Huawei’s P series has left the building, long live the Pura! Shedding its familiar moniker, the company’s newest flagship, the Huawei Pura 70 Pro, ushers in a new era, featuring a bold redesign, a camera system brimming with potential, a powerhouse 5G processor, and blazing-fast charging speeds.

(Update, May 2: We have the prices, preorder offers, and availability of the Huawei Pura 70 series in the Philippines!)

But does this rebrand represent more than just a cosmetic shift? We take a deep dive into the Pura 70 Pro’s features to see if Huawei can reclaim its “mobile photography” crown. Now, keep in mind that the unit we have doesn’t run the final software yet.

Let’s start with the exterior. The Pura 70 Pro is among the first phones under Huawei’s rebranded flagship line, and as such, the unit bears huge design changes from its predecessor. Size-wise, it is slightly bigger and heavier than its predecessor, the Huawei P60 Pro, but that’s actually not surprising considering the new model has a larger LTPO OLED display and battery.

The Huawei Pura 70 Pro still features curved-edge glass up front, and the back is also made of glass. This time, the technology giant has opted for its second-generation Kunlun Glass on the device, just like last year’s Mate 60 Pro performance-focused flagship. According to reviews, the latest iteration of Huawei’s in-house tempered glass seems highly resistant to cracking and even scratching, which is always good to hear — not that we’re keen on putting those claims to the test with our own drop test.

The OLED panel can get exceptionally bright for outdoor use, as well as taking pictures in bright, sunny conditions, something we’ve been doing a lot since getting the phone on the first day we arrived in China for the #DiscoverHUAWEI2024 familiarization tour. It’s slightly sharper, too, offering a screen density of 460 dots per inch, a slight improvement over last year’s Pro-branded offering. Perhaps more notably, the screen delivers great contrast, superb black levels, and excellent color reproduction. This panel is just gorgeous.

Despite its size, the Huawei Pura 70 Pro feels great in the hand, in large part thanks to the rounded edges and the soft-to-touch frosted finish. So far, it has managed to repel fingerprints and smudges pretty well. The ergonomics is quite good for a tall device with a large camera island near the top. Speaking of which, the cameras at the back are housed in a triangular module. We actually like this design decision; we think it makes the Pura 70 series phones easily recognizable in a crowd of similar-looking flagships.

The Pura 70 Pro also has IP68 certification, keeping it safe from accidental drops in the pool or bathtub. You can even use it in the rain without extra protection. It has two speakers for stereo output, but there’s no headphone jack for wired audio playback. The latter won’t upset everyone, for sure, since wireless earphones have now become commonplace. As a nice touch, the Pura 70 Pro also retains the accented power button of previous models.

Now, let’s talk about the most exciting part of the Huawei Pura 70 Pro experience — the camera. The main unit is equipped with a 50-megapixel image sensor with PDAF, OIS, laser autofocus, and a lens with an adjustable aperture that ranges from f/1.4 to f/4.0. This lets you control the amount of light that passes through as well as the depth of field when shooting portraits. You’ll see a dedicated 3.5x telephoto with a 48-megapixel sensor and a 12-megapixel ultrawide as well. For selfies, there’s a 13-megapixel punch-hole camera with autofocus.

Just a few sample shots, all taken in China

We’ll reserve our full judgement until the software gets updated; our unit still has the pre-release version. But as early as now, it’s safe to say Huawei has built a camera phone it can be proud of. You can see it from the sample shots above.

The name change aside, the Huawei Pura 70 Pro, at its core, is a smartphone still laser-focused on delivering the best possible imaging experience on the mobile front. If you’ve used a P series phone lately, you know exactly the kind of camera performance to expect from the Pura 70 Pro — consistently good across different focal lengths, wide dynamic range, even in low-light scenes, and impressive noise reduction in Night mode.

Powering Huawei’s latest flagship is the company’s new top-end Kirin chip, which supports 5G connectivity for fast internet speeds where available — at least here in China. Plus, the Pura 70 Pro supports two-way satellite communication here as well with a compatible eSIM. The battery is rated at 5,050mAh and can be fully charged from zero in under an hour with the 100-watt fast charger in the box.

Early impressions

All things considered, the Huawei Pura 70 Pro, which is priced from ¥6,499 ($898 or P51,301) in China, could be another compelling option for mobile photography enthusiasts. It boasts a powerful and versatile camera setup that seems to perform up to par with the best out there even with the pre-release software, a large and punchy OLED display, and a potentially long-lasting battery that charges remarkably fast. We admit Huawei’s rebranding efforts surprised us, but the Pura 70 Pro proves that the company remains a powerhouse in the smartphone industry, especially when it comes to capturing stunning photos.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro specs

• 6.8-inch curved-edge LTPO OLED display, 1.5K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,440Hz PWM dimming, 10-bit colors, second-gen Kunlun Glass
• 12GB RAM
• 256GB/512GB/1TB storage
• Triple 50-megapixel main with variable-aperture lens, 12.5-megapixel ultrawide, 48-megapixel periscope telephoto with OIS rear cameras
• 13-megapixel front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader
• 5,050mAh battery with 100-watt fast wired charging, 50-watt fast wireless charging
• HarmonyOS 4.2
• IP68 rating
• Dual-satellite communication
• Colors: Black, white, and purple

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