Huawei's flagship smartphones - the P30 and P30 Pro - were revealed in March 2019, just over a month after Samsung's Galaxy S10 series. Both companies offer fantastic build qualities, premium finishes and a focus on photography, but which is the one to buy?

We've compared the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ to help you work out the differences, similarities and decide which might be the right one for you.

Price

  • P30: From £699
  • P30 Pro: From £899
  • Galaxy S10: From £799
  • Galaxy S10+: From £899

Huawei's P30 costs £699, while the P30 Pro starts at £899. You pay an extra £100 for the 256GB model and an extra £200 for the 512GB model.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 starts at £799 and the Galaxy S10+ starts at £899. It's another £200 for the 512GB storage model of both devices and another £500 for the 1TB S10+ model.

Huawei P30 Pro

Design

  • P30: 149.1 x 71.36 x 7.57mm, 165g
  • P30 Pro: 158 x 73.4 x 8.41mm, 192g
  • Galaxy S10: 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8mm, 157g
  • Galaxy S10+: 157.6 x 74.1 x 7.8mm, 175g-198g

The Huawei and Samsung devices all feature premium designs, offering a combination of metal and glass. The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro feature more exciting finish options, with pearlescent colours, though the Samsung devices are striking too.

On the rear, the Samsung S10 and S10+ both have a horizontal triple camera setup in the centre towards the top, while Huawei's P30 and P30 Pro opt for a vertical setup and a left-hand corner positioning. The P30 Pro has a fourth additional sensor below the flash module too, which we will go into more detail about in a minute.

Both Samsung devices and the Huawei P30 Pro are IP68 water and dust resistant, and offer reverse wireless charging. The Huawei P30 meanwhile, is IP53 rated and despite its glass back, it doesn't have wireless charging.

Display

  • P30: 6.1-inch, OLED, Full HD+, 19.5:9, 422ppi
  • P30 Pro: 6.47-inch, OLED, Full HD+, 19.5:9, 398ppi
  • Galaxy S10: 6.1-inch, OLED, Quad HD+, 19.5:9, 550ppi
  • Galaxy S10+: 6.4-inch, OLED, Quad HD+, 19.5:9, 522ppi

The Huawei and Samsung devices all offer almost all-screen fronts. The Samsung Galaxy S10 devices opt for a punch-hole front camera and a slim speaker slit where the screen meets the edge of the device. Both the S10 and S10+ have dual-edge displays.

The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro meanwhile, have a small water drop notch at the top of their displays, housing the front camera. The P30 Pro uses the screen as a speaker, meaning it doesn't require an ear piece, though the P30 does. The P30 Pro has a dual-curved display like the Samsung devices, while the P30 is flat.

In terms of sizing, the P30 and S10 are on par at 6.1-inches, and the S10+ and P30 Pro are nearly on par, though the P30 Pro is 0.7-inches larger than the S10+ at 6.47-inches. The S10 and S10+ offer higher resolutions though, resulting in sharper pixel densities.

The Samsung devices also both offer HDR10+ support, while Huawei's P30 and P30 Pro offer mobile HDR support too, but not HDR10+.

Both Samsung and Huawei devices have OLED panels for deep blacks and rich and vibrant colours.

Cameras

  • P30: Triple rear (40MP, 16MP, 8MP), 32MP front
  • P30 Pro: Quad rear (40MP, 20MP, 8MP), 32MP front
  • Galaxy S10: Triple rear (12MP, 12MP, 16MP), Single front (10MP)
  • Galaxy S10+: Triple rear (12MP, 12MP, 16MP), Dual front (10MP, 8MP)

The Huawei P30 has a 40-megapixel main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and an 8-megapixel zoom lens with an f/2.4 aperture. There is dual optical image stabilisation on board and the P30 offers 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom.

The P30 Pro has a 40-megapixel main sensor with an f/1.6 aperture, a 20-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and an 8-megapixel zoom lens with an f/3.4 aperture. There's also a fourth Time of Flight sensor for depth. There is dual OIS and the P30 Pro offers 5x optical zoom and 50x digital zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ both come with a 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor with a dual aperture between f/1.5 and f/2.4, a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor with an aperture of f/2.4 and a 16-megapixel ultra wide sensor with an aperture of f/2.2. The wide-angle and telephoto sensors both have OIS and both the S10 and S10+ have 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom.

On the front, the Galaxy S10 has a 10-megapixel sensor with an f/1.9 aperture while the S10+ has a dual front camera with a 10-megapixel sensor and an additional 8-megapixel f/2.2 aperture sensor. Huawei's P30 and P30 Pro both have a 32-megapixel sensor.

Hardware

  • P30: Kirin 980, 128GB storage, 6GB RAM, 3650mAh battery
  • P30 Pro: Kirin 980, 128GB storage, up to 512GB storage, 8GB RAM, 4200mAh battery
  • Galaxy S10: Exynos 9820 or SD855, up to 512GB storage, 8GB RAM, 3400mAh battery
  • Galaxy S10+: Exynos 9820 or SD855, up to 1TB storage, up to 12GB RAM, 4100mAh battery

Both the Huawei and Samsung devices offer flagship hardware, as you would expect. The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro run on the company's own Kirin 980 chip - the same as the Mate 20 Pro - while Samsung's Galaxy S10 and S10+ run on either Samsung's Exynos 9820 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855.

The P30 comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the P30 Pro comes with 8GB of RAM and three storage options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. Both will offer storage expansion through Huawei's Nano Memory card up to 256GB.

Samsung meanwhile, offers its Galaxy S10 in two storage models - 128GB and 512GB - both of which have 8GB of RAM and microSD support up to 512GB. The S10+ comes in three storage options - 128GB, 512GB and 1TB. The 128GB and 512GB models have 8GB RAM, while the 1TB model has 12GB RAM. They both offer microSD storage expansion up to 512GB.

In terms of battery, Huawei's P30 has a 3650mAh capacity and the P30 Pro has a 4200mAh capacity. The Samsung Galaxy S10 has a 3400mAh battery and the S10+ has a 4100mAh capacity. The P30 Pro, Galaxy S10 and S10+ all offer fast charging and reverse wireless charging. The P30 doesn't have wireless charging and it has slower fast charging than the Pro variant.

All four devices have in-display fingerprint sensors. The P30, S10 and S10+ also all have a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the P30 Pro does not.

Software

  • P30/P30 Pro: Android 9 with EMUI 9.1
  • Galaxy S10/S10+: Android 9 with One UI

The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro run on Android Pie with Huawei's EMUI 9.1 software over the top, while Samsung's Galaxy S10 and S10+ run on Android Pie with Samsung's One UI over the top.

The software experience will therefore be quite different between these devices. For more on what to expect and how the interfaces look, read our Huawei Mate 20 Pro tips and tricks or our Samsung Galaxy S10 tips and tricks to give you a better idea.

However, with Huawei getting itself stuck in the middle of a trade war between the US and China, things aren't looking so hot for the Chinese company right now, leaving a question mark over what might happen in the future. Huawei and Google have confirmed that this phone will be supported, but that support might not last the life of the device. You can find out more here.

Samsung Galaxy S10+

Conclusion

Both Samsung and Huawei offer premium, well-built and striking designs with flagship specifications, especially in the case of the P30 Pro and Galaxy S10+.

The P30 Pro is the one to buy out of the two Huawei devices, if your budget allows. It has a curved display, faster charging, a larger battery, bigger display, more camera functionality and it offers reverse wireless charging, compared to the P30.

The S10+ is the one to opt for out of the Samsung devices, for those after the latest and greatest specs at least. It has a larger display than the S10, a bigger battery, more camera functionality on the front and more RAM and storage options.

But which should you opt for out of Huawei or Samsung? Well, that will come down to personal preference - and the uncertainly surrounding Huawei makes us lean towards Samsung. The devices are similar in terms of specs on paper, though the Huawei P30 is that little bit cheaper. The P30 Pro meanwhile, has the same starting price as the S10+ but it takes the lead in the camera department - read our full reviews for all the details.

Watch our hands-on with the Huawei P30 Pro: