The HUAWEI P20 Pro smartphone with LEICA triple lens is going to kill the sales of digital compact camera and here’s why

The Huawei P20 series flagship phones released by global telecommunications and mobile company, HUAWEI, is going to kill off the market for digital compact camera. Partnering with renounced lens maker, Leica, the HUAWEI P20 Pro comes with triple Leica lens, AI features and packed full of the best camera specifications to enable anyone to master photography, equipped with just a smartphone in hand.

I was at a major electronics retail store before the official launch of the P20 Pro in Singapore, helping a friend to shop for a compact camera. The salesperson were not very enthusiastic when we asked about the various compact camera models and either told us they were clearing stock and letting go everything at very low prices or seems quite disinterested to close the deal. That was till one uncle salesman mentioned that we should explore pre-ordering the HUAWEI P20 Pro instead of getting a compact camera. He then showed us a HUAWEI Mate 10 and demonstrated the photography features on the phone, touting it to be just as good, if not better than most compact cameras.

The uncle was preaching to the converted. I promptly whipped out my P20 and that got the sleepy uncle very excited. He even called out to his other colleagues to come over and look at my P20 Pro and to admire the test shots and videos I took with it. If even the camera salesmen are pushing for customers to buy the P20 Pro versus compact cameras, you know this is a solid photography product.

Full details on the technical specifications and the phone design are available in our previous posts on the HUAWEI P20 series global launch in Paris.

I have been bringing the phone around to test it for the past few weeks and the results have been very satisfying so far. I used to bring a chunky DSLR around when I cover events but switched to the Panasonic LUMIX mirrorless camera series about a decade back so as to lighten the load. I was carrying my mirrorless camera around just about everyday until I discovered the HUAWEI P20 Pro. Now I only bring out my LUMIX GH7 when I need photos or videos of very high resolutions.

Leica + Huawei = amazing smartphone photography. What more can one ask for?

For web use, the P20 Pro is suffice. It fits in my pocket, doubles as a smartphone and is extremely easy to use to take amazing photography without the need for any filter or manual adjustment. Simply point and shoot. The built-in AI in the smartphone will help you detect if you are taking a food shot, landscape or in low-light condition. It would then adjust the settings by itself to produce the most stunning photos.

Check out this album of photos I took with the P20 Pro while moving around in Paris and Frankfurt, after attending the global launch event:

What impressed me the most was the P20’s ability to shoot under extreme low-light conditions and adjust the settings accordingly with AI, without the need for any manual tinkering.

I find the P20 Pro especially handy when I go for long runs and it would be too cumbersome to bring along a DSLR. A smartphone fits well in my pants pocket and I can quickly whip it out to capture any interesting moments along the way.

Thus far, I brought my P20 Pro for several runs, including a half marathon at Koh Samui, Thailand. Check out the shots taken with my P20 Pro:

With the Huawei P20 Pro, anyone can master photography. It’s no wonder Huawei is now the number 2 smartphone maker in the world, knocking Apple off the spot, thanks to strong growth last quarter with the launch of the P20 Pro and the mid-range Huawei nova 3 and 3i!