Live Blog: Huawei P20 & P20 Pro Announcement Event (3:00PM CEST)

 

See our Hands On report about the P20 and P20 Pro at this link:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12578/huawei-p20-and-p20-pro-hands-on-embrace-the-notch

 

08:14AM EDT - Greetings everybody, we're live here from Paris' Grand Palace where Huawei is holding their announcement event.

08:22AM EDT - Huawei make not so subtle hints that the P20 comes with possible three camera lenses. I'm looking forward to see if this strategy pans out.

08:55AM EDT - The event should be starting in 5 minutes.

08:59AM EDT - Cellular and WiFi are becoming very crowded.

09:01AM EDT - Huawei CEO richard Yu taking the stage.

09:02AM EDT - Richard is expressing his thanks to customers for Huawei's growth over the last 7 years.

09:07AM EDT - Having large connectivity issues atm!

09:09AM EDT - The P series smartphone always has the best camera technology

09:09AM EDT - design is always sleek

09:10AM EDT - First to launch dual camera flagship

09:10AM EDT - Make every shot a cover shot

09:10AM EDT - Hybrid Zoom

09:10AM EDT - Today launch is P20 and P20 Pro

09:11AM EDT - Called it P20 not P11: new lots of features

09:11AM EDT - Called P20 Pro not Plus, because of Professional features

09:12AM EDT - See every detail in your hand

09:12AM EDT - Purely symmetric design, like Chinese culture

09:13AM EDT - Degrees of symmetry

09:13AM EDT - Designed for professional photography

09:14AM EDT - See lots of colors

09:14AM EDT - Twilight color edition

09:14AM EDT - Twilight color edition

09:14AM EDT - Pink Gold

09:14AM EDT - Midnight blue

09:14AM EDT - Graphite Black

09:15AM EDT - Four colors each

09:15AM EDT - Themes for each phone

09:15AM EDT - P20 - 5.8-inch RGBW FullView Display

09:15AM EDT - 770 nits

09:16AM EDT - Longer battery life

09:16AM EDT - 6.1-inch OLED FullView Display

09:16AM EDT - 1000000:1 ratio

09:16AM EDT - high color gamut

09:16AM EDT - Same size as other 5.8-inch phones, but more display

09:17AM EDT - Edgeless fingerprint

09:17AM EDT - One fingerprint to replace three keys for short tap, long tap, and swipe

09:18AM EDT - Minimal Notch, more notifications

09:18AM EDT - Notch has speaker and ambient light receiver and camera

09:18AM EDT - Natural Tone Display

09:18AM EDT - P20 has 3400 mAh battery

09:19AM EDT - 25% more battery than other flagships

09:19AM EDT - P20 Pro is 0.6mm slimmer than Samsung, 4000 mAh battery

09:19AM EDT - IP20 is IP67 rated

09:19AM EDT - P20 is IP53

09:19AM EDT - P20 Pro is IP67 rated*

09:20AM EDT - Professional cameras are too bulky

09:20AM EDT - Huawei wants to let the camera take professional photos, powered by AI

09:21AM EDT - Master Photography powered by AI

09:21AM EDT - P20 all new AI camera

09:21AM EDT - 1.55 micron pixels on P20

09:21AM EDT - f/1.6 and f/1.8

09:21AM EDT - Larger pixels to capture more light

09:22AM EDT - Vivid color in low light

09:23AM EDT - 24MP Selfie camera on P20 and P20 Pro

09:23AM EDT - 24.8MP

09:23AM EDT - 3D facial enhancement and shaping

09:23AM EDT - Healthy skin tone adjustment

09:24AM EDT - even against back light

09:24AM EDT - 3D portrait lighting effects

09:24AM EDT - Adjust after the photo is taken

09:24AM EDT - P20 - best smartphone camera ever

09:25AM EDT - best DXOmark - 102 overall, 107 photo, 94 video

09:25AM EDT - Richard thanks the Leica and Huawei teams

09:26AM EDT - Now for the best of the best - P20 Pro

09:26AM EDT - 40MP camera on P20 Pro

09:26AM EDT - Color temp sensor embedded

09:27AM EDT - Highest pixel number in a smartphone in the industry

09:27AM EDT - 1 micron pixels in 40MP

09:27AM EDT - 1/1.7-inch sensor

09:27AM EDT - 102400 ISO

09:29AM EDT - Showing the low light performance

09:30AM EDT - Dynamic light range

09:30AM EDT - P20 Pro - most powerful zoom on a smartphone

09:30AM EDT - 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid, 10x digital

09:30AM EDT - Details at a distance

09:31AM EDT - Here is our pre-brief hands on on the P20 and P20 Pro :) https://www.anandtech.com/show/12578/huawei-p20-and-p20-pro-hands-on-embrace-the-notch

09:32AM EDT - See text detail even at 10x

09:32AM EDT - New focus laser upgraded from 1.2m to 2.4m

09:32AM EDT - 4D predictive focus

09:33AM EDT - Zero shutter lag and intelligent motion detection

09:33AM EDT - Screen off to shoot in 0.3 sec

09:33AM EDT - Color temperature sensor

09:34AM EDT - from Leica

09:34AM EDT - Use P20/P20 Pro for pro photo

09:35AM EDT - Also 960 fps slow motion video

09:35AM EDT - AI technology on the cameras

09:35AM EDT - Master AI on the smartphone

09:35AM EDT - 500+ scenarios in 19 categories detected

09:36AM EDT - AI assisted composition

09:37AM EDT - such as horizon photo - it will help to adjust

09:37AM EDT - or group photo, make sure everyone is in frame

09:37AM EDT - Now 8-second long exposure also AI assisted

09:37AM EDT - Huawei AIS

09:37AM EDT - AI Image Stabilization

09:38AM EDT - Machine Learning based multi-frame stabilization

09:38AM EDT - As long as six seconds

09:38AM EDT - (OK, that's gone down from our briefing)

09:39AM EDT - More astonishing photos due to long exposure

09:40AM EDT - Vivid color with long exposure

09:41AM EDT - Now showing a photo gallery of long shots

09:42AM EDT - 'Our phone can see more than your eyes'

09:43AM EDT - example video with AIS

09:43AM EDT - P20 Pro scores 109 points in DXOmark, 114 in photo, 98 in video

09:44AM EDT - 10 points higher than S9+

09:44AM EDT - We wanted P20 and P20 Pro to be the best camera in a smartphone this year

09:44AM EDT - Mel Bles to the stage to share a P20 / P20 Pro moment

09:48AM EDT - >just describing the experiences of the phone

09:51AM EDT - >outside, and in the studio

09:52AM EDT - Ben Wood from CCS Insights points out that the funds that Huawei would have put into an AT&T launch will be redirected into Europe to offset losses. Expect lots of marketing

09:52AM EDT - Richard Yu back to the stage

09:53AM EDT - We want every user to take professional photos with their smartphone

09:53AM EDT - now showing photos taken for the Huawei awards with last years smartphones

09:54AM EDT - Now for P20 / P20 Pro AI

09:54AM EDT - Kirin 970

09:54AM EDT - Dedicated NPU for machine learning

09:54AM EDT - means Apple A11 and SD845

09:55AM EDT - +50% smoothness, +60% performance

09:55AM EDT - Intelligent battery

09:56AM EDT - Super fast charging - 30 mins for 58% charge. TUV safe fast-charge certification

09:56AM EDT - 300% faster iPhone X charging

09:56AM EDT - More apps using HiAI - Google, Amazon, Microsoft

09:56AM EDT - On device Prisma processing

09:57AM EDT - 3.2 sec on P20, 9.6 sec on iPhone X

09:57AM EDT - Shopping by camera using AI

09:57AM EDT - AI Noise Removal - clear conversation even in windy environment

09:58AM EDT - Huawei Partnership with Google - first wave Android 8.1 and NNAPI with custom Google Assistant

09:58AM EDT - AI processor acceleration. 1st wave Google ARCore

09:59AM EDT - VP Google to the stage

10:00AM EDT - discussing Android 8.1 and EMUI 8.1

10:00AM EDT - 'An AI first mobile platform for everyone everywhere'

10:00AM EDT - 8.1 introduces support for NNAPI

10:01AM EDT - Support for NNAPI for entry level phones

10:01AM EDT - New custom Google Assistant AI features for P20

10:02AM EDT - Android messaging using the NPU

10:04AM EDT - App updated every month

10:05AM EDT - Now discussing ARCore - close collab between Google and Huawei

10:06AM EDT - Building AR apps: Porsche, Sotheby's, Gaming, NASA

10:06AM EDT - 50+ apps on ARCore already

10:07AM EDT - ARCode supported in China through the Huawei App Store in China

10:11AM EDT - Richard Yu back to the stage

10:11AM EDT - 360 degree face unlock even in the dark. 0.6s unlock

10:12AM EDT - Huawei Share 2.0 - support for BT and Wifi, up to 96 Mbps

10:12AM EDT - Share between Phones / PC / Mac

10:12AM EDT - Free of charge

10:12AM EDT - No need for a network connection - direct transmission

10:12AM EDT - Huawei Phone Clome

10:13AM EDT - Huawei Health integration

10:13AM EDT - PC Mode

10:14AM EDT - P20 and P20 Pro both support PC Mode

10:14AM EDT - Wireless Hi-Fi with HWA

10:15AM EDT - Dual speakers for Dolby Atmos and Dolby AC-4

10:15AM EDT - Dual SIM on open market - Dual 4G and Dual VoLTE

10:15AM EDT - 1.2 Gbps download Cat 18

10:15AM EDT - 4x4 MIMO

10:16AM EDT - Accessories

10:16AM EDT - Smart covers

10:16AM EDT - Huawei Freebuds - wireless headphones (not free, sold separately)

10:17AM EDT - Huawei Active Noise Cancellation earphones, 3 ANC modes

10:17AM EDT - Huawei Moonlight Selfie Stick with flash

10:17AM EDT - Huawei Band 2 Pro

10:18AM EDT - Now P20 product video

10:20AM EDT - Porsche Design Mate RS version

10:24AM EDT - Notice the cameras are in the middle, and fingerprint on the rear

10:24AM EDT - it's clearly based on a different design platform

10:25AM EDT - We'll have to get a hands on

10:25AM EDT - 'probably the best device money can buy'

10:26AM EDT - 'the 911 GT3 RS of smartphones'

10:27AM EDT - 8-edge 3D curve design

10:27AM EDT - 6-inch, 2K OLED display

10:27AM EDT - Available in black and red

10:28AM EDT - IP67 rated

10:28AM EDT - 512GB of storage

10:28AM EDT - Leather accessories

10:28AM EDT - Aerospace cooling tech

10:29AM EDT - Microcapsule technology (same as Matebook?)

10:29AM EDT - In screen fingerprint

10:29AM EDT - So, this is using Goodix ?

10:29AM EDT - Rear fingerpirnt sensor as well

10:30AM EDT - Face Unlock

10:30AM EDT - Same cameras as P20 Pro

10:30AM EDT - Dual SLS Speakers

10:30AM EDT - 10 Watt wireless charge

10:30AM EDT - 4000 mAh

10:31AM EDT - 4.5V/5A super fast charge

10:32AM EDT - So, 1499 euro? more? these PD phones go up and up in price

10:32AM EDT - Pricing

10:33AM EDT - P20 4GB/128GB at 649 euro, available from today

10:33AM EDT - 'Our software makes our 4GB versions better than other 6GB versions'

10:33AM EDT - P20 Pro, 6GB/128GB will be 899 Euro

10:34AM EDT - PD design: 6GB/256GB is 1695 EUR

10:34AM EDT - 6GB/512GB edition is 2095 EUR

10:34AM EDT - That's a wrap. Time to get some more hands on