Camera comparison: Huawei P30 Pro vs S10+, iPhone XS, Pixel 3, Mi 9, Mate 20 Pro

Ultra wide, daylight

The iPhone is one camera short in this shootout and the Pixel is even missing two modules compared to the others. The point is neither has an ultra wide angle camera. The Galaxy S10+ does pack one , but it's got some catching up to do - its ultra wide has fixed focus, while both Huaweis and the Mi 9 can autofocus with their ultra wide cameras. Not that it matters for this particular scene below, but it can be an issue if you want to be shooting up close with the Galaxy.

Seeing as how it has the same hardware, the P30 Pro's images look very similar to the ones from the Mate 20 Pro in terms of detail. The P30 Pro's color are a bit toned down, however, and are the most muted ones in this bunch. The Galaxy is on the other end of that spectrum with the punchiest color output. The Huaweis capture ever so slightly more detail, but the difference isn't anywhere as huge as the 20MP vs 12MP resolution difference would suggest.

Ultra wide cameras, daylight: P30 Pro • Mate 20 Pro • Mi 9 • Galaxy S10+

Ultra wide, night

In low light, the P30 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro will leave you with overall darker and less colorful ultra wide images than the Mi 9 and the Galaxy S10+. The captured detail is about the same between the Huaweis and the Mi 9 with the S10+ trailing, so out of these four shots we'd give the Mi 9 an edge.

Ultra wide cameras, night: P30 Pro • Mate 20 Pro • Mi 9 • Galaxy S10+

Ultra wide, night mode

But the P20 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro have night mode for their ultra wide cameras, which the Mi 9 doesn't. That lets the Huawei flagships bring up detail in the deepest shadows which the Mi 9 can't really see. And then the P30 Pro is even sharper than the Mate 20 Pro with no watercoloring and some intricate detail captured.

Ultra wide cameras, night: P30 Pro • Mate 20 Pro

Close-ups (macro)

Huawei's been pushing its ultra wide camera for close-up photography, and it does sort of work for that, because it's able to focus very, very close.

That's coincidentally the one obvious drawback to using an ultra wide for close ups - being so very close means you're likely to spook the tiny creature you want to capture, and even if it's not a living thing and stays put, you'd still cast a shadow over it with the slab of a phone you're trying to photograph it with.

Close-ups: P30 Pro • Mate 20 Pro • Mi 9 • Galaxy S10+ • Pixel 3 • iPhone XS

If you can get around these inherent limitations, you will, indeed, get some pretty spectacular close-up shots. Then again the Galaxy S10's main camera can focus very close itself, and it's a more usable focal length to begin with, so it could be a better option overall. At the other end of the spectrum is the Pixel 3 which can't focus close to save its life.

Close-ups: P30 Pro • Mate 20 Pro • Mi 9 • Galaxy S10+ • Pixel 3 • iPhone XS