Camera Shootout: Huawei P10 vs. Huawei P9 vs. Huawei Mate 9 Pro

Huawei and Leica’s partnership have extended beyond the Huawei P9 series. Now, we have the third iteration of the Leica-branded dual-camera system on the new Huawei P10 smartphones. Although the P10 has the same hardware as the Mate 9 series’ camera configuration – only the P10 Plus has the new f/1.8 lens – we were curious to see if they have similar camera performance too.

While we were still in Barcelona for MWC 2017, we decided to take the P10, P9, as well as the Mate 9 Pro around the beautiful city for a camera shootout. After we took several shots with these three devices, we were pleasantly surprised by the results – the P10 is an especially impressive shooter.

Without further ado, let’s see how they stack up to each other.

Click on image for full resolution (first images are shot with the Huawei P9, followed by the P10 and Mate 9 Pro)

Without a doubt the P10 takes the best-looking shot of La Sagrada Familia here. The P10’s shot is sharper, more detailed, and it has the most appealing colour reproduction. It’s definitely surprising to see that the Mate 9 Pro’s image differ that much from the P10’s; both devices have the same camera setup, after all.

Again, the P10’s shot is the most impressive here. While the Mate 9 Pro and P9’s images have an odd tint to them – especially on the whites of the Android figure – the P10’s image has more natural-looking colours. It’s the same case with the next set of images – the P10’s colour reproduction is definitely better.

All three devices took very good images here, but in comparison to the P10’s shot, the Mate 9 Pro and P9’s pictures look slightly washed out. It’s evident that the P10 has richer colours and better contrast control here too.

This is where things get more interesting and challenging. In daytime, the P10 outperforms the P9 and Mate 9 Pro, and – not surprisingly – the same still applies in more challenging lighting conditions. Take the P10 and Mate 9 Pro’s images here: although both images look just as bright, the P10’s image is not as noisy; it also managed to capture more details.

We can see just how different the P10, P9 and Mate 9 Pro handle shutter speed in this shot of a fountain in Catalunya Square. Although it’s not immediately noticeable, the P10 managed to be just a bit faster to capture the individual water droplets. That being said, the Mate 9 Pro’s image looks a tad brighter.

The Huawei P10’s dual-camera system has certainly been improved over its predecessor. What surprised us was the performance difference between the P10 and Mate 9 Pro despite the fact that both devices have the same camera configuration. It is evident Huawei has done some software tweaks for improved performance.

We will definitely take a closer look at the camera performance of the Huawei P10 in our full review. So far, we’re quite impressed with the P10, but it takes more than just a good camera to be a truly good flagship smartphone.