Huawei P Smart 2019 smartphone: efficiency without risk taking

Presentation

Updated 05/20/2019 at 02:20 PM

Attention, Google having ended its collaboration with Huawei / Honor, the future software of the launch mobiles is pending. We cannot advise you to invest in this mobile for the moment, its rating could be lowered soon.

Building on the success of the first P Smart of the name, Huawei puts the cover back less than a year later. On the program, the same promise: a minimum price for maximum performance. But in 2019, is the recipe still working? This is what we will see.

It must be said that at 249 € the competition is tough, especially internally, since Honor (subsidiary of Huawei) has an Honor Play which comes to hunt on the same lands, but also an Honor 8X and an Honor 10 Lite - including the P Smart is an almost exact copy, moreover - at the same price or almost.

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Ergonomics and design

As we noted during our first handling, the design of the P Smart 2019 is not devilishly original, but it is effective. By reducing the notch to a minimum, Huawei has managed to make a screen that occupies more than 80% of the front panel. Result, the 6.2 inch panel in 19: 9 format is not that impressive, although it will still have to forget the use of one hand.

The rounded plastic back lends a good grip to the phone, but it easily catches fingerprints. If we could have preferred the use of a "noble" material such as glass or metal, plastic has the advantage of reducing the weight of the phone which points to about 160 grams. So despite its massive side, the P Smart is rather light and "compact".

In hand, the phone is quite nice and Huawei shows that even at this price you can make a cellphone that exudes seriousness even if it is not entirely original. From the teardrop notch to the slightly rounded edges to the minimal borders, the phone follows the 2018/2019 aesthetic trends at a broken price.

On the technical side, we regret the adoption of a micro-USB socket and not USB-C, but on the rest the P Smart 2019 does things pretty well. The phone can accommodate a micro-SD card or two SIM cards and on the back sits a fairly fast and efficient fingerprint reader. No waterproofing certification is to be declared, but in this price range it is sadly not surprising.

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Screen

Good news, Huawei has also integrated a quality screen on its mobile. Fans of natural colors should opt for the "normal" profile with a "cold" color temperature for the best rendering. With this profile, we obtain a temperature of 6 326 Kelvin and a Delta E at 1.5, that is to say results which show almost no colorimetric drift. Those who prefer more vibrant colors will be able to opt for "bright" colors within the display settings.

The readability is less glorious, with a weak contrast which points to approximately 1,100: 1 and a maximum brightness also a little behind (376 cd / m²). Fortunately, the slab does not display too many reflections, which allows it to remain legible even when the sun hits directly on it. The minimum brightness reaches 1.7 cd / m², enough to save your retinas when you are the type to grab your phone under the duvet.

During use, no unacceptable defects are to be declared. The definition of 2,340 x 1,080 px is more than enough for 99% of uses and the afterglow and tactile delay are low enough (15 ms and 89 ms respectively) so as not to interfere with use. In short, the slab of the P Smart is rather a good surprise, and if it is not free from small faults, it still ensures a quite suitable experience.

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Performances

Huawei is making use of its Kirin 710 chip. After having integrated it on the P Smart +, the Honor 8X and the Honor 10 Lite, the component is found on this P Smart 2019 accompanied by 3 GB of RAM. A duo that does quite well since in everyday use, we do not notice any slowdowns or crashes. The most resource-hungry applications will, however, be able to push the phone to its limits.

But even under these conditions, the mobile can keep a cool head. You never notice more than 36 ° C on the surface, nothing to panic or fry your fingers.

The smartphone can run most of the titles in the Play Store without worries, but you have to accept some sacrifices on the graphics to ensure good fluidity.

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Audio

The Huawei P Smart 2019 will not necessarily be the favorite mobile of music lovers. The output power of the headphone jack is indeed too weak. Attention should be paid to the listening equipment coupled to the mobile. Too bad, because the signal is otherwise rather clean and the soundstage quite wide. Only the separation of the channels deserved to be better marked.

The single speaker located on the lower edge reproduces an extremely tight sound and which tends to saturate at full volume. Only the high mids are correctly restored. In short, we will avoid using it for music therefore.

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Photo

On the back of the P Smart 2019 there are, as is now the fashion, two photo sensors. The main point is 13 Mpx while the secondary 2 Mpx is used to capture depth information in order to create the "portrait" effect popularized by the iPhone.

And as on the first P Smart, the results are not transcendent. In broad daylight, the details are present, the color reproduction controlled and the white balance impeccable, but the image lacks sharpness and contrast. Facing the Redmi Note 6 Pro, the shot lacks relief. There are also a few pixel mush in places. However, all this is quibbling, the quality of the P Smart 2019 is far from being catastrophic in these conditions, but on its price range, we have seen better.

At night, on the other hand, it is not very pleasant. Huawei still has great efforts to make. Digital noise settles widely and spoils the quality of the shot. All the details are buried behind a fuzzy and orange veil due to the mismanagement of the white balance. The big lines are still there, but it's not great. Especially as a vignetting effect nibbles on the details on the corners of the image.

The front camera does a good job as long as there is plenty of light. The contrast is well controlled, the smoothing is light and the level of detail generous. Of course, it will be necessary to think of deactivating the embellishing effects and other "artificial intelligence" modes to have a result close to natural. We will also avoid "scenic" lighting which has great difficulty in providing convincing results.

On the other hand, the portrait mode is quite successful, with a clean clipping path - apart from in the most difficult places like curls of hair - and a nicely mastered bokeh. It's rare enough to be stressed.

Finally, no worries about video recording, everything is fluid and the light transitions are well controlled.

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Autonomy

By arming itself with a mid-range chip, one could suspect that the P Smart 2019 would ensure without too many problems on the side of autonomy. Without being at the level of the Redmi Note 6 Pro, the P Smart defends itself with 5:07 pm on the clock on our home autonomy test. What to hold two days in the practice of a "normal" use. If your use is more extensive, it will probably need to be recharged in the middle of the second day.

Speaking of recharging, it will take a little more than two hours to perk up the device entirely from scratch if you use the plug-in unit provided.

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Conclusion

Huawei has not taken many risks. This 2019 edition of the P Smart only gives a fresh blow to the characteristics of its predecessor. That said, improving a solid foundation is never a bad idea, and if you're ready to make a dash on photo quality, this P Smart is an interesting mobile. However, Xiaomi's Redmi Note 6 Pro still does slightly better .-- /! \ Warning, the future software of this phone is uncertain given the sanctions imposed by the United States against Huawei. /! \

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