MANILA - Missing the third rear camera that sets its larger sibling apart from other flagships, it's easy to dismiss the Huawei P20 as a downgrade from the P20 Pro.

But taken on its own, the P20, with its Leica-engineered cameras, long battery life, bright display and premium, albeit conservative build, makes it a compelling choice for its P34,990 price tag.

DESIGN

There's no other color to get for the P20 (or the P20 Pro) aside from the gradient "twilight" that mimics the Northern Lights. It's sure to stand out from the sea of black and gold smartphones.

In black or blue, the P20 still holds its own, but in a more understated way. Our black review unit has a matte metal frame that makes it less slippery.

The lenses, logo and other markings are all on the left side, or top when the phone is held horizontally, as it should be when creating or consuming media, according to Huawei.

Like the iPhone X, average to large-sized hands can navigate fairly easily across the tall 5.8-inch display, except when swiping down from the top to call out the notification shade.

The notch on the front makes the device look like an iPhone X. But the screen cutout, which houses the earpiece and front-facing camera, can be disguised in the settings.

The LCD screen is full HD, one notch lower than most of the high-end competition, but text was nonetheless sharp and colors were rich. A lower resolution screen also helps save power.

CAMERAS

On paper, the P20 is like the P20 Pro minus the 5 times zoom function that combines both camera hardware and onboard artificial intelligence using Huawei's own Kirin 970 processor.

It's mostly true in our tests, though the specifications are different. Colors, especially red and green are deeper, images are sharper and contrast is more pronounced compared to photos from other flagships.

The P20 has a 12-megapixel main sensor and a 20-megapixel lens that shoots in black and white. The P20 Pro has a 40-megapixel main camera, a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens.

While it doesn't have the P20 Pro's class-leading zoom, the P20 still has AI-assisted shake-reduction that helps produce brighter night shots with less noise.

The AI scene recognition, which automatically adjusts the settings to make the sky bluer and food colors richer, is fast. Sometimes it can get too fast that cardboard standees get recognized as people, activating the "bokeh" portrait mode.

PERFORMANCE

Like the P20 Pro and the Mate 10 series, the P20 is a battery standout. The 3,400 mAh cell was more than enough for a single day of use even though it's smaller than the P20 Pro's 4,000 mAh power pack.

In our tests, we ended most workday with 30 to 40 percent of juice left after unplugging the device at 6 a.m., answering emails and messages all day, web browsing while commuting and video streaming before bed.

Android Oreo 8.1 was expectedly fast and fluid. EMUI though, while at its least intrusive, needs a visual refresh. It still looks mostly the same from the first time we used Huawei phones with 2016's P9.

Knocking on the screen with your knuckles is a surprisingly useful way to take a screenshot, which we used more compared to the old way of holding the power and volume down buttons.

Like the P20 Pro, the fingerprint sensor rests on the chin of the screen. It's fast and attempts to read even the slightest touch of the palm.

CONCLUSION

Outside the shadow of the P20 Pro, the P20 ticks all the boxes for a 2018 flagship phone: a reliable camera, premium build, long battery life and fast, AI-assisted performance.

It also undercuts the P20 Pro, the Apple iPhone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S9 by some P10,000. The iPhone 8 and the S9 have single rear cameras, though improved from the previous year's models.

The obvious tradeoffs are the lack of a third camera, a lower water and dust resistance, and an LCD screen that doesn't display blacks as deep as OLED displays.

The P20, P20 Pro and P20 Lite will go on sale on April 28.