Verdict
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is a attractively design phone with some of the in effect camera on the market today . unluckily , an underpowered processor , a want of Google app support and a sky - high Mary Leontyne Price tag intend that this phone is unconvincing to appeal to the masses .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Huawei ’s P - series turn 12 this year , and to mark the occasion , Huawei is rebranding it to Pura . The company says the rebrand represents the line ’s mode - forward approach , and the top - of - the - line Pura 70 Ultra is probably the best example of this , with its faux leather backing and shiny accent .
Arguably , it ’s the tv camera technical school that Huawei ’s P - series is best known for , though . The series has been among the first to feature several photographic camera innovations that have become forward-looking staple fibre , like night manner and telephotograph cameras . With the Ultra , Huawei at last adopts a 1 - inch type sensor , and it pairs it with a pop - out lens system for the first time .
It ’s no mystery that Huawei is at a disadvantage , though . US sanctions mean that its gadget do n’t tender Google apps and services , and it ’s very limited with its chip pick , too .
With an MSRP of € 1499 in Europe , the Pura 70 Ultra carries a seriously premium damage tag , can it possibly be worthwhile ? I want to know , and after live with it as my main equipment for over a workweek , here ’s what I find out .
Design
The Pura 70 Ultra reminds me of a designer handbag . It has a fake leather rear with an embossed pattern across it and a shiny metallic figure . It ’s eye - get , but it manages to remain tasteful , too .
The cameras are arrange in a triangular bod , that also befall to look like the letter P. The primary camera recant when it ’s not in economic consumption , and mechanically pops out by a few millimetres every time you open up the camera app , accompanied by a satisfying whir sound .
Huawei says this design is mainly to keep the size of the camera jut in check , while still offering a large sensing element with a variable aperture . I ’m sure it helps a little , but this is quite a chunky earphone to begin with , and I ’m not sure it make believe a significant difference . It ’s undeniably cool , at least .
Overall , it ’s a pretty large and heavy phone , but it ’s very comfortable to hold up , with smooth curves on all side and the soft feeling of the leather - event rear panel . It ’s also IP68 rate , despite having moving parts , so it should be well - outfit to treat the elements .
I was sent the green model for examination , which has golden emphasis throughout , and I think it looks lovely . The browned , smuggled and white models all look excellent in their own right , too . Each example come with a matching case in the box , also stop in vegan leather . These cases have a double approach pattern on them , with a bite of a Louis Vuitton vibration . Again add to that designer esthetic .
Around the front , the presentation is protect by Huawei ’s Crystal Armor Kunlun spyglass . purportedly , it ’s 300 % more loot - resistant than the first generation of Kunlun drinking glass . All I know for trusted is that my video display still seem pristine , despite over a week of heavy function with no filmdom protector .
Screen
The display value 6.8 inches diagonally and it ’s exceptionally bright . Huawei is only claiming 2500 nits at peak , but it boosts to contend with verbatim sunshine just as well as theHonor Magic 6 Pro , which claims 5000 nits . Confusing numbers game aside , you ’re never last to have hassle seeing it , it always look fantabulous .
It ’s anLTPO panel , which mean it can dynamically align from as downhearted as 1Hz , up to 120Hz depending on what you ’re doing . swipe around the OS and playing game looks super smooth , and the barrage should n’t suffer too much in the cognitive process .
The screen door is fundamentally flat , but the Methedrine crook at the edges on all side . This mean it ’s free from distracting reflections and you ’re improbable to unintentionally exploit anything , but you still get a nice smooth tone as you hook from the edge for gesture ascendance . It ’s a great middle - ground and it ’s a pleasure to use .
The Pura 70 Ultra supports HDR playback , and it expect excellent on YouTube , but my sample lacked the correct DRM certificate to playback HDR cognitive content on Netflix . Hopefully , this is just a pre - release computer software issue that will soon be resolved , but it ’s something to watch out for .
There ’s some customisation usable if you like to fine-tune the color rendition of your showing , but it ’s a piddling less comprehensive than I ’ve experienced with vie brands . There are two independent profiles , Standard and Vivid , and you may adjust the temperature of each . There ’s also a color wheel if the preset options are n’t doing it for you .
Cameras
The camera are the most attractive feature film of the Pura 70 Ultra , the ironware is top - notch and Huawei ’s excellent image processing brings out the best in your photos .
The most exciting camera , as common , is the chief gun . This has a 1 - inch eccentric sensor , a mechanically skillful aperture that can alternate from f/1.6 - f/4.0 and , of course , that fancy retractable lens . Huawei has n’t mentioned on the dot which sensor it is using , but the specs are very alike to the Sony LYT-900 on theXiaomi 14 Ultra , albeit with sensor - shift stabilization , rather than genus Lens - base OIS . A customised version , perhaps ?
This is join by a 3.5x telephoto and 13mm - equivalent ultrawide lens of the eye . Every camera enamor lots of detail , and the colour match across the board , always looking instinctive and realistic . The active compass is among the best in the stage business , and the stilted bokeh core in portrait way is one of the most impressive I have come across , too .
The main lens captures the best quality images , but the telephotograph is not far behind . In either case , you could get some authentic bokeh when capturing close - ups , thanks to the large sensor size , and they ’re great at modest - light capture , too .
The ultrawide is the unaccented camera , but it ’s still very good . It just ca n’t quite catch the same amount of contingent , and if you whizz along in and analyse the images , you ’re certain to notice some mushiness and soft region . Still , that ’s the event with almost every ultrawide camera , and this one is just as utile to have as the rest .
The telephotograph tend to birth images with a fragile haziness to them . They see a bit like exposure take with a Black Pro - Mist filter , with bloomy highlights and softened skin . Personally , I quite like it , it look a raft more lifelike than the oversharpened images that you get from theS24 Ultra’stelephoto . That ’s all a matter of personal preference , though .
The selfie camera is only 13MP , but it looks excellent . It has an exceptionally spacious FOV , but you may choose to snip into more standard focal lengths , too . This means it ’s great for group selfies or showing off your surroundings , and the fact that it has autofocus relieve oneself it even better .
The most alone thing about this television camera scheme is the way it can trance fast - moving subjects , at least on the main and telephoto cameras . Using snapshot mode , the phone will simultaneously fascinate a long vulnerability and a nimble vulnerability , then blend them together using some AI magic . What you end up with is a crystal clear shot with frozen movement and a perfect exposure .
For video shot , you may capture at up to 4 atomic number 19 60fps on every camera , and up to 1080p 960fps for slow move on the main camera . Stabilisation expect nifty in all lighting conditions and it transitions smoothly between camera while recording .
Performance
You might have gathered that I ’m quite affectionate of the Pura 70 Ultra so far , but unfortunately , the performance complicates things a little . Huawei is using its own Kirin 9010 processor , a 7 nm poker chip fabricated by China ’s SMIC . US sanctions mean that the brand ca n’t just slap aSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 in there as you ’ll find in most 2024flagship phones .
Our bench mark scores show that the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is indeed quite a few stone’s throw behind the competition . However , in daily usage , you ’d have a operose time telling . Huawei ’s computer software is so well optimise that voyage the OS feels lightning - quick , apps open quickly , and scrolling is super suave .
The main deviation I discover is that image processing takes importantly longer than it does on other gadget . When you open up the gallery to see the exposure you just took , it usually look quite piteous , then after a 2d or two , the processing catch up and you have an impressive image . It ’s kind of nice , being capable to see the before and after , but I mistrust it ’s mostly due to the processor struggling to keep up .
I also noticed that the phone let pretty spicy when you ’re occupy slews of photos and video , again , this might be because you ’re involve a lot of this slightly underpowered chip .
When it comes to gaming , things are n’t too impressive . I installed my usual yard measure , the notoriously demanding Genshin Impact , and found that I had to stick to the grim preset to revel a smooth 60fps experience . After 15 minutes or so of playing , the phone receive uncomfortably tender , too .
Of course , if you want to play less diagrammatically intense games , like Candy Crush , Clash of Clans or Hearthstone , then the Pura 70 Ultra will do just fine , but the same could be said of even the most affordablebudget French telephone .
The telephone has dual stereo talker and they sound comme il faut , with a turn of weight to the low-down - end , but if you ’re looking for earthly concern - shattering intensity they might not quite satisfy . I ’d say they ’re above ordinary , but you ’ll desire to expend earbuds or a speaker for the optimum listening experience .
Software
The Pura 70 Ultra runs EMUI 14.2 , a heavy skinned interlingual rendition of Android 14 with lots of iOS influence . If you ’ve used a late Huawei or Honor equipment , you ’ll know what to expect . The notifications and prompt place setting spook are separated and get at with swipes from different side of the screen , just like an iPhone , and the app drawer is disable by nonpayment , too .
you may customise most things to your liking , but there will always be a few things to adapt to . There ’s a lot that I like about EMUI ; it ’s fast , take care in force , is extremely customisable and process like a dream with Huawei ’s other mathematical product .
However , there ’s one utterly gigantic downside , and that ’s the fact that Google apps and services are not support . My on-line life is extremely intertwined with Google ’s product , so there ’s no way I could switch to this as my master speech sound without get them working .
Thankfully , the MicroG Project can get them all running nearly as well as on any other gadget ( I followedthis tutorial , if you ’re queer ) . After set about it ready up , there were many times that I could entirely forget that Google ’s apps were n’t native , but a few oddity made it less than seamless . For example , Chromecasting just did n’t seem to work , and I never got notifications when my favored channel upload on YouTube .
Google - relate annoyances by , there are some cool feature here that I have n’t see on other phones . My personal favourite is the middle - tracking recreate lock chamber screen . If you select a put up motif , and look at the lock screen , the spiritedness will react when you attend at the top or bottom of the video display . One theme has some characters playing tennis , while others just spring reference around the exhibit as your eyes move . It ’s totally wasted but really fun .
The O comes with an unfortunate amount of bloat , especially when you consider the premium Mary Leontyne Price of this French telephone . A caboodle of the apps are Huawei ’s own option to pop Google apps , which is dead understandable , but there ’s also a bunch of random junk , like a folder full of games , Snapchat , Trip , Alibaba , Booking.com and more . you’re able to clean house it up easily enough , but it ’s far from ideal .
Battery life
The battery has a 5200mAh electrical capacity and it ’s a received LiPo pack , there ’s none of that fancy silicon - carbon stuff that we saw with the Honor Magic 6 Pro . Still , it ’s a orotund capacity than most of its rivals , and this results in an impressive runtime .
The shelling well see me through the twenty-four hour period , and I often perish to bottom with 40 % remaining , even during heavy utilisation . If used slenderly , you might be capable to press two sidereal day out of a charge .
Not that barrage fire life is a immense concern on this equipment , with such fast commove upper , top it up is no bother at all . you’re able to load at 100W speeds with the admit wall adapter , and that ’s enough to go from savorless to full in less than an hour . Meanwhile , a 50 % charge takes under 25 minutes .
With a compatible wireless charger , you could charge almost as fast without require to secure in . Most wireless chargers do n’t endorse such speeds , but I was proud of to learn that Honor ’s 100W SuperCharge stand will deliver the full 80W. It ’s super convenient to just drop the phone onto it and it ’ll be fully charged in a flash .
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Should you buy it?
The Pura 70 Ultra is in hot contention for the best camera organisation of 2024 , and given that the competitor is so fierce , that ’s really tell something .
The Kirin 9010 SoC is perfectly capable for twenty-four hours - to - day utilisation , but you ’ll really palpate the want of power when you boot up a graphically intensive form of address .
Final Thoughts
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is a very interesting phone . For the most part , I ’ve loved using it . The photographic camera are exceptional , the display is gorgeous and the aim is second to none .
However , the older central processor architecture , and the sheer amount of hassle want to get Google service working make this phone a elusive sell for Western customers . Especially when you regard the cost . At € 1499 , it ’s one of the priciest flagship around .
If you authentically only handle about camera public presentation , then it ’s still worth considering . The cameras really are that good . However , most citizenry would be better off prefer for a phone like theHonor Magic 6 ProorSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra , both of which compound fantabulous camera organisation with quick performance and full Google financial backing .
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FAQs
Yes , the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is IP68 rated , which means it can withstand being souse in fresh urine at depth of up to 1.5 cadence for 30 minutes without terms .
Huawei promises two class of EMUI update and a third year of security patches .
Google ’s apps are not officially supported and you wo n’t incur them in Huawei ’s app storehouse , but you could get them be given using workarounds like GBox and MicroG.
Test Data
Full Specs
