Features

GadgetSnaps: Huawei P50 Pro in Zambales

From dusk ’til dawn, the P50 Pro has produced great-looking beach photos

Published

April 28, 2022

Vincenz

With several new smartphones on the horizon, can the Huawei P50 Pro still keep up with the smartphone photography competition? After reviewing the Huawei P50 Pro back in January, this is the best time for a follow-up — specifically about its camera performance.

For the curious ones, here are the specifics of its camera hardware:

50MP f/1.8 wide (PDAF, Laser AF, OIS)
13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide
64MP f/3.5 periscope telephoto (PDAF + OIS)
- 3.5x optical zoom
- 100x digital zoom
40MP f/1.6 B&W sensor
13MP f/2.4 front camera

98 percent of the shots were taken using Auto Mode while some are indicated that they were shot in Pro Mode. Meanwhile, other photos were post-processed using VSCO — a photo-editing app I always use.

Day I

Patungo sa Kagubatan (Into the Woods)

From the Greater Manila Area, it took us five hours of driving (plus stopovers and pee breaks) before we’ve reached our destination. To be specific, we’re at the ever-popular Liwliwa Beach in San Felipe, Zambales.

Seeing the cottages inside and out for the first time made me realize to use the ultra-wide lens of the P50 Pro. Unlike other ultra-wide lenses of other phones, I like this because it’s actually the “wider” 120-degree lens.

After roaming around, I found a nearby forest area just beside the resort we’re staying at. Me and my friend took some #OOTD shots against the naturesque side of San Felipe.

Takipsilim (Sunset)

We arrived just in time for the Golden Hour!

We took this mandatory groufie first before taking shots of ourselves against that blistering ball of fire.

I then framed each of my friends in the scene. Believe it or not, these photos were taken candidly.

Several minutes passed, the sun continued setting. This gave a better orange-y effect on two of my friends. The glimmering sea waves is something I never expected to be in the shot since P50 Pro’s viewfinder doesn’t display the final photo output — especially when HDR and AI are both turned on.

Post-processed using VSCO

It won’t be complete without me and my shots in the set. Here, I just love how I processed these shots more than what the P50 Pro actually took through Auto Mode. The color-grading technique I used evokes more warmth — at least in my feeling.

Liwanag sa Dilim (Light in darkness)

We’re all tired from the trip but we need something to eat. Red hotdogs (whether fried or grilled) are essential for every beach trip. They taste better when you use your hands after dipping in salty seawater 🥴

After some time of them grilling and cooking, we finally get to eat! Even if we’re all mad hungry, I still tried to persuade them to take an ultra-wide night time groufie as a receipt of hard work.

Pro Mode

Since the proprietary Night Mode of P50 Pro doesn’t do much on such a dark scenery of the beach at night, I tried switching to Pro Mode and adjusted settings including Focus Area, ISO Sensitivity around 3200 to 4000, and Shutter Speed around one to two seconds.

P.S: I was able to produce these shots despite the absence of a tripod.

Portrait Mode (1x)

A wild Pokémon has appeared! My friend wanted some night-time beach photos against these bright lights. Instead of using Auto Mode, I opted for Portrait Mode to imitate a professional camera-like Depth-of-Field (blur).

Portrait Mode (2x)

As the night got colder, these two love birds made the night hotter 🔥🥵 I used the same mode except that I zoomed in further to 2x — and it’s evident in the night balls behind them.

Meanwhile, these shots were taken using Night Mode and Auto Mode with AI ON respectively. As long as there’s a fair amount of light source, the P50 Pro could simply do its magic on low-light photos above.

Day II

Bukang-liwayway (daybreak)

Most of my friends were fast asleep, but three of us were wide awake and stayed up all night just to see the sunrise.

This was also the time I argued that Zambales (just like La Union, Batangas, Quezon, Palawan, and Boracay) will never see the sun rise because it’s facing the West (as sun rises in the East).

Surprisingly, just after a 30-minute interval, the 5AM sky turned into this delightful morning photo showing these rays of sunlight.

My friends even enjoyed the moment by taking photos of the melancholic sky all before one went around to take another photo of the sunrise at the other part of the beach.

While HDR didn’t do much for the subject, I like how the sun rays behind her actually imitated a crown-like pattern #Queendom👑.

Umagang kay ganda (a beautiful morning)

Post-processed using VSCO

An hour has passed, people started swarming the beach. Most of them were there either to take an early splash, a morning walk, or just to witness the gradient morning sky.

While I started to feel a li’l bit sleepy, some of those asleep started waking up one-by-one. I went with them to wake myself up and take a swim right before the sun gets harsher on the skin.

Wide (1x)

3.5x Zoom

These two best friends started posing for the Huawei P50 Pro. The candidness of the two paired with the motion of sea waves gives the photos above a sense of dynamism.

Wide | 3.5x Zoom

Another lovey-dovey couple has appeared. Just like the other photos taken prior, the P50 Pro perfectly captured their sudden smiles in accordance to the slumps of sea waves.

10x Zoom | 3.5x Zoom

Right before my other friend did her usual beach poses for her usual Instagram posting, I actually tested the 10x digital zoom of the P50 Pro. To my surprise, it’s clear enough even if it lacks a dedicated 10x telephoto lens that my friend even loved the shot more than the others.

And as a pet lover, it would be a miss not to take photos of this chomky doggo (chunky dog) by the beach and the floofy puppi (fluffy puppy) at the other side of the town. More of that in the next section.

Karurukan, kapatagan, at kalaliman (peak, flatness, and depth)

As spontaneous as it sounds, two of my friends actually enticed us to go to a nearby “river” that’s only known to the residents of the town. After several discussions between us and the locals, we’ve decided to take a short trip in the neighboring municipality of Cabangan, just north of San Felipe.

3.5x Zoom

Wide | Ultra-wide

After 40 minutes of van ride and 2 hours of walking under the scorching afternoon heat, we finally reached Agbobotilya River.

Ultra-wide | Wide

The river is composed of small to humongous rocks where we can walk and sit.

Ultra-wide | Wide | Zoom

While others were already swimming and dipping on the other side of the river together with other locals, I decided to take photos for souvenir instead.

I already sound like a corrupted audio CD but I love how the P50 Pro captures my friend above. The river flow and splashes against her movement and the breezy wind actually looked like the time stopped just for the subject, foreground, and background to freeze.

Wide | 3.5x Zoom

After more than an hour of picture-taking and splashing by the rocky river, we finally decided to go back. Instead of having another round of walking for two hours, good locals of the province of Zambales offered us an exhilarating ride through a six-wheel truck. That shortened the trip to just thirty (30) minutes.

Unfortunately, I used my friend’s iPhone 13 Pro Max instead of the P50 Pro when that particular scenario happened.

Finally, a group photo to keep after that endless walking and bumpy truck ride journey.

Ang tunog ng dagat (Sound of the sea)

We finally went back to the beach resort! Some of us decided to splurge into the waves before the sun actually sets.

Despite having a strong light source, the P50 Pro was still able to expose my friend with HDR and AI turned on.

After I turned 180 degrees from my last position, I switched to Portrait Mode to take the photos of my other friend. Whether using wide or zoom, you’ll get desirable shots with the right amount of blur behind.

Another friend then requested for “sunkissed” photos of her. I went back to using Auto Mode and it was still able to produce great-looking portraits.

You can never go wrong using Auto Mode for most scenarios since it still makes the right amount of segmentation between the foreground, subject, and background.

Post-processed using VSCO

As we’re all pumped up after that tiring walk, I’m summing up this day with two sunset shots. The first one was taken using an ultra-wide lens while the other was screen-captured while taking a 4K video of the sunset itself.

Day III

Sukdulan ng init (extreme heat)

Unlike the other day, most of us went by the beach as early as 9 in the morning — which is already harsh for our skin.

Wide (1x) | Ultra-wide | 3.5x Zoom

After eating my breakfast, I immediately went out from our cottage to the beachside. My friend asked me to take her new beach photos in her third opposing bikini pair.

Wide (1x) | Ultra-wide

Some of us then decided to find a nearby coffee shop. We instead found a better wooded area than the one aforementioned at the first part of this article.

Wide (1x) | Ultra-wide

I took some photos of my friend and she did the same for me. Due to the P50 Pro’s ultra-wide lens, I suddenly grew to 7-foot-tall from 5’7″ 🤩 No need for height-boosting supplements I guess?

Tabing-dagat (Beach)

I used the P50 Pro’s ultra-wide and wide lenses respectively to take photos of this beach resort one last time.

Post-processed using VSCO

I thank the thinness and lightness of the P50 Pro for cooperating with my broken phone mount in taking these amazing group photos using the wide (1x) and ultra-wide rear cameras with a 5-second interval.

Wide (1x) | 3.5x Zoom

The flexibility of P50 Pro’s cameras actually make way for more creative-looking shots.

3.5x Zoom | Wide (1x)

While sometimes focusing is an issue when zooming in, I still see it as a good thing when it fits a certain photograph vibe I’m looking for.

And sometimes, using the wide sensor is enough for taking great photos for social media (or even for print).

Ultra-wide selfie | Ultra-wide rear

In tight situations, ultra-wide (whether front or rear) saves the day in making your group photos look less tight and suffocating.

These are the last shots of my friend and myself sitting on a wooden beach chair against those traditionally-styled nipa hut cottage at the back. This three-day beach trip was fun and memorable — and the P50 Pro’s camera prowess made every bit of it better.

Great for GadgetSnaps?

Just like what I said in my review article, the Huawei P50 Pro is no slouch. The five cameras are topnotch with little to no adjustments after being captured. The consistency between the ultra-wide, wide, and its 3.5x zoom lenses (plus the fast and consistent autofocus) contribute to why this smartphone is a must-have if you’re into mobile photography.

It still is a bold statement but it can compete with the likes of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S22+, and even the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Even if there was an obvious disappearance of an essential feature that is in the heart of non-Huawei Android devices, Huawei’s camera capabilities hasn’t faded at all.

And even if this phone lacks 5G connectivity and GMS (Google Mobile Services), I still enjoyed using it a lot not just as an all-day multimedia device, but also my main device when taking photos (and some videos).

Related Topics:featured Huawei Huawei P50 Pro P50 Pro Zambales

Features

Can the REDMI Note 15 Pro+ 5G Survive?

REDMI Titan Durability Challenge!

Published

January 17, 2026

GadgetMatch and Michael Josh Villanueva

As someone who travels and is outdoors a lot, THE Michael Josh will be the first to admit that he is NOT gentle with his phones.

They live in his pockets, bags, hands. They get dropped, they get wet, and they get dusty.

So when REDMI asked him to test something they call “REDMI Titan Durability,” he figured the only fair way to do it was to put the REDMI Note 15 Pro+ 5G to the ultimate durability test.

Reviews

POCO M8 Pro review: Goin’ loco over this POCO

POCO starts 2026 with some bang

Published

January 15, 2026

Vincenz

Looking back at my first few months with GadgetMatch back in 2018 nostalgically evoked my Pocophone F1 core memory. It was touted as THE “flagship killer for less.”

Pre-pandemic, that “Pocophone” simply became “POCO” and became an “independent” kiddo who moved out of its parent’s house.

Almost eight years after that very first iteration, I’ve finally had my first (and long overdue) POCO-perience with the latest POCO M8 Pro.

Design: Repurposed with a purpose

While I have not held a POCO phone until very recently, I am still aware of the brand’s offerings over the years.

Seeing the POCO M8 Pro for the first time instantly reminded me of last year’s Redmi Note 14 Pro series. That’s not me saying POCO blatantly ripped the aesthetics as the POCO X7 also had the same design language.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Like a full circle moment, the aforementioned phones were launched back a year ago.

In all honesty, it still confuses me which direction Xiaomi is heading, especially with the non-stop rebadging of existing POCO and REDMI phones — just with scrambled internals and CMF (color, materials, finish).

Having said that, I still consider the M8 Pro a level up from the last M7 Pro. The former’s design felt like it was not given much importance.

The centered camera island with a squircle cutout seemed like a signature design element of Xiaomi’s newer midrange line moving forward.

I also love how the phone felt in my hands. Even with that plastic back, it felt grippy enough when held.

You have to be wary of fingerprint smudges though — especially if you rock the black colorway. Luckily, the green shade I have still looks clean despite those unwanted smears.

And, if you’re brave enough to clean it in running water, the POCO M8 Pro boasts not just one, not two, but quadruple IP ratings: IP66, IP68, IP69, and even IP69K. These used to be exclusive only among 2025 flagships.

Now Playing: IDOL I

Much like my fanaticism to anything tech, the same can be said with Korean Pop Stars. More known as “K-Pop Idols”, I have been a huge geek of K-Pop for 16 long years (and still counting).

Interestingly, after finishing a series that just ended in Netflix, IDOL I swiftly came by. Even if I am the type of viewer who values the drama’s synopsis more than the cast involved, this K-Drama instantly hit two birds in one.

For one, its starred by a true iconic idol herself: Choi Sooyoung — or one of the nine members of SNSD / Girls’ Generation a.k.a the ultimate 2nd generation K-Pop girl group I’ve been stanning since my youth.

Although Maeng Se-na here is a heartless and “selfish” lawyer, she is the opposite for being a huge (yet silent) fan of “Gold Boys” with Do Ra-ik as his “Ult” (or Ultimate Bias).

In a wild turn of events, the idol became a “murderer” overnight — blaming him for the sudden death of his co-member after waking up from their drinking session.

But, no matter how the general public looks at him as the prime suspect, finding faults against Ra-ik is difficult. That’s pointing out the fact that he was just sleeping in his bed while his former bandmate slash loyal friend got stabbed without clear answers.

I can pretty much say the same thing with the 6.83-inch screen of the POCO M8 Pro: I cannot see any fault at all.

For one, it’s an AMOLED display that made me enjoy binging the first four episodes non-stop. But, being able to display 68.7 billion Colors and 12-bit color depth aside from the usual HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support? That’s likely unusual for a phone in such price point.

And, with a 1.5K display resolution plus a pixel density of 447 ppi, it’s as crisp as it could get. Watching it outdoors is neither a problem with its mighty 3200 nits peak brightness.

While my eyes aren’t very sensitive to light and flicker, its 3840Hz PWM dimming and TÜV Rheinland Flicker-Free and Low Blue Light certifications are still worth mentioning — especially if you stay up all night binge-watching hours worth of titles like yours truly.

On Queue: Apink’s RE:LOVE + Chuu’s XO, My Cyberlove

Pumping up the volume by 60%, it’s expected that the POCO M8 Pro possesses a louder than ever sound output. However, my audio assessment doesn’t end just there.

Just like POCO starting the year with a bang, the K-Pop scene in January 2026 has already exploded with real hit bangers.

First and foremost, Apink finally gathered again to released their 11th Mini Album (their previous Mini Album dates back to 2020). As per usual, I used Apple Music to take full advantage of that Lossless format.

Their title track “Love Me More” not only brought a lot of the group’s nostalgic intro and dance break instrumental during their early days in the industry, it also reminded me of the pre-millennium K-Pop era back in the early 90s.

Pair that with b-sides such as “Sunshine” that sounded pure and soulful, this latest mini album will truly make Pink Pandas’ hearts flutter.

In addition, Chuu (LOONA) finally releases her 1st Full Album titled “XO, My Cyberlove.” It is a complete opposite of her first ever solo song “Heart Attack” almost a decade ago which highlighted her cutesy, innocent charms.

The comeback track of the same title is as quirky and whimsical as it gets. Not only does it highlight Chuu’s light yet ethereal vocals, but it shows her newer, more mature side.

Furthermore, lyrics that evoke unexpected budding love in this digital era where everyone enjoys making connections through the cyber world.

With POCO M8 Pro’s speakers, I fully enjoyed playing the entirety of her freshly-baked album while I was writing this piece. Teeny Tiny Heart and Love Potion are currently my fave b-sides from this release.

Such music fulfillment was possible with the Dolby Atmos stereo speaker setup and Hi-Res Audio support of the M8 Pro. Not only its proudly loud, the audio produced is full and immaculate with clear line between its highs, mids, and lows.

Performance: Adequate for most

On paper, the POCO M8 Pro runs Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC based on a 4nm process. As confusing as it seems, this is different from the more powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.

That being told, game settings will vary depending on how demanding one is.

For instance, CoDM (Call of Duty: Mobile) runs in Very High and Max settings upon first set-up.

Meanwhile, Racing Master (based on NVIDIA’s PhysX engine) can run Ultra settings at 60fps.

However, it throttles during the first two ranked races.

Fortunately, the game detects if it gets sluggish — suggesting lowering down the settings altogether.

Lastly, playing Zenless Zone Zero is doable but, at the lowest graphics by default.

You wouldn’t dare to go past it as Combat Mode will literally feel like combatting the phone itself due to how heavy the game is.

The only “remedy” for these hardware limitations? It’s none other than the Game Turbo mode that boosts graphics performance and input through Xiaomi’s software advancements. And it sort of helped make the gameplay smoother, but not fully.

For the rest of apps that are not graphics-intensive, the M8 Pro can breeze through various apps without hiccups, do split-screens, or multitasking along floating windows with ease.

I can truthfully say that the only thing dragging the POCO M8 Pro down is the software as a whole.

After experiencing the beauty of vivo’s OriginOS 6 and HONOR’s MagicOS 10, Xiaomi’s HyperOS still feels like an after-thought. While it can keep up with the modern-day Android features, its stability and optimizations simply don’t make the cut.

Besides, its built-in AI tools, device ecosystem, as well as cross-compatibility functionality aren’t as polished as what you get on other Chinese brands. Let alone, a rip-off from everyone’s fruit rival without much feature improvements.

Seriously, Xiaomi?

Worst thing? Maybe the ad slash bloatware infestation found not just on the lock screen. Even transferring personal files through Xiaomi’s native File Manager app plays an unskippable ad.

Battery: Eat it up! Eat it, eat it up! 🍝🎶

At 8.31mm, the POCO M8 Pro is as slender as it can get. How they were able to fit a 6500mAh battery inside its chassis is a true feat of engineering.

For the record, this is the first POCO M-series smartphone to have such a ginormous battery. It joins the same league as the POCO F8 Ultra, F7, and the X7 Pro (in India).

For added context, the M7 Pro, as well as the X7 with a similar form factor, only had a 5110mAh battery. But, numbers are just part of the story.

In day-to-day scenarios with light to moderate usage, the POCO M8 Pro can last you a full day — even more when you hit the bed with around 30% to spare.

As one would expect though, the biggest hogging can be felt when playing games.

During my gameplay stress test, downloading resources in Racing Master for about 30 minutes already consumed 5% charge (92% down to 87%). An hour of racing ate up 11 percent — from 87% down to 76%.

Letting it rest on my desk for 18 hours, the phone depleted to 51%.

At around 9 in the evening, I then started playing HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero for exactly an hour. Battery charge went down further to 36%. Then, a 1.5-hour game in CoDM resulted to a 28% battery percentage. And, as of writing, the POCO M8 Pro still had a 3 percent charge left in its massive tank.

That said, the POCO M8 Pro comes with Xiaomi’s 100W wired HyperCharge speeds — adapter still bundled in the box.

By default, the battery charging speed is set in regular with the prompt / option to enable boosting.

In my GadgetMatch Charge Test results, it can be seen that the difference isn’t too far off.

	*Boosted HyperCharge*	*Regular HyperCharge*	*PPS Charging* (UGREEN 100W Nexode)
*START TIME* *From 0%*	1:11AM	3:10PM	4:06PM
3 minutes	10%	8%	1%
5 minutes	17%	11%	4%
*10 minutes*	25%	18%	13%
15 minutes	40%	23%	21%
20 minutes	46%	32%	28%
*30 minutes*	70%	50%	46%
45 minutes	88%	71%	67%
*1 hour*	99%	91%	84%
1 hour 15 minutes	–	99%	96%
*END TIME* *100%*	2:14AM 1 hour 3 minutes	4:27PM 1 hour 17 minutes	5:30PM 1 hour 24 minutes

PPS Charging is also possible. Although the device only showed “Quick Charge” while being filled up, it’s safe to say that it performs as fast as Xiaomi’s regular HyperCharge with a super close margin of only seven minutes.

Cameras: Surprisingly Satisfying

Prospective buyers of the M8 Pro wouldn’t have a hard time dealing with its conventional camera configuration: a 50MP f/1.6 main (wide) camera based on Light Fusion 800’s 1/1.55-inch sensor. That’s paired with a less outstanding 8MP f/2.2 UWA (ultra-wide angle) camera.

For the most part, the main camera does its job very well considering this type of device.

With the satisfactory 1x image sensor, 2x zoom is also possible, thanks to in-sensor cropping.

I honestly used the 2x mode more than I thought — especially when capturing my cats and food I devour.

You can go beyond the bounds. But, with obvious hardware limitations, the camera processing can only do so much.

Once that natural light disappears, it will be tricky to take low-light shots as this has NO dedicated Night Mode feature. No luck if you are using them indoors with artificial light around.

Instead, regular Photo Mode automatically detects a low-light subject and toggles Night Mode processing by itself.

While most results are satisfying, it’s also a testament that its cameras are far from being flawless.

Good thing, the flash exists for a funkier look in subjects that suit it — food specifically.

Portraits weren’t missed. Although it only relies on some software-based processing, it still gets the job done of separating the subject away from the background — humans and pets alike.

Personally, the aperture function was a bit of a nuisance.

For context, these shots were set to a low “f/1.8 aperture.” But, the M8 Pro rendered DoF (Depth of Field) that isn’t as shallow as what it’s supposed to show.

My frustration continues as the setting defaults back to f/4.5 after quitting and re-opening the camera app. That’s not even the standard lens opening when taking portrait photos.

And while we’re already here, selfies taken with its front-facing shooter.

Is the POCO M8 Pro your GadgetMatch?

While this isn’t the “flagship killer” most expect from a POCO phone, it’s hard not to go loco over how well-rounded yet wallet-friendly this POCO phone is — especially in the year 2026 where inflation is still unstoppable alongside the almost instantaneous and ridiculous RAM price hike.

ICYMI, the POCO M8 Pro has a starting price of GBP 299 / SG$ 389 / RM 1199 / PhP 16,999 (around US$ 279) for the 8+256GB configuration.

Meanwhile, the 12+512GB variant that I handle is priced at GBP 349 / SG$ 449 / RM 1499 / PhP 19,999 (approx. US$ 359).

Its closest rival is none other than the HONOR X9d. Coincidental or not, it was launched just a day after the unveiling of the M8 Pro.

Frankly, the only thing you’ll let go from HONOR’s sweet treat are its monstrous 8300mAh battery and more polished OS. This POCO-ffering blows it out of the water with a greater chipset, faster wired charging, bigger and better display, capable cameras, durability never forgotten.

Although it wasn’t totally highlighted, the POCO M8 Pro is undoubtedly a rebadged REDMI Note 15 Pro+ — Xiaomi’s midranger that heavily markets its “Titan Durability” capabilities.

The POCO M8 Pro has them all: from its sturdy aluminum frame, four IP ratings, even the fully-shielded front glass care of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The biggest disparity? REDMI has a 200MP main camera over POCO’s 50MP shooter.

Despite some inconsistencies, the POCO M8 Pro is still an all-around midranger that will satisfy most users who want to purchase a shiny new smartphone without burning holes in your pockets.

It is a Swipe Right, Super Swipe, and a worthy recipient of the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.