Published by Steve Litchfield at 11:33 UTC, April 16th 2019

I've been out and about shooting the same test scenes with Lumia 1020, P30 Pro and three other devices. And I have hundreds of JPGs totalling several GB. But the first data point for this new (PureView) flagship from Huawei is the second part of my 'Evolution' feature , with this being the spiritual successor, I contend, to the Lumia 1020. Knock yourself out below with our interactive comparator and see my comments as we move from scene to scene. Just how well have Huawei done?

See the first part of this feature for detailed specifications and comments on the hardware in these 2013 and 2019 imaging flagships.

I've deliberately thrown in some tricky shots and zoom 'asks' in the scene selection, to test the USPs here, all photos were taken on full auto and handheld, as a regular user would do. No tripods or RAW editing sessions needed! (Though both the 1020 and P30 Pro can shoot in DNG/RAW, of course, should you be even more of an imaging nerd than me and that way inclined.)





Notes:

I've also shot at the default output resolutions for 4:3, leaving headroom for lossless PureView zoom and also getting the advantages of oversampling and noise reduction in both cases. Precisely no one wants to see a 40MP vs 40MP comparison!



The 5MP shot from the 1020 and the 10MP shot from the P30 Pro, added to field of view differences, do mean slightly different crops below, but you'll still be able to compare what each phone camera has achieved.

Let's pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, though I've put up the originals on my own server, for you to download if you want to do your own analysis.

Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in some browsers. Sorry about that.



On Windows 10 Mobile, use the 'AAWP Universal' UWP app, which handles the comparator very competently (see the tips in the app's help screens)

Test 1: Sunny detail

My nearby clock tower, lit in slightly hazy spring sun. Perfect lighting. Here is the scene:





You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Field of view differences not withstanding, the Lumia 1020 does deliver a slightly more natural shot, though there's plenty of natural detail in the P30 Pro's too, see the fine branches on the left of the crop. Despite the extra processing, I can't fault the latter shot and both get top marks. As you'd expect under perfect conditions.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 10 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 10 pts

Test 2: Now with 2x zoom

The same clock tower, but this time zooming to 2.5x on the 5MP Lumia 1020 and 2x on the 10MP P30 Pro, all lossless in theory, thanks to smart-cropping down to 1:1 on the sensors. I'd expect the Lumia 1020 to do better, mind you, since the Huawei's sensor is quad-Bayer and there's a certain crudeness to its function here.

You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

My suspicions were confirmed - when zoomed at 2x, the Quad-Bayer system on the P30 Pro can't quite get the fine detail at 1:1 and you can start to see blocky artefacts. The 1020 shots just looks more 'real'. If you look this closely, of course - I accept that I'm nit picking here!

Nokia Lumia 1020: 10 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 9 pts

At the same time, I have to acknowledge the presence of the 5x telephoto lens on the P30 Pro, but how exactly to compare it in this context? I settled on upsampling the 1020's zoomed output to match the crop factor. Here then is Test 3: 5x zoom (1020 emulated) with the original zoomed photo from the Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Very impressive in good light here from the P30 Pro's periscope 5x telephoto system. I'm doing the 1020 a little disservice from upsampling like this, but it's clear that the inclusion of a genuine telephoto lens of this power gives enormous potential for zoom from a relatively slim smartphone camera.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 7 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 10 pts

Test 4: Zoomed detail in shadow

A tough test here, shooting into light and zooming in losslessly by 2x, tapping to expose detail in the shadow, for the pub frontispiece. Here is the unzoomed scene:









You can grab the original 2x zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the 2x zoomed images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

A tough one to judge - the Lumia 1020's solid colours and major features are 'purer' and with few processing artefacts, while the extra sharpening plus the much newer sensor on the P30 Pro does produce some incredible extra detail. Apparently the centre of the 5x lens is used to add extra detail in a 'fusion' process and I wonder if this is what's happening here - just look at the pixel detail in the text by the pub door. Yes, the detail is 'over-processed' but the end result is that you can see a lot more.

Against my better judgement I'm going to give this one to the Huawei overall.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 8 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 9 pts

Test 5: Grave bouquet

A typical use for zoom in a real world setting - a nice bouquet of flowers at about two metres and with no way to get closer without stepping on graves, always a bit of a no-no. Here is the scene:





You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

I'm not going to use 1:1 crops here as the goal is to capture the flowers in an attractive way, not to look at pixel purity. Just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

A dramatically better result from the P30 Pro, the much newer phone. The problems for the 1020 here are a) that it can't get close enough, optically, even after the 2.5x zoom used here; and that it has a tendency to blow out highlights if you're not capable, since there's lower dynamic range when zoomed in the PureView system. Now, with a little more care, I could have tapped to expose for the brightest flower and dimmed things down, but the result would still be inferior to what I got from the P30 Pro in full auto (at 5x zoom, which worked out well for this subject).

Nokia Lumia 1020: 6 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 10 pts

Test 6: Arty bokeh

Another real world non-pixel-peeping example, this time looking at a close-up subject with arty shallow depth of field. You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

I'm not going to use 1:1 crops here as the goal is to capture the blossom and bokeh in an attractive way, not to look at pixel purity. Just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Both really nice shots, though I'm going to give the 1020 the win because it handles bokeh utterly naturally, it's all done in optics, while the P30 Pro here was in 'aperture' mode, with bokeh being partly simulated. The 1020 also gets the win because it preserves the blue sky background, while this is lost in the processing on the P30 Pro.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 10 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 9 pts

Test 7: Shadow detail, indoors

Another real world subject, unzoomed and looking at detail in the shadow, here on the pages of a book. Here is the scene, more gloomily lit than the photo makes it seem, and with great contrasts in bright light (through the windows) and deep shadows:





You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Two very different photos, at least at the pixel level, with the Lumia rendering things as a work of art, with the purest and most natural detail imaginable, but with the P30 Pro pulling out all the processing stops to enhance things, aided by its higher default output resolution.

True, I can read more text in the P30 Pro photo, but it's just a bit too contrasty and sharp for my liking. Or maybe I'm so used to the Lumia 1020 that anything else seems like a processing shock? As to which 'wins' this test, I'm calling it a draw overall, despite the massive differences. It all depends what you want in a photo!

Nokia Lumia 1020: 9 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 9 pts

Test 8: Another zoom data point

Another zoom test in great light, here of an aircraft at about 30m, shot through locked gates. Here is the scene:





I then zoomed to the maximum (2.5x) on the Lumia 1020 and 5x on the P30 Pro, to see what it could really do. You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis. I did try the 'hybrid' 10x zoom, but the results were too 'soft' and I wasn't happy. So I stuck with the natural 5x telephoto.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops from the zoomed images, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Really impressive results at 5x, anyway. Maybe a little too much processing again - and this gets worse as you go up to 10x - but an easy step up from ye olde Lumia 1020.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 8 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 10 pts

Test 9: Plane, dusk

30 mins after sunset, the light levels were very low, though not actually dark enough to qualify as 'night'. So a useful real world data point - nothing too artificial here. Here is the scene:





You can grab the original photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Yet again the P30 Pro image is cluttered with obvious artificialities (barbed wire fence too thick, gravel too speckly, greenery too blotchy) but also has some outstanding detail on the main subject, i.e. the plane. Just look at the left engine in the shot. The 1020's shot is natural and better represents the actual light levels, but it's short on plane detail under the conditions. And yet again, I have to call a score draw - each image has its pros and cons from my perspective.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 8 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 8 pts

Test 10: Low light with zoom

The same plane but zoomed. I did try 5x on the P30 Pro, but the telephoto can't be used at all in low light, so you just get blocky lossy zoom on the main 40MP sensor. So I've stuck to 2x, in theory lossless, to match the 1020's and in much the same way.

You can grab the original zoomed photos from the Lumia 1020 and Huawei P30 Pro on my own server, for your own analysis.

To look at the images in more detail here, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Detail levels are very similar, as you might expect from the similar 40MP stabilised sensors and lenses, but the odd thing is how the P30 image is drained of colour when zoomed. I know it's on 'early' software and updates will undoubtedly fix issues from low light and the RYYB sensor, so I'm not too worried, plus you could argue that it's mimicking the human eye in the way colour drains away in low light... But still, the 1020 wins this one because of the colour retention.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 9 pts; Huawei P30 Pro: 8 pts

Verdict

For the record, the scores add up as:

Huawei P30 Pro (2019): 92 pts Lumia 1020 (2013): 85 pts

Which, somewhat obviously, leads me to two conclusions. Firstly, and somewhat sentimentally, that the Lumia 1020 is still capable of challenging the best in the world, six years after its launch. Which is nothing short of jaw dropping for a piece of mobile technology. Now, of course it falls behind massively when you start looking at overall smartphone functions in 2019. But for pure stills and even with 2x zoom, the 1020, with its 'reframe' ability - still unique within the main UI of a phone - still stands proud.

Secondly, the P30 Pro does win overall, and by a significant margin. Maybe it's not too hot when zooming in low light, but for all other uses cases (and including wide angle shots, the camera we have tested here) the stabilised 40MP plus stabilised 5x telephoto plus the ability to fuse images between the two and then extend both up to 10x and beyond, at least in theory, is just about the pinnacle of phone imaging right now and will stay that way until 2020, I predict.

That ex-Nokian Eero Salmelin is at the helm at Huawei Imaging is no coincidence. The P30 Pro takes the Lumia 1020 concept and extends it in every direction. With plenty of updates still to come, it'll only get better and better.

PS. Note that I haven't even touched on video capture yet. Plus I want to pitch the P30 Pro against other smartphone cameras, both here and on other outlets. Watch this space.