For AUS market, pre-orders start 27 March (AEST) for 16 April availability. Worldwide launch is 26 March, Paris time,

For Australia, retail partners as well as Optus will sell the Dual SIM variants whereas Telstra and Vodafone will stock Single SIM variants. Typically, telcos prefer not to stock dual SIM handsets as these are seen as a competitive threat to their business if the end user is ‘allowed’ to insert a SIM from a competing telco and have it coexist with their SIM.

Dual SIM is old hat now, and the industry is transitioning to eSIM (embedded SIM) technology. IN addition, some chipsets such as those from Qualcomm even support Triple SIM. Telecommunications providers need to get over their paranoia and look at how past innovations have been adopted and embrace these new technologies. Once upon a time MP3 ringtones were software blocked by telcos as this was seen as competitive to their own ringtone stores and some telcos still block device tethering.

Note that the P30s are Dual 4G active SIM, which means both SIM cards will be connected to 4G and be online simultaneously. Older devices such as the P10 Plus and devices from Motorola are 4G+3G, meaning one SIM will connect at 4G and the other 3G.

Huawei did not discuss with us any ‘P30 Lite’ model or Mate 30 but given Huawei’s record of accomplishment, it is safe to assume a P30 Lite will be released but its availability may be region dependant. Ditto the next generation of the Mate family, which should include the new advances and features from the P30.

Huawei themselves are providing a bonus Sonos One Smart speaker available via redemption which has been on sale in AUS for A$250+

There is two years pickup and return warranty on the P30 due to this device being a flagship and available on contracts compared to cheaper prepaid phones. Most phone plans in AUS are two years and there are regulations to ensure phones supplied under a plan versus bought outright are covered by warranty. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-17/mobile-phones-engineered-with-built-in-obsolescence/5818410

The free pickup and return is a very appreciated feature in light of people becoming more time conscious and for those in remote areas.

Verdict

If you have a several generation old device and want to upgrade, now is the time and the P30 is an ideal candidate. It offers performance improvements in leaps and bounds over a several year old device in the areas of processor, imaging and display.

With the camera alone, the main feature for this new phone the difference in capabilities compared to the older devices is night and day.

The imaging sensors have better low light sensitivity, ‘AI’, plus Telephoto assist focus and wide optical zoom modes are introduced. Just a single photo is enough to show a big difference between the P10 of 2017 which supports only 2X Optical Zoom and the P30 of 2019 and its superior performance.

The P30 Pro is feature packed but what is it missing compared to the Samsung S10+? The S10 does not have a controversial ‘notch’, instead having a floating camera aperture (fine, call it a notch) that houses both front sensors. P30 Pro and S10+ Front selfie cameras are not the same and cannot be compared based just on megapixel count.

S10+ has Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, otherwise known as 802.11ax, the absolute latest Wi-Fi standard with the highest throughput speeds, while this is attractive to early adopters; the fact is Wi-Fi 6 routers are almost non-existent. There are a few on the market, but.

P30 comes in two vivid pearlescent colours, while S10 comes in a prism finish (versus Huawei ‘crystal’), white, black and green and ceramic finishes which are choices that are more conservative for some people. S10 has a glass or ceramic finish

Only the P30 Pro is water and dust resistant rated to IP68 while all three versions of the S10 are.

P30 comes with a 2340x1080 OLED screen while S10 has a Quad HD screen

All 3 variants of S10 have a 3.5” headphone jack while only the P30 does, the P30 pro comes with USB headphones.

Me personally? I want a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6, FM Radio, Full HDR display and capture and guaranteed Android software updates for a time period, but that is just me and my own preferences and given other devices may have these I am not far off track.

As I said at the start of this review the focus of the P30 is the camera and it's results speak for themselves and the phone does deserve the accolades and hype surrounding it. The P30 is so good as a camera that the case for replacing a point and shoot camera keeps getting stronger if not already decided.

As with these things, especially in the imaging department there would be something better coming this year but from who remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure Huawei have established a camera track record going back several generations of P series handsets now and this trend should continue.