Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Fierce Battle of Flagships

China-based smartphone manufacturer Huawei recently launched its flagship P30 series (P30 and P30 Pro) at an event held in Paris, France. The phones are currently available for European market only but is expected to hit the Indian market soon as eCommerce giant Amazon.in has already gone live with a dedicated landing page for the same (without mentioning pricing or launch date). The Huawei P30 Pro, successor to Huawei P20 Pro, is the better of the two phones which competes against the other flagships like Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and Apple iPhone XS Max. All three phones come loaded with strong set of features and specifications. Samsung and Apple are relatively bigger brands in smartphone market with higher market share whereas Huawei is a newcomer but has launched several good products in the recent past. So, which one should you buy? Continue reading further to find out as today we are going to compare all three phones on several key parameters like…

• Price in India
• Design and Display
• Processor and Memory (RAM + Storage)
• Battery
• Software (Operating System)
• Camera Configuration

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Price in India

As mentioned earlier, the Huawei P30 Pro is currently launched only for the European market where is it is priced at EUR 999 (approximately Rs. 77,800) for the base variant with 8GB RAM + 128GB onboard storage variant, EUR 1099 (approximately Rs. 85,000) for the 8GB RAM + 256GB onboard storage variant and EUR 1,249 (approximately Rs. 97,200) for the 8GB RAM + 512GB onboard storage variant. However, the price in India will be slightly lower than the converted value in INR as the European prices are often relatively higher. There will be four colour options available for the interested buyers- Amber Sunrise, Pearl White, Black, Aurora and Blue Crystal.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus pricing details in India are,

• 8GB RAM + 128GB inbuilt storage variant priced at Rs. 73,900 (Ceramic Black and Ceramic White)
• 8GB RAM + 512GB inbuilt storage variant priced at Rs. 91,900 Ceramic Black and Ceramic White)
• 12GB RAM + 1TB inbuilt storage variant priced at Rs. 1,17,900 (Prism Black, Prism Blue, and Prism White)

The iPhone XS Max price in India is set at Rs. 1,09,900 for the 64GB memory variant, Rs. 1,24,900 for the 256GB memory variant and Rs. 1,44,900 for the 512GB memory variant. It gets a new Gold colour option, apart from Space Grey and Silver.

Needless to mention that the iPhone XS Max is the most expensive one of the three phones, while the other two seem to be priced in a similar price range. Let’s compare the specs to find out if the pricing if justified.

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Design and Display

In terms of design, all three phones feature glass front as well as back and they are IP68 certified for protection against dust and scratches. Design is a matter of choice, but we feel the Galaxy S10 Plus has a unique punch hole display which makes it stand out from the other two.

The Huawei P30 sports a 6.47-inch display with full-HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 aspect ratio and ~398 ppi pixel density. Huawei has included in-display fingerprint sensors under the panel and the phone gets a dew drop shaped notch at the top.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus comes equipped with a 6.4-inch QHD+ Curved Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O Display with 19:9 aspect ratio but having a lower pixel density of 438ppi. It also features an in-display fingerprint scanner which uses am ultrasonic technology. The phone gets a unique punch-hole display which offers a better real estate.

The iPhone Max gets a slightly larger 6.5-inch OLED Super Retina panel with a 1242×2688 pixel screen resolution, 120Hz touch sensing and 3D Touch. There’s a wide notch at the top of the display that houses the selfie camera and sensors required for 3D Face Unlock that Apple refers to as FaceID.

All three phones are almost at par with each other in terms of display size and screen resolution. In our view the Galaxy S10 Plus gets a slight upper hand due to its Infinity-O AMOLED display which has a good colour reproduction as compared to the other two. However, you can take the decision based on your experience and preference.

In terms of dimensions, the Huawei P30 Pro measures in at 158 x 73.4 x 8.4 mm and weighs about 192 grams. The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus measures 157.6 x 74.1 x 7.8 mm and weighs in at 175 grams. The iPhone XS Max has dimensions of 157.5 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm and weight of 208 grams. So, the Galaxy S10 Plus is the slimmest as well as the lightest of the three phones.

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Processor and Memory (RAM + Storage)

The Huawei P30 Pro is powered by 7nm manufacturing process-based octa-core Kirin 980 SoC with Mali-G76 GPU and 8GB of RAM. In terms of internal storage there is a choice between 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. The Galaxy S10 Plus is powered by 8nm octa-core Samsung Exynos 9820 SoC in India along with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM or 12GB LPDDR4x of RAM. There are three options in terms of internal storage 128GB, 512GB, and 1TB- all three of which are expandable up to 512GB via microSD card. The iPhone XS Max gets its power from latest A12 Bionic SoC, which is touted to be one of the first with a 7nm processor. It gets 4GB RAM and 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB of onboard storage. In terms of processor, it is difficult to compare the chipsets as they belong to different makers, so we won’t pick a winner here. In terms of RAM, the iPhone may be lagging behind with just 4GB of RAM but the better RAM doesn’t always mean better performance. What we can tell you is that all three phones put up a solid performance and none will leave you disappointed.

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Battery

Huawei P30 Pro is fueled by a 4,200mAh battery which comes with support for Huawei’s 40W super charge technology. It gets wireless as well as reverse wireless charging support. The Galaxy S10 Plus is backed by a slightly smaller 4,100mAh battery which supports 15W fast charging, while the iPhone XS Max gets the smallest 3,174mAh battery unit which has wireless and 15W fast charging support.

Again, the higher battery capacity doesn’t always mean better performance. The Huawei P30 Pro and Galaxy S10 Plus should be able to put a good show as compared to iPhone XS Max in this department. However, the iPhone XS Max won’t be lagging behind as much as it seems on paper.

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Software (Operating System)

The Huawei P30 Pro runs on Google’s latest Android 9 Pie with the company’s EMUI 9.1 on top, while the Galaxy S10 Plus runs on Android 9 Pie OS topped with Samsung’s own One UI. The iPhone XS Max runs iOS 12. User interface is a matter of choice, so we leave it up to you to decide that which one is better.

Huawei P30 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus vs iPhone XS Max: Camera Configuration

The Huawei P30 Pro sports an impressive quad rear camera set up which consists of 40-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.6 aperture + a 20-megapixel ultra-wide-angle secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture + an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with an f/3.4 aperture and a fourth Time-of-Flight (TOF) camera. For selfies and video calls, there’s a 32-megapixel snapper on the front.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus sports a triple camera set up on the back consisting of a 12-megapixel primary sensor with a variable aperture ranging from f/1.5 to f/2.4 + a 12-megapixel 45-degree lens telephoto sensor with an f/2.4 aperture + a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture. The front gets a dual selfie camera comprising of a 10-megapixel primary sensor + an 8-megapixel fixed focus RGB depth sensor featuring an f/2.2 aperture.

The Apple iPhone XS Max gets a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor with f/1.8 aperture + a 12-megapixel telephoto secondary sensor with f/2.4 aperture on the back. While the front gets a 7-megapixel RGB camera sensor with an f/2.2 aperture.

On paper, both Huawei P30 Pro as well as Galaxy S10 Plus have a good camera configuration. However, the camera performance is not just about having more megapixels or more no. of sensors. We suggest you refer to actual user reviews before you make a purchase decision that is based on camera output.

CompareRaja’s Verdict

There is definitely no clear winner in this battle, and you can pick any device based on your requirement and preferences. The iPhone XS Max is the most expensive of the three phones, but if you are an Apple fan then the there is no choice for you. The Huawei P30 Pro comes with a good camera set up as well as battery, while the Galaxy S10 Plus also has design to its advantage.

Here’s a quick specs comparison between Huawei P30 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and iPhone XS Max which will simplify your decision making process.