the Mate X3 – one at the top of the cover screen, and the other at the top of the main display. Both are 8MP resolution with f/2.4 aperture fixed-focus lenses.

Huawei Xmage

Huawei made its biggest strides in imaging during its partnership with Leica, which lasted from 2016 with the launch of the P9, through to 2022. Now, Huawei's branded its own imaging system as Xmage.

This Xmage system is what Huawei credits for its flagship P60 Pro's excellent camera performance, but it's also set to boost its entire portfolio of smartphones, including the Mate X3.

From an imaging philosophy point of view, Xmage focuses on enhancing four elements: optical, mechanical, imaging, and processing. 

Optical covers individual lenses, taking what Huawei learned during its time working with Leica and developing it. The P60 Pro's best-in-class telephoto macro capabilities suggest Huawei's in a good place here.

Mechanical refers to the sensor and lens array setup. This includes lens group arrangement, once again, as demonstrated by the P60 Pro packing the nearest-focusing periscope camera we've tested.

Imaging focuses on the hardware used to capture the photos – Huawei's SuperSensing sensor, as well as the new anti-shake sensor rotation system on the telephoto camera.

The final element, processing, is relatively self-explanatory, covering the XD Fusion Pro engine matched with Huawei's XD Optics to create the computational photography-powered photos Huawei has become known for.

Based on our time with the P60 Pro – Huawei's imaging flagship – it's clear this is a company that can make a superb camera phone, but can it repeat that success on a foldable?

Practically speaking, when you tap the Xmage icon in the camera menu, you're prompted to choose between Original, Vivid, and Bright – mirroring the Leica looks on current-gen Xiaomi phones, and the options Apple offers when you first fire up an iPhone's camera.

There's also an option to toggle Master AI on and off – and while casual users will enjoy its automatic scene detection, it also boosts contrast and sharpness, so we tended to leave it off for a more natural look to photos we took.

As illustrated below, Huawei supports part-folded capture, so you can use the Mate X3 as a stand and angle the camera for a steadied long-exposure shot – and it works to great effect.

Huawei Mate X3: Camera review

For anyone who wants a P60 Pro-grade camera on a foldable, the Huawei Mate X3 isn't it. The phone's lowlight performance and dynamic range just can't stack up to Huawei's 2023 flagship, the Mate X3 misses out on the P60 Pro's variable aperture, and the periscope camera isn't a telemacro lens system – so can't capture close-up shots.

Another specific area the Mate X3's camera falls behind high-res non-folding competition with large, 1-inch, or similar-sized sensors is detail, and the ability to crop into shots. Nevertheless, what the Mate X3 does deliver is a best-in-class system for a foldable.

The first highlight of the X3's camera is its optical range. As you can see in the photos below, it starts at a super-wide 13mm, and goes all the way through to a far-reaching 125mm. In bright environments, shots across all three cameras look rich and balanced. While contrast can be high for our tastes in shots captured with Master AI on, turn it off or shoot RAW to switch to a more natural look.

Compared to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 specifically, where the Mate X3 wins out is color management – Samsung's photos are just too vibrant, while Huawei's are significantly more realistic.

The Mate X3 also preserves highlight and shadow detail nicely, and noise is generally well managed. You can see below that both the dog's fur and shadow detail in the harness are visible, and there's plenty of information in JPGs to pull out.

The images below were all taken in low to middling light on the main camera, and the Mate X3 automatically activates a night mode of sorts to help brighten things up. Across the different textures of the subjects in all photos, the phone retained impressive detail, though in mixed-lighting environments, struggled a little with white balance.

The two shots below were taken using the 5x zoom, periscope camera, and illustrate the impressive separation you can capture between foreground and background objects, as well as the telephoto camera's multi-purpose use for portraits – human and animal.

Video taken on the Mate X3's main camera looks excellent, with Huawei's stabilization right up to 4K 60fps impressing. While many other smartphones struggle indoors, the Mate X3 actually does a respectable job capturing clips in middling light, though shines in brighter environments.

You can capture selfies with one of the two 8MP punch-hole cameras, or with the main camera, opening the phone and activating the cover screen as a preview display. Whichever you go for, the results are flattering, however, if you use the main camera, the Mate X3 could be the best phone around for selfies. Its photos are loaded with detail, enjoy a natural depth, look clear in most environments, and can be edited extensively.

Huawei Mate X3: Additional features

Despite its top-tier hardware, Huawei has to pare back some features in order to sell its phones in the West. That’s why the Mate X3 misses out on 5G, and possibly why it features a last-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, and not a 2023 8 Gen 2 chipset.

Practically speaking, the lack of 5G will depend heavily on where you live. If you’re in a city in the UK, for example, you might feel it more than someone in a more rural region, with speeds on average being about 25-40% slower in our time with the phone.

As for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 – for most, this will pack ample power. Genshin Impact played back on the Mate X3 with minimal slowdown, we were able to shoot and edit 4K videos and day-to-day performance is fluid too.

What will more likely hold you back is the lack of Google Play Store. Huawei’s solution, Petal Search is better than ever, giving you access to apps missing from the Huawei AppGallery, but the experience isn't always smooth, and it takes a level of know-how to manage a Huawei phone in 2023.

Almost all of the apps we needed could be downloaded through one of Huawei’s two app portals, though we came across three that just wouldn’t work – CityMapper, Happy Cow, and HBO Max (now Max). These require Google services to run.

Games are also hit-and-miss on the Mate X3. If you’re coming from an Android phone, importing your save data might not be possible – specifically, if it’s linked to Google Play Games. What you can do in most cases is start a new game across most titles.

Huawei does get some software elements very right on the Mate X3. Apps like Lightroom are brilliant to use on a big screen, and between the phone's split-screen and floating window features, you can comfortably run four apps at once, docking unused apps on the edge of the UI when done.

Available with 512GB storage as standard in the UK, where it's on sale in Dark Green for £1,999 / € 2,199 (roughly $2,550), that's plenty of space. You can also bump up the storage with a nano memory card, and the phone takes up to two SIM cards (provided you aren't using a memory card).

The power button is a fingerprint scanner, quickly getting you into the phone, and there's also face unlock too. The phone runs EMUI 13.1.0 on top of Android, which is why you can install Android apps on it, even though it doesn't support Google services.

As for battery life, thanks in no small part to the supremely usable cover screen, we were able to get a comfortable day out of the 4800mAh battery in the Mate X3. After all, we seldom needed to open it, minimizing power use.

The phone charges quickly at up to 66W, hitting 50 percent in around 20 minutes, and fully charging in a little less than an hour. Unlike most foldables, the Mate X3 also charges wirelessly at up to 50W with a compatible wireless charger, making it the fastest-charging foldable system around.

If you consider yourself a geek and like to tweak your tech to kingdom come, the Mate X3 could be perfect for you. Sideloading APKs and figuring out occasional app workarounds could be a worthwhile task for the reward of using the best folding phone hardware around.

But between the high price and the faff of non-Google software, anyone after an affordable, easy option will be well served to look elsewhere.

Huawei Mate X3: Verdict

For a peek into the future of foldables, look no further than the Mate X3. It's the first to deliver a full-sized, dual-screen experience in a compromise-free body that's lighter and more manageable than some non-folding phones.

There are some obvious caveats when talking about Huawei phones, and in particular, the Mate X3: it's incredibly expensive, is missing 5G, and the lack of Google support hurts the app experience and the phone's ease of use significantly.

Huawei's P60 and Mate X3 are both at the top of their game when it comes to imaging, though, and the Mate X3 is a masterclass in foldable design and a technology showcase in general.

Read more: If Huawei Mate X3 doesn't do it for you, check out the other best flip and fold phones

While there are a few flip phones on the scene, if you live in the UK or Europe, the Honor Magic Vs is the only big-screened foldable phone on sale to give Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Huawei's Mate X3 a run for their money. It’s a different story in China – there’s the Oppo Find N2, Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 and Vivo X Fold to name a few. And in the US, there really is no competition, with Samsung still being the only player, four years after the original Galaxy Fold was announced.

The Honor Magic Vs, therefore, has one clear mission: to be better than the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Off the bat, in some ways, it is, costing less and packing more storage and larger screens than Samsung's offering.

• Read our guide to the best Android phones

With an Honor 70 primary and ultra-wide camera set-up, matched with a telephoto camera, its photography credentials also seem competitive, even though the phone misses out on optical image stabilization.

With no IP water resistance rating or pen support, as well as Honor's interface being historically clunkier than Samsung's, has the Magic Vs got what it takes to topple the top dog foldable?

Honor Magic Vs: Design

At first glance, the Honor Magic Vs looks great. Available in a glossy Black or matte Cyan, while the black one is a fingerprint magnet, in Cyan, the diffuse, shimmery finish stays fingerprint-free. 

At 12.9mm when closed, as with any foldable, the Magic Vs has some heft to it, though when unfolded, its super-svelte 6.1mm frame is sleek. While the heaviest traditional phones weigh around 240g, the two-screened Magic Vs is 267g – perfectly reasonable by foldable standards.

The Magic Vs has a large front display that curves to the right side elegantly, with the glass and metal combination creating a great in-hand feel, though it is thick, especially when sat next to the Huawei Mate X3. 

The foldable's novel button positioning is also worth noting. Honor places the power button (which is also a fingerprint scanner) on the bottom half when shut, and the volume rocker on the top half. When using the Magic Vs's front display, it all feels very traditional one-hended with all the buttons on the right side. Open the phone up, though, and the volume button unfolds to the left, making it feel that bit more like a tablet.

We like some of the innovative steps Honor has taken to differentiate its folding phone. From stylistic flourishes like the curved glass camera surround, to the button placement, there's a clear effort on Honor's part. 

That said, the folding mechanism just doesn't feel as solid as some foldables we've used in the past.

Specifically, we struggled with the fact the Magic Vs doesn’t unfold totally flat when you open it, taking a few minutes to let go of an ever-so-slight bend along the middle of the phone. This isn't a deal breaker, but you really notice it when you open up the phone and start gaming or typing on it.

The Magic Vs also misses out on water resistance too, which Samsung's Z Fold 4 has, though Honor's phone does fold completely shut, so will keep pocket debris away from the screen better when closed.

All things considered, though, if you’re in the UK or Europe, the Magic Vs is the only Google services-packing big-screened folding phone that gives you an ample front display that isn’t super-tall like that of Samsung’s Z Fold series. Anyone in China, however, has loads of options from Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

Honor Magic Vs: Screens

The Magic Vs has two screens. When it's closed, you interact with the one on the front which is tall, like a traditional phone screen. When the foldable opens up, it unveils a larger, mini-tablet screen.

On first impressions, we love the front screen. It's wider than that of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, making it less cramped for more comfortable typing. Even the inner screen wins out when it comes to size, being larger than the Z Fold 4's, and in turn, more expansive.

Looking at the specs, though, the Magic Vs’s screens fall slightly short of the competition on paper. Yes, the huge inner screen is an ample 7.9 inches, but with a 90Hz refresh rate, it's a bit less smooth than the 120Hz front screen, and the 120Hz inner screen competition – not a huge deal, but worth noting.

The external screen, nevertheless, stacks up well. At 6.45 inches and with a 21:9 aspect ratio, it's a super-usable size, and is perfect for cinematic content when you don't want to open up your folding phone.

Also, we have to touch on our real-world experiences that go beyond specs. Yes, the refresh rate of the inner screen isn't best in class, but the experience it provides is still excellent. By being larger than that of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Lightroom for Mobile gives us a bit more room to see what's going on, and when showing folks on the other side of the dinner table a group photo you just took, the Honor Magic Vs's big screen is easy to see.

With ample brightness for comfortable outdoor viewing in most environments, punchy colors, and a host of screen customization options in the settings, the Magic Vs's screens are a treat.

Honor Magic Vs: Camera specs

We already knew what to expect from two of the Honor Magic Vs's cameras, after all, the phone has the same primary and ultra-wide cameras as the Honor 70. That means a 54MP primary camera with a Sony IMX800 sensor with an f/1.9 aperture lens. There's no OIS on the primary camera, though we found performance, in general, to be impressive for the most part.

There's also a 50MP ultra-wide camera that features autofocus and an f/2.0 lens, so it doubles up as a macro camera, like that of the Nothing Phone (1).

What the Magic Vs gets that the Honor 70 doesn't is a telephoto camera with 8MP resolution and three times greater reach than the main camera. This does feature OIS, and that's matched with an f/2.4 aperture.

As for the selfie cameras, there are two, one on the cover screen and one on the foldable screen, each with a 16MP resolution and an f/2.45 aperture.

Camera hardware's only part of the story, with software being the other part – and the Magic Vs features a Huawei-like camera interface we've seen before. It has been tuned slightly to better accommodate the foldable's form, so you can use the cover screen as a preview for a photo when the phone's open and subjects can see themselves. That said, there are no on-screen controls on the front display, so it's of limited value for selfie-takers looking to capture with the main camera.

Frustratingly, you can't half-fold the phone and capture content with a split UI. Both Samsung and Oppo's folding phones support this feature, but not the Magic Vs. This is despite the fact apps like Disney+ do split the UI when part-folded, so the hardware's playing ball and is recognized as foldable by third-party apps – it just isn't optimized by Honor. 

Honor Magic Vs: Camera review

Like any foldable, though, the Magic Vs's camera isn't its strongest asset, and its results won't compete with those of flagships, including the Honor Magic 5 Pro. Its main and ultra-wide cameras capture balanced shots with decent dynamic range, and it has a fair amount of optical reach for clarity when zoomed in. 

You can see below the three stages of optical reach, from the ultra-wide to the telephoto captured by the Magic Vs.

If you think the telephoto camera is just about snapping faraway objects, you're missing a trick. With a nearest-focus distance of around 50cm and OIS, the Magic Vs's 3x zoom camera is great when taking close-up shots of objects without pulling up a heavy shadow. This makes it meaningfully better than phones like the Find N2 Flip, which misses out on a quality ultra-wide or any kind of telephoto camera.

That said, its main competition, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 outclasses it in most areas. Starting with the main camera, the fact Honor ditches OIS and dials back shadow detail holds the Vs back compared to Samsung's more specced-out, processing-heavy shots, as you can see below.

The telephoto camera pulls out less detail than that of the Z Fold 4, though its results are still comparable from a dynamic range point of view, and the ultra-wide subdues processing significantly. Let's not forget, though, the Magic Vs is considerably cheaper than the Z Fold 4.

The Magic Vs's cameras pack respectable night performance when capturing static subjects, though struggle when motion is added to the mix across all three cameras.

We also shot a few RAW photos with the primary Sony IMX800-powered main camera, and the results were fair, not excellent – paling alongside RAW shots from phones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max and OnePlus 11 when it comes to resolved detail.

In bright conditions, therefore, the Magic Vs is a powerful, versatile camera phone whichever snapper you use. Photos of nearby subjects showcase depth and punch, as illustrated in the orchid and dinner table shots below. Challenge it, and it won't always rise to the occasion. Moving pets look slightly softer than we'd like them to, and dynamic range could be helped along by a little extra shadow information.

The Honor Magic Vs's selfie camera does a respectable job in most environments, and you can tune aspects of the beauty filter to your taste. We mentioned the fact it doesn't do a great job of supporting selfies on the main camera when the phone's unfolded – and that's a real shame.

As far as videos go, nippy autofocus and solid stabilization help it along, though dynamic range could be better, with bright highlights blowing things out when in frame. Honor does include a GoPro Quik-style, fun AI montage creator and video editor to help you do something with your footage, which is handy.

Honor Magic Vs: Additional features

The Magic Vs packs some serious highlights that aren't seen often enough. Its lowest storage capacity is 512GB, for example. That means that you'll likely never run out of space, even if you keep the phone for years, loading it up with movies, music, photos, and 4K recordings.

Continuity when opening and closing the phone is also intuitive – the app just transfers from one screen to the other, whereas other foldables can struggle with the process. 

The phone also runs Android 13, the latest widely available version of Google's operating system, and unlike Huawei's phones, it has full access to the Google Play Store, and with Link to Windows, can pair nicely with a PC to get all your notifications across your devices.

There are a few big buts, though. Honor's foldable interface is woefully optimized for the folding form. While Samsung has included a handy taskbar, pen support, and a camera that recognizes when the phone's part-folded, Honor hasn't. 

Another example of Honor's hardware being capable of more than the preloaded software lets on is the Vs's pre-installed keyboard. Install Google's own keyboard through the Google Play Store, and the app knows to split the keyboard when the Magic Vs is open, optimizing it for the big screen. Honor's pre-installed keyboard, meanwhile, isn't optimized, reflecting another example of a third-party app that is better optimized for the Vs's folding hardware than Honor's native solution.

The Magic Vs we tested also pulled up a few software grumps in our time with it – Google Discover, for example, didn't display correctly on the cover screen after being open on the main display 

Since we first tested the Honor foldable, updates have improved the experience, with split-screen multitasking improvements, and Twitter supporting a two-panel view, which is excellent, it just isn't quite as reliable or slick as a non-folding alternative, or the Z Fold 4.

For the most part, we had a great time with the Magic Vs when we weren't trying to catch it out while reviewing it. When gaming on the phone, its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset powered through games like Genshin Impact and Diablo Immortal well, and day-to-day tasks didn't cause it to slow down at all.

The phone's large 5000mAh battery is also full of beans, ensuring it lasts a full day even with a fair bit of gaming and photography, and with 66W fast charging, it powers up in a little over 45 minutes, which is great going for a foldable. That said, unlike the Z Fold 4, there's no wireless charging on the Vs.

Honor Magic Vs: Verdict

Despite niggles, the Magic Vs is a lot of fun to use day-in-day-out. With a decent camera, big screens, and nippy performance, while it doesn't break the foldable mold, at the very least, it's great to see some solid competition to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. 

Big-screened foldables, in general, are still some way off being easy to recommend to most as they cost significantly more than non-folding phones. The fact Honor's global debut foldable, the Magic Vs, misses out on the water resistance, a camera optimized for its form-factor, and some of the software perks the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 packs makes it an even tougher sell.

It has 512GB storage, though, which is its saving grace. Costing less than a 512GB iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the same as a 512GB Galaxy S23 Ultra, though, Honor's debut folding phone could be an excellent option for Android fans looking to shake things up without paying top-foldable-dollar.

Read more: If Honor's Magic Vs doesn't do it for you, check out the other best flip and fold phones

The Huawei P60 Pro is unequivocally the best camera phone we've tested in a number of key areas including macro photography. Huawei's demonstrated mastery of computational photography combines with pioneering lens technology to create an experience unlike anything we've seen on a smartphone, but there's so much more to this phone than a fantastic camera.

For starters, the phone doesn't run Android or iOS – or at least not as we know it. As a result of sanctions against Huawei by the US government, the firm's tech can't access the Google Play Store or any Google services, which means if you're hardwired into the Google ecosystem, any Huawei device will be a tough sell.

Next, there's no 5G on the P60 Pro either. Less of a big deal, but still a bitter pill to swallow, especially given the fact the phone is so expensive, starting at £1,199 in the UK, which converts to $1,500.

All this is why we've spent less time focusing on Huawei phones in recent years. After all, since the P30 Pro launched in 2019, Huawei phones have been difficult to recommend, despite their camera clout. The P60 Pro is different, though – its camera is game-changing, even in the face of stiff competition from the excellent Xiaomi 13 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro.

So whether you're interested in picking up the P60 Pro or not, we'd urge you to read on if you have any interest in smartphone photography. After all, Huawei pioneered a lot of the tech in the best Android phone for photography and best iPhones out now, so it wouldn't surprise us if the P60 Pro ends up being a crystal ball into the smartphone camera tech of tomorrow.

HUAWEI P60 PRO REVIEW: DESIGN

Huawei's never struggled with making phones that look good, especially with its P-series. The line has historically been photography-focused with a side-helping of style, and the P60 Pro we tested has been grabbing attention whenever we've used it. 

Specifically, we're referring to the Rococo Pearl finish (pictured), which features a mosaic, mother-of-pearl style effect around the back. This curves into the polished metal frame seamlessly, which in turn curves into the screen, making for a supremely smooth in-hand feel that's crammed with premium-factor.

If you're not vibing the Rococo Pearl, you can also pick up the phone in frosted black in the UK, though across Europe, violet or green options are available too.

Navigating around the Huawei P60 Pro's polished silver frame, at the top is an IR blaster, on the right side are the volume and power buttons, and at the base, a USB-C port and SIM tray.

The P60 Pro isn't too big, but at 200g, it has a substantial weight to it. The camera bump is bold but isn't quite as cumbersome as those of other phones like the Xiaomi 13 Ultra or Vivo X90 Pro.

The P60 Pro we tested included a case in the box, and had a pre-fitted screen protector. The phone is also IP68 water and dust resistant, able to withstand a 30-minute swim in up to two meters of fresh water.

Hardy and handsome – we're fans of what Huawei's done with the P60 Pro's design, and we specifically enjoyed the indulgence of the Rococo Pearl model. We also like the fact Huawei styled the back of the phone to be held in landscape orientation, with all the text running horizontally. It adds cohesion to the camera-focused features.

HUAWEI P60 PRO REVIEW: SCREEN

The P60 Pro's OLED screen is a checkbox exercise in quality smartphone displays. Out of the box, everything looks tasteful and subdued, set to switch between sRGB or DCI-P3 color spaces automatically based on what's on-screen. 

If you're a fan of a more saturated picture, it's easy to dip into the settings and switch to vibrant mode, and adjust the color temperature to suit your tastes.

The P60 Pro's screen scrolls smoothly with its 120Hz refresh rate. This can dynamically dial up or down based on what's on-screen, or you can lock it to 60Hz to save power. 

Even if some phones like the Motorola Edge 40 Pro are upping the refresh rate bar to 165Hz smoothness, 120Hz still delivers an excellent experience, with content gliding throughout the UI, and Huawei optimizing the interface brilliantly.

The P60 Pro's screen is also a 10-bit panel which means it can showcase a billion colors for super-smooth gradients and minimal banding, and it's protected by Huawei's scratch-resistant Kunlun glass.

The main issue we had in our time testing the phone was that it isn't optimized for Netflix HDR, despite support for HDR10. There was a noticeable lack of dynamic range when streaming HDR content like Sweet Tooth on the P60 Pro compared to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra as a result. 

Videophiles after a best-in-class streaming experience might be left wanting, therefore, but for everyone else, the P60 Pro's display should hit the mark.

HUAWEI P60 PRO REVIEW: CAMERA SPECS

There's some mystery surrounding the P60 Pro's main camera sensor. While other brands like Xiaomi shout about the 1-inch IMX989 in its 13 Pro, and the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra's 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HN1 is part of its appeal, we can't actually tell you what camera sensor powers the P60 Pro's main camera.

The apps we normally use to get camera sensor information didn't pull up a familiar Samsung or Sony sensor code, and Huawei hasn't offered up the information after we asked for sensor details. The only thing we managed to find out online is that Cambridge Mechatronics, the company behind the OIS on the Mate 50 is back in some capacity for the P60 Pro.

If this mystery is a conscious move on Huawei's part, it's quite smart, as rather than get hung up on sensor size, we can focus on image quality.

We do know some of the Huawei P60 Pro's specs, thankfully, and can confirm the main camera's resolution is 48MP with an RYYB subpixel formation, it has a 25mm focal length, and a mechanical aperture that can be set to f/1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.5, 2.8, 3.2, 3.5 and 4.0. 

With such a wide aperture, the P60 Pro's sensor doesn't need to be as big as the 1-inch competition, so we're excited to see how it stacks up.

As for the periscope camera, it's also a 48MP sensor with an open lens, this time at f/2.1 – the widest aperture of any telephoto camera we've seen on a phone. Its 90mm focal length equates to a 3.5x optical zoom, and the camera packs sensor-shift OIS, so the sensor itself moves to compensate for hand shake.

Finally, the ultra-wide camera is a 13MP, 13mm, f/2.2 system, and supports autofocus, so it can double up as a macro camera too.

Like a few other phones out now, the P60 Pro's periscope camera has a party trick: it can capture macro photos as well as far-reaching zoomed-in shots. Unlike any phone we've seen before, though, it captures as near as 10cm, which, given its 90mm focal length makes for some incredibly detailed close-up photography.

As far as shooting modes go, there's an Aperture mode, which lets you change virtual aperture – don't be fooled, only Pro Mode gives you control over the physical aperture of the main camera. Other modes include Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro, Super Macro, Monocrhome, Time-lapse, Dual-view, Snapshot, Panorama, Light Painting, Documents, Story Creator, Slow-mo, AR lens, Stickers, High-res, and Multi-cam.

If you're coming from a Huawei phone, the Multi-cam feature is especially cool. Whether taking photos or videos, you can wirelessly switch between compatible phones and it creates a user-friendly rig setup.

HUAWEI P60 PRO REVIEW: CAMERA

You can see the three optical focal lengths captured by the Huawei P60 Pro below, as well as a fourth, which showcases the phone's hybrid zoom performance at 10x.

Instantly looking at the above photos, we can see that Huawei's style doesn't shy away from processing. Photos across all three cameras have plenty of depth, saturation, and contrast, though still manage to showcase a decent amount of shadow detail, and highlights are nicely preserved too. 

Detail from the primary and telephoto cameras is exceptional, with the weakest camera being the ultra-wide, which we wouldn't lean on for shots that need to be cropped into.

Huawei's color science is balanced and consistent across all three cameras, and it's easy to pick a look to pump up or dial back vibrancy.

The primary camera's variable aperture has a two-fold effect, depth and exposure time. 

Starting with depth, as you can see in the set of images above, it can increase the depth of field for a less shallow look. While other camera phones do this with a portrait effect, the P60 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra are two of the only phones that achieve it optically.

A variable aperture also means the P60 Pro gives you control over light intake, helping out video capture in super-bright environments, and making long-exposure shots possible without blowing out highlights.

All the images taken above were captured on the periscope telephoto camera, with its nearest focus distance of around 10cm. This unlocks a new type of photography on a smartphone, and for the first time in our week of reviewing a phone, it made the periscope camera our most-used camera.

Detail is jaw-dropping, and there's even a Super macro mode that ramps up sharpening for some added wow factor. Even in auto mode, though, Huawei's telemacro shots are packed with impact and depth.

The periscope camera isn't just impressive for macro shots. For a 3.5x telephoto range, it captures crisp zoomed-in shots, as illustrated above, and with its wide aperture and Huawei's fantastic computational photography, it even performs respectably at night.

It's so versatile, that we used it for some product shots too in mediocre natural light, see below, and while it doesn't have the reach of Samsung's 10x Galaxy S23 Ultra periscope camera, it's still the most practically powerful telephoto camera we've ever used on a phone.

The P60 Pro's nighttime performance is also fantastic. Unlike other phones, it captures instant night mode photos, so you don't have to hold your phone steady while it composites shots, which you need to do on Galaxys, iPhones, and Pixels.

Specifically, its main camera and periscope camera can employ this party trick, and it liberates lowlight capture like never before.

The periscope camera can also snap a decent moon shot, and while purists won't love what Huawei's doing – brightening up night to look more like the crack of dawn, there's a Pro mode for anyone who wants to dial down exposure.

The only camera that can't hold its own at night is the ultra-wide, which falls behind competition like the Oppo Find X6 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra.

The P60 Pro handles skin tones very well, keeping them looking warm and flattering while still being realistic. The 13MP selfie camera shoots with as much detail as you need from a front camera, and it has autofocus too, so can capture individuals and groups without sacrificing clarity.

Video climbs up to 4K, 60fps and is held together well across resolutions. Its lowlight performance isn't as good as photos, but it still holds its own alongside the competition.

HUAWEI P60 PRO REVIEW: PERFORMANCE

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 inside the P60 Pro is one of the best smartphone chips out now, delivering impressive gaming performance with great heat and power management. It's unsurprising that in our time with the P60 Pro, both apps and the interface were handled well and flowed smoothly.

While the P60 Pro runs Android apps, its experience, EMUI 13.1 doesn't access new apps in the same way as other Android phones. Because there's no Google Play Store, you need to download them through Huawei's app store – AppGallery – or Petal Search, a tool that trawls the web for reliable ways of getting apps that aren't in the AppGallery.

There's no Gmail, Google Chrome or YouTube pre-installed either. Huawei's native email app can access your Google mail, and the Huawei browser gets you access to a web version of YouTube, as well as other Google services. These web-based alternatives, however, have no offline support.

So if you're sold into the Google way of doing things, a Huawei phone takes real effort.

First, porting your contacts over – we eventually figured out the best way to do this is sync the Microsoft Outlook app with Google Contacts and then sync that with the phone – not rocket science, but a faff nonetheless. 

Then there's Google Calendar – we couldn't get this to sync with the system calendar, so we used the Outlook app to access it.

It's also tough for creators as YouTube requires the app to upload Shorts, and the YouTube Studio app won't work with the phone. If you're based in the US and are thinking of importing the P60 Pro, the HBO Max app won't work either.

But if you think the P60 Pro experience is totally hamstrung, it really isn't. We got used to the limitations quickly. No Google Docs? We used Microsoft Word. No Google Maps? Petal Maps worked well.

Instagram, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, Audible – almost all the apps we use regularly did the job, but do check the compatibility of critical apps before picking one up – especially high-security apps like banking – Barclays, for example, won't play ball, but Monzo and Revolut do.

Once you've gotten past the app limitations, there's just one more hurdle before you're on the home stretch with the P60 Pro – the lack of 5G. This shouldn't be a deal-breaker for most, for now at least. After all, we were still able to hit speeds of 152Mbps over EE 4G in London, UK, just 50Mbps slower than the 200Mbps speeds we got on the Sony Xperia 1 V over 5G on the same network in the same place.

There's a responsive fingerprint scanner under the screen and nippy face recognition to unlock the P60 Pro quickly. If you go for the lower-cost black version, it packs 256GB storage and 8GB RAM, while the Rococo Pearl option hikes that up to 512GB storage and 12GB RAM, with both options supporting Huawei's NanoMemory cards for SIM-card-sized expansion.

The P60 Pro packs an ample 4815mAh battery that lasts a comfortable day even with heavy picture-taking. It charges at 88W wired, so fills up by 50 percent in a little over 10 minutes, and 100 percent in under 40 minutes. Wireless charging maxes out at 50W with a compatible charger.

The P60 Pro's plug is also handy, sporting both a USB-A and USB-C port, so it can charge the phone quickly, or a laptop.

HUAWEI P60 PRO VERDICT

If you live in the UK, the Huawei P60 Pro is the best camera phone you can buy right now. After all, its main competition, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra hasn't launched there, and the competitors like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro either fall behind on hardware or processing.

The P60 Pro's camera is so good, it flips the script, shifting focus to lens quality over sensor size. In addition to a stellar main camera with a variable aperture from f/1.4-f/4, it also packs a 90mm macro, telephoto, and portrait camera – incredibly versatile. In fact, for macro photographers in need of a pocket companion, the P60 Pro could be worth picking up just for its periscope camera.

Don't get us wrong, the camera isn't perfect in every situation. We'd tune back sharpening a little if processing was left to us, but that doesn't take away from how powerful it is, and Huawei's next-gen night capture. 

The million-dollar question, though: does this excellent imaging system make up for the lack of Google services on the P60 Pro? For most who use Google, it won't. After all, unless you're comfortable getting geeky and finding workarounds, the experience will feel like swimming upstream.

If you consider yourself a photography enthusiast with some cash to splash, though, and you aren't afraid to invest time, effort, and patience to make the P60 experience your own, it's a stunning showcase. It's also a bold statement that Huawei, the firm that first gave us computational photography as we know it, is still here, pioneering smartphone camera technologies just like it was in 2017.

The Huawei P60 Pro has been announced outside China for a punchy price of £1,199 (approximately $1,500), and it's the latest phone to take the DxOMark top spot for its camera performance. Far from the first phone to win gold from DxOMark in 2023, it bests past winners like the Honor Magic 5 Pro and Oppo Find X6 Pro. 

The P60 Pro brings back the variable aperture main camera we saw on the Mate 50 Pro, upgrading the computational photography to take instant night mode photos. 

Going further still, Huawei's also introduced a first-of-its-kind periscope system that packs the most versatile telephoto camera we've ever used on a mobile. With a near focus distance of just 10cm matched with an optical reach of 90mm (3.5x zoom equivalent), it's an incredible macro photography tool, even if it isn't as far-reaching as the Galaxy S23 Ultra's 10x telephoto.

Going into a bit more detail, we should start with specs, and the main camera combines a 48MP sensor with a wide 25mm focal length and a variable aperture. This starts at a super-wide f/1.4, climbing all the way to f/4. That makes the P60 Pro, arguably, the most powerful camera phone around for long-exposure photography and possibly even lowlight capture.

On the subject of aperture, the Huawei P60 Pro's telephoto camera has the widest lens of any periscope camera we've seen on a smartphone, combining a fixed f/2.1 aperture with a 90mm focal length, and a 48MP resolution. With both a stabilized lens and a shifting sensor, we've been floored by how well the P60 Pro holds zoomed-in scenes together, turning off-the-cuff handheld shots into crisp stills, even in middling light. 

The least impressive camera around the back of the Huawei P60 Pro is its 13MP ultra-wide, which packs autofocus and an f/2.2 lens. Despite missing out on new fandangle party tricks like the primary and telephoto, it still captures super-close-up shots as near as 4cm for a more fisheye-like style of macro photography.

It isn't just hardware that helps the Huawei P60 Pro's camera edge ahead of the competition. The phone's software also takes computational photography to another level. Huawei's figured out a way to instantly bracket shots, and create night mode-grade photos without the long-exposure waiting we've come to expect from competitors like Apple's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy and Google's Pixel lines.

We're guessing it's the same super-bracketing computational magic that helps the periscope camera capture crisp snaps in not-ideal conditions, but can't say for sure. You can see some examples of the periscope camera's macro performance below.

We can't cover Huawei without caveating that the firm's phones are hamstrung by sanctions. The P60 Pro doesn't support any Google apps, and it also misses out on 5G despite its sky-high price. 

As a photography showcase, though, the Huawei P60 Pro is a superb demonstration of exactly what's possible when a company invests big in camera R&D.

After the excellent Xiaomi 13 Ultra launched just a few weeks prior, which packs a massive 1-inch sensor and a two-stage variable aperture as well as a suite of other cameras, Chinese smartphones are clearly where it's at from a camera phone point of view. In fact, we'd go so far as to say the 13 Ultra and P60 Pro are the best camera phones we've ever tested.

If you're reading this in the UK, though, while the Xiaomi 13 Ultra won't be hitting British shores, Huawei's flagship will. So are you prepared to sacrifice on 5G and Google apps in order to get the best camera phone available where you live? That's a question only you can answer.

Huawei's Google-free experience might have limited appeal outside China, but there are still plenty of amazing camera phones to choose from, find out more in our guides to the best camera phone and the best Android phone.

America's leading consumer drone company DJI is once again under fire in the US Government as 16 senators ask for an investigation, telling the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that DJI "may present an unacceptable security vulnerability." The bi-partisan group of signatories to the letter is headed by Mark R Warner (Democrat, Virginia) the Chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence.

DJI is the world's largest consumer drone manufacturer, with a reported 70% of the market in 2022 (and taking many spots on our list of the best camera drones). It is, however, based in China, the target of a steady uptick of political hostility in the United States. 

DJI was put on an 'Entity List' by the US Department of Commerce in December 2020, after already being placed on a Treasury Department investment blacklist. This was done on the slightly vague grounds that DJI drones had been used by the Chinese authorities in the surveillance of ethnic Uyghurs, a Turkish minority in China. The US has identified actions against this group as human rights abuses, and it is known that DJI drones are used by the police in Xinjiang province.

As it transpired this didn't affect DJI's ability to sell into the US, although their share of the commercial drone market dropped in 2021. In October of that same year FCC commissioner Brendon Carr also called for DJI to be placed on the FCC's 'Covered List'. The media were told, "DJI drones are collecting vast troves of sensitive data on Americans and US critical infrastructure, potentially operating as a Huawei on wings." 

A place on the Covered List would prevent DJI devices from being used by recipients of US government funding for operating telecoms gear – a large market for surveyors.

The US Department of Defence has also blacklisted DJI for its own spending, calling DJI a "Chinese Military Company." At the time DJI responded, saying "DJI has always opposed combat use Of civilian drones and is not a “Chinese military company." They did note, however, that they couldn't control how drones were sold, and in any case, it seems clear hostility is growing.

The Senators' letter, however, didn't really offer anything new by way of evidence. It referenced known figures on DJI's market share, before going on to suggest “[T]he widespread use of DJI drones to inspect critical infrastructure allows the CCP to develop a richly detailed, regularly updated picture of our nation’s pipelines, railways, power generation facilities, and waterways.” (This quote is based on an almost laughably flimsy 2017 report publically available on the US Public Intelligence site.)

What Jen Easterly, the Director of the CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) chooses to do next has yet to be seen, but we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you're working with the US government it might well be worth looking at drones with more domestic heritage, like the Skydio.

• See our review of the Skydio 2+

Senator Warner, incidentally, hasn't just been targeting DJI. He – and some of the same Senators – yesterday made a press release questioning the reliability of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. He is supporting a piece of legislation, the RESTRICT Act, designed to make it easier for US government agencies to 'address foreign ICT threats,' citing Huawei and China specifically in the Bill summary.

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Huawei has confirmed that the Mate 50 series will debut on September 6 in China – the day before Apple announces the iPhone 14 series and now, thanks to a fresh leak we have details on the new phones. 

Courtesy of GSMArena we can see the 3C certification listing for the Mate 50, which consists of the Huawei Mate 50, Mate 50 Pro, and Mate 50 RS Porsche Design. The three models are listed as supporting charging speeds of up to 66W.  

The Huawei Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro are said to employ the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets and use notched displays. Thanks to My Drivers’ supply chain sources (via GSMAreana) we know the Mate 50 series will use 4G-only solutions.

Variable aperture assembly

As Huawei’s partnership with Leica has ended, we will see no Leica branding on the new series, which we expect to use Huawei’s own XMage imaging engine. 

The flagship Huawei Mate 50 Pro is expected to have a 50 MP main camera using a variable aperture assembly on its main camera, similar to that on the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10 series. On the Samsung’s the camera could choose either a f.1.7 or  f/2.4 aperture, depending on shooting conditions and it’s thought the Huawei camera will work in the same way but hopefully manage a better implementation.

The 50 -megapixel main camera on the Mate 50 Pro is tipped to be accompanied by a 64MP periscope lens and a 13MP ultra-wide. A 40 MP monochrome camera has also been rumored and it’s not unlikely as Huawei actually brought the monochrome sensor to the market in 2016 via the Mate 9, using it through to the P20 before ditching it but reincarnated it for the P50 Pro last year. 

As with the iPhone 14, there really isn't long tp wait to find out now! 

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 was the landmark phone that introduced water resistance to foldables, and the Z Fold 4 brings it back, along with a healthy set of upgrades and refinements across the board. 

While folding phones are still an indulgent luxury with their high prices, Samsung proved that they could be life-proof, which was a huge feat. Confidence in foldables, and specifically, Samsung foldables, has, as a result, skyrocketed in the last year. In fact, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 was the most successful foldable ever, thanks to its style, relative affordability for a foldable (costing $999 / £949), and some smart BTS K-pop collaborations.

Samsung is the foldable darling in the West, but a peek over into the Chinese smartphone market, and things aren't so cut and dry. Huawei's doing a lot better there than it is here; able to release 5G foldables like the Mate X2, complete with its periscope camera. Look to Vivo, and its Vivo Fold X also has a periscope camera, not to mention under-display fingerprint scanners on the inner and outer screen. Xiaomi isn't letting up on Samsung either; the China-only Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is the thinnest, lightest foldable, and has a full-sized front display and a Leica co-branded camera system.

But don't sleep on Samsung. The Korean brand may have more competition in China than in Europe or in the US, but none of that competition takes advantage of their phones' big, unfolding screens with pen support, and neither are they water resistant. But is that enough when the phone's starting price is $1,799 / £1,649?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 design and screen

Familiar, but refined – that's where Samsung's going with its new Galaxy Z Fold 4. So if you've ever seen a Z Fold 3, you'll get very real deja vu. By redesigning the hinge mechanism on the new foldable, the cover screen is wider and is framed by less bezel, and the whole phone is lighter than its predecessor. 

Getting into specifics, while the Z Fold 3 was 271g, the Z Fold 4 is 263g. When you think that an iPhone 13 Pro Max is 240g, there isn't too much in it. As for the lightest two-in-one foldable in the world, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, weighs just 1g less than the Z Fold 4.

So it's relatively light – great, but is the Z Fold 4 really thin? Absolutely, when unfolded. At 6.3mm thin, as a sleek, skinny tablet, it's a waif. Closed, though, it's still a thickums. Shaped like a bit of a wedge, it measures 14.2mm at its thinnest point, and 15.8mm at its thickest. Some phones creep into that territory; the Xiaomi 12s Ultra, for example, with its 1-inch camera sensor is around 13.5mm when you include the camera bump. That said, most phones are much, much thinner – under 10mm. 

So Samsung hasn't made a magical machine that can morph from a miniature smartphone into an expansive tablet, but the Z Fold 4 is still a mighty mix of design highlights. On the front, it has a 6.2-inch cover display, while inside, the main screen is a 7.6-inch, relatively square flexible screen.

When opened up, at the base is a loudspeaker and USB-C port, on the right is a fingerprint scanner and power button combo as well as a volume rocker, and up top is the second speaker. There's a triple camera at the back, and across both screens are two selfie cameras, an under-display camera on the main screen, and a traditional punch hole front camera in the cover screen.

Made from Samsung's own Armour Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus Plus, both introduced on the Galaxy S22 series, the line's bodies have had an on-paper durability bump, and in two full weeks with the phone, it remains free of dings and boops.

That isn't to say the Z Fold 4's flexible display isn't more fragile than a traditional one. If you bash it, it will likely discolor – but as a package, this is probably the most life-proof foldable around.

As for the screens, their dimensions have been slightly refreshed, despite being the same size on paper as those of the Z Fold 3's. Both are a little wider and a little shorter, which results in the whole phone being a touch more squat.

Whichever screen you use, you'll be looking at a Dynamic AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a pixel density of above 380 pixels-per-inch – sharp enough for all but the most discerning pixel-peeper.

The inner screen has a crease down the middle, and the sooner you get used to that, the more you'll enjoy the whole Z Fold 4 experience – while it didn't phase us, there's no getting around the fact it is very noticeable. 

While we thought we'd benefit from the unfolding, large, 7.6-inch tablet display most out and about, we actually found ourselves using it more at home. It works brilliantly with the Readly or DC Comics Infinite apps – perfect for kicking back for a chill on the couch with a magazine. 

The foldable's square aspect ratio is also brilliant for playing back older, 4:3 videos – from Full Metal Alchemist to The Golden Girls. For newer 16:9 or 21:9 video, it's still well suited when half-folded in Flex Mode – which pushes content to the top half of the screen, or when using the front display.

Unlike most HDR smartphone screens, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is also Netflix HDR compatible, so supports a broad dynamic range across screens, and generally speaking, whether watching, swiping, or reading, both the cover and tablet display looked very good. 

The one caveat to the Fold 4's dual-screen excellence is bright sunlight and smudges. The tablet display looks very smudgy compared to glass after you've been using it for a few days, with the top coat on the folding screen holding onto fingerprints more than traditional displays. This can impair viewability in bright environments in particular, so a cleaning cloth will be a must if you want the best from the Z Fold 4.

 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 camera specs

The Z Fold 4 has seen a boost in camera hardware when compared to the Z Fold 3. The rear cameras are almost identical to those of the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, with a wide, ultra-wide, and three times telephoto camera mix. 

This upgrade also means a larger main camera sensor, up from 1/1.76 inches to 1/1.56 inches – a welcome upgrade. Samsung opts for its own 50MP S5KGN3 sensor, which is matched with an f/1.8 lens, a 23mm wide-angle, and phase detection autofocus (PDAF). 

While there's no periscope zoom camera, unlike the Vivo X Fold, there is a bit more reach this time around when compared to the Z Fold 3. The telephoto gets a 10 MP Samsung S5K3K1 sensor which clocks in at 1/3.94 inches, producing a 1-micron pixel size. As for the optics, there's an f/2.4 lens with a 66mm focal length, PDAF, and OIS.

Onto the ultra-wide, and this is where the Z Fold 4 falls behind the S22 line, with its Sony IMX258, a 13MP sensor that captures 12MP images on the Fold 4. The small sensor is matched with an f/2.2 aperture and has a 123˚ field of view, which equates to a 12mm focal length.

Shooting modes include Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro, Pro Video, Single Take, Night, Food Panorama, Super Slow-Mo, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, Portrait Video, and Director's View. 

The camera takes advantage of the phone's Flex Mode, so when the Fold 4 is half-folded, the top half of the screen acts as a viewfinder, while the bottom half serves up your shooting controls. This is especially handy in Director's View, which previews all three focal lengths on the secondary display, so you can make an informed decision when you switch out. Pro Mode also really benefits from a split-screen view, with the top half of the foldable clear for your picture, and the bottom half displaying manual shooting options.

The Z Fold 4 captures videos at up to 8K resolution at 24fps, and 4K at up to 60fps, and if you're shooting in Pro Mode, manual ISO can be set as high as 3200, and the shutter speed up to 30 seconds.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 camera review

Despite not being the best camera phone of 2022, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a much better one than the Z Fold 3, thanks to its upgraded main camera and extra telephoto reach.

Starting with the main 50MP snapper, and the Fold's a great point-and-shoot camera. Good at freezing time in the right light, while still capturing ample detail and a balanced picture, most will like the warm, vibrant shots it takes.

Samsung is known for its sharpened, lively shots, and the Z Fold 4's images are true to form. They look clean and sharp out of the camera, ready for Instagram or WhatsApp, but miss out on the broad dynamic range you get from phones like the Xiaomi 12 Pro and Xiaomi 12, which lean a bit more heavily on computational photography, pulling detail out of highlights and shadows.

The primary camera is quick to focus and take a photo, and can capture them with a relatively shallow depth of field when close to a subject.

Anyone who edits their pictures heavily, the Z Fold 4's default shots won't give you as much wiggle room as some other phones. Contrast is high, shadow detail is middling, and sharpening is ramped up. That said, the phone's Pro Mode and RAW capture really help here.

Expert RAW, available through the Galaxy Apps store, is a turbo-charged RAW camera and a great option for enthusiasts. This captures higher dynamic range RAW photos likely through bracketing and other computational photography, and with the new camera sensor combined with the Flex Mode, which can hold the Z Fold 4 steady on a surface, it makes RAW photos loaded with tonal information and detail possible.

All three cameras benefit from Samsung's updated photography software, so photos shot in daylight have auto HDR applied, and photos taken at night fire up Night Mode automatically. This creates a reliable triple camera mix that works across lighting conditions. You can see examples of the three focal lengths above, with photos taken in both daytime and at night.

Once again, Expert RAW really does come to the rescue here, if you're an enthusiast who wants to eke a bit more out of the occasionally clumsy secondary cameras, it's supported across the ultra-wide and telephoto too for impressive RAW capture across all three.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4's selfie cameras are an interesting mix – on the front is a 10MP traditional selfie camera with an f/2.2 lens and a 24mm wide angle. This should be your go-to option. Inside, beneath the cover display, a hidden 4MP under-display camera resides. This isn't as good as the 10MP camera, struggling in lowlight. Even in good light, it captures flatter, less rich selfies, so Samsung positions it as a video calling camera, and we'd agree.

You can also take selfies using the Galaxy Z Fold 4's camera, firing up the front camera, then selecting the cover display icon. This prompts you to open up the Fold 4, and use the cover screen as a preview for the main camera. Unsurprisingly, the quality of these photos is excellent.

Video captured on the Fold 4 is stabilized all the way up to 8K resolution, though the sweet spot really is Full HD, given the fact it's steadied better and seems to capture superior dynamic range. That said, in well-lit environments and with your phone steadied on a surface, 4K 60fps or 8K 30fps still deliver footage that's easier to crop into.

Camera samples

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 performance

With a 4500mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 falls behind flagships like the Oppo Find X5 Pro when it comes to capacity, but has the same sized cell the Z Fold 3 had. With its smaller cover display and larger surface area – better for heat dissipation, it still lasted a relatively comfortable day with regular use. Charging isn't too quick, peaking at 25W wired and 15W wireless, but we were able to fully charge it in less than 90 minutes using a fast charger which isn't too bad.

The only day we struggled with battery life was when we gamed on it for long periods, and spent a lot of time in the sun, firing up that maximum screen brightness. Speaking of gaming, with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 power, the Fold 4 is the most powerful foldable on the market along with the new Xiaomi Mix Fold 2.

Unlike the Mix Fold 2, Samsung's foldables come loaded with the Google Play Store, which means excellent app support out of the box for Western markets. Samsung's a bit heavy-handed with its pre-loaded apps and features, with its OneIU interface on top of Android packing a tonne of functionality, and a fair bit of bloat.

The new feature Samsung's included on the Fold 4 that's grabbed the most attention is the Taskbar – a strip of eight apps that lives on the bottom of the unfolded main display, as well as two recent app shortcuts. That means quick access to up to 10 apps, and you can also drag apps into a split screen mode from the Taskbar, making for easier access to multitasking.

Flex Mode is also a great feature. Half-fold the phone, and the UI will either push your content into the top half of the screen, or a little icon will appear, prompting you to choose how that app is handled when the phone's half-folded. You can choose to leave the phone working in full-screen as standard, or it can use half the screen for your app, and the other half of the screen for tools – brightness, volume, screenshot, and even a trackpad.

With S Pen input support, the Z Fold 4 is the only foldable (other than the Fold 3) that works with a dedicated stylus. The screen has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, and when matched with an S Pen Pro or an S Pen Fold Edition, you can turn the inner display into a notebook. While the crease detracts slightly from the experience – no one wants to write on a lumpy canvas, it's excellent to have a feature that really makes use of the larger screen other than a split-screen view, which is the standard foldable highlight.

The S Pen isn't just great for notetakers, it's also excellent for masking in apps like Lightroom. And matched with the Z Fold 4's large, 7.6-inch screen, photographers who enjoy a bit of on-the-go editing will love it.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 doesn't feature expandable storage, though it's available with a starting capacity of 256GB, and that can be bumped up to 512GB or 1TB. Whichever capacity you go for, it's matched with 12GB RAM, and up to an additional 8GB of dynamic RAM, which Samsung terms RAM Plus.

Verdict

Foldables are still prohibitively expensive, and most people who have their heart set on one will probably opt for the Galaxy Z Flip 4 over the Fold 4 – but the Z Fold 4 is a more powerful system, especially for photographers.

Starting with the cameras, they're improved over the Z Fold 3, and Samsung's camera software has also gotten better too. So while we aren't blown away by the Z Fold 4's automatic mode – it's good, but nothing special, especially given the phone's price, its manual modes and Expert RAW features are excellent. This is especially true when matched with Flex Mode, for some super-steady shooting.

The rest of the phone is premium across the board. The design seems robust and durable – not as slimline as the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, but definitely hardier-feeling. IPX8 water resistance is also a great boon for Samsung's folding phones, and the Z Fold 4's hinge, which locks at almost any point across the 180º rotation, is also very impressive. The competition's foldables (available in China) spring open or closed, by contrast, preventing them from working with a Flex Mode style interface.

Add S Pen support and decent battery life to the mix, and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a mighty smartphone and foldable. Of course, we would have loved better camera hardware, but given how much better the photography experience is year-on-year, and how useful the Z Fold 4's big screen is for third-party photography apps, it's still a great choice.

In fact, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 makes an interesting argument – the best phone for photographers might not be the one with the best camera hardware. Instead, it might be the best companion to your existing camera, the one that can slot into your workflow and run those apps you rely on – potentially, the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

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Following a huge leak of both images and specifications over the weekend, Huawei has now confirmed the nova 10 series will launch on July 4, listing both the nova 10 and nova 10 Pro on JD.com, where we can see official images and colorways.

Huawei nova 10

From the JD.com listing, we know that the Huawei nova 10 will be available in silver, purple, green and black colorways and come with either 128GB or 256GB storage.

The phone features a curved display and according to a big leak over the weekend courtesy of both @MoraYukana and @Tmktechfamily, via GSMAreana, will measure 162.18 x 73.91 x 6.88mm and weigh168 grams. It’s said to have an OLED display measuring 6.67 inches with FullHD+ 2400 x 1080px resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. 

Power is alleged to come from a Snapdragon 778G 4G chipset with 8GB of RAM and we know the storage is 128GB or 256GB thanks to the JD.com listing. The leak details HarmonyOS 2 is on board with a 4,000 mAh with 66W fast charging.

Camera-wise, the Huawei nova 10 is leaked to feature a 60MP punch hole cut-out selfie camera, while the back is said to house a 50MP main shooter alongside an 8MP ultrawide module and a depth sensor.

Huawei nova 10 Pro 

As with the Huawei nova 10, the nova 10 Pro will be available in silver, purple, green and black colorways and come with either 128GB or 256GB storage. The big brother model has been leaked to measure 164.24 x 74.45 x 7.88 mm and weigh 191 grams. It also has a 6.67-inch, FullHD+ 2652 x 1200px 120Hz OLED display. 

The nova 10 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 778G 4G chipset, again comes with  8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage and boots HarmonyOS 2. It was a bigger battery at 4,500 mAh battery and faster 100W charging.

The triple camera setup on the Huawei Nova 10 Pro consists of a 50MP f/1.8 primary camera, 8MP, an f/2.2 ultrawide and a f/2.4 depth sensor. It’s said to have two cameras up front: a 60MP f/2.4 ultrawide and an 8MP f/2.2 portrait camera – very nice indeed! 

Huawei nova 10 series: Price and availability 

While we don’t have pricing information yet, thanks to the JD.com listing, we know that the nova 10 series will launch in China on July 4th. We expect it to be made available in other markets in the following months - but as with other recent Huawei handsets is unlikely to go on sale in North America. 

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Two years after testing out the Huawei Mate Xs, an innovative foldable with a killer camera, it's time to take a look at the Mate Xs 2 – an evolution of the Xs's design with upgraded imaging and a more robust build.

Launched in Europe for an eye-watering €1,999, Huawei's bold pricing is matched only by its defiance in the face of relentless sanctions against it. The brand can't use Google services on its phone – no Google Chrome, Docs, Play, YouTube app support or WhatsApp backups to name a few limitations. In addition, its latest flagships – the P50 Pro and P50 Pocket aren't 5G enabled. 

This might all sound pretty bleak for the Chinese super-brand, but Huawei's pressing on, pivoting to accessories – it's launched a tonne of hearables, laptops, wearables, and more in recent months. And it's still launching phones too.

The latest Huawei phone to hit the West, the Mate Xs 2 bucks the trend of copying the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series. Instead, it folds the other way, resulting in a larger screen than the competition. 

The question is: has Huawei improved its Xs series's durability enough to make its latest folding phone the new inspiration for its foldable competitors? 

Huawei Mate Xs 2 design and screen

We can't help but be impressed by some folding phones – the Mate Xs 2 being amongst the most impressive in its category. Huawei's design and engineering turn an almost 8-inch sliver of a tablet into a smartphone with just a fold.

At its thinnest point when unfolded, it measures just 5.5mm thin. It's also lighter than other foldables at 255g, and with a fiberglass back and new four-layer screen, is more durable than its predecessor. 

Durability is the big worry with Huawei's Mate Xs series. Foldable screens are more vulnerable to damage than traditional screens – given they're not protected by a pane of glass. The Mate Xs and Xs 2's displays are always exposed, making them more prone to damage than foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, whose flexible display is protected when the phone is shut. 

While Huawei doesn't claim its new foldable sports IPX8 water resistance like Samsung's Z Fold 3, at the launch, it did show a promo clip with water droplets on the screen, suggesting it's taken steps to weather-proof the phone to some degree.

All the phone's buttons live on the right side: power and volume buttons. On the back is a triple camera and a latch release, used when transforming the Mate Xs 2 from smartphone to tablet, and at the base is a USB-C port. All these elements are part of the thick strip that anchors the slender display. 

The screen itself is a great-looking, sharp OLED panel with 426 pixel-per-inch clarity. That makes it sharper than the Z Fold 3. With extra size compared to Samsung's phone – 6.5 inches when closed, 7.8 inches when open, it should also be more usable day-to-day. 

Huawei Mate Xs 2 camera

Huawei's added a camera to its latest generation of Mate Xs – specifically, a selfie camera. While the first iterations of the phone missed out – requiring you use the rear camera for selfies and half-fold the screen, there's a small punch hold front camera in the display this time around.

Huawei also appears to have ditched a camera for its new foldable, with the triple camera system missing out on the TOF camera introduced on the first Mate Xs. Huawei does bring back its XD Fusion Pro Engine, as found on the P40 Pro and P50 Pro, as well as Huawei XD Optics.

The Mate Xs 2's rear cameras include a 50MP main module with an f/1.8 lens. Huawei didn't mention anything about optical image stabilization (OIS) on the main lens, and it isn't listed in the specs on its site, however, is featured in the telephoto camera. This features a roughly three times zoom, 8MP resolution, and an f/2.4 aperture. 

Finally, the phone's 13 MP ultra-wide camera sports an f/2.2 lens. As for the selfie camera, it's a 10.7MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Despite this new selfie camera, Huawei still offers the option to capture selfies on the rear camera for superior quality snaps. 

Huawei Mate Xs 2 specs

Despite its very high price, you shouldn't expect top-tier specs in the Mate Xs 2. We've mentioned the fact Huawei can't enable 5G in its Western phones with Qualcomm chips – so its connectivity is already behind its key competitors. Additionally, its Snapdragon 888 – while a strong performer – is a last-gen flagship chip. 

If power isn't your priority, then the phone's spec limitations shouldn't hold you back. There's an ample 512GB storage on board, and while 8GB RAM isn't class-leading, it's good enough for a reliably smooth experience. 

The Mate Xs 2's 4600mAh battery is larger than that of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, though so too is its display size. Still, it suggests battery life should be around on par with Huawei's foldable if the processor demands are matched. 

Early Verdict

Huawei's new flagship foldable is incredibly expensive, underpowered, and arguably the most niche smartphone of the year. That said, it still excites us. Its implementation of flexible display technology is novel, yet has benefits over Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3, and all the phones styled on Samsung's folding series. 

Huawei's cameras are generally excellent, so while the Mate Xs 2 is unlikely to be the best camera phone of 2022, it's in with a good chance of being the best foldable camera of the year. One thing it definitely will be is a niche, but important phone when it comes to driving forward the foldable category.

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Huawei has launched its latest flagship foldable phone, the Mate Xs 2 and it certainly doesn’t look disappointing. It Inherits Huawei’s classic outward folding design, features the company’s new generation double-rotating Falcon Wing Hinge that allows the 7.8-inch True-Chroma Foldable Display to open up more than other foldable phones on the market. The Mate Xs 2 boasts a flat and seamless fold and is made of ultra-light glass fibers and uses aerospace-grade titanium alloys and ultra-light, high strength steel for its structure. Yep, it’s certainly flagship grade…

As well as being impressively thin, light and flat, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 has flagship worthy specifications, which include an industry-leading 7.8" True-Chroma Foldable Display and a 50MP True-Chroma Camera System that, supports Huawei XD Optics. 

Huawei Mate Xs 2: Design 

Weighing in at 255g, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 is certainly the lightest foldable phone out there – made possible with materials including ultra-light glass fibres for the phone’s backplane, as well as aerospace-grade titanium alloys and ultra-light, high strength steel for its structure. 

The hinge of a foldable phone is always of interest and the Mate Xs 2’s has been built with Huawei’s self-developed ultra-light, high strength steel, which the company says exhibits a strong load-bearing capacity. As well as being light these materials obviously provide the user with a strong phone, so it’s a win all round. 

Talking of strength, the Mate Xs 2 has a composite screen which creates a shock barrier that improves the phone’s flexibility and resistance to impact. Huawei describes it as being a similar design to anti-collision systems in cars – no small claim indeed. 

As previously mentioned, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 features the Huawei-exclusive new-generation Double-rotating Falcon Wing Hinge Design. This certainly promises an immersive foldable experience, as unfolded, the screen becomes totally flat and smooth. 

This is the first Huawei phone to feature the company’s innovative 3D fiberglass design, which is said to create a soft touch while reducing smudges from fingerprints.

7.8-inch True-Chroma Foldable Display

Unfolded, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 has a 7.8-inch True-Chroma Foldable Display, with a resolution of 2480 x 2200 and 8:7.1 ratio when folded / 19:9 display ratio when unfolded. Impressively, it supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, 1440Hz high frequency PWM dimming, up to 240Hz touch sampling rate and features an anti-reflective layer to reduce the display’s light reflectivity for a better experience under sunlight.

Huawei Mate Xs 2: Specifications 

Powered by the excellent Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 flagship series chip, the rest of the Mate Xs 2’s specifications are certainly impressive too. There’s a Graphene Liquid Cooling System, new AI Sound Engine and ultra-thin and large-amplitude stereo sounds and the 4600mAh battery and supports the distributed 66W Huawei SuperCharge. 

The foldable flagship’s camera system includes a 50MP True-Chroma Camera for capturing true-to-life colours, which is joined by a 13MP ultrawide snapper and an 8MP telephoto module with 3x optical zoom. 

Taking full advantage of the Huawei XD Fusion Pro True-Chroma Image Engine, the 10-Channel Multi-Spectrum Sensor and colour calibration of more than 2000 colours in P3 full colour gamut, the company promises the Mate Xs 2 will faithfully reproduce enriched colours – we can’t wait to get it on test. 

Perhaps the most exciting camera function is the unique Mirror Shooting, which allows users to preview shots in real time through the digital viewfinder of the camera on both screens simultaneously. 

Huawei Mate Xs 2: Price and availability 

Huawei confirmed that the phone would go on sale in Europe sometime in June for a price of a €1,999 (around $2,100/£1700).  The foldable phone went on sale  in China last month. We suspect the phone will not be available in the US.

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Huawei looks set to make a comeback with last week seeing the Chinese company launch the nova 9 SE smartphone, which features a 108MP main camera, in its home market and now releasing it in Spain, signifying the beginning of its global rollout. 

The nova 9 SE is listed on the Huawei Spain website as a pre-order at a competitive €349. Customers who pay a €10 deposit before March 27 will receive a €50 discount from the final retail price, too. 

Specifications: nova 9 SE 

The Huawei nova 9 SE looks similar to the nova 9, but there are several differences. Although the screen is bigger at 6.78-inches compared to 6.57-inch it’s a LCD refreshing at 90Hz. where the nova 9’s screen is an 120Hz OLED.   

The big upgrade is with the camera system, which is headlined by a 108MP 1/1.52" main camera sensor. There’s also an 8MP ultrawide camera, 2MP macro and another 2MP for depth. There’s a 16MP selfie camera on the front, too. 

The nova 9 SE has a Snapdragon 680chipset, which makes this a 4G phone, with no 5G compatibility. It’s powered by a 4,000 mAh battery with 66W charging and comes in black, white and blue color options. 

No Google apps

Running on EMUI 12, the Huawei nova 9 SE, like the Huawei P50 Pro which is coming to the UK soon, does not run Google apps, which will be a dealbreaker for most people who relying on popular apps to run and enhance their day-to-day lives. Combined with the lack of 5G it’s almost a nail in the coffin for this phone, however it’s still a significant announcement as it does confirm Huawei has definitely re-entered the global phone market.

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Huawei’s new P50 Pro is a megapixel fiend. While it doesn’t sport a 108MP camera like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, its combined pixel count across its four rear cameras clocks in at over 160MP. That’s spread across an interesting new camera system, which includes a 40MP monochrome camera, and a 64MP periscope camera.

This is a great start, for an undeniably challenged smartphone. Powering the phone is a modified Snapdragon 888 with 5G disabled. Why the handicap? Because of sanctions against Huawei, preventing it from using Qualcomm’s 5G technology. Then there’s the Google app situation – Huawei’s running this phone with EMUI 12, its own interface with no Google Play Services access. 

But between the phone’s impressive design and screen, ample storage and smart ecosystem of products working really well together – the MateBook laptop line works fantastically with the P50 Pro, is there still a place for this phone in our hearts, pockets and palms? 

See also: Best Huawei phones

Design and screen

The P50 Pro is dust and water-resistant glass and metal mix, and it looks like a natural successor to the Huawei P30 Pro, with its curved front and back, matched with a high-gloss metal frame. 

Available in Cocoa Gold and Golden Black, both sport a mirror finish, so the P50 Pro loves fingerprints. Thankfully, though, the phone ships with a case that does a much better job of keeping smudges at bay. 

When freshly polished, the phone does look very good as it catches the light, and its stepped camera surround commands attention, teasing the new camera mix on display. As for buttons, they’re all on the right, while the phone’s IR blaster at the top.

Huawei’s finally upped its flagship OLED display to 120Hz, so scrolling menus glide. The 6.6-inch screen’s also 10-bit, displaying over a billion colors, and making gradients look even smoother. With a high pixel density of around 450 pixels-per-inch, clarity is also on-point, and its 20:9 aspect ratio is versatile for different forms of content.

From a software point of view, Huawei also checks all the right boxes – there’s a comprehensive Eye Comfort mode and ample control over display white balance.

Huawei P50 Pro: cameras

The Huawei P50 Pro’s main camera module features a 50 MP primary camera matched with an f/1.8 aperture lens, a 24mm focal length and OIS. At first glance, this matches the main camera’s specs across both last years’ P40 Pro and Mate 40 Pro.

With a 13 MP ultra-wide camera sporting an f/2.2 aperture, the P50 Pro is poised to capture expansive shots at a 13mm focal length, and with autofocus, the ultra-wide module also captures macro photos as close as 2.5cm.

With the highest-resolution periscope camera we’ve seen, the 64 MP telephoto module features an f/3.5 aperture and OIS and a 92mm focal length, making for an almost 4x optical zoom range when matched with the main camera. 

The fourth camera around the back of the phone is a 40 MP monochrome module , with an f/1.6 aperture. Huawei terms this camera system its True-Form Dual-Matrix Camera, which sounds a bit puffed up, but Huawei claims the system takes in 103% more light than the P40 Pro, which can only be a good thing.

It’s worth noting that Huawei’s front camera is also well specked, with its resolution of 13MP, matched with a wide-angle of 18mm, an f/2.4 aperture and autofocus. Also impressive is the fact the front camera shoots 4K video up to 60fps.

As for shooting modes, it’s familiar Huawei fare: Aperture, Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro, Monochrome, Stickers, High-Res, Panorama, Time-lapse, Dual-view, Snapshot, Slow-mo and AR lens modes. 

Camera performance

The P50 Pro’s photo and video capture are the phone’s standout highlights.

Starting with photos, detail from the main camera impresses, and while there’s clear sharpening behind the scenes, and things can look a touch waxy up close, the full photo effect is almost always strong.

In fact, the main camera is so good, we just wanted to shoot with it all the time which wasn’t always possible. The ultra-wide automatically fires up for macro shots and we wish it didn’t, as macro shots and middling light photos taken on the ultra-wide are only ever good, seldom great.

Colour and saturation is also an area the main camera performs well, but the ultra-wide drops the ball, with artificial lighting throwing it off. The same is true of noise handling – the wide camera can take excellent photos of black-heavy scenes, while the ultra-wide pulls out very clearly softened color noise.

In bright environments, however, the Huawei P50 Pro’s quad-camera system shines. Its telephoto module wipes the floor with the iPhone 13 Pro Max and OnePlus 9 Pro when it comes to clarity, and while it can’t match the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, it nevertheless produces impressive optical/digital zoom at up to 10x magnification. 

The phone’s selfie camera is also great, and the fact it features autofocus means it’s one of the few front cameras capable of capturing any kind of natural depth blur – even if very subtle. Its photos are flattering on the whole, and it’s just another area the P50 Pro’s camera shines in areas often neglected by manufacturers like Sony. 

Video shot on the P50 Pro looks excellent, especially if shot in bright environments. Stabilization is amongst the best we’ve used on a smartphone, and crisp.

Sample images

Huawei P50 Pro: Additional specs

Powered by a modified 5G-disabled Snapdragon 888 processor with 8GB RAM, while the P50 Pro is powerful, it’s probably the only mainstream phone that costs over $1,000 without 5G. While 5G still isn’t a must-have, if you’ve invested a bit of extra cash on a 5G phone plan, or know your area has 5G coverage and you’ll want to take advantage of it, then Huawei’s latest will be a tough sell.

The P50 Pro also struggles with its interface. While Google’s Android is now less adulterated than ever, with the likes of OnePlus, OPPO and Sony creating relatively stock experiences, and Android 12 rolling out across Samsung’s 2021 line-up, the Huawei P50 Pro runs EMUI 12. While it’s a bold effort from Huawei to plug gaps across third-party app support, APIs and services, it’s clearly a huge undertaking that is still in progress. 

There are some big user experience wins. The whole UI is smooth on the whole, and the phone’s multi-screen interaction across Huawei’s laptops and tablets shows computer and smartphone makers how it's done. While it doesn’t out-convenience Apple’s iPhone/Mac integration, it’s arguably more powerful, with full smartphone control from your Huawei laptop or tablet.

With 256GB storage, there’s also plenty of space for all your files, photos and apps, and rounding off with a 4360mAh battery, which charges at up to 66W wired and 50W wireless, you can get a full power-up in under an hour. 

Huawei P50 Pro: Verdict

For a phone in its price bracket, the Huawei P50 Pro needs to be a complete package. While it combines an excellent camera with rock-solid Snapdragon 888 performance and slick looks topped off with a great screen though, for many in the West, it will be almost impossible to recommend. 

Specifically, anyone who relies on any Google service like Google Docs and Meet, Drive (necessary for WhatsApp backup transfer). We also just prefer Apple and Google’s stock newsfeed and the app store experience as Huawei’s AppGallery and Petal Search is starting to feel a bit too much like a marketplace spilling over with ads.

Factor in the lack of 5G, and the P50 Pro has one too many obstacles holding it back from being a good buy for anyone not actively avoiding Google, even if it is arguably the best camera phone of 2022 so far.

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Chinese technology brand Honor has announced the Honor 50 – which was successfully launched in the Chinese market back in June – is now launching globally, with an early November release date. This is Honor’s first Western launch since splitting from Huawei last year and its big news because as well as coming with Google Mobile Services, the phone has innovative vlogging capabilities, including the ability to record from the front and rear cameras at the same time, which certainly points toward it becoming a contender in best camera phones for video.

Honor 50 vlogging experience 

Honour says that the new 5G Honor 50 “brings the one-take vlog shooting experience to the next level,” and the specs certainly match that claim. It comes equipped with a 32MP front camera with a 90o viewing angle, so users can take selfies and videos with more people and scenery in the frame. The quad rear camera set-up comes with a 108MP main camera, an 8MP wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth camera, which allows for clarity and detail even at night.  

Best of all camera-wise, the Honor 50 gives users the opportunity to change between cameras with six multi-video shooting modes that use the front and rear cameras at the same time. Essentially this is offering up creative possibilities, usually reserved for pro equipment, into a mid-range smartphone. Users can also capture photos from videos, use pre-set video story templates on all their footage and apply a beauty mode. Users’ vlogging experience will be made easier by the fact the new phone allows wireless headsets connected via Bluetooth to be used as wireless microphones during video capture. 

Dual ring camera design

Honor says the design of the camera pays homage to the classic twin lens reflex camera – it’s a dual ring camera design made up of two concentric circles on the back. The Honor 50 features an ultra-slim bezel on the front and 2.5D polishing glass edges on both upper and lower sides of the display. Interestingly, when the phone is tilted against the light at different angles, it glitters and shimmers, which is a good clue towards its fashionable target vlogging market. 

Honor 50 specs 

The Honor 50 is equipped with Google Mobile Services and is the first smartphone from the former Huawei sub-brand to feature Qualcomm’s SnapdragonTM 778G Mobile Platform. It comes with a 6.57-inch 75o curved OLED screen that supports a full high-definition resolution of 2340x1080. A screen refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 300Hz, promises high screen response speeds to deliver a great video watching experience and gaming with less input lag. 

Packing a 4,300mAh8 battery, the phone can easily support a full day of uninterrupted use and the included charger enables the battery to be juiced up to 70% within just 20 minutes.

Color options include Frost Crystal, which the company says is “is inspired by snow crystals and creates a dreamy diamond-like finish”, Honor code which features the company logo across the back cover, as well as Emerald Green and Midnight Black. 

Honor 50 pricing 

The Honor 50 has an early November release date and the company says the global launch will see the 5G phone released in over 40 countries. The model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will cost €529 (around $615) and the model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will cost €599 (around $695).

We are currently reviewing the Honor 50, so check back in the next few days to see how it does on test. 

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As the line between the best camera phone and the best camera continue to blur, it's emerged that Huawei has filed a patent for a camera module with a variable aperture. Photographers will know just how interesting this prospect is, as including a variable aperture means that users will be able to have more control over their depth-of-field and shutter speed. 

Earlier this year, Huawei Technologies filed a patent entitled 'Aperture, Camera module and Electronic Device' with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This was then released on 19 August 2021, detailing Huawei's plans for using a variable aperture in upcoming camera phones.

• Read more: Best Huawei phone

Most smartphone cameras will feature a fixed aperture, which means that the hole through which light is let into the camera will always remain the same size. However, a variable aperture means that the hole changes in size, letting in more or less light depending on the setting chosen. The wider the hole, the faster the shutter speed can be (as more information is being let in). On professional cameras, wider apertures also mean that users can attain a shallow depth-of-field as well. 

According to LetsGoDigital (which produced the product render above in collaboration with Technizo Concept), Huawei wants to use at least six aperture blades. As there isn't any space in a smartphone for camera components such as an ultrasonic motor, Huawei apparently wants to use a miniature driver supported by a drive coil and a drive magnet. This would be what controls the aperture blades, making them smaller or larger as required. 

LetsGoDigital notes that Huawei has not specified which lens will end up being equipped with a variable aperture. It's even suggested that multiple cameras could end up with this feature. However, we'll have to wait and see whether this interesting development in Huawei phone technology will bear fruit, or whether it will fade away as a forgotten patent. 

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Huawei has recently announced the Huawei P50 series, including the vanilla P50 and the P50 Pro. Both handsets include improved Leica-branded cameras with 10-channel color sensors and new telephoto modules. Meanwhile, the Huawei P50 will feature either a Kirin 9000 or Snapdragon 888 chipset, while the base Huawei P50 model will only offer the Snapdragon 888. 

For those that remember Huawei's initial prowess in the 5G field, you might be surprised to learn that both the Huawei P50 and Huawei P50 Pro won't have any 5G capabilities, even though both chipsets are capable of it. 

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As reported by GSMArena, both the Huawei P50 and P50 Pro have the same main camera with a 50MP sensor and a 23mm f/1.8 lens and Optical Image Stabilization and a single front-facing camera with a 13MP sensor. Meanwhile, the P50 Pro will also have a 40MP 26mm f/1.6 black and white camera and a 13MP 13mm f/2.2 camera that are each assisted by Laser autofocus. There's also a 64MP 90mm f/3.5 periscope camera that offers up to 2,700mm of digital zoom.

Meanwhile the Huawei P50 also has a 12MP 125mm f/3.4 periscope camera, but the base model handset only features a 5x zoom. It also has a slightly narrower 13MP 16mm ultra wide lens as well. Both the Huawei P50 and the P50 Pro can capture 4K video (but no 8K options sadly) and can capture 1080p at 960 fps for slow-motion video. 

The Huawei P50 Pro will feature a range of memory options, starting with 8GB of RAM and either 128, 256 or 512B of storage and going up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Meanwhile, the Huawei P50 will feature 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. Both models will also have a microSD card slot for up to 256GB more storage. 

Both the Huawei P50 and P50 Pro will eventually be available worldwide, but global launch dates have not yet been announced. However, the Huawei P50 Pro will go on pre-order in China tomorrow beginning at CNY 6,000 ($930 / £665 / AU$1,260), with the first units shipping on 12 August. Meanwhile, the Huawei P50 will arrive in September and will begin at CNY 4,500 ($700 / £498 / AU$945)

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It's official: Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is now the second largest smartphone maker in the world. In last quarter's results it had a 17% share of global smartphone shipments, ahead of Apple’s 14% and behind Samsung’s 19%. And let's be clear: that is seriously big news.

The company is obviously doing something very right, with its sales jumping 300% year on year in Latin America and 50% in Western Europe. So if you're in the hunt for a new smartphone, it may be time to see why it's become such a popular choice – check out our guide to the best Xiaomi phones for full details.

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Before you get too excited, though, a word of warning: Xiaomi was on a US government blacklist until very recently, and there's no absolute guarantee that won't happen again. And we all know what happened to Huawei, which likewise knocked Apple down the food chain a couple of years ago.

So what's the current situation, and is it wise to invest in a Xiaomi phone right now?

Xiaomi's legal worries

First, a short history lesson. In January, during his final days in office, President Trump added Xiaomi to the US military list under the National Defense Authorization Act of 1999. This would have prevented American investment in the smartphone manufacturer entirely.

Xiaomi denied the allegations and responded with a lawsuit and, in March, a federal court halted the investment ban, saying that it was unlawful and unconstitutional. Finally, in May new President Joe Biden lifted the ban officially. 

None of this has legally prevented Xiaomi from operating in the States, and American citizens have continued to buy and use their Xiaomi phones – probably without ever noticing anything had happened. 

And so now the ban is lifted, we can all go back to just thinking about the tech itself and whether it suits our needs… right?

Why things might change

Well, yes and no. The legal uncertainty surrounding the ban has meant many US companies have been unwilling to stock and sell its phones. And while Xiaomi now seems to be legally in the clear, ironically the very fact it's overtaken Apple has thrust it back into the spotlight, at a time it would probably prefer a low profile.

Let's face it, jealousy is a powerful emotion. And if a Chinese firm is outdoing an American one, especially one as iconic as Apple, it may lead politicians and the media to pay it more unwanted attention. 

If either of these groups unearths new information that casts light on Xiaomi's innocence, or just makes it look undesirable in the eyes of the American Right, a President who makes a virtue out of pursuing cross-party consensus may well come under pressure to reinstate the ban.

Even that danger, though, is not necessarily a reason to avoid buying a Xiaomi phone. After all, Huawei is currently the subject of stringent restrictions in the US and has been for some time. But anyone with a Huawei phone designed before the ban can still get updates, use Android, and basically do everything they could do previously. This writer has one himself, and is very happy with it. For more on this, see our guide to the best Huawei phones. 

So even government bans aren't necessarily the end of the world when it comes to day-to-day use. 

What will Apple do?

What might be a bigger consequence of Xiaomi overtaking Apple, though, is how the latter responds. Apple has been losing momentum for a number of years, so while slumping to third place is a shock it's not entirely a surprise.

Let's face it, the iPhone changed the game entirely. Then the iPad did the same again. Since then, though, things have been pretty quiet on the world-shattering innovation front.

We wonder, then, if this is the final kick in the backside Apples needs to start truly innovating again. If it is, then the conversation over Chinese brands will become moot, as Apple brings out a new type of phone, or a new type of device in general, that puts everything else in the shade. Here's hoping…

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Huawei has had mixed fortunes recently, but could the upcoming Huawei P50 turn everything around for the Chinese company? Huawei recently held an event to showcase the new HarmonyOS (Huawei's answer to being locked out of the Google App Store), but they also teased an image of the Huawei P50 as well. 

While the photo doesn't even show the new camera phone in its entirety, it does give us a glimpse at the rear camera modules, which are… curiously large. 

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The camera bump consists of two big lenses with four camera sensors in total. Three of them are situated in the top lens and the bottom one houses a single camera sensor and a flash. At present, there doesn't seem to be any specific details on how many megapixels each sensor will have, or what sort of focal length any of the cameras will use either. 

This newly teased image fits in line with previously leaked renders that also show that the Huawei P50 will use a centered punch hole camera for the front-facing selfie camera. XDA Developers also suggests that Huawei looks to be sticking with a 'waterfall' curved display for the P50 as well. It's also likely that the Huawei P50 will feature the newly showcased HarmonyOS.

At present, there isn't a release date set for the Huawei P50, with Huawei stating that the company is "trying to figure out how to make the great product available to you". This could suggest that Huawei is having difficulties with their supply chain – possibly due to the global silicon shortage. However, with this recent tease and the development of HarmonyOS, it's clear that Huawei is still invested in its camera phone technology. 

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Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is planning to sell cars in 200 stores by the end of July, and will expand to more than 1,000 stores by the end of the year. Huawei has been looking at other sources of revenue since US sanctions and the global chip shortage decimated its smartphone business, leading to a recent announcement that it would stop making budget smartphones.

In the first quarter of 2021, Huawei's revenue was down a 16.5% year-on-year. Its network business had maintained steady growth, but consumer business revenue had declined, in part as a result of selling the Honor smartphone brand in November 2020.

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In April, Huawei announced that it would sell an extended range electric vehicle – the new SERES SF5 launched by China's automotive company SERES – in its flagship stores across China. These were the very stores that were originally designed to sell its own phones, watches and laptops.

Huawei has made it clear that it does not see itself as a car manufacturer, but aims to be a digital car-oriented components provider that would enable car companies "to build better vehicles".

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Huawei's foray into the automotive sector comes as its smartphone business faces further decline amid US sanctions and the global chip shortage. As a result the company has been forced to look at other applications for its technology, including pig farming and coal mining.

Despite being a major player in the smartphone arena, particularly with high-end phones such as the Huawei P40 Pro, Huawei's fortunes have nosedived since falling foul of the Trump administration. 

Since being blacklisted by the US as a threat to national security, Huawei found itself locked out of Google's ecosystem and barred from trading with American suppliers – leaving the once cutting-edge company unable to compete on the 5G frontier, as necessary components cannot be imported. 

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Reports coming out of China indicate that Huawei is abandoning production of its low-end smartphone range entirely.

The chip shortage in the country is said to be the reason for Huawei deciding to focus solely on its high-end models, for the short-term at least.

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This is the latest chapter in the sorry Huawei smartphone saga, the most notable one being the ban imposed by the US during Donald Trump’s tenure as president after Huawei was pronounced a national security risk. The ban cut the company off from Google’s suite of digital products, including the Google Play Store. 

The knock-on effect of sanctions has made it difficult for Huawei to acquire crucial components for its smartphones, and it seems that the chip shortage in China has exacerbated the situation, leading to reports that the company is to cease production of its low end models. However, it's worth noting that Huawei has yet to make an official announcement.

There are also wider global supply chain constraints, including global chip shortages which look as though they will affect other companies' products, including Apple's iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. 

However, production of Huawei's top-end phones including the Huawei P40 Pro, the Huawei P40 Pro Plus, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and the Huawei Mate Xs looks likely to be unaffected.

According to Gizmo China, official Huawei stores in China are already reporting very low stock levels of many of its phones. It seems as though the Nova series is no longer in production, with the cheapest variant available being the Nova 8 Pro. Outside of China, stocks of the lower-end handsets, such as the P40 Lite and P Smart, are still available.

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Huawei has been launching Google-free phones for over a year now, but none have been as eye-catching as the Huawei Mate X2, its third foldable, and one of the most expensive smartphones we’ve tested to date. Until it’s announced for global markets, you’ll have to buy it from China, and costing 17,999 CNY (roughly $2,785 or £1,985), plus import fees, it’s hardly an accessible phone. 

Then there’s the fact it runs a Chinese version of Huawei’s interface, EMUI 11. Just like other Huawei phones sold in Europe, there’s no Google support, so no access to the Play Store, or Drive, Gmail, and YouTube apps. Add to that drawback a smattering of Chinese text throughout the UI, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the Mate X2 was dishing out one compromise too many to be usable, let alone recommended at the price. 

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With its fantastically versatile camera system packing up to a 10x equivalent zoom, sensational hardware, and the novelty of it being a folding phone that works well, the Mate X2 is an easy phone to fall in love with, even with its obvious drawbacks – and this is still the best fold phone ever.

Design and screen

The Mate X2’s design ditches the wraparound screen of the Mate X and Mate Xs, instead, emulating the form-factor of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 almost to the letter. While Huawei took inspiration from Samsung, it also clearly built on the Z Fold 2’s successes, adding size to both the front and internal displays. 

When opened up, the Interior screen measures a healthy 8 inches, benefits from a 90Hz refresh rate OLED panel, and features a resolution of 2480 x 2200 — 413 pixels per inch (PPI). Fold the Mate X2, and the exterior screen is a 21:9 aspect ratio, 6.45-inch OLED panel, also sporting a 90 Hz refresh rate. With a resolution of 2700 x 1160, however, it’s a touch sharper than the main screen (456PPI).

The screens of foldables really do form the central element of their design and Huawei calibrates both the Mate X2’s displays with naturally color balanced high-quality panels — a pleasure to watch, read, and swipe on. 

How better to showcase great screens than with a phone that stands up by itself for a hands-free experience? It makes sense, therefore, that Huawei includes a very smart-looking kickstand case in the box with the Mate X2. Color-matched to the color of the phone (Crystal Blue or Pink, or a more traditional Black or White), its textured vegan leather plays off against the high-gloss glass and metal of the device beautifully. 

Measuring 145.8mm when unfolded, and 74.6mm folded, the phone screen as good as doubles in usable size, and at an incredibly thin 4.4mm at its thinnest point (unfolded), through to 14.7mm at its thickest point (folded), it’s a strange, nuanced device that feels like both a slender mini-tablet, and a chunky phone. At 295g, it’s also significantly heavier than traditional smartphones.

All things accounted for though, the build quality of the Mate X2 is superb. The fold feels solid, the hinge didn’t leave us with any cause for concern, and the front glass didn’t pick up any untoward scratches or scuffs in our week with it. It’s crease is also less noticeable than that of the Galaxy Z Fold 2. What’s more, with an enticing camera bump looking strikingly similar to that of the Huawei P40 Pro Plus, our expectations of the Mate X2’s imaging capabilities are sky-high.

Cameras

The Huawei Mate X2’s main camera module features a 50MP Ultra Vision Camera, as found on the excellent Mate 40 Pro. With a wide-angle of about 23mm, the lens is matched with an f/1.9 aperture and OIS.

Huawei’s doesn’t tend to offer especially wide ultra-wides, and the Mate X2 is no exception. Its 16MP Cine Camera sensor is matched with a 17mm lens — just 6mm wider than the main camera. While it misses out on OIS, it does feature an f/2.2 aperture and autofocus, not to mention impressive macro capabilities. 

As with the Huawei P40 Pro Plus, the Mate X2 also doubles up on the telephoto cameras. The near-field telephoto module combines a 12MP sensor with a 70mm equivalent focal length (roughly 3x zoom), an f/2.4 aperture, and OIS. Alongside it, the second tele lens extends to 240mm, which, matched with an 8 MP resolution, an f/4.4 aperture, and OIS, takes the Mate X2 from — good for a foldable — to one of the best camera phone of 2021. 

Of course, you can use the main camera as a selfie camera, but if you don’t fancy opening up the Mate X2 to snap yourself, the front display has a pill-shaped punch-hole selfie camera with a resolution of 16MP and an f/2.2 wide-angle lens, as well as a depth sensor for secure face unlocking.

Video is captured at up to 4K resolution, 60fps, and Huawei’s latest flagship shoots video in DCI-P3 now, grabbing about 25% more color range than SRGB.

Pro mode supports manual ISO of up to 409600, which can legitimately see in the dark, especially when matched with a manual shutter of up to 30 seconds. Additional shooting modes include Slow-mo, Panorama, Monochrome, Light Painting, Time-lapse, Stickers, Documents, Dual-view, and Story Creator. 

Camera performance

Real-world, incidental photos captured with the Mate X2’s camera are such a treat. Coming from most smartphones, which likely leave you a touch underwhelmed when you see the end result, the Mate X2’s pictures are nine times out of 10, a breath of fresh air.

Focusing is very accurate and reliable, as is metering. Shots are consistently bright, attractive, and immediately pleasing to the eye, and shadows are boosted appropriately, resulting in a tasteful, but compelling finish. 

The phone’s 1/1.28-inch sensor has proven itself over the last year, and still holds up fantastically when matched with Huawei’s image processing, and software improvements made since we first saw it on the P40 Pro. Fine detail is beautifully resolved, noise is very well suppressed in shadow areas, and without any signs of overly aggressive image smoothing, it’s one of the best cameras we’ve used to date on a smartphone.

What’s most impressive is how Huawei matches its incredibly clever imaging software with the large sensor to deliver beautiful bokeh, and stellar nighttime performance. Subjects under half a meter away are separated from the background which is tastefully softened, and whether you’re shooting in automatic or night mode, the Mate X2 reliably, and tastefully brightens things up. 

Colors look vibrant without being over-saturated, the phone’s focus is reliable, whether shooting close-up objects, or distanced objects, and the comprehensive manual mode ekes out that bit extra from the already impressive hardware. 

Video captured on the Mate X2 looks steady, crisp and clean. It doesn’t fare as well in dimly lit scenes as photography, but still betters most of the competition. Meanwhile, Huawei’s selfie-game is on-point, with a warmth added to skin tones that finds a satisfying balance between flattering and realistic. 

Sample images

Huawei Mate X2: Additional specs

The Mate X2’s additional specs are a very familiar story. Just like the Mate 40 Pro, it’s powered by a Kirin 9000 paired with 8GB RAM RAM. In turn, there’s ample power for a smooth, stable experience, and coupled with two 90Hz screens, everything feels fast. 

Running Android 10, with Emotion UI 11 (Huawei’s customized UI experience), the Mate X2 is a mixed bag. Of course, the lack of Google services is a pain. Anyone bought into the search giant’s ecosystem will feel handicapped, especially at first. That said, we managed to find workarounds for most things thanks to Huawei’s AppGallery, as well as PetalSearch, a tool which scours third-party app stores and manages updates so you don’t have to. 

HBO Max, Gmail, Google Docs, and Meet were the apps that absolutely would not play ball though, so check on forums to find out which apps do work with Huawei phones if you’re thinking about importing the Mate X2, or picking one up when it’s available in your region.

With 256GB or 512GB storage, there’s plenty of space for files, movies, 4K videos, as well as apps and games. Huawei also customizes the interface beautifully to work in split-screen mode when open. This is where the foldable category flexes when working across multiple apps and benefiting from that extra screen size. 

Despite a big screen, however, we mostly interacted with the smaller outer display — it did exactly what we needed it to do most of the time. With less surface area to light up, provided we only dipped into the main screen for a few minutes at a time, the Mate X2’s battery didn’t drain faster than a traditional smartphone. In turn, the 4500mAh battery, which charges at 55W with the supplied fast charger lasted a whole day comfortably.

Huawei Mate X2: Verdict

The Huawei Mate X2 is a fantastic camera phone, an exemplary foldable from a hardware point of view, and a lot of fun to use. Yes, it’s eye-wateringly expensive. And yes, it’s massively impeded by the lack of Google services. That said, if you can make peace with a few uphill app experiences, and money is no object to you, no foldable nails it quite like Huawei’s Mate X2— from its smooth, sharp, high-quality screens, fantastically convenient kickstand, class-leading cameras, and knockout novelty-factor. 

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We've seen some pretty interesting camera phone designs from Huawei, but it seems they might be about to take it one step further with a new upcoming handset. New rumors are suggesting that we're about to see a Huawei P50 Pro Plus that will feature five rear cameras, including a periscope camera!

This "penta-camera" design includes a triple camera unit, plus the aforementioned periscope camera and a smaller lens in one circle. These separate units are housed in two circles positioned within a traditional camera bump.

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These rumors come from leakster HoilNDI, who published the renders of the previously unseen Huawei P50 Pro Plus. However, GSMArena (which also reported on the story), has warned that these renders might not be 100% accurate. "Last month this same leakster was showing a very different layout for the P50 Pro Plus rear camera… Even if the renders are based on actual insider info, makers usually try out different prototypes before settling on a final design. And the P50 launch is still months away." 

The Huawei P50 series was originally rumored to be released in March, but with sanctions against Huawei continuing, it seems that the phone manufacturer has had to delay the P50 launch – and possibly even cut production targets. The latest rumors now point to the Huawei P50 camera phones being announced in May.

While it's wise to take these renders with a pinch of salt, they do show an interesting design that features a steeply-curved waterfall display. The camera bump protrudes slightly at the back – and the two separate camera circles within those protrude even more beyond that as well. 

It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of design the Huawei P50 family will feature when it's eventually launched.

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Huawei, the Chinese smartphone specialist that once dominated the telecoms industry, has now turned to pig farming and coal mining following plummeting sales for its core business.

Despite once ruling the roost and having produced some of the best camera phones in the world, Huawei's fortunes have turned swiftly south since falling foul of the Trump administration. 

Since being blacklisted by the US as a threat to national security, Huawei found itself locked out of Google's ecosystem and barred from trading with American suppliers – leaving the once cutting-edge company unable to compete on the 5G frontier, as necessary components cannot be imported. 

Consequently its sales sank by some 42% in the final quarter of 2020, and the manufacturer has been forced to find other applications for its technology – which, according to the BBC, includes pig farming and coal mining. 

Such avenues can be explored without interference from the US government, thanks to them being huge domestic industries in Huawei's Chinese homeland. Indeed, China's pig farming industry is the largest in the world, with the nation being home to half the pigs on the planet.

"Technology is helping to modernize pig farms with AI being introduced to detect diseases and track pigs," reports the BBC. "Facial recognition technology can identify individual pigs, while other technology monitors their weight, diet and exercise."

That same approach is being applied to China's coal mining industry, with Huawei having announced a mining innovation laboratory in China's Shanxi Province that looks to improve efficiency and safety (and also reduce the workforce).  

"We can still survive even without relying on phone sales," said Huawei founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, who holds little hope that US sanctions will be lifted. Sadly, it seems that the manufacturer will continue to steadily recede from relevance on the global smartphone stage – though perhaps it will revolutionize other industries in the same way it has done for telecoms. 

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With Valentine's Day just around the corner, love is clearly in the air for Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, who has just confirmed that he believes that the Apple iPhone 12 is the "best smartphone in the world". 

At an event in Taiyuan, the CEO of Huawei discussed the future of Huawei and its smartphone division. Despite Apple also manufacturing camera phones, Ren doesn't hide his appreciation for the company. 

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At a round table media meeting in Taiyuan, Huawei discussed some of the issues surrounding the US trade blockade. The Trump administration placed Huawei on an entity list that blocks it from having business dealings with US organizations. This prevents the company from using hardware, software and services from the US. 

So far, it seems that the Biden administration is likely to uphold the restrictions as well. Ren said, “I will not say it is impossible, but it is extremely difficult, so basically, we do not have that expectation,” he said. “We just want to work hard, and we have plenty of money and can hire a lot of scientists.”

Since the blockade, Huawei has seen a significant drop in production. It was previously estimated that Huawei would take the number two spot behind Apple, but it's now dropped to seventh place since the sanctions. 

Despite this drop in production, Huawei remains optimistic, with Ren saying “My confidence grows in Huawei’s ability to survive ... We have great confidence in our customers.” 

Interestingly, it seems Huawei may no longer compete with flagship camera phones as Ren says, “high-end customers in Europe love Apple. Since [Huawei] doesn’t have premium handsets any more, Apple’s phones have helped us prove that Huawei’s 5G technology is the best.” Ren continued by saying that the iPhone 12 is “the world’s best smartphone.”

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It seems Huawei are focusing their energies on developing 5G technologies for consumer and industrial applications. Huawei has also started working on smart vehicles and doubling its efforts for cloud services. 

While the US trade sanctions may have put Huawei's flagship camera phone aspirations on hold, the company seems to have a number of different opportunities to develop and explore in the future.

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Huawei has recently filed a patent for a high-end smartphone that will not only seemingly include an under-screen camera, but will also feature an innovative bezel display at the top of the phone. 

Manufacturers have traditionally sought to reduce the size of camera phone bezels so that the screen takes up as much space on the phone as possible. However, rather than erasing the bezel completely, Huawei seems to be trying a different strategy. Rather than being a blank black, the bezel on this phone will display information, such as the time, battery percentage and connectivity information.

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As reported by Let's Go Digital, it also seems that this new camera phone design will feature an under-screen camera, as the front-facing camera module isn't visible on the patent. Many phone manufacturers have been experimenting with under-screen cameras over the past few years. Similarly to the bezel, the camera notch on smartphones is often seen as an ugly blight on a phone's display – and an under-screen camera seems to be the leading strategy to erase this at the moment. 

The patent that Huawei filed also shows a large rear camera bump that will house four camera modules. The camera bump on the back of phone protrudes quite a bit which could indicate that Huawei will produce this phone with the telephoto lens currently found on the Huawei P40 Pro Plus.

It's currently uncertain whether this smartphone patent from Huawei will ever see the light of day. Nonetheless, this could potentially be an important innovation for the company, especially considering the difficulties it has had in the markets due to the sanctions from the US. Producing competitive technology may be a crucial element in helping Huawei to maintain and improve its market position. 

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Camera phone manufacturer Huawei is predicted to have a steep drop in production in 2021 due to recently applied US sanctions. While the smartphone industry as a whole is estimated to grow by approximately 9% this year, it doesn't seem that Huawei will enjoy a similar boom in sales. In fact, estimates show that Huawei may drop to seventh position in global production. 

Huawei had previously been estimated to take the number two position behind Samsung and ahead of Apple in 2021. However, this prediction was made prior to the September 2020 sanctions and the latest estimates are now looking pretty dire for the company. 

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Analysts predict that Huawei will only be able to produce 45 million smartphones this year. This is a steep drop from the 170 million smartphones it produced in 2020. The company is also predicted to lose a significant portion of its market share, falling from 30% to just 8%. 

One key issue is that Huawei may have inadvertently created a competitor by selling its Honor business. The budget camera phone brand Honor accounted for more than a quarter of Huawei's annual shipments. The sale of Honor has also contributed to the overall drop in global production for Huawei. Trendforce also predicts that even if US sanctions are lifted, Huawei may not be able to regain its position. 

It is however important to mention that these predictions are coming quite early in the year. The pandemic is creating a lot on uncertainty within the markets and outcomes could change quite drastically. 

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Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has sold its Honor sub-brand of mobile phones. Honor had been a way for Huawei to create lower cost cellphones to appeal to a younger audience, but has now been forced into selling off its favorite child due to what it calls the "tremendous pressure" it has been facing this year in its consumer business. It cites the "persistent unavailability of technical elements" for its mobile phones as the key issue for selling off the seven-year old brand. 

In addition to the global pandemic, Huawei has had the challenge of sanctions imposed by the US government – which has led amongst other things to Huawei phones not being able to use the latest versions of the Google Android operating system,

Huawei is selling the Honor business assets to Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., Ltd – a new company that is being set up by a consortium existing Honor distributors and suppliers. Honor sells over 70 million phones around the world each year.

“There has been endless speculation that Huawei would divest Honor, so it is an important step that this is now official", comments  Ben Wood from analysts CCS Insight. "However, at this stage there is a distinct lack of detail on the next steps making it hard to understand what direction the new business will take and how it will recover? We assume that the goal will be for the new independent company to re-establish ties with Google and component suppliers

“It seems Huawei had few others options other than closing or divesting the Honor division given the punitive sanctions imposed by the US administration. This is underlined by the comment in the press statement that this was ‘made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival.’”

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The Huawei Mate 40 Pro follows on from the success of the P40 Pro and P40 Pro Plus, arguably the two best camera phones around. With the P40 Pro introducing Sony’s incredible IMX700 1/1.28″ 50MP sensor, its low light performance, shallow depth and ample detail for a smartphone blew us away when combined with Huawei’s smart imaging software. Now, the sensor’s back for round two, this time in the Mate 40 Pro.

Combining a big screen, stereo speakers, new styling, the most powerful chipset on the Android scene, and a Leica-branded camera setup; the Mate 40 Pro is pulling out all the stops from the offset. Known for one-upping the competition, Huawei also introduces the world’s fastest wired and wireless charging in its latest flagship, as well as a huge storage capacity. 

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Of course, as with all Huawei phones launched in the last year, there’s no Google Play Store here, and it is felt. That said, Huawei has moved mountains fleshing out its AppGallery and creating a simple means of accessing apps outside it. A herculean, and no doubt costly effort, but has it paid off?

Design and screen

Combining a large 19:9, 6.76-inch screen size and a 2774 x 1344 resolution, the Huawei Mate 40 Pro’s OLED screen is sharper than most, with 456 pixels in every inch. It also looks striking from the front. The 88-degree curve on either side hides any bezel to the left or right. Meanwhile, a slim strip of black above and below the screen, and a dual-cutout selfie camera are the display’s only distractions.

A thick phone, the Mate 40 Pro manages to virtually match the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s heft, camera bump, and all. But with curves on either side and an iridescent finish around the back, it still looks and feels elegant, in a big, fancy glass and metal phone sort of way.

Huawei has brought back the volume buttons, missing from the Mate 30 Pro, and there are also new stereo speakers that sound mighty. In fact, movie buffs can rejoice at the fact Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video all work on Huawei’s latest mobile, and with that screen and those speakers, they look and sound fantastic.

Huawei’s proven once again that it gets hardware. The Mate 40 Pro is one of the most striking phones we’ve used, and that’s before we even fire up its camera. 

Cameras

Bringing back the main Ultra Vision camera module introduced by Huawei in the P40 Pro, the Mate 40 Pro features a huge 1/1.28 sensor size combined with 50MP resolution and an RYYB (red, yellow, yellow, blue) sub-pixel formation. Its 27mm focal length is a bit more punched in than some of the competition, but it still sits in the wide range. 

With a 12 MP, f/3.4, 125mm periscope system, the second best camera from the P40 Pro also trickled down to the Mate 40 Pro. Complete with PDAF, OIS, and a 5x optical zoom, the Mate 40 Pro’s off to an excellent start on paper.

It isn’t all a P40 Pro rehash though. The ultrawide cine-camera on the Mate 40 Pro is brand new, and comes complete with a wide-open, f/1.8 aperture and an 18mm focal length. It’s used for video capture as well as ultrawide stills. 

A trend we’ve been seeing more of lately in the OPPO Reno 4 Pro and the Vivo X51 5G is autofocusing, macro photography-snapping ultrawide cameras, and the Mate 40 Pro keeps up with the competition on that front too. 

Huawei has retained that dual-selfie camera cutout introduced on the P40 Pro, however, it’s been shrunk a little, and switched out for a new Ultra Vision, ultrawide angle system, consisting of one 3D depth-sensing camera and one main selfie camera which doubles up as a gesture sensor.  

Video is captured at up to 4K resolution, 60fps, and Huawei’s latest flagship shoots video in DCI-P3 now, grabbing about 25% more color range than SRGB.

Pro mode supports manual ISO of up to 6400, and a manual shutter of up to 30 seconds, with additional shooting modes including Slow-mo, Panorama, Monochrome, Light Painting, Time-lapse, Stickers, Documents, Dual-view, and Story Creator, as well as all the usuals. 

Camera performance

The Mate 40 Pro’s photos look virtually identical to those of the P40 Pro. Detail is excellent and it pulls up relatively shallow depth of field at up to half a meter away. The background defocusing Aperture mode is also accurate, and handy for subjects further back, with blur that can be dialed up or down after a shot is taken. Purists will cringe at the thought, but it’s a helpful tool that can pull up beautifully subtle depth, especially for more casual users.  

As far as white balance and saturation go, the Mate 40 Pro’s shots are on the polished side of realistic, which makes pictures taken on its camera inviting. Automatic mode has a few layers of processing: first, there’s what you see in the live preview, and then the polishing process that happens before your eyes if you open your photo within a couple of seconds. This is similar to the processing style seen on the Google Pixel 5, and is a neat party trick that shows just how smart the software on these phones really is. 

This processing combined with that big sensor also takes care of noise masterfully. In fact, Huawei has put an end to the need for a night mode in its camera phones. In automatic, the Mate 40 Pro can outperform the night modes of most of the competition, literally seeing in the dark.

With a 5x optical zoom, Huawei’s zoom is also impressive, beating out that of the S20 Ultra 5G in terms of both detail and processing. With a minimum focusing distance of around two meters, it won’t always kick in when you want it to, but when it does, it outperforms all the non-Huawei competition. In fact, the camera switching, in general, can be a touch inelegant, jumping between two a bit too often. A quick fix is to switch to Pro Mode to manually control which camera is fired up, but we’d prefer this override in automatic mode.

Video captured on the Mate 40 Pro is also noteworthy. With a new ultrawide cine camera, it’s better able to handle noise than its predecessor and shoots with less jagged edges and micro judders. Also impressive is the stabilization and the shallow depth of field video pulls out. The Mate 30 Pro can’t handle dark scenes - no camera phone has cracked that nut, but low light footage is still perfectly sharable and amongst the best out there. 

Huawei Mate 40 Pro: Additional specs

Powered by a Kirin 9000 chipset paired with 8GB RAM, there’s ample power here for a smooth, stable experience, and coupled with the 90Hz screen, the Mate 40 Pro just feels fast. 

Running Android 10, with Emotion UI 11 (Huawei’s customized UI experience), the Mate 40 Pro is a mixed bag. Of course, the lack of Google services is a pain. Anyone bought into the search giant’s ecosystem will feel handicapped, especially at first. That said, we managed to find workarounds for most things. Google Meet, for example, works through a web browser in Desktop View, as does Google Drive. The only Google mountains we weren’t able to traverse successfully were Google Docs, syncing Google Calendar with the system calendar of the phone, Google payments, WhatsApp backups, and cross-device game saves.

Nevertheless, with the AppGallery combined with Petal Search, Huawei’s third-party apps finding tool, we found all the non-Google apps we needed, including Lightroom for Mobile, Creative Cloud, Audible, Disney Plus, Netflix and more. Even Google favorites like Maps and Chrome work, you just can’t sync them with your Google account.

With 256GB storage, it’s unlikely you’ll be running out of space on the Mate 40 Pro, but if you do, Nano Memory Card expansion should help. Rounding off, with a 4400mAh battery, which charges at up to 66W wired, and 50W wireless, you’ll easily make it through a full day on the Mate 40 Pro, and if you need a quick top-up, you can expect a full charge in around 40 minutes. 

Huawei Mate 40 Pro: Verdict

It’s been painful for mobile photography fans sitting on the sideline waiting to see what happens with Huawei smartphones. The Chinese tech giant is producing the best camera phones you can buy, and has been consistently doing so throughout 2020. 

Huawei’s latest, the Mate 40 Pro shows just how dogged Huawei can be. It upholds the highest standards with its photography and video capabilities while pushing through from a software point of view to deliver Huawei’s best Google-free experience to date. The mere notion that any company could build a software ecosystem to substitute Google’s from the ground up seemed like lunacy when the ban was made public, but two years on, and Huawei isn’t too far off succeeding.

As a camera phone, therefore, the Mate 40 Pro is unparalleled by all but the P40 Pro Plus, making it one of the best camera phones of 2020. As a smartphone, it manages to deliver an excellent experience, until you need to reach for a Google app or service. For photo enthusiasts, this will be a compromise worth making, after all, the camera is that good.

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Only a short while ago, 5G-capable phones were almost exclusively flagship handsets with formidable price tags. Now we're seeing 5G phones in the midrange and even bordering on budget phone territory, and the Huawei P40 Lite 5G is just such a device. Slightly confusingly for shoppers, the P40 Lite 5G sits above the regular (non-5G) P40 Lite, but below the standard P40 (which is also a 5G phone).

With an RRP of £380/€400, the P40 Lite 5G is certainly good value for a 5G-capable phone, and it's little more than half the price of a P40. Could this be the best 5G phone bargain of the year?

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Design and features

The P40 Lite and P40 Lite 5G are actually completely different devices with mostly different specifications, though they look similar from the front. Both phones boast quad rear-facing cameras, but while the normal P40 Lite's primary camera is a 48MP 1/2.0 sensor with a 26mm f/1.8 lens, the P40 Lite 5G ups the ante with a larger 64MP 1/1.7" sensor, also fronted by a 26mm f/1.8 lens. The other three rear-facing cameras include a 8MP, 17mm-equivalent ultrawide camera, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth-sensing camera to improve the accuracy of simulated background bokeh blur in your portrait shots.

At 162.3 x 75 x 8.6 mm, the P40 Lite 5G is approximately the same size as the P40 Lite, but it's noticeably larger than the more upmarket P40. This makes room for a large 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1080 x 2400 resolution, equating to a respectable 405ppi pixel density. The display is also HDR10 certified for improved dynamic range.

The P40 Lite 5G is powered by a fairly large 4000mAh battery, though this is still a slight reduction on the 4200mAh capacity of the P40 Lite's battery. Both phones get 40W fast charging as standard, which Huawei claims can get you to 70% capacity in just 30 minutes.

Only one storage/RAM configuration is available: 128GB, with 6GB RAM. The storage can be expanded courtesy of Huawei's proprietary Nano Memory card slot. Nano Memory cards are the same size as a Nano SIM card and function identically to MicroSD, but are 45% smaller in physical size.

Performance

With its 64MP primary camera, the P40 Lite 5G actually sports the highest resolution camera sensor of any phone in the P40 range, including the flagship P40 Pro Plus. That initially seems like rather a silly own goal on Huawei's part, but there's a lot more to image quality than just outright megapixels. For starters, by default the camera combines groups of four adjacent pixels into one big pixel to improve image quality in a process called pixel binning. This has the effect of reducing image size to a quarter that of a 64MP image, so the photos you capture are actually 16MP shots. That's really no bad thing though, and it's something all high resolution camera phones do as standard.

We shot the P40 Lite 5G directly alongside it's flagship sibling, the P40 Pro Plus, to see whether the budget handset could even come close to the stellar image quality offered by the Pro Plus. And the good news is, it can, providing you're not too fussy. Images from the P40 Lite 5G's primary camera are well exposed, accurately focused, and look great when viewed on the phone itself.

Dig a little deeper by viewing on a large screen computer monitor and imperfections can be found though. There's noticeably more chromatic aberration (purple fringing) visible around areas of high contrast, such as tree leaves in front of a bright sky. Also, the P40 Lite 5G's image processing is harsher than it is on the Pro Plus, with images looking a bit over-sharpened under close scrutiny. Some diagonal lines take on a stepped appearance, and the overzealous sharpening also increases the amount of unwanted grain noise visible in shadow areas. Contrast can also look a bit too strong in places. But these are still fairly minor criticisms, as on the whole, image quality is excellent considering the P40 Lite 5G's accessible price. Low light shots are also respectably close to the quality of those from the P40 Pro Plus, though you will need a steady hand, as there's no optical image stabilization with the P40 Lite 5G. This can make a big difference to how easy you can get a sharp shot in low light.

What's not so impressive is the image quality from the ultrawide camera, which is disappointing at best, and downright ugly at worst. Granted, the 8MP sensor is a big drop from the 16MP pixel-binned images generated by the primary camera, but even accounting for this, ultrawide shots are very soft with precious little fine detail. These images really need to be viewed at no larger than 50% image size to appear sharp, and then you're left with a very small photo indeed. This criticism certainly isn't unique to the P40 Lite 5G though. In the budget and lower-mid-range camera phone sector, cramming in as many rear-facing cameras seems far more important to phone manufacturers than actually making all these cameras useful, or even any good. The consumer ends up with an impressive-sounding 'quad camera' device, but three of the four cameras are there mostly as a marketing gimmick. Upper-mid-range and flagship phones do have much more evenly matched multi-camera arrays, but you'll really pay for this level of quality control.

As with all new Huawei phones, the P40 Lite 5G has been barred from accessing the Google Play store, and Google Services apps like YouTube, Google Maps and Chrome. That all sounds like an immediate deal-breaker, but Huawei is doing everything it can to work around this issue. 

For starters, there's Huawei's own AppGallery app store where you can find many popular Android apps. There are still some notable exceptions, such as Facebook and the apps it owns like Instagram and WhatsApp. But again, there are workarounds, as both Facebook and Instagram apps can be downloaded direct from their respective websites.

And Huawei's not stopping there. Huawei's Petal Search Engine is a search engine portal that searches other app stores (yes, there are lots of others besides the Play store) where you can download apps like Google Maps and Chrome from lesser known stores. Petal Search automatically sources the app and installs it - there's no need to actually navigate to the third-party app stores you're downloading from.

Of course all this isn't as slick or easy as just using a phone that hasn't been barred from Google Services, and you may find some Google apps don't quite work flawlessly on new Huawei handsets, but these workarounds do at least mean you should't rule out the P40 Lite 5G purely because of the Google vs. Huawei battle.

Verdict

In a world of even-increasing camera phone prices, we love a device that offers maximum bang for not a lot of bucks, and even though the P40 Lite 5G is not a cheap phone, it does give great value for money. You can get consistently attractive images from its main camera, and the device itself feels much more like its more upmarket P40-series siblings than a cut-price device.

We definitely don't advocate buying the P40 Lite 5G purely on the basis that its a quad-camera phone, however. The only rear-facing camera worth using is the primary, 64MP wide-angle camera. The other three cameras are there mostly to make up the numbers.

Then there's the issue of price. Sure, the P40 Lite 5G is good value for a 5G-capable phone, but you've really got to want 5G connectivity (or even be able to access it where you live/work) for the cost to be worth it. If you can do without 5G, phones like the Realme 6 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro offer comparable cameras, displays and overall performance to the P40 Lite 5G, but for almost half the price.

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Huawei has already impressed us with the P40 Pro (read our full review here), but the story doesn't stop there. Following Apple's lead with its iPhone II Pro Max, Huawei's P40 Pro Plus will be a new, ultra-flagship phone positioned above the P40 Pro, at an even higher price point. The P40 Pro's launch price of £899.99 / €999.00 / $869.00 is already a sizable chunk of cash, but the P40 Pro Plus ups this to a whopping £1299/€1,399/$2,099 RRP.

However, you will at least get a whole lot of camera tech for your money...

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Design and features

At 158.2 x 72.6 x 9mm, the P40 Pro Plus is an identical size to the P40 Pro, though slightly heavier at 226g. Where the P40 Pro gets five chassis colour options, the Pro Plus has just two: White Ceramic, and Black Ceramic. This Nano-tech ceramic surface has been formulated to be polished smooth while also very tough and scratch-resistant. The P40 Pro Plus is also IP68-rated dust and water resistant, so it should be able to dive down to 1.5m underwater for up to 30 minutes without issue.

Two capacity options are available: 256GB, and 512GB. Only the P40 Pro gets an entry-level 128GB option, though all versions have expandable storage courtesy of Huawei's proprietary Nano Memory card slot. Nano Memory cards are the same size as a Nano SIM card and function identically to MicroSD, but are 45% smaller in physical size.

Battery capacity is the same as in the P40 Pro - 4200mAh - but the Pro Plus has quicker 40w wireless charging, compared to 27w for the Pro.

The P40 Pro Plus uses the same display as the P40 Pro - a 6.58-inch, 1200 x 2640 20:9 OLED panel with a 90Hz refresh rate for super-smooth video playback. The screen also boasts a Quad-Curve Overflow Display, whereby the visible display curves around all four edges of the phone, rather than just the left and right sides.

Cameras:

The P40 Pro Plus packs one more rear-facing camera than the Pro, bringing the total to five:

• Wide: 50MP, 23mm, f/1.9, 1/1.28"sensor (2.44µm pixels), omnidirectional PDAF, OIS
• Ultrawide: 40 MP, 18mm, f/1.8, 1/1.54", PDAF
• Telephoto: 8MP, 80mm (3x optical zoom), f/2.4, PDAF, OIS
• Periscope telephoto: 8MP, 240mm (10x optical zoom), f/4.4, PDAF, OIS
• Time of flight (depth perception) camera

Wide (primary) camera:

The 50MP, 23mm-equivalent wide-angle camera comes straight from the P40 Pro. It boasts an unusually large sensor for a camera phone sensor at 1/1.28-inches, which means equally big 2.44 μm pixels. Huawei is keen to draw attention to this making the sensor 200% more light-sensitive than the 1/2.55-inch primary camera sensor in the iPhone 11 Pro Max. In fairness to Huawei, this difference in sensor size is indeed big - the P40 Pro Plus' sensor is much closer in size to a 1" sensor - used not so long ago by interchangeable lens cameras like Nikon's 1 series - than a typical 1/2.33-inch phone camera sensor.

When shooting in High-Res mode, images are captured using the full 50MP resolution, equating to an 8192 x 6144-pixel image. However, as standard, images employ pixel-binning and are captured at 4096 x 3072 – roughly 12.5MP.

Factor the bright f/1.9 lens with its optical image stabilization (OIS) and Huawei is claiming unbeatable low light performance.

Ultrawide camera:

The ultrawide camera is also shared with the P40 Pro, but that's no bad thing, as it means it’s the same stunning Super Sensing sensor introduced on the Huawei Mate 30 Pro. It features a 40MP resolution combined with an 18mm-equivalent focal length and a large-aperture f/1.8 lens.

Telephoto cameras:

Here's where the P40 Pro Plus differs most from the regular P40 Pro. Where the latter follows on from the P30 Pro with a 125mm-equivalent periscope telephoto camera that provides 5x optical zoom, the P40 Pro Plus doubles this to 10x optical zoom from its 240mm-equivalent periscope camera. If you're wondering what a periscope camera is, it's Huawei's rather nifty way of fitting a long lens into a slim phone. Light enters the camera in the usual direction but is immediately reflected through 90 degrees, where it then travels down the phone body through various lens elements before hitting the image sensor.

With such a huge gap between the 23mm wide angle camera and 240mm 10x telephoto camera, a secondary, intermediate 80mm telephoto camera is included in the P40 Pro Plus, providing 3x optical zoom to ensure top notch image quality right through the entire optical zoom range.

Time of flight camera:

The fifth and final camera in the P40 Pro Plus is also shared with the P40 Pro. It's a depth-sensing time of flight camera that's able to judge where your subject is against its background to apply fake background bokeh blur more effectively and realistically.

Selfie cameras:

A pair of front-facing selfie cameras peek through a relatively conspicuous punch-hole in the display. They consist of a 32MP 26mm-equivalent 1/2.8-inch primary camera, assisted in depth-sensing by a time-of flight camera to give you the same shallow depth of field effects for sexy selfies as you get from the rear-facing cameras.

Performance

There's no doubt when you pick up a P40 Pro Plus that this is a premium product. It feels relatively heavy in the hand, and the Nano Ceramic coating feels super tough and glossy. It curves up around the rear camera module, helping to soften what is a fairly prominent camera bump. Huawei's Quad-Overflow display also looks stunning, though it only really overflows along the long edges of the phone, as at the top and bottom only the screen's black bezels curve over edge. The screen's color and contrast accuracy are excellent, and it's very bright when shooting outdoors.

Shooting with the primary camera is also a joy. Focusing is totally accurate and reliable, and so too is the exposure metering. Shots are consistently bright, attractive and immediately pleasing to the eye, whether viewed on the handset or a computer. If you do scrutinize images on a computer monitor at 100% image size, you won't be disappointed. In past Huawei flagship phones, even the P30 Pro, Huawei's image processing has tended to be a little aggressive with overzealous noise reduction and image smoothing. Not so with the P40 Pro Plus. The move to a 1/1.28-inch sensor has had a significant improvement on image quality, as images look natural and rarely show signs of any unwanted image processing. Fine detail is beautifully resolved, noise is very well suppressed in shadow areas, and without any signs of painterly image smoothing.

The only trouble with the extra-large primary camera sensor is it shows up weaknesses in the telephoto cameras. Using the 3x zoom camera does give good results - images are very slightly less crisp than those shot with the main camera, but it's never distracting. However, move to 5x zoom and you engage the 240mm-equivalent periscope camera, and image quality takes a noticeable drop. Fine detail is lacking, and images like distant landscapes take on an obvious watercolour effect as a result. Thankfully you can zoom in to 10x and there's no further drop in image quality from using 5x zoom. Image quality from the periscope camera may not be great, but it is still a useful inclusion and you get better results than digitally zooming images shot with the primary camera.

The camera app's zoom slider will let you seamlessly zoom in by as much as 100x, but this is just a gimmick. Zoom in beyond 10x and you're using digital zoom, which just means you're blowing up a section of a 10x zoom image - no extra detail is being recorded, and it shows. At 20x zoom images are very soft, even when you view at 50% image size, and images get softer still as you get to 50x zoom. 100x zoom is completely unusable - you can view at just 20% image size and it's obvious you're looking at a very low resolution, ugly shot.

We've got no complaints with the P40 Pro Plus's Ultrawide camera though. It gives very sharp results, right across the image frame, and noise is well controlled. If we're to nit-pick, colour vibrancy is a little more muted than in shots taken with the primary camera, but not significantly so.

Of course, all this tech isn't much good if the phone is compromised in other areas, and much publicity has been made about new Huawei phones being hamstrung by their lack of included Google services. To be clear, P40-series phones do run Android 10, but they don't come with major Google apps like YouTube, Google Maps and Chrome, and they don't have access to the Google Play app store. That all sounds like a deal-breaker, but Huawei is doing everything it can to work around this issue. 

For starters, there's Huawei's own AppGallery app store where you can find many popular Android apps. There are still some notable exceptions, such as Facebook and the apps it owns like Instagram and WhatsApp. But again, there are workarounds, as both Facebook and Instagram apps can be downloaded direct from their respective websites.

And Huawei's not stopping there. Huawei's Petal Search Engine is a search engine portal that searches other app stores (yes, there are lots of others besides the Play store) where you can download apps like Google Maps and Chrome. We tested this by downloading Google Maps from the APKPure app store via Petal Search (Petal Search automatically sources the app and installs it - there's no need to actually navigate to the third-party app stores you're downloading from) and Maps worked almost perfectly, although we weren't able to sign in to Google 'personalize our maps experience'. The only Google app we couldn't get hold of via Petal was the YouTube app, but using the mobile YouTube website is one workaround.

Now, we're not going to claim all this is as slick or easy as just using a phone that hasn't been barred from Google services, but it really isn't the ball-ache that some have claimed it to be. If you're prepared to make just a little effort, it is possible to get hold of most apps that would usually be pre-installed with Android, or find an acceptable workaround.

Verdict

From a camera hardware perspective, the Huawei P40 Pro Plus is the best camera phone on the market today. Its extra-large primary sensor produces spectacular image quality for a phone camera, and Huawei's updated image processing is less aggressive than it's been in older phones, and shots look more natural and pleasing to the eye as a result. The handset itself feels exceptionally premium, and the same goes for the sensational display.

However, the main selling point of the Pro Plus over the 'regular' P40 Pro - 10x optical zoom - isn't quite the standout feature it should be. Image quality from the periscope zoom camera is noticeably inferior to the primary camera. Where the Pro Plus really improves over the standard Pro is its unique 3x, 80mm-equivalent telephoto (non-periscope) camera, which doesn't produce the same degree of image smoothing as shots taken at longer zoom settings with the periscope camera - it's a genuinely useful inclusion.

However, you've really got to want that long-range 10x telephoto reach and mid-range 3x telephoto image quality to justify the Pro Plus's hefty 40% price premium over the standard P40 Pro. Given the two phones are otherwise almost identical, we reckon the normal P40 Pro is much better value, providing you accept some compromises with how you download some popular Android apps.

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Phenomenal photography is no longer limited to professional photographers! With more megapixels than most DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, the Huawei P40 Pro packs the power of a pro portrait studio into your pocket.

Thanks to its incredible marriage of technology – a Leica-engineered camera unit, 50MP image sensor and cutting-edge AI imaging algorithms – the Huawei P40 Pro delivers results that would normally require expensive camera equipment and years of technical knowhow. 

At the heart of this is the Ultra Vision Leica Quad Camera. For ultimate resolution with superb low light performance, high dynamic range and low noise, the headline 50MP Ultra Vision Camera boasts a fast f/1.9 aperture, large 1/1.28-inch sensor as well as dependable Octa Phase Detect Autofocus to ensure that your subject stays sharp. 

• See also Best Huawei phones

For shooting multiple subjects or environmental portraiture, switch to the 40MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera – ideal for group shots, or images where the scene adds context to your subject. This fast f/1.8 camera is a fantastic low light performer, whether shooting stills or video.  

Whether you want to capture a front row view at a wedding, or you're observing social distancing while taking portraits of your friends, the amazing zoom capabilities of the 12MP Telephoto Camera come into their own. 

With its 50x maximum zoom and rock-solid image stabilization, you can get killer shots from afar – making it ideal for attending a gig by your favorite band, a game at your team’s home stadium, or even visiting a wild animal’s natural habitat. Distance no longer stops you getting the definitive shot!

Topping it off is the 3D Depth Sensing Camera, delivering real-time depth detection that enables you to create professional-level bokeh effects without the expensive additional lenses required by traditional cameras.

The powerhouse photo performance isn’t limited to the rear camera system, though. You can take selfies worthy of a studio with the depth-detecting 32MP front camera, with intelligent lighting and color adjustment to ensure that you look your best no matter how gloomy your surroundings – and it features intelligent multi-focus with distortion correction for perfect group selfies. 

Of course, there’s more to taking killer images than just pressing the shutter. Editing gurus invest large amounts of time and money in post-production software to clean up their shots – but the Huawei P40 Pro can do all the magic for you, ‘in-camera’, with its Golden Snap AI technology. 

Taking a photograph where timing is everything, like a group jumping shot? Want to make sure that nobody in your image is blinking? AI Best Moment captures a series of shots and uses artificial intelligence to recognize and recommend up to three of the best moments for you to choose from. 

How many of your photos have been ruined by tourists, pedestrians, or photobombers walking in the back of your frame? That’s a thing of the past with AI Remove Passersby, which combines multiple images to provide you with a clean, people-free background.

Ever tried to photograph the stunning view through a window at a hotel or in a tall building? Record that beautiful dress in a shop window? Or capture the movements of fish or animals behind the glass at a zoo or museum, only to have your own reflection ruin the shot? Use the AI Remove Reflection function to take your reflection out of the image. 

Ultimate resolution. Ultimate low light performance. Ultimate AI editing. Whether you want to be behind the camera capturing publication-worthy portraiture, or you want to wow the world with a studio-standard selfie, the Huawei P40 Pro is a portrait powerhouse that fits right in your pocket. 

The Huawei P40 Pro is £899 (RRP) and available in the colours Silver Frost, Blush Gold and Black. It also comes with 50GB free cloud storage (for one year) and 6 months free Huawei Music. Visit the Huawei Store to buy or find out more.

It's recently been revealed that Huawei has been working on a camera phone with an under-screen camera, which would erase the need for the traditional punch-hole notch on the selfie screen that most camera phones use. Huawei is far from the only manufacturer that's working on this exciting concept, as the concept of under-screen cameras has been explored by other manufacturers as well.

In June 2019 Chinese camera phone manufacturers Xiaomi and Oppo displayed a prototype phone with a selfie camera incorporated under the screen. Unfortunately, this prototype wasn't quite good enough to be put into production, as the under-screen camera didn't let enough light in. 

• Read more: Best camera phone

However, since this initial prototype, there have been a variety of manufacturers who have tried their hand at under-display cameras. Huawei's offering seems to consist of a rimless camera phone with a highly rounded display and no physical buttons on the device, except for an on/ off button placed at the top. 

This latest news comes from two patent applications that were recently approved, via Let's Go Digital. These patents were filed in October 2019, but were only published on 2 June 2020. These patents each have seven product images of the same unannounced Huawei camera phone, with the only notable difference being the rear camera unit. One of the patents show a typical vertical bar, while the other has a more interesting circular camera unit.

While a commercially-released camera phone with an under-screen camera is yet to hit the market, it's clear that it's truly captured the imagination of plenty of smartphone manufacturers. It seems that we'll definitely see a phone with an under-display camera soon – the only question is when and who.

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