HUAWEI P60 series announced: One for the photography enthusiasts

HUAWEI just launched the Mate X3, and it brings plenty of interesting tech into a foldable phone. What if you don’t care about foldables, though? Fortunately, the Chinese brand has announced the HUAWEI P60 series alongside the Mate X3.

The P60 Pro is undoubtedly the star of the show here, and it stands out from other phones thanks to the white option having a “condensed” mother-of-pearl back cover, according to machine translation. In fact, the product listing notes that each pattern is unique. Otherwise, you’ve got so-called “feather sand glass” backs for the other color variants.

HUAWEI P60 Pro: A camera powerhouse

The P series has always excelled when it comes to photography, and it looks like the P60 Pro is no different. The new phone brings a triple rear camera system, with a 48MP “super-sensing” camera as your primary shooter. This camera boasts variable aperture support (f/1.4 to f/4.0) as well as an RYYB color filter for improved low-light snaps. It’s not the first time we’ve seen variable aperture capabilities on a HUAWEI handset, as the Mate 50 Pro packed this option too. But we’re still glad to see this feature in 2023, particularly as the industry moves to larger and larger camera sensors with a shallower depth of field.

Zoom is handled by a 48MP 3.5x periscope shooter. HUAWEI promises great low-light results with this camera too thanks to the use of an RYYB color filter and optical image stabilization. Oddly enough, the brand also says you’re getting a telephoto macro mode via this periscope lens, allowing you to take macro shots from further away. A 13MP ultrawide shooter rounds out this triple rear camera system, although you’ll also find a 13MP ultrawide shooter up-front for selfies.

As for the meat and potatoes of the P60 Pro, you’re getting a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 4G processor, a 6.67-inch LTPO 120Hz OLED screen (2,700 x 1,220), 256GB of expandable storage, a 4,815mAh battery, 88W wired charging, and 50W wireless charging.

Other notable features include Bluetooth 5.2 support, Harmony OS 3.1, an in-display fingerprint sensor, IR blaster, NM card slot for storage expansion, two-way satellite communication, and an IP68 rating.

What about the standard P60?

HUAWEI also had the vanilla model on offer in case you wanted to spend a little less. This phone shares a few features with the P60 Pro, such as that screen, the main camera, ultrawide rear camera, a 4,815mAh battery, 50W wireless charging, and that mother-of-pearl rear cover.

However, there are a number of downgrades to deliver a cheaper price tag. These compromises include a 12MP 5x periscope lens instead of a 3.5x 40MP shooter, 66W wired charging instead of 88W speeds, and what could be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 4G chipset rather than the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. It’s also unclear whether the standard P60 offers an IP68 rating.

HUAWEI P60 series pricing and availability

The new phones are available in China for now, starting at 4,488 yuan (~$657) for the 128GB P60. Meanwhile, the P60 Pro starts at 6,988 yuan (~$1,023) for the base 256GB variant. There’s no word on global availability, but it’ll undoubtedly lack Google integration if or when it leaves China.