Huawei’s new Pura 80 series stuns with cameras, falls short on performance
With industry-leading camera hardware and eye-catching design, the Pura 80 series is built for image enthusiasts — though its processor tells a different story
Huawei has recently introduced the Pura 80 series — its latest flagship smartphone line that blends top-tier hardware with significant software breakthroughs. The launch, coming at a time when Huawei is regaining global momentum, features four models: Pura 80, 80 Pro, 80 Pro+, and the high-end Pura 80 Ultra.
The Pura 80 series stands out with its focus on photography. The Ultra model is equipped with a one-inch, 50MP RYYB ultra-large main camera sensor that dramatically improves real-time image processing. Huawei claims it is 200% faster than its predecessor.
The Ultra also debuts a dual-lens switchable telephoto camera — the first of its kind — with optical zoom levels of 3.7x and 9.4x. This innovation allows users to switch seamlessly between focal lengths ranging from 13mm to 212mm, offering an impressive 129% increase in optical range over the Pura 70 Ultra.
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Another standout improvement is in the display section. The Pro, Pro+ and Ultra variants feature a curved 6.8-inch OLED panel with 3000 nits peak brightness and adaptive 1–120Hz refresh rate. According to HuaweiCentral, colours on the displays appear vibrant, thanks to a wide P3 gamut and HDR vivid support.
Under the hood, the Pura 80 series runs on Huawei's HarmonyOS NEXT. The software, paired with the Ark engine, boosts performance by 36%. The phones also offer robust battery life, up to 5700mAh in the top models, with blazing-fast 100W wired and 80W wireless charging.
However, Huawei did not talk big about the performance of the devices; it is still using a 7-nm process based Kirin 9020 chip, which is a few generations older technology at this point. This omission suggests that Huawei is placing its bets on camera innovation and design appeal, rather than raw processing power, to win over users.
With prices starting at 6,499 yuan, Pura 80 series is a symbol of Huawei's resurgence.
