I took the Huawei P60 Pro with me to Munich — why it’s better than my iPhone 14 Pro

The Huawei P60 Pro is official, and I got the chance to try out the camera in Munich and the beautiful Tegersee region countryside. 

On paper, this is a pretty standard camera system, but Huawei has managed to produce pure magic. In fact, this phone takes the top spot on the DxOMark ranking list — the benchmark staple for camera testing.

But accolades aside, not only does the P60 Pro have a better camera than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it has the best camera I have ever used. Big words, so let me explain.

My way or the Huawei

So first off, some quick information and tech specs. The P60 Pro is available for pre-order now; it launches on May 22nd. It will retail at £1199/€1199 (8GB/256GB) and £1299/€1299 (12GB/512GB). And just like any other Huawei product, it’s bad news for America as the trade ban means you can’t buy this phone.

As for the camera setup, you’ve got the following:

• 48MP Ultra Lighting main camera with f/1.4 – f/4.0 adjustable physical aperture
• 48MP Ultra Lighting telephoto camera with f/2.1 aperture
• 13MP Ultrawide with f/2.2 aperture

That physical aperture is the biggest standout feature amongst a list that sounds like quite ordinary specs. But it’s what Huawei can do with this hardware that is spectacular.

The hills are alive

Our photo tour begins at the Bachmair Weissach hotel in the afternoon — namely the views I soaked in while having a good soak in the hot tub. Despite overcast weather conditions, the P60 Pro did a phenomenal job of balancing the various blue and grey tones, while adding the vivid dash of green from the trees.

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It’s easy for most phones to lose that pop of color from warmer shades on a backdrop dominated by cooler tones, but Huawei’s color science handles this perfectly. Not only that, but you can see how quick the shutter speed is on the rapidly moving stream water.

Particular props too to the telephoto lens, which is capable of some great things. This photo of the boat out on the lake was taken at 10x zoom, as you can see with the main camera 25mm lens shot for more situational context.

Feeling hungry?

Shout-out to my fellow foodies. I, of course, had to test the camera out for all the IG-worthy dish pics at The Boathouse: a small lakeside restaurant that’s part of the Seehotel & Restaurant, Malerwinkel.

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As you can see, the P60 Pro tried to tackle the lightning’s warm orange hue — the arch nemesis of countless smartphone cameras. But the Huawei device maintained an optimal white balance, and the crisp detail made every dish pop. 

You can taste the fresh zing of the dressing on that salad, and almost smell the rich moreishness of that gorgeous steak. Plus, as it was turning to night rapidly, the lights were turned down. Once again, the physical aperture came into play and kept that shutter speed nice and fast.

In comparison, you can detect a slight blur on the dessert picture taken on the iPhone.

When the sun goes down

Once the dinner was over, it was time to walk back to the hotel. The night time view across the lake was simply breathtaking. The water was completely still — looking like a perfect sheet of glass that reflected all the small lights dancing across the distance of the waterside, as the mountainous distance loomed overhead. I had to grab a photo.

But here’s the kicker. This photo was *not* taken using night mode. No editing was done, and I did not need to hold still for a few seconds to capture all the light. Just one tap and it produced this masterpiece. 

The more my colleagues looked at the pixel-perfect reflections across the still water and the subtle glow of the lights across the lake side, the more I could feel their jealousy from over 3,000 miles away.

To make it possible, you can see the surface smoothing to eliminate some of the noise — especially on the church. But this is a quality shot, made even more jaw dropping when you realize no long exposure was used.

For laughable context, this is what the 14 Pro was able to produce. I’d probably get better results taking a picture of a black piece of card.

Outlook

I’ll reserve full judgment for a proper review coming soon (slight spoiler: gorgeous hardware hampered by the limits of Huawei’s own OS and lack of Google services). But if you’re looking for the best camera in a smartphone, the P60 Pro is it.

Normally, the differences in detail and color science inaccuracies are pretty minor. You can see that as I face off the Pixel 7 against the iPhone 13 Pro’s shooter. But the difference here is literally night and day. 

Huawei low key made the undisputed photo champ, and I look forward to any phones trying to get anywhere close to it.