No one is likely to doubt Huawei P40 Pro+’s phone photography capabilities. It doesn’t have Google services, but through its photos it’s right at the absolute top of the mobile world.
The Gizmochina portal pitted this model against the most equipped Xiaomi, whose camera offers a 48-megapixel resolution and up to 120x zoom. In the test, none of the smartphones held anything back. Which one takes better photos?
Mi 10 Ultra vs P40 Pro Plus: Camera specs comparison
| Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra | Huawei P40 Pro Plus | |
| Main camera | 48 Mpix, f/1.9, pixel size 1.2 µm, optical image stabilization | 50 Mpix, f/1.9, pixel size 2.44 µm, optical image stabilization |
| Telephoto | 12 Mpix, f/2.0, 2x optical zoom
+ 48 Mpix, f/4.1, optical image stabilization, 5x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom |
8 Mpix, f/2.4, optical image stabilization, 3x optical zoom
+ 8 Mpix, f/4.4, optical image stabilization, 10x optical zoom |
| Ultra-wide lens | 20 Mpix, f/2.2 | 40 Mpix, f/1.8, autofocus |
| – | ToF sensor | |
| Front camera | 20 Mpix, f/2.3 | 32 Mpix, f/2.2 + ToF |
| Video resolution | 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps | 4K@60fps |
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+: Main camera
The first photo created by Xiaomi looks noticeably more natural. Huawei went for warmer colors, and the photo is almost unnecessarily overexposed. In terms of the amount of detail, there’s not much to criticize for either of the two smartphones—both shots are nicely sharp across the whole frame.
In the second photo, Huawei shows off its strengths in dynamic range, which is better here than on the Mi 10 Ultra. Once again, both photos are high quality, sharp, and have good colors. Huawei is a bit more saturated, and the sky looks better. The building, on the other hand, is subjectively a little better in the Xiaomi photo.
Mi 10 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+: Ultra-wide camera
Huawei’s first photo is quite overexposed—it’s most visible in the highlights. In this respect, Xiaomi is better. Xiaomi also wins with a wider field of view, while Huawei, thanks to higher resolution, is a bit more detailed.
In the second photo, Huawei again chose brighter colors, which are also more contrasty. Xiaomi’s advantage in the wider field of view shows through again. That’s exactly where the difference is most noticeable—in these kind of “city” photos. Apart from these differences, both photos are nicely sharp; the Xiaomi image could still be a bit brighter.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+: Zoom
Both devices offer up to two telephoto lenses. That comes in handy because not always do we want to shoot with 10-x magnification, where we use a telephoto lens. If we zoomed in, for example, five times, the device would still use the main sensor and the zoom would only be digital.
Which means a less good-quality photo. That’s why both manufacturers also provide another, basic telephoto lens with a smaller optical zoom.
The first photo clearly goes in Huawei’s favor. It’s more contrasty with more natural colors. The Xiaomi photo looks a bit washed out. But what ultimately matters is the level of detail—Huawei has substantially more.
In the second photo, you can clearly see a solid difference in capturing detail in Huawei’s favor. The subject in the center is much sharper, and Huawei captured its imperfections better. Again, you can notice differences in how the two models handled color and lighting.
The biggest quality difference is visible in the third photo, which favors Huawei even more. The amount of detail is quite literally unbelievable. Xiaomi does very well, but once you zoom in, the winner is obvious.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra vs Huawei P40 Pro+: Night mode
Both models offer a special night mode that can significantly improve night photos. Huawei has been showing for a while that it’s looking for a competitor in night photography only very difficult to find. The P40 Pro+ is further proof of that.
His algorithm focuses mainly on a natural enhancement of the details the sensor couldn’t capture well enough. Xiaomi takes a slightly different route. It brightens the photo overall, sometimes to an unnatural extent. At first glance, such a photo looks really good, but that’s exactly the natural look that needs to be maintained.
Huawei will deliver substantially more natural colors on the first photo. Xiaomi leans more into pink tones and pulls out warmer colors overall. It doesn’t look bad, but in a direct comparison the Huawei photo is simply better. And the same applies to the amount of captured details.
The second photo was created using the ultra-wide sensors of both smartphones. Xiaomi has a significantly wider field of view, while Huawei misses some colors. They’re not missing on Xiaomi either—though in reality it’s somewhere in between. We praise Huawei for the amount of details, but Xiaomi didn’t let itself be outdone either.
Verdict: Which one shoots better?
This verdict is purely subjective and is based on the photos you had the chance to see in this article. Huawei is better at zooming in, offering sharper shots, and the 10-times optical zoom is a very strong point.
The Xiaomi ultra-wide sensor provides a much wider field of view. And that’s exactly the point. Huawei can’t save things in this respect—even with high resolution. As for the main sensors, the results are very similar. Both models offer great dynamic range and plenty of details. Night shots are better on Huawei.
Photo source: Gizmochina.com
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