Huawei opted for a notched display design this generation, which can be a double-edged sword. While we can't speak for prospective buyers, as far as we are concerned, Huawei is one of the few manufacturers out there to make proper use of the odd display cutout. That is to say, it is not merely an attempt to copy the Apple aesthetic, but is there as part of the pursuit to maximize screen real estate. The P20 still has a pretty wide bottom chin, but it hasn't sacrificed its home button either.
Notch aside, Huawei has put a lot of effort into the displays of both the P20 and P20 Pro, trying its best to offer a consistent experience. The rounded corners, for instance, are present on both and do make for a modern, albeit not necessarily more functional, profile. Unfortunately, market segmentation is the reason the regular P20 lacks the AMOLED panel of its bigger sibling.
Display test
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Nokia 8
0.382
703
1840
Huawei P20 (Max Auto)
0.481
695
1445
Apple iPhone X
0
679
∞
Huawei Mate 10 (max auto vivid)
0.468
667
1425
Samsung Galaxy S9 (Max Auto)
0
658
∞
Samsung Galaxy Note8 (Max Auto)
0
647
∞
Apple iPhone 8 (Max Auto)
0.468
640
1368
Samsung Galaxy S8 Max auto
0
618
∞
Sony Xperia XZ2
0.431
618
1434
LG V30 (Max Auto)
0.032
616
19250
Huawei P20 Pro (Max Auto)
0
582
∞
Apple iPhone 8 (Standard)
0.399
566
1419
Huawei P20
0.328
477
1454
Huawei Honor View 10
0.278
453
1629
Samsung Galaxy S8
0
440
∞
OnePlus 5T
0
437
∞
Google Pixel 2
0
432
∞
Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
0.3
415
1383
LG V30
0.002
414
207000
Huawei P20 Pro
0
412
∞
Samsung Galaxy Note8
0
412
∞
Samsung Galaxy S9
0
370
∞
HTC U11+
0.19
309
1626
The LTPS IPS LCD it got, however, is quite decent. Well, it has its ups and downs. Opting to hide the notch entirely from the UI is not exactly as convincing on an LCD because the black line is not as deep as on an AMOLED.
It doesn't help either that even at its minimum brightness level, the P20 still shows some notable light bleed in the black.
Still, the screen is not too shabby. Combined with a decent maximum brightness of 477 nits (only achievable in vivid mode), it adds up to a perfectly usable contrast ratio.
Sunlight legibility is not record-breaking, but the P20 remains perfectly usable outdoors. Plus, the LCD in the P20 has an incredibly bright Max Auto mode, which can help when battling sunlight.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Apple iPhone X 5.013
OnePlus 5T 4.789
Samsung Galaxy S8 4.768
Samsung Galaxy S8+ 4.658
Samsung Galaxy S9 4.63
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 4.615
Samsung Galaxy S9+ 4.537
Motorola Moto Z2 Play 4.459
Oppo R11 4.454
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge 4.439
OnePlus 3 4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7 4.376
HTC One A9 4.274
Samsung Galaxy Note7 4.247
Samsung Galaxy A3 4.241
Nokia 8 4.239
Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update) 4.234
OnePlus 3T 4.232
Google Pixel XL 4.164
ZTE Axon 7 4.154
Samsung Galaxy Note8 4.148
Meizu Pro 7 Plus 4.147
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 4.124
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 4.124
Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal) 4.096
Samsung Galaxy Note5 4.09
Huawei P20 Pro 4.087
Google Pixel 2 (pre-update) 4.023
LG V30 4.022
Huawei Nexus 6P 4.019
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro 3.998
OnePlus X 3.983
Vivo Xplay5 Elite 3.983
Oppo R7s 3.964
Apple iPhone 7 3.964
Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone) 3.957
Huawei P9 Plus 3.956
Meizu Pro 6 Plus 3.935
Lenovo Moto Z 3.931
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) 3.918
OnePlus 5 3.914
Samsung Galaxy C5 3.911
Samsung Galaxy C7 3.896
Samsung Galaxy A5 3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor 3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor 3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8 3.859
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) 3.842
Sony Xperia XZs 3.818
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) 3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) 3.812
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) 3.804
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode 3.802
Xiaomi Redmi Pro 3.798
LG V20 Max auto 3.798
Sony Xperia XZ 3.795
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) 3.789
Apple iPhone 6s 3.783
Meizu Pro 5 3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650 3.772
Xiaomi Mi 6 3.767
Sony Xperia XZ1 3.765
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) 3.756
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact 3.729
Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone) 3.725
Oppo F1 Plus 3.709
Vivo X5Pro 3.706
Sony Xperia X Compact 3.694
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) 3.688
Huawei P20 3.683
Apple iPhone SE 3.681
Huawei Mate 9 3.68
Samsung Galaxy A7 3.679
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact 3.675
Meizu PRO 6 3.659
BlackBerry Priv 3.645
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 3.597
Apple iPhone 7 Plus 3.588
Sony Xperia XZ2 3.58
LG G6 3.556
Apple iPhone 6s Plus 3.53
Motorola Moto Z Play 3.526
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) 3.523
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode 3.523
Acer Jade Primo 3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950 3.512
Oppo R7 Plus 3.499
nubia Z11 3.466
Huawei P10 Plus 3.456
HTC U Ultra 3.453
Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra 3.445
Samsung Galaxy J7 3.422
Meizu MX5 3.416
LG V20 3.402
Huawei P10 3.379
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) 3.378
Oppo R9s 3.352
Honor 8 Pro 3.341
Oppo R7 3.32
Lenovo P2 3.316
Archos Diamond Omega 3.305
Honor 9 3.289
Xiaomi Mi 5s 3.276
Nokia 5 3.261
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 3.244
Nokia 6 (Global version) 3.238
Samsung Galaxy J2 3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance 3.234
Xiaomi Mi Note 2 3.228
Motorola Moto X Play 3.222
Oppo F3 Plus 3.218
Huawei Mate 9 Pro 3.206
Huawei P9 3.195
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 3.19
ZTE Nubia Z17 3.159
Oppo R11s 3.153
Lenovo Vibe Shot 3.113
HTC U11 Life 3.108
Motorola Moto X Force 3.105
LG Nexus 5X 3.092
HTC U11 3.089
Huawei Mate S 3.073
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 3.065
Apple iPhone 6 Plus 3.023
Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL 3.019
Sony Xperia XA1 3.012
Motorola Moto X4 3.012
Sony Xperia L1 2.994
Sony Xperia X 2.989
LG Q6 2.987
Huawei P10 Lite 2.974
Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97
Xiaomi Redmi 5 2.951
Huawei Mate 8 2.949
Sony Xperia XA2 2.938
Xiaomi Redmi 4 2.92
Xiaomi Redmi 3S 2.913
Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus 2.913
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 2.906
LG G5 2.905
Huawei Honor View 10 2.896
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime 2.893
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 2.884
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB) 2.877
Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2.877
Sony Xperia Z5 2.876
Nokia 3 2.871
Microsoft Lumia 550 2.851
Lenovo Moto M 2.813
Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro 2.803
Sony Xperia Z5 compact 2.784
Nokia 2 2.752
Meizu MX6 2.751
LG V10 2.744
Huawei Mate 10 (normal) 2.742
Motorola Moto G5S Plus 2.737
Xiaomi Redmi 3 2.735
Huawei Honor 7X 2.734
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 2.714
Meizu M5 2.71
Sony Xperia M5 2.69
Xiaomi Mi A1 2.689
Huawei P9 Lite 2.679
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime 2.679
vivo V7+ 2.671
Vivo V3Max 2.659
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.658
Huawei Mate 10 Lite 2.654
Oppo F5 2.653
Doogee Mix 2.642
Xiaomi Mi 4i 2.641
Xiaomi Redmi 4a 2.635
Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard) 2.616
Sony Xperia XA 2.609
Motorola Moto G4 Plus 2.582
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto) 2.582
Meizu M5s 2.58
Xiaomi Mi 4c 2.574
LeEco Le Max 2 2.567
Microsoft Lumia 640 2.563
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL 2.563
Huawei P Smart 2.563
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 2.561
HTC U11+ 2.556
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1) 2.556
Lenovo Moto G4 2.544
Lenovo K6 Note 2.544
Oppo F1 2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium 2.525
Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c 2.506
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua 2.503
BlackBerry Motion 2.494
Oppo F1s 2.481
Motorola Moto G 2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus 2.473
Huawei G8 2.471
Huawei nova 2.467
Sony Xperia Z 2.462
Lenovo Vibe K5 2.459
Meizu m3 max 2.447
Xiaomi Mi 4 2.424
Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto) 2.417
HTC 10 evo 2.407
Huawei Honor 7 2.406
Vivo V7 2.404
Sony Xperia E5 2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo 2.382
HTC 10 2.378
Oppo F3 2.376
vivo V5 Plus 2.371
Meizu m1 note 2.362
Huawei nova plus 2.329
Razer Phone 2.328
HTC One E9+ 2.305
Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272
Sony Xperia L2 2.266
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note 2.254
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra 2.253
HTC U11+ (EU) 2.253
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek) 2.249
Sony Xperia C4 Dual 2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note 2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014) 2.233
LG Nexus 5 2.228
Huawei P8 2.196
Meizu M5 Note 2.189
Huawei Honor 6 2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 2.166
OnePlus Two 2.165
HTC One X 2.158
LG Aka 2.145
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20) 2.145
Archos 50 Diamond 2.134
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.119
Xiaomi Mi 4S 2.095
Acer Liquid X2 2.084
Huawei P8lite 2.078
vivo V5 2.059
Moto G 3rd gen max manual 2.026
Xiaomi Mi 3 2.001
Xiaomi Mi Max 1.996
Sony Xperia E4g 1.972
OnePlus One 1.961
Sony Xperia Z2 1.944
Meizu m3 note 1.923
BlackBerry Leap 1.892
Meizu m2 note 1.892
HTC Butterfly 1.873
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini 1.759
Sony Xperia U 1.758
Asus Zenfone Selfie 1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) 1.675
ZTE Nubia Z9 1.659
Jolla Jolla 1.605
Motorola Moto E 1.545
Sony Xperia M 1.473
Sony Xperia L 1.351
HTC Desire C 1.3
Sony Xperia C 1.283
Meizu MX 1.221
Sony Xperia E 1.215
As for the really positive aspects of Huawei's LCD of choice, it is really color accurate, with an average deltaE of just 2.1 and a maximum of 3.6. Interestingly enough, these numbers were achieved using the default factory settings in Normal mode. The P20 also offers a vivid mode, as well as an interface to fine-tune the white point. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't get better results fiddling with the settings. So just leave it on normal for color accuracy and vivid for a punchier color pallet.
Battery
Huawei has never been one to skimp on the battery capacity in general. Still, a smaller body does mean less room for everything. In the case of the P20, the reduction is down to 3,400 mAh, instead of the full 4,000 mAh, the P20 Pro gets. A 15% drop, or so, but still, and adequate capacity.
But it's not only about battery capacity, it's also what you do with it that's important.
Looking at the number breakdown in detail, we find the video playback and web browsing scores are barely affected by the lower capacity battery pack, compared to the P20 Pro. That's because the P20's smaller LCD is obviously more frugal in the screen-on tests. The 3G talk time has taken a more notable hit. Nothing too drastic, though.
The bulk of the endurance difference between the P20 pair manifests itself in standby time. Still, 75 hours is a strong showing, overall. Quite similar to what the Huawei Mate 10 Lite manages to squeeze out of its slightly smaller battery, with slightly less potent internals.
Despite its lower capacity, the battery in the regular P20 still offers fast charging capabilities. Huawei's custom solution requires using a compatible charger and special cable combo, which is kind of a bummer in 2018. Still, we can't be too cross, since the 4.5V/5A SuperCharge adapter can bring the P20 from 0% to about 65% in around 30 minutes.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Huawei P20 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Loudspeaker
The Huawei P20 has a single bottom-firing speaker at its disposal. The lack of stereo is kind of a bummer. Then again, Samsung only recently made the push to a hybrid setup, so, Huawei is not exactly behind the curve on this one.
Speakerphone test
Voice, dB
Pink noise/ Music, dB
Ringing phone, dB
Overall score
Huawei P20 (Film)
65.0
67.8
75.0
Average
Samsung Galaxy Note8
67.8
69.5
71.5
Good
Samsung Galaxy S8
66.2
70.5
72.5
Good
Sony Xperia XZ2 (ClearAudio+)
66.0
71.6
76.4
Good
Sony Xperia XZ2
66.1
71.8
78.1
Good
Apple iPhone X
68.9
74.0
76.2
Very Good
Huawei P10
67.7
70.0
83.6
Very Good
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
67.6
71.0
82.7
Very Good
Huawei P20 (Music)
65.1
70.5
86.6
Very Good
Samsung Galaxy S9
68.5
74.3
81.1
Very Good
Huawei P20
66.6
69.8
90.0
Very Good
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
70.1
73.8
84.2
Excellent
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
76.0
74.6
79.0
Excellent
Huawei P20 Pro
71.8
69.2
91.0
Excellent
Nokia 8
88.0
77.1
81.4
Excellent
Huawei Mate 10
90.6
73.7
84.0
Excellent
It's a decent speaker as well - a bit quieter than the P20 Pro overall. But that is more or less expected, given the phone's smaller body.
The Dolby Atmos sound enhancement is always on with a few different modes available depending on your sound source but to really appreciate it, it's best to use headphones as the single speaker is hardly able to reproduce multi-channel audio well.
Audio quality
The Huawei P20 delivered excellently clean output with an active external amplifier, but much like its larger Pro sibling it was let down by its below average loudness.
It was mostly the same story when we plugged in headphones as the volume went further down, but overall output was still nicely accurate. A moderate hike in stereo crosstalk was all the clarity damage we observed, which isn’t bad at all. So those using high impedance headphones might want to keep away from this one - everyone else should be pleased with it.
Test
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD
IMD + Noise
Stereo crosstalk
Huawei P20
+0.01, -0.04
-92.4
92.7
0.0023
0.011
-92.7
Huawei P20 (headphones)
+0.23, -0.06
-92.0
92.2
0.0029
0.096
-65.2
Huawei P20 Pro
+0.01, -0.04
-92.1
92.3
0.0050
0.012
-92.1
Huawei P20 Pro (headphones)
+0.25, -0.10
-91.9
92.9
0.0021
0.117
-65.9
Oppo R15 Pro
+0.01, -0.02
-93.7
93.5
0.0009
0.0065
-92.0
Oppo R15 Pro (headphones)
+0.46, -0.10
-92.8
93.3
0.0079
0.290
-56.6
Samsung Galaxy S9+
+0.01, -0.03
-92.6
92.5
0.0012
0.0076
-93.4
Samsung Galaxy S9+ (headphones)
+0.03, -0.03
-92.2
92.2
0.0017
0.042
-76.3
HTC U11
+0.05, -0.11
-94.1
94.1
0.0017
0.0067
-94.5
HTC U11 (headphones)
+0.05, -0.02
-93.7
93.8
0.0018
0.105
-53.7
LG V30
+0.02, -0.01
-93.2
93.1
0.0008
0.0069
-94.2
LG V30 (headphones)
+0.03, -0.02
-92.9
92.9
0.0057
0.051
-68.1
Huawei P20 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
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