No one will deny that the camera in a smartphone is the most integral part of the device. Most consumers who choose a smartphone focus on the camera rather than processing power. Realizing this, manufacturers began to improve the photo capabilities in their smartphones, and now we can see an incredible leap in this direction.
Honor, famous for its inexpensive smartphones, unveiled the Honor 30 lineup on May 28, consisting of those devices. And today, we have the most potent flagship Honor v30 Pro+ for review.
In terms of characteristics, Honor 30 Pro+ is incredibly similar to Huawei P40 Pro, a review of which we will publish shortly. And this similarity makes the novelty an exciting device, given that Honor 30 Pro + will be sold for about $582. So, let’s take a closer look.
Look & Design of Honor v30 Pro Plus
Honor v30 Pro + received dimensions 73.61×160.32×8.38 – this is slightly more in width and height than Huawei P40 Pro, but the thickness is somewhat less. The weight is also barely less at 190 grams.
The processor is installed here the same – eight-core Kirin 990 5G. 4000 mAh battery with support for wireless charging and fast wired.
The memory parameters are also similar – 8Gb of RAM, 256Gb of constant memory, and support for NM Card. Among other things, the novelty is equipped with liquid cooling.
For the first time, an OLED display has appeared on Honor smartphones. The diagonal is 6.57 inches, and the resolution is 1080 × 2340 (p40 has 6.58″, 1200×2640). The display is bright; the colors are saturated, the edges are slightly curved and stylish.
The speaker mesh is located on the upper edge – the sub-screen speaker technology was abandoned here, apparently to reduce the cost of the device. The consequence of this was a decrease in the level of protection against moisture and dust penetration.
Camera of Honor v30 Pro Plus
Honor v30 Pro+ received a dual selfie camera, which is a significant advantage over Huawei P40 Pro. The first module (left) has a resolution of 32 megapixels, f/2 aperture, a focal length of 26mm, and the second (right) 8 megapixels, f/2.2 aperture focal length of 19mm.
I must say that the wide-angle module does not produce the best image quality; however, it should be considered as an addition and beneficial addition. Video bloggers will especially appreciate it – the ability to shoot yourself from different angles is very remarkable. The front camera can write 4K 30fps video.
The only drawback is that when switching to a wide-angle in the video mode, a jump occurs, so if you switch during recording, the final video will not look very nice. Hopefully, this will be fixed in future firmware updates because this is purely a software issue.
On the back of the Honor 30, Pro+ is a rectangular unit with a multi-module camera. It is noteworthy that the design of the rear panel has the HONOR inscription, which is correctly inscribed together with the camera; thus, it does not stand out much. It looks very stylish.
There are three modules with different focal lengths, an additional 3D ToF sensor for simulating depth of field, laser autofocus, and a flash. The main central module is the same as the Huawei P40 Pro – 1/1.28-inch IMX700 CMOS matrix with 50 MP resolution, f/1.9 aperture, 27mm focal length, and optical stabilization. As you can see, the camera is one to one in terms of parameters; however, there is no longer an inscription that the camera was developed jointly with Leica. Also, there are no proprietary Leica film imitation filters in the camera app.
It is where the similarity of the camera block ends. The second module is ultra-wide-angle, providing a viewing angle of 117 degrees, which corresponds to a focal length of 17mm: 16-megapixel resolution, f/2.2 aperture, autofocus, and no optical stabilizer. The same module was installed in the previous version of Honor 20 Pro.
For me, such a module is preferable to the one installed in the P40 Pro. The wider angle allows you to create very compelling photos. I mostly shot at this focal length only.
The third module is periscopic. For the first time, such a module appeared in the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone camera, and the same characteristics are installed in the Honor 30 Pro. It is a sensor with a resolution of 8 megapixels, aperture f/3.4, dual optical stabilization, and a focal length of 135mm, corresponding to 5x magnification relative to the main module.
While the front camera can shoot 4k 30fps, the rear camera boasts 4k 60fps. In a sense, this has already become the standard for modern flagships.
However, 4K 60fps is only available when shooting with the main module. Therefore, if during shooting you want to switch from a standard angle to a wide one or on a body, then in the settings, it is better to set the speed to 30fps.
At a maximum zoom of 15x, an odd moment occurred during the movie recording. I was leading a passer-by in the face, and in the final video, it turned out to be on the legs. This joke is the result of the digital stabilizer. Why the correct picture is not displayed when sighting, I have no guesses. Maybe they will fix it in the subsequent firmware updates, but maybe not.
At 5x magnification, 60fps works, but the main module is used for shooting, which means no optical zoom, but digital, which, in turn, significantly affects the quality of the picture.
The picture is not good, but at 30Fps, it’s an entirely different matter:
During shooting, the digital stabilizer works in conjunction with the optical stabilizer. Since there is no optical stub on the wide-angle module, only digital is available to us, and, I must say, it does its job perfectly. When walking calmly without softening the gait, steps in the video are almost invisible.
In the video examples for comparison, I show how the stabilizer works out compared to shooting on the Zhiyun Q2 gimbal. If at wide-angle or standard the difference is not so noticeable, then magnifying it is better to use an electronic Steadicam.
Slow-motion up to 64x is available; that is, the camera can record video at 1920fps. But at 720p resolutions and a time limit – a video is created with a length of 33 seconds, of which 31 seconds are slow, and at the beginning and end by a second at standard speed.
50 MP resolution works only in Pro mode and in a separate HIGH-RES mode. In other modes, frames are created with a resolution of 12 megapixels; that is, 4 pixels are combined into one. And also, in the pro mode, you can enable saving frames in RAW.
In the primary Photo mode, all frames are stretched quite strongly in the shadows, and the structure becomes similar to HDR. To avoid this effect, it is better to turn off the AI.
All the usual additional modes for Huawei and Honor smartphones are aperture, night, portrait, panorama, and HDR. The blur is not perfect yet, but the progress is noticeable compared to the Honor 20 Pro.
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The camera still cannot cope with complex objects, but simple ones turn out great.
But the Night mode, as always on top, is the main feature of the smartphones of the Chinese company. It should be noted that the mode is night; it is not only for the nighttime; fascinating results can be obtained during the day.
There is a Super Macro mode, which even misled me that there is a separate macro module. It is not the case. This mode uses a wide-angle digital zoom module. The minimum focusing distance in this mode is 2.5 cm.
In principle, this decision seems to me to be correct since if a separate macro module was previously installed in smartphones, then it had a resolution of 2 megapixels. Here, as a result of digital zoom, we get 16-megapixel images with a bit of interpolation.
Conclusion
The new flagship Honor 30 Pro+ is mighty. It has a fantastic camera, great looks, and a high price. Unfortunately, the new flagship did not continue the tradition of Honor budget smartphones. It’s expensive; it’s costly for Honor.
And even if you try to abandon the cost and remember that the flagship Huawei P40 Pro costs more, it becomes somehow more accessible. Still, if you analyze the possibilities, then everything is not so simple. The novelty has a better selfie camera, better than the Huawei flagship. But this is the only advantage. Otherwise, they are not. The same module of the primary camera with a resolution of 50MP, but the wide-angle module and the periscope are borrowed from previous generations of smartphones. 4K 60Fps support is available only on the main module. Neither a selfie camera nor a wide-angle one with a prism module can shoot video with such a frequency.
Yes, this is the best Honor smartphone in the company’s history. But is it worth buying, or is it better to save up for to Huawei P40 Pro? For me, the second option is closer. If you take the economical route and choose between the HONOR 30 Pro + and Honor 20 Pro, the previous model looks very interesting. Now Honor 20 Pro will cost $85 cheaper, plus the smartphone supports Google services.
Thank you all for your attention. Write in the comments which smartphone is closer to you? Did you like the new HONOR? What smartphone are you currently shooting with and send your work?
