Introduction
Both the Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10+ are brand new devices, and the most powerful smartphones that the two companies released to date. These two phones are going head-to-head to the market, they’re aiming at a similar type of a consumer, and both are expected to be quite popular throughout 2019, so it makes all the sense in the world to compare the two. Before we begin, it is worth noting that at time of writing this comparison, we’ve reviewed the Galaxy S10+ only, as the P30 Pro was announced a couple of days ago, even though we did get a good grasp of what the P30 Pro has to offer. Having said that, let’s kick things off with specifications, and go from there.
Specifications
Design
The Huawei P30 Pro and Galaxy S10+ are somewhat similar in terms of the design, well, at least as far as looks are concerned. Both phones are made out of metal and glass, and both come with both curved front and back sides. The P30 Pro and Galaxy S10+ sports curved displays, and really thin “chins” below those displays.
The difference is easily noticeable in the upper portion of the two displays, though, as the P30 Pro comes with a dewdrop display notch, while the Galaxy S10+ includes cutouts for two cameras in the top-right portion of its display. The camera orientation is also different on the back of these two phones, Huawei has opted for a vertical setup, while Samsung included a horizontal one, though both phones include three cameras on the back, not counting P30 Pro’s ToF sensor.
These two phones do feel considerably different in-hand, though. Glass on the back of these two devices feels different in hand as well, due to different finishes on top of that glass, while the P30 Pro is a bit narrower than the Galaxy S10+, despite the fact its display is a bit larger. The Huawei P30 Pro comes with a taller display aspect ratio than the Galaxy S10+, which is the reason why that is the case.
The P30 Pro is a bit thicker than the Galaxy S10+, and the two phones are about equal height. We couldn’t really decide who to opt for in this comparison, as they’re quite similar in so many ways, and it all depends whether you prefer that tiny notch on the P30 Pro, or the dual camera cutout on the Galaxy S10+.
Winner: Tie
Display
Both of these phones feature OLED displays, but those two panels are quite different. The Huawei P30 Pro ships with a 6.47-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) display, which comes with a 19.5:9 display aspect ratio, and equals to 398 PPI. The Galaxy S10+, on the other hand, features a 6.4-inch QHD+ (3040 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED display with 19:9 aspect ratio and 522 PPI.
In all honesty, both of these displays are really, really good, and the vast majority of people will not notice a notable different at all, but the Galaxy S10+ has an edge here, mainly due to sheer resolution. The Galaxy S10+’s Dynamic AMOLED panel is one of the best out there, and it beats out Huawei’s OLED panel in resolution, by quite a margin. You will not be able to see any pixels on the Huawei P30 Pro, nor will you struggle with anything else on this display, in any way, but if you really need to have a QHD+ display on your device, the Galaxy S10+ is the way to go.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+
Performance
The Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10+ are both flagship phones, amongst the very best out there, and as expected, performance is not an issue on either of these two devices. The Huawei P30 Pro comes with Huawei’s Kirin 980 64-bit octa-core processor, while the Galaxy S10+ is available in two SoC variants (market dependent), the Snapdragon 855 and Exynos 9820 options. All of those processors are immensely fast, and in collaboration with other high-end specs in these two phones, and software optimizations, both devices are able to handle pretty much anything you throw at them.
It remains to be seen how the two phones will age, of course, but we’re discussing what the state is at the moment. Samsung doesn’t really have the best track record when it comes to aging well, at least as far as performance is concerned, but the company has improved immensely with the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note9 series, so it is quite possible that performance won’t be an issue for the Galaxy S10+ long after you buy it, it remains to be seen. Something similar can be said for the P30 Pro as well, as its predecessors continued working admirably long after they were released. All in all, we’ll tie this category as well.
Winner: Tie
Battery Life
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is a battery life beast, and truth be said, we’re expecting the same from the P30 Pro, especially considering that the P30 Pro comes with a lower display resolution, while it has the same battery as the P30 Pro. The Huawei P30 Pro includes a 4,200mAh battery, while the Galaxy S10+ sports 4,100mAh unit. These are batteries of a similar size, but the Galaxy S10+ comes with a higher resolution, even though its resolution is set to fullHD+ as well, by default, but let’s assume that you actually want to take advantage of that QHD+ display that is included on the phone.
Huawei’s flagships have been admirable when it comes to battery life thus far, and even though we were not able to fully test the P30 Pro’s battery life yet, it’s safe to assume that the P30 Pro will offer similar battery life like the Mate 20 Pro, even better, in fact. If that ends up being the case, the P30 Pro will beat the Galaxy S10+ in this category. Not to say that the Galaxy S10+ has a bad battery life or anything of the sort, but it can’t compare to the Mate 20 Pro, and quite likely the P30 Pro either.
Both of these phones will get you through a full day of use, though, at least most of you, even if you’re a somewhat heavy user. It is also worth noting that the P30 Pro offers much faster wired battery charging (40W vs 15W), while both phones include fast wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.
Winner: Huawei P30 Pro
Cameras
The Huawei P30 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10+ have a considerably different approach to smartphone photography. The Galaxy S10+ actually uses the same main sensor from the Galaxy S9, but Samsung did improve output via software, not to mention that ultra wide-angle lens has been added to the mix.
The Huawei P30 Pro, on the other hand, improves upon what the Mate 20 Pro had to offer, its 40-megapixel sensor now comes with an f/1.6 aperture lens, compared to an f/1.8 on the Mate 20 Pro, not to mention that the P30 Pro offers a periscope camera technology which promises crazy zoom capabilities. Based on what we were able to see thus far, the Galaxy S10+ edges out the Galaxy S9 series in terms of photography, but it cannot beat out the P30 Pro in that regard. In daylight, both phones are capable of some amazing shots, though the P30 Pro offers more versatility thanks to its periscope camera.
In low light, the P30 Pro edges out the Galaxy S10+, especially if you utilize the phone’s mode for low light photography. Both phones can record some great-looking 4K video content, and it seems like Huawei improved low-light video with the P30 Pro considerably. The Galaxy S10+ has an edge when it comes to video, though, as it’s capable of utilizing 60fps 4K recording, while the P30 Pro is limited to 30fps, though Huawei’s video still looks better in low light conditions. All things considered, we have to opt for the P30 Pro here, overall.
Winner: Huawei P30 Pro
Conclusion
There’s a lot to like about these two phones, each of them has its own set of features, and benefits. We didn’t get a chance to talk about audio in any of the categories above, but it is worth saying that Huawei did not include stereo speakers on the P30 Pro, while the Galaxy S10+ offers such output. On top of that, the Galaxy S10+ also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so if you’re an audiophile, the Galaxy S10+ is probably a better choice, even though the P30 Pro is not a slouch in that department either, its single speaker on the bottom is more than competent. All things considered, however, we have to give this duel to the Huawei P30 Pro, the phone beats out the Galaxy S10+ in both battery and camera departments, even though the Galaxy S10+ has a better display. Both of these devices are truly great, and you can’t go wrong with either one of them.
Winner: Huawei P30 Pro.