When publishing this review, HUAWEI just released its latest flagship smartphone in Europe: the HUAWEI P60 Pro. As one of the first people to test it, I can say that it’s an impressive smartphone in many key areas, from its elegant design to the outstanding camera system. And, if you compare it to other flagship devices from Samsung and Apple, the fast charging of the HUAWEI P60 Pro is also excellent. But… is this enough to make it a great choice for you? Read this review and find out:

HUAWEI P60 Pro: Who is it good for?

This smartphone is an excellent choice if you:

• Want a large, solid, and reliable smartphone
• Are looking for a beautiful premium device
• Want a smartphone with an impressive camera system
• Are invested in HUAWEI’s ecosystem

Pros and cons

Here’s what I like about the HUAWEI P60 Pro:

• Elegant design
• Beautiful, fast, adaptive display
• Excellent build quality
• Superb fast charging
• High-tech camera system with excellent night photography

There are downsides to consider as well:

• No support for 5G mobile networks
• Equipped with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• Google Mobile Services and Android Auto are missing
• The ultrawide lens on the back is not as great as the others

Verdict

HUAWEI P60 Pro looks and feels like a flagship device. Its design is elegant, it has a beautiful display, and the quality of its materials is excellent. This smartphone also aims to be a great device for photography and video recording. With a few minor exceptions, it delivers on this promise. While it lacks the latest 5G hardware you find on other flagship smartphones, it offers first-class performance, excellent autonomy, and fast charging. If you’re already invested in HUAWEI’s ecosystem, the P60 Pro is a great companion that integrates beautifully with your other devices. However, if you’re not familiar with HUAWEI devices, you should make sure that you’re ok with this smartphone‘s unique combination of strengths and weaknesses before making your purchase.

Unboxing the HUAWEI P60 Pro

The packaging for HUAWEI P60 Pro is simple and elegant, following the design lines of other premium smartphones from this manufacturer. The box is all white, featuring the phone’s name on the top cover, along with logos discreetly promoting the XMAGE imaging system, the durable Kunlun Glass used on this smartphone, and its AppGallery application store.

HUAWEI P60 Pro comes in a white cardboard box

On the sides, there’s little printed information, except for a sticker sharing details like the serial number of the device you just bought and a few details about its hardware configuration, including how much RAM and storage you get. When you open the box, you see the smartphone nicely protected by transparent paper foil.

Opening the box reveleas the phone you just bought

Under the phone, you find the charger, a USB Type-C cable, and another smaller box containing a flexible clear case, a SIM ejection tool, a quick start guide and warranty card.

All the items found inside the box

Unboxing the HUAWEI P60 Pro is a pleasant experience. Unlike other premium smartphones, you get a fast charger included with your smartphone and a useful protective case, which is great.

Design and build quality

When you first touch and use a HUAWEI P60 Pro, you’re likely to be impressed by three aspects: size, colors, and materials used to build it. First, its size: at 6.67 inches, it’s not a small phone. Its dimensions are 6.3 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches or 161 x 74.5 x 8.3 mm in height x width x depth. Therefore, women and people with smaller hands might find it too big. It also weighs around 7.05 oz or 200 grams, which is typical for a device of such dimensions. The phone’s curved screen is protected by Kunlun Glass, made by HUAWEI as an alternative to Gorilla Glass Victus 2. In some tests online, it looks like Kunlun Glass is more durable, which is great.

HUAWEI P60 Pro is protected by Kunlun Glass

The other two aspects you will appreciate are the colors and materials used for the back of the HUAWEI P60 Pro, as well as the camera system. The Rococo Pearl color version I received in testing looks amazing, and the back of the phone feels very smooth when you touch it. Also, no matter how often you use the smartphone, it doesn’t catch any fingerprints due to its excellent coating. The main camera looks impressive, highlighting the company’s focus on delivering a great photo and video experience on the HUAWEI P60 Pro.

The Rococo Pearl version is stunning

HUAWEI P60 Pro comes in four colors: Rococo Pearl, Violet, Black, and Green. You can see them in the picture below. I prefer Rococo Pearl and Black. What about you?

The color versions for HUAWEI P60 Pro

The frame of the HUAWEI P60 Pro is made of aluminum, and it doesn’t allow the phone to bend or break easily. When holding it, the smartphone feels durable and well-designed. You’ll be happy to know it has received a certification from Switzerland’s SGS, with a 5-star glass drop resistance rating. SGS is a multinational company that provides inspection, verification, testing, and certification services for traded goods. The phone is also IP68-rated for splash, water, and dust resistance, which is great.

When inspecting the left side of the HUAWEI P60 Pro, you see only the frame with no buttons on it. I found this design choice elegant and well-suited to the pearl texture of the device I’m testing.

The left side doesn't have any buttons

All the buttons are on the right, on the phone’s upper side. As you see in the picture below, the Power button is colored in red, a distinctive element for HUAWEI’s recent flagships.

The right side of HUAWEI P60 Pro

The top edge of the HUAWEI P60 Pro features a speaker, two inserts for the GSM antennas, and two holes for microphones.

The top edge of the phone

On the bottom edge, you find the second speaker, a USB-Type C 3.1 port, the main microphone, and the SIM tray.

The bottom edge of the phone

Turning the phone on reveals a tiny cutout for the selfie camera. And while only visible once configured, the fingerprint sensor is on its bottom side, under the screen.

Welcome to HUAWEI P60 Pro

HUAWEI P60 Pro is a well-designed smartphone made from durable materials, with a distinctive look and a spectacular Rococo Pearl color version. While its size and weight might not be to everyone’s taste, most users will probably appreciate its elegance.

Hardware specifications

HUAWEI continues to be affected by US sanctions, so it doesn’t have access to the latest 5G mobile hardware. Because of that, HUAWEI P60 Pro is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G, a processor that equipped last year’s flagship devices. Unfortunately, on the HUAWEI P60 Pro, its 5G capabilities are stripped out. Moreover, another important issue is that this processor is less energy efficient than this year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2, found on competing flagship smartphones from 2023. The smartphone is available with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage space or 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. If you plan on recording 4K videos with the HUAWEI P60 Pro, purchase the 512 GB version or extend its storage using a nano memory card.

The hardware specs

The 6.67" always-on display features an LTPO OLED panel with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and a 300 Hz touch sampling rate. Furthermore, the peak brightness is around 1500 nits, the resolution is 2700 x 1220 pixels, the screen’s density is an excellent 444 ppi (pixels per inch), and the screen-to-body ratio is 89.8%. In addition, the display’s color accuracy has received a TÜV Rheinland certification, which is a first in the world of smartphones. Looking at all these specs, it’s clear that the screen of the HUAWEI P60 Pro is one of the technical areas without any shortcomings compared to other similar flagship devices.

HUAWEI P60 Pro has a beautiful display

However, the true star is HUAWEI’s Ultra Lighting XMAGE Camera system on the back of the phone. It features a 48-megapixel wide lens with an impressive aperture of f/1.4~f/4.0, optical image stabilization, a 48-megapixel telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.1 and 3.5x optical zoom, and a 13-megapixel ultrawide lens with an aperture of f/2.2. The selfie camera on the front uses a 13-megapixel ultrawide lens with an aperture of f/2.4.

HUAWEI’s Ultra Lighting XMAGE Camera system

HUAWEI P60 Pro features stereo speakers and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, as you would expect from a flagship device. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth version offered is 5.2 instead of 5.3. Also, a 3.5 mm audio jack is lacking, and you only get a USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen1) port for charging or connecting your phone to other devices.

You get Bluetooth v5.2

However, you have NFC, GPS, and all the usual sensors: fingerprint sensor (under the screen), gravity sensor, infrared, Hall sensor (for position sensing), gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, laser sensor, and color temperature sensor.

The battery is non-removable, has a capacity of 4815 mAh, and can be charged with a 88 Watts fast charger that’s bundled with the phone. Wireless charging is also available at 50 Watts, which is great.

The 88 Watts fast charger comes with the phone

Lastly, HUAWEI P60 Pro is available in single SIM and dual SIM versions, with 4G mobile connectivity, in a dual stand-by implementation. For more technical information and all the official specs of this smartphone, visit this page: HUAWEI P60 Pro Specifications.

This smartphone has a unique combination of excellent hardware capabilities and limitations caused by the US ban on HUAWEI. That said, this phone manages to be a flagship device, with mostly excellent specifications, which should deliver a positive user experience. I encourage you to turn the page and read about the smartphone experience, camera quality, performance in benchmarks, and bundled software.