Huawei P Smart Z: an interesting idea on paper

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.

New iteration in the P Smart range from Huawei, the P Smart Z stands out from its peers with a screen that occupies almost the entire front panel thanks to the addition of a retractable front camera. In a segment where the phones are jostling, and with its price of € 279, it will have to face the Oppo RX17 Neo, the Xiaomi Mi A2 or the very recent Honor 20 Lite.

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Ergonomics and design

This is a first for Huawei. To stand out in the face of stiff competition in the mid-range sector, the Chinese manufacturer has bet on the integration of a retractable photographic module. The main benefit of this technology is to dispense with a notch that cracks on the front surface.

Far from offering a panel covering the entire surface of the mobile, this Huawei P Smart Z has a screen with a size of 6.5 inches which occupies a little more than 81% of the front of the smartphone. It is an LCD screen with a definition of 2,340 x 1,080 px. The edges are rather thin, except on the lower part which accommodates a small chin.

As usual for some time with the brand, the back displays a glossy finish in two tones, a bit like that of Google Pixel 3. A barely noticeable demarcation which houses a fingerprint reader as well as two photo sensors of 16 and 2 MP.

The tour of the object concludes with the traditional placement of the volume and ignition buttons, located on the right edge. Nothing on the opposite side, the card slot being on the top. It can accommodate a dual-SIM configuration or a microSD card and a SIM card. Right next to him comes the front camera. The 3.5mm mini-jack port is located on the bottom edge, alongside the USB-C port and the speaker.

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Screen

The P Smart Z has a 6.5 inch screen with an IPS LCD panel with a definition of 2,340 x 1,080 px (391 ppi). To obtain very good colorimetric results, you will have to go to the settings. Indeed, the default settings are really not optimal, with a Delta E pointing to 3.4 and a color temperature exceeding 9,400 K.

To benefit from the best rendering, it will be necessary to use the "bright" color mode, which offers a Delta E of 1.5. Excellent value worthy of high-end smartphones. The color temperature is thus brought back to a value much closer to the standard (6,500 K) and measured at 7,076 Kelvin. It is still a little cold, but nothing really annoying to use.

The Huawei P Smart Z enjoys good readability in full sun, thanks to a maximum brightness which climbs to 490 cd / m² and a light reflection rate of 49%. At night, viewing content will also be comfortable, with a minimum brightness of 2.3 cd / m².

The remanence time of 13 ms and the tactile delay of 110 ms are not exceptional, but are still correct. Finally, the contrast ratio of the IPS panel reaches 1057: 1.

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Performances

The P Smart Z has a homemade chip (Kirin 710F), a kind of evolution of the Kirin 710 that equips the P Smart + 2019, for example. Coupled with 4 GB of RAM, it ensures good fluidity which allows use without real compromises. Especially since the temperature of the phone does not really go up when it is used.

For the game, an iGPU Mali-G51 is in control. Even if it is no longer a young child (it dates from 2016), it must be recognized that there is still enough to play big games, in particular PUBG which runs without problem at bottom, even if it will be content HD graphics, the smartphone does not support more.

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Audio

The output power of this 3.5mm mini jack is not the best and will not pay tribute to your most demanding headphones. However, it catches up with the rest since the distortion is excellent. The dynamics are also very good, as is the stereo reproduction.

In the absence of headphones, you can count on the speaker located on the lower edge. It will be particularly useful for watching videos or some stories on social networks, but will not be powerful enough to listen to music in good quality.

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Photo

Huawei's new smartphone offers two photo modules on the back. The main one has a 16 MP sensor with a lens opening at f / 1.8 and the second one has a 2 MP sensor and is only used to manage the depth of field. Theoretically, this main sensor should therefore offer better photos for portraits.

In broad daylight, the main sensor manages to stand up to that of the Honor 20 Lite, without however managing to exceed it. We note that, overall, the colors of the scene are duller and the details less marked. The fault with a little too heavy software processing on the side of the P Smart Z, which smooths a lot.

When night falls, P Smart Z manages to supplant its opponent. It shoots by mounting less in ISO (2,500 vs 3,200 ISO), which allows it to let appear less noise and avoid applying a far too powerful smoothing which could hide details. The exposure is also better controlled and does not burn the cliché.

The video is limited to Full HD 1080p, 60 frames per second or in 19.3: 9 format. With this smartphone without stabilization, you will have to be careful not to move too much during the recording, otherwise you will have poor quality videos.

For the front part, it is a module equipped with a 16 Mpx sensor with objective opening to f / 2.2 which will take care of your selfies. The quality is pretty good, especially since the capture is helped by artificial intelligence which will adapt to where you are. The bokeh proposed at the front is really not to the point, the clipping turns out to be complicated, especially at the level of the hair.

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Autonomy

The phone has a 4000 mAh battery. More than enough to give it a little more than two days of autonomy according to our SmartViser test. In number of hours, it's 7:01 pm, a very honorable time that puts it in front of its main opponents.

To fully charge it, you will have to wait approximately 2 hours with the supplied AC adapter.

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Conclusion

This new iteration of the P Smart could have been a very good mid-range smartphone if the photo part was not lacking as much. The front camera hidden in the edge is a good idea that saves space at the level of the slab. The autonomy and performance are more than worthy of a smartphone in this price range and it does much better than its competitors on these points. Nevertheless, the Honor 20 Lite and the Oppo RX17 Neo fared much better in photos and it was therefore difficult to recommend this Huawei, even if it remained interesting technologically speaking .-- /! \ Attention, the future software of this phone is uncertain given the sanctions taken by the United States against Huawei. /! \

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