In a matter of days, several smartphone makers unveiled a variety of high-end smartphones for the first half of 2019, all featuring upgraded photography experiences. Phones like the Galaxy S10, Sony Xperia 1, and LG V8 feature triple-lens cameras, while the Nokia 9 PureView ships with the world’s first penta-lens Light camera.
But all these devices are about to be eclipsed by a phone that will deliver features unavailable on any Android or iPhone device. Unfortunately, most of you reading this won’t be able to buy it.
Like last year, Huawei is doing its own thing when it comes to its next flagship. The P30 Pro wasn’t unveiled at MWC 2019 last week, where Huawei brought a different kind of handset: The Mate X foldable handset. But the P30 series will be unveiled in just a few weeks, during a media event in Paris, France.
But we don’t have to wait as long to tell you that the handset will feature a periscope zoom camera that will deliver “super-zoom” capabilities. That feature was hinted at a few days ago, when Richard Yu, Huawei’s Executive Director and CEO of the Consumer Business Group, posted a photo on Weibo that revealed the P30 would have a quad-camera setup, teasing remarkable zoom abilities.
Meanwhile, Huawei’s VP of Global Product Marketing Clement Wong told Android Central that the periscope camera is indeed included in the P30 Pro camera module, without revealing what kind of zoom it’ll deliver. The periscope camera tech isn’t new, and Oppo has been demoing periscope zoom at MWC in recent years, with the most recent version shown a few days ago. But it looks like Huawei will have periscope cameras on phones before Oppo.
The exec also said that the P30 Pro’s camera would do “something nobody has done before,” without elaborating on new features. Wong also added that the P30 Pro would deliver a major upgrade for low-light photography. Again, the exec did not explain how, but the P30 Pro will pack “revolutionary technology to rewrite rules of photography.”
While at MWC, I tried to find out more details about the Mate X’s camera specs, something Huawei never mentioned on stage, but the execs at the meeting kept insisting that they were not ready to make any camera announcements for the foldable handset. The imagery that Huawei offered during the press conference suggested that the Mate X would also have a quad-lens camera. Time will tell whether the Mate X will share the same camera tech with the P30 Pro. Huawei will unveil the P30 series phones on March 26th.
