As a longtime iPhone user, I am aware of its good camera capabilities and in awe of the newest portrait mode function which renders a DSLR pretty useless to me, especially since I don't know how to use one because #photonoob.

But with most smartphones, I still have to use editing apps such as VSCO to produce Instaworthy photos and, well... it can get pretty troublesome.

And then I tried the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, which, in all sincerity, will be a game-changer for those of you who find joy in taking photos (especially selfies) but truly are like me — a photo noob.

AI-powered photography technology

There are many reasons why this smartphone is dubbed as an "intelligent machine", and one of them is because of its object recognition feature.

"Huh, what's that?"

Yes, I asked myself the same question.

What this means is that the Mate 10 Pro's Leica dual SUMMILUX-H f1.6 lenses are equipped with artificial intelligence that is able to recognise 13 different types of objects, including humans, animals, food and outdoor landscapes, and will adjust the camera settings to make for the best photo for the given object.

So let's say I'm about to take a photo of a cat, the phone will recognise the feline and a small kitty icon will appear on the bottom left-hand corner of the phone.

It even recognises images of cats from a computer screen:

Just for fun, I tried taking a picture of my own pet cat:

In other phototaking devices, a cat's eyes will have an undesired reflective effect. However, when the Huawei Mate 10 Pro recognised Nonong as a cat, the ISO levels were lowered so his eyes can be seen clearly, especially under sunlight or bright interior lights.

Not bad.

And here's a picture of a yummy honey miso salmon meal.

In case you can't tell, the colours in the photo are automatically more saturated, which made my lunch look brighter and more appetising.

The best part of this function is that I didn't have to use any photo editing apps at all because it's all done for me.

Again, pretty impressive.

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Wide aperture and portrait mode

If you're a photo noob like me, the term "wide aperture" may seem pretty foreign.

Essentially, it means that the subject in the foreground will be in focus while the background is blurred — you get, in other words, a narrow depth of field.

By choosing the wide aperture mode on the Mate 10 Pro, it means you can produce a picture like this effortlessly:

The portrait mode, however, is a hit-and-miss.

In the photo below, the bokeh looks like it was photoshopped — it also looks as if my silhouette might have been cut from another picture and pasted onto this one.

Another downside, in my view, is the beauty filter that is part of the portrait mode.

While this picture looked nice to me at first, I noticed that some flaws such as blemishes and fine lines were blurred out and my skin was noticeably lighter. I looked too enhanced for my liking.

However, if you're a fan of beautifying apps such as Meitu Xiuxiu, this wouldn't be much of a problem.

Long-lasting battery life

This phone is built with a 4000mAh battery — the largest battery capacity any smartphone has yet.

I only had to charge it about four times in the week I was using it, since it took me about one and a half days for the battery to hit 10 per cent — and I play a lot of Candy Crush and use social media applications heavily.

So if you're a moderate user, chances are, you can make the phone last a full two days.

Sounds great! Where can I get it?

If you're looking for something to gift yourself — or a loved one who loves flawless and effortless selfies — this holiday season, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro retails for S$1,098 at Huawei concept stores, local telcos, Lazada and major electronic stores.

Treat yourself!

All photos by Fasiha Nazren