More of a portable security camera than an artistic tool.
If you have a relatively recent phone, you probably have a dedicated night mode in your camera app. These features have transformed the possibilities for night-time photography, blending multiple images together to create a single bright exposure. But there are limitations to this approach — you have to stay still, for example, and it doesn’t work with video., are betting that there’s still a place for dedicated low-light hardware.
The high light sensitivity is clearly apparent when walking around with the Mate Pro. I live in Tokyo, where it’s difficult to find yourself in a truly pitch-black situation, but the darkest alleyways in my neighborhood looked like daylight on the Mate Pro’s screen, with colors rendered clearly. It’s an interesting alternative to a flashlight — you can see the whole scene in front of you instead of shining a light in a certain direction.
Poor image quality aside, the Mate Pro’s lens isn’t really ideal for general photography, either. The focal length is tight but the minimum focusing distance is long, meaning it’s not useful for taking photos of close objects. For snapshots and quick video clips, though, it does the job.