Huawei P30 Pro is a four-camera beast gunning for the Galaxy S10 Plus - CNET

The Huawei P30 Pro and P30 are two new phones that the Chinese brand, and Samsung's Android chief rival, announced Tuesday at a launch event in Paris. Both phones have colorful, shiny backings, but it's all the tech inside that Huawei hopes will push its new phones ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10E.

I'll talk about the regular Huawei P30 below, but it's the Pro that's captured my attention. Its 6.47-inch display looks lovely and vibrant with a small centered notch for the front-facing cameras. The whole phone is powered by Huawei's top-end Kirin 980 chip, and Android Pie overlain with the EMUI 9.1 software that reminds you of the iPhone the way the apps are laid out across multiple home screens. There's an in-screen fingerprint scanner (optical), fast battery charging and reverse wireless charging too, letting you charge a compatible device just by holding it against the phone.

The P30 Pro's four cameras are the real stars of the show. You get a 20-megapixel super wide-angle lens, a regular 40-megapixel lens and a 32-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies. Then there's the big one: a weird-looking square lens that uses a prism-based periscope system to achieve a huge zoom. It offers not only a 5x zoom but also a 10x zoom without much loss in overall quality. That's a huge zoom for a phone and lets you get close in on details that would normally look like mush on a regular digital zoom.

The Huawei P30 Pro and P30 go on sale around the world today. The P30 Pro starts in the UK at £899 (about $1,190 converted) for the 128GB model and £1,099 for 512GB. Only one model is available in Australia, for AU$1,599. The P30, with 128GB storage, is £699 in the UK and AU$1,099 in Australia. (See the specs chart below for more.) Huawei phones aren't widely sold in the US due to pressure from the government, but you can often find no-warranty models on stores such as Amazon.

I've been spending time using this zoom lens and I'm already impressed by what it can manage. It's not quite as good quality as the regular camera -- details are still a little mushy -- but it's leaps and bounds over any other zoom lens I've seen on a phone. That includes the S10 Plus, which has only a 2x zoom and simply can't compete on zoom terms alone.

Now playing: Watch this: P30 Pro and Galaxy S10 cameras compared

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The main camera has apparently been tweaked to capture light in a different way than you'll typically find in camera sensors. It's a bit too complicated to get into here, but what you need to know is that it doesn't change anything in terms of how your images actually look. Colors look natural and there's generally a decent exposure -- although I've found that the S10 Plus can balance a bright sky a little better.

Low-light skills are also apparently a strong point for the P30 Pro, much like they were for the P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro before it. Huawei reckons the sensor tweaks, together with various AI improvements for stabilization, help take the best low-light shots so far. I've certainly been impressed by what the phone can manage in the dark, achieving more detailed shots with more clarity, better colors and less image noise than the S10 Plus is able to achieve.

The fourth lens is a time-of-flight sensor. It's there to give depth information to the camera, thereby achieving better, more natural bokeh (background blur) in an image. I haven't noticed much of an upgrade in the depth of field on photos I've taken with this sensor, but it's an area I'm keen to test more in the full review.

There's also a whopping 32-megapixel sensor on the front in a teardrop notch for selfies. And Huawei reckons it's given its HDR and low-light photo skills a boost here too. I'll be putting all these cameras through their paces soon, so stay tuned for the verdict here.

Now playing: Watch this: The P30 Pro's four rear cameras take on Paris

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What about the regular Huawei P30?

The standard P30 is more of a lite version with a smaller screen. It lacks the Pro's super zoom and depth-sensing cameras. Yes, it's the less exciting of the two but it does at least have a headphone jack -- something you won't find on the Pro.

Both the Pro and standard P30 are good-looking phones with a curved glass design and a range of interesting color blends to choose from.

blunderbuss-11 — The elusive headphone jack.
Angela Lang/CNET

Huawei also has a new set of wireless headphones, which you charge and pair by plugging directly into your phone's USB-C port.

There's no price yet for the phones or the headphones, nor do we know exactly when they're going on sale. But we expect to hear more in the coming days.

Huawei P30 vs. Samsung Galaxy S10

	Huawei P30	Huawei P30 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S10	Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
Display size, resolution	6.1-inch OLED; 2,340x1,080 pixels	6.47-inch OLED; 2,340x1,080 pixels	6.1-inch AMOLED; 3,040x1,440 pixels	6.4-inch AMOLED; 3,040x1,440 pixels
Pixel density	422ppi	398ppi	550ppi	522ppi
Dimensions (Inches)	5.9x2.8x0.3 in	6.2x2.9x0.3	5.9x2.77x0.31 in	6.20x2.92x0.31 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)	149x71.4x7.8mm	158x73.4x8.4mm	149.9x70.4x7.8 mm	157.6x74.1x7.8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	5.8 oz; 165g	6.8 oz; 192g	5.53 oz.; 157 g	6.17 oz.; 175 g
Mobile software	Android 9.0 with EMIU 9.1	Android 9.0 with EMIU 9.1	Android 9.0 with Samsung One UI	Android 9.0 with Samsung One UI
Camera	40-megapixel (standard), 20-megapixel (ultra wide), 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom	40-megapixel (standard), 20-megapixel (ultra wide), 8-megapixel 5x optical periscope zoom, TOF (time of flight) sensor	12-megapixel (wide-angle), 16-megapixel (ultra wide-angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)	12-megapixel (wide-angle), 16-megapixel (ultra wide-angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing camera	32-megapixel	32-megapixel	10-megapixel	10-megapixel, 8-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Kirin 980 processor	Kirin 980 processor	Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855	Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Storage	128GB	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 512GB, 1TB
RAM	6GB	8GB	8GB	8GB, 12GB
Expandable storage	Up to 256GB with proprietary NM card	Up to 256GB with proprietary NM card	Up to 512GB	Up to 512GB
Battery	3,650-mAh	4,200-mAh	3,400-mAh	4,100-mAh
Fingerprint sensor	In-screen (optical)	In-screen (optical)	In-screen (ultrasonic)	In-screen (ultrasonic)
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Special features	Camera night mode, IP53 water resistance	Camera night mode, 40W Huawei SuperCharge, 15W wireless charging, reverse charging, IP68 water resistance	Wireless PowerShare; hole punch screen notch; water resistant (IP68); Fast Wireless Charging 2.0	Wireless PowerShare; hole punch screen notch; water resistant (IP68); Fast Wireless Charging 2.0
Price off-contract (USD)	Converts to about $925	Converts to about $1,190 (128GB); $1,450 (512GB)	$900	$1,000
Price (GBP)	£699	£899 (128GB); £1,099 (512GB)	£799	£899
Price (AUD)	AU$1,099	AU$1,599	AU$1,349	AU$1,499

Now playing: Watch this: Huawei's P30 Pro boasts cameras galore

3:34

Originally published 6.30 a.m. PT, March 26.
Update, 8.16 a.m. PT: Adds pricing, links to camera comparisons.
Update, 9:04 a.m. PT: Added more details

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