Reshaping the flagship imaging landscape - Huawei Pura 70 Ultra review

In early 2012, Huawei officially released the P1, and over the subsequent 12 years, there have been classic products such as the P9, P30, and P40 series. In April of this year, Huawei's new generation of imaging flagship, the Pura 70 series, hit the market. Unlike before, the letter "P" has been officially renamed to "Pura," and it brings the series' first product named "Ultra." So, under this new positioning, does the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra offer a unique experience?

Configuration Parameters:

CPU: Kirin 9010

GPU: Maleoon 910

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB/1TB

Screen: 6.8-inch 2844×1260 @ 120Hz

Unlock Solution: In-display fingerprint

Front Camera Resolution: 13 megapixels

Rear Camera Resolution: 50 megapixels + 50 megapixels + 40 megapixelsCharging and Battery Life: 100W wired + 80W wireless + 5200mAh

Dimensions: 162.6mm × 75.1mm × 8.4mm

Weight: 226g

Price: Starting at 9999 yuan

Design Chapter

Unique Style, Distinct from the Rest

Looking across the entire mobile phone market, brands or products that stand firm in the high-end market undoubtedly have their own unique insights in design.

The appearance of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra gives a sense of being distinctive, with a large rear camera module that looks like the letter D. Moreover, the camera module does not directly connect with the frame; instead, a "blank space" treatment is used between the two. As a result, the combination of the left frame and the camera module forms a shape reminiscent of the letter P, echoing the name Pura, which is quite interesting!

Considering the needs of different user groups, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra offers not only the stable and low-key "Stellar Black" and "Mocha Brown" colors but also "Stellar White" and "Chant Green" options. Personally, I find the Chant Green version very unique; its elegant color palette gives a fresh feeling and can be matched with various clothing styles, making it suitable for women and young people to choose.Compared to several other products in the same series, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra stands out in design for two main reasons: First, the exclusive XMAGE logo is uniquely placed at the bottom right of the camera module, further highlighting the charm of the imaging flagship. Second, the back cover is made of genuine leather material, combined with a star pattern design, which stands out for its texture and fashion sense.

In contrast to the design philosophy of the back, the front of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra pursues an extreme sense of symmetrical beauty—a four-sided, deeply curved screen with extremely well-controlled top, bottom, left, and right borders, while the R-curve transitions naturally and harmoniously, giving a sense of fullness that is about to overflow.

As a phone with a large 6.8-inch screen, the dimensions of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra are 162.6mm x 75.1mm x 8.4mm, and it weighs approximately 226g, which is quite moderate. However, upon actual handling, the curved stainless steel frame seamlessly connects the front glass with the back genuine leather, giving a sense of unity and roundness when held. Coupled with its relatively slender body, the grip feel is quite friendly for single-handed use.

Imaging Chapter

1-inch retractable main camera significantly enhances capabilitiesLooking back at the development history of Huawei's Pura series smartphones, it is evident that many products have left a lasting impression in the field of imaging, with the Huawei P40 Pro+ still being the main device for many users. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is not only the first Ultra model in the series but also features an exclusive XMAGE logo and a 1-inch retractable main camera, among other enhancements, making its performance particularly anticipated.

From a hardware perspective, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra adopts a mainstream full-focal-length combination of main camera, telephoto, and ultra-wide-angle, with the following specific parameters:

Retractable main camera: 50 megapixels, 1-inch large sensor, supports variable aperture from F1.6 to F4.0, sensor-shift image stabilization, default focal length 27mm;

Telephoto camera: 50 megapixels, F2.1 aperture, supports 3.5x optical zoom, 35x super macro, OIS optical image stabilization, default focal length 90mm;

Ultra-wide-angle camera: 40 megapixels, F2.2 aperture, default focal length 13mm.

It is worth mentioning that the retractable main camera addresses issues such as the thickness of the body caused by the 1-inch large sensor, achieving a balance between the two. Additionally, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra supports IP68 dust and water resistance, as well as "worry-free retracting for 300,000 times," coupled with a design that automatically retracts the lens upon sensing a drop, ensuring peace of mind during use.

After understanding the parameters, we will analyze the performance of each of the three cameras one by one to explore the imaging capabilities of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.

1-inch retractable main cameraThanks to the 1-inch large sensor and the maximum F1.6 aperture, the main camera of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has reached a new level of light intake, ensuring good brightness in any scenario while maintaining rich colors and well-preserved details.

Facing the scene of Chongqing after a heavy rain, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra can truly present the light passing through the clouds in the sky, the ripples of the Yangtze River, and the nearby ancient buildings with green bricks and black tiles, creating a "fog city" without fog, which looks exceptionally clean and fascinating. Moreover, the imaging layering of this main camera is quite good, with different angles of light presenting a real texture.

In the face of relatively complex light sources at night, the performance of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is also commendable, especially the red and yellow in the picture, which are very pleasingly adjusted. In May, Chongqing is full of bougainvillea, and the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra clearly records the red flowers spreading outside the flower terrace. Even at night, one can feel the splendor of summer flowers. When facing a large area of yellow light scenes, the highlights of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra do not overflow, and there are no excessive traces in the dark areas. The entire night sky appears pure, and the picture has excellent transparency.

Of course, with the advantages of the 1-inch large sensor and variable aperture, the depth of field effect and the three-dimensional sense of portraits of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra have also been elevated to a new level. When taking portraits with it, you can easily output clear main subjects, with a natural transition of the blurred edges, without any rigid algorithm traces, and the overall visual effect is realistic.

Telephoto Camera

Compared to the main camera, the telephoto camera actually has a higher output rate because it can eliminate the clutter in the scene and take more impactful photos. In addition to the 3.5x optical zoom, the telephoto camera of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra also supports up to 35x super macro, with an F2.1 aperture, making distant scenes within reach and close scenes clearly visible.

In the daytime environment with sufficient light, the imaging quality of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is clear and undamaged. At the default 3.5x (i.e., 90mm focal length), the focus is accurate, and the imaging speed is fast, allowing you to easily capture the Yangtze River cable car in operation in the air, and after magnification, the "Chongqing" characters on the outside of the carriage are clear without excessive traces. To understand the color performance of this telephoto camera, we also photographed a large number of urban buildings, photos, and flowers, and found that its color adjustment strategy is unified with the main camera, and the picture does not lose texture and layering.The night scene shooting environment highlights the advantage of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra's telephoto camera in terms of light intake, resulting in excellent image transparency and effective suppression of highlights and noise. For instance, in scenes with red and yellow lanterns, there is no issue of light dispersion, while the light source inside the lanterns is subtly visible, successfully creating a sense of realism and atmosphere.

As for the telephoto portrait of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, it performs just like the main camera, with realistic bokeh effects and clear, quick subject recognition. Even when facing scenarios where the subject is leaning against a railing, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra can accurately identify the front and back railings, maintaining a prominent subject, a clear foreground, and naturally blurred background. Moreover, it does not "make mistakes" with details such as hair ends that are easily affected by algorithms, which is commendable.

What's more praiseworthy is the telephoto macro experience of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, which allows users to observe and record the microscopic world, such as tiny insects and budding flower stamens, all of which can be vividly presented with its assistance.

Ultra-wide-angle camera and ultra-high-speed wind-chasing flash capture

Enriching the imaging experience

As mentioned earlier, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra features an ultra-wide-angle camera, which, combined with the main camera and telephoto camera, forms a full-focal-length imaging system.After actual experience, it was found that this ultra-wide-angle camera boasts vibrant colors, slight distortion, and relatively good clarity at the edges. When facing scenes such as vast oceans, towering mountains, or cities with towering skyscrapers, you can capture some quite impressive photos with it.

In addition to the aforementioned conventional imaging experience, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra also introduces the "Ultra High-Speed Wind Dash Flash" feature— the Ultra-Gathering Light Imaging System combined with the XD Motion motion engine allows for clear capture of fast-moving scenes, such as speeding cars, basketballs tracing perfect curves in the air, and running children. For users like the author who enjoy recording the scenery along the way while in a vehicle, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra can clearly capture those fleeting moments of beauty!

Hardware Section

All-Around Enhancement

Although the design aesthetics are online and the imaging capabilities are at the forefront of the smartphone market, some people believe that the advantages of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra are not obvious in terms of overall experience. To address this doubt, let's follow the usual practice and conduct a test!

Kirin 9010 Experience is Very Smooth

If the only drawback of last year's Huawei P60 series was the absence of a Kirin chip, then the current Huawei Pura 70 Ultra fills this regret— it is the first to carry the brand new Kirin 9010 chip. Compared to the Kirin 9000S of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, the big core of the Kirin 9010 has been reduced from 2.62GHz to 2.3GHz, the middle core has been increased from 2.15GHz to 2.18GHz, and the small core has been increased from 1.53GHz to 1.55GHz. So, how significant is the impact of such an unconventional change on the experience? To answer this, we turned on the phone's performance mode and conducted the following benchmark and gaming tests.

AnTuTu BenchmarkIn the "Antutu Benchmark," the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra scored a total of 961,296 points, with a CPU score of 321,692. Compared to the Kirin 9000S's CPU score of 291,016, it shows an improvement of about 10%, which is a significant advancement.

Geekbench 6

In Geekbench 6, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra achieved a single-core CPU score of 1437 and a multi-core score of 4461. In comparison, the corresponding scores for the Kirin 9000S are 1334 (single-core) and 4092 (multi-core), representing an improvement of about 7% and about 9%, respectively. From the end of August last year to April this year, which is just over half a year, such a substantial enhancement in the Kirin chip is commendable, and its future development is particularly anticipated.

"Honor of Kings"

With "Honor of Kings" set to high-definition graphics, ultra-high resolution, and frame rate, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra managed an average frame rate of 119.8 fps during a 15-minute game session, demonstrating excellent performance with stable and smooth in-game experience.

"Genshin Impact"

In "Genshin Impact," with the graphics quality set to the highest and the frame rate set to 60 fps, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra achieved an average frame rate of 60.3 fps during a 30-minute exploration test in the Sumeru region. Additionally, the highest temperature on the back of the device reached 42.5°C, indicating that the Kirin 9010 has also improved in power consumption control.In summary, benchmark scores are not the strong suit of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, but it delivers stable performance when facing popular games like "Honor of Kings" and "Genshin Impact." Moreover, the optimization of the HarmonyOS 4.2 system is excellent, and with the high degree of software coordination, the actual experience of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra deserves to be described as "extremely smooth."

Screen Impressions

The Xuanwu tempered Kunlun glass is sufficiently robust

The importance of a mobile phone screen cannot be overstated. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra features a 6.8-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2844×1260, supporting 1-120Hz LTPO adaptive refresh rate, 300Hz touch sampling rate, 1440Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, offering 10.7 billion colors true color display, full global P3 wide color gamut color management, and a peak brightness of 2500 nits. In practical use, this screen offers a transparent and clear viewing experience, with delicate display effects and well-balanced color tuning that accurately reflects the true state of captured images.

In addition to the impressive screen, the Xuanwu tempered Kunlun glass covering it is also one of the highlights of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra—compared to the first generation of Kunlun glass, its drop resistance has increased by 100%, and its scratch resistance has increased by 300%, effectively avoiding the risk of screen shattering and further protecting the expensive screen—currently, the price for a new screen repair activity is 1979 yuan!

100W+5200mAh Battery Life Without Worries

Whether it comes to charging power or battery capacity, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a significant improvement compared to its predecessor. The combination of 100W wired charging, 80W wireless charging, and a 5200mAh battery stack up well against other flagship devices in a horizontal comparison.Empirical tests have revealed that in wired charging mode, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra can be charged to 34% in just 10 minutes, and it takes 41 minutes to go from 1% to a full battery, which is quite a fast recovery rate. By the way, with the highest 20W wireless reverse charging, it can also temporarily "recharge" the phone of the other party.

Dual Satellite Communication

Double the Peace of Mind

The two-way satellite communication that was highly praised on the Huawei Mate 60 series and Huawei Mate X5 has not only been included in the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra but has also been upgraded to support dual satellite communication, namely Beidou satellite messaging and TianTong satellite communication. The former can send (text and images) or receive (text) satellite messages, while the latter allows for the free editing of satellite messages as well as making and receiving satellite calls. When users are in areas without ground network coverage, they can communicate with the outside world through the satellite system. For those who enjoy hiking or self-driving tours, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra provides double the safety services, greatly reducing the risk of being out of touch.

If you need to use satellite communication, after activating this feature in the settings, you can send messages to contacts or make satellite calls.

In Conclusion

How should we summarize and evaluate the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra? During the review experience, this product has left a deep impression on the author and the editorial team. First of all, its design is stylish, grand, and yet delicate. When compared horizontally with flagship models from other brands, its appearance ranks among the top. At the same time, the retractable camera design solves the issues of body thickness caused by the 1-inch large sensor, achieving a win-win situation. Secondly, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is the first phone under Huawei to use a 1-inch large sensor, coupled with an F1.6 aperture, leading the industry in light intake, and combined with the performance of the telephoto camera, the overall strength is formidable. Thirdly, the new Kirin chip that was first launched by the Huawei Mate series has now become part of the Huawei Pura series, bringing better performance, power consumption control, and experience. Finally, returning to the title of this article, "Reshaping the Landscape of Imaging Flagship," it is not because the strength of the previous two generations of Huawei imaging flagships was not strong enough, but because with the return of the 5G Kirin chip, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is the true "complete form." There is reason to believe that the upcoming imaging flagship market will become even more lively!