"The HUAWEI P20 Series builds on the legacy of our collaboration with Leica. With a breakthrough triple camera on the HUAWEI P20 Pro, an advanced dual camera on the HUAWEI P20, and powerful artificial intelligence on both, today's most vibrant consumers can capture and share the brilliance of the world around them", announced Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei Consumer Business Group, at an exclusive global launch, held on 27 March, at the iconic Grand Palais, in Paris, France. 

The HUAWEI P20 devices include unprecedented artificial intelligence (AI) advances, combining technology and art to bring to life a groundbreaking smartphone experience, as well as some remarkable augmented reality features (AR). "We look for inspiration from artists to continuously evolve our approach to design and innovation," added Richard Yu.

The new P20 devices represent a "big jump and new technologies" compared with last year's P10. Clement Wong, head of global product marketing for Huawei, told l'express that "this time we are introducing professional camera technologies into the smartphones (...) The HUAWEI P20 Series translate into simple terms AI and AR concepts that used to be abstract to many of us."

Key features of the HUAWEI P20 Series include: 

• An advanced camera system to capture more light, more details and more beauty, featuring a revolutionary Leica triple camera and 5x Hybrid Zoom on the HUAWEI P20 Pro, and a Leica dual camera on the HUAWEI P20;  
• Innovative photography features, including Master AI with AI-driven professional photography and HUAWEI AIS (AI Image Stabilization), a powerful AI stabilization technology;
• A timeless design with barely-there bezels and all-new gradient colors;
• Ultimate performance, featuring the NPU on Kirin 970 and EMUI 8.1 based on Android™ 8.1 for a premium and smooth user experience. 

An Exquisite Combination of Art and Technology

The HUAWEI P20 Series features a striking, fashion-forward aesthetic. Most notably, the HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro come in all-new, exclusive, fashionable colors, Twilight and Pink Gold, achieved by applying several layers of NCVM* optical coatings underneath the glass back, so light hitting the surface refracts and creates a vivid, yet gradual change of hue. The HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro are also available in Black and Midnight Blue. 

The 5.8-inch screen HUAWEI P20 and 6.1-inch screen HUAWEI P20 Pro feature ultra-thin bezels and impressive screen-to-body ratios for better viewing experiences with more on-screen information, whether reading or gaming. The HUAWEI FullView Display seamlessly blends with rounded edges, making the device comfortable to hold. 

Inspired by Light and Technology

The HUAWEI P20 Series reflects the art of light, with camera features that enhance the smartphone photography experience. The HUAWEI P20 Pro features a Leica triple camera with the highest total pixel count on a smartphone available in the market – the camera configuration is comprised of a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens. It also features a color temperature sensor for better color reproduction. With f/1.8, f/1.6 and f/2.4 wide aperture to capture crisp, clear details, the HUAWEI P20 Pro also includes a brand new Leica 3x telephoto (VARIO-SUMMILUX-H 1:1.6-2.4/27-80ASPH) lens for long-range photography of up to 5x Hybrid Zoom. The HUAWEI P20 Pro's highly sensitive image sensor captures low light photos with up to ISO 102400. 

The HUAWEI P20 builds on its predecessor's foundation with a Leica dual camera featuring a 12MP lens with a pixel size as high as 1.55 μm, and a 20MP monochrome lens, enhancing the HUAWEI P20's ability to capture photos in low-light settings. 

The HUAWEI P20 Series devices support six-axis stabilization and 960fps super slow motion, which is 4x higher than the standard 240fps and captures details that cannot be seen with the naked eye. With Ultra Snapshot mode, the devices can capture an image in as little as 0.3 seconds by just double clicking the down volume button, even from an off screen.

Master AI Photography Experience for Everyone, Everywhere

With the Kirin 970 processor, the HUAWEI P20 Series automatically identifies more than 500 scenarios in 19 categories and selects photography modes and camera settings to deliver incredible, professional-looking images – even for novice photographers. In addition, HUAWEI AIS steadies handheld night shots for incredible long exposure images without a tripod. Brand new to Huawei's advanced camera system is 4D predictive focus. In this mode, the camera predicts moving objects and focuses on them with extreme efficiency to capture minute details of objects in motion. In addition, the HUAWEI P20 Series features AI-Assisted Composition, providing intelligent suggestions to frame group shots and landscapes.

The HUAWEI P20 and HUAWEI P20 Pro feature a 24MP selfie camera** with AI beautification and 3D portrait lighting – the result is beautiful selfies with healthy-looking skin tone adjustments, delicately outlined facial details and realistic 3D feature enhancements. 

Additionally, the HUAWEI HiAI Ecosystem enhances a variety of app experiences. For instance, the HUAWEI P20 Series includes on-device Prisma processing, which supports real-time filter recommendations based on scene and object recognition – the calculation speed is three to four times that of the cloud version. 

In partnership with Google, the HUAWEI P20 Series supports Google ARCore delivering advanced AR capabilities.

The Power of Shared Thinking

"None of us is as smart as all of us," author Ken Blanchard once said. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of the Chinese tech giant, Huawei: The Chinese surely understand the power of shared thinking and listening. They are among the best listeners I've met – a rare quality today. The result is that Huawei, little known some five years ago, is today selling millions and millions of smartphones around the world, across continents and oceans. And they have not said their last word: The Huawei folks are possibility thinkers who believe they can succeed in beating Apple and Samsung in the coming years or so. To achieve this goal they constantly think in terms of "We can, we will and we are!"

To become a global leader, Huawei has a simple plan (and of course the money to achieve it): bring together the world's best talents and resources to develop its global innovation capabilities. 

Of the 170,000 persons employed by Huawei, 76,500 work in Research & Development (R&D) around the world, including Paris, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Delhi. The ambitions of Huawei are clear: "Our goal is to take the lead in research, innovation, and implementation".

"From smartphones, connected cars, wearables to smart cities, mobile technology innovation continues to evolve, profoundly changing the relationship between humans and the world. Through continued aggressive investment in R&D, coupled with the brightest technical minds and talent, we are poised to create tomorrow's technology that will serve and empower mankind," emphasised Mr. Shao Yang, the president of Strategy Marketing, Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG), in 2016 when l'express was touring the Huawei HQ in Shenzhen.

One acclaimed illustration of the result of the Huawei's focus on innovation was the P9 series, the fruit of the partnership between Huawei and Leica. For more than a century, Leica has been regarded as the global leader in imaging, trusted by generations of the world's best photographers to capture history's most iconic moments, from space exploration to defining political events."The new Huawei p20 series take consumers to a whole new level in user experience and quality, delivering industry-leading innovations and an exceptional design for millions of consumers who not only want, but expect the very best," states Richard Yu.

Collaboration with Porsche Design Delivers a New Level of Luxury and Technology 

The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS combines Porsche Design's signature brand aesthetic with Huawei's mobile engineering expertise setting a new standard in luxury smartphones. The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS features a Leica triple camera with the highest total pixel count on a smartphone available in the market – the camera configuration is comprised of a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens. This is the world's first smartphone equipped with microcapsule PCM – an aerospace cooling technology for maintaining a safe temperature. In addition, the PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS features an innovative in-screen fingerprint sensor which allows consumers to wake up the device by floating their finger above the display, while touching the sensor to unlock the device is lightning fast. The back fingerprint sensor can also be used to unlock the device or to access a second, secure space. The 6-inch OLED 2K curved screen PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS is available in Black, and for the first time, in an eye-catching Red***.

Introduced on the HUAWEI Mate 10 Series, the HUAWEI P20 Series and PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS feature TÜV Safety Certified HUAWEI SuperCharge. Both the HUAWEI P20 Pro and PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS have a 4,000 mAh battery – the HUAWEI P20 features a 3,400 mAh battery – with AI-powered Battery Management. The PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate RS is the first Huawei smartphone to enable quick wireless charging.