Huawei Pura 70 Ultra review

The competition

First, let's say we are glad that Huawei is getting up on its feet, slowly but surely. We will not get political here, but we do think the market deserves some proper competition and diversity, a thing that has become more and more absent lately.

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra turned out to be a great offer with flagship specs, though its €1499 price tag is not as welcoming as we would have hoped for. At least Huawei is shipping the Pura 70 Ultra with 512GB storage, a dual-100W charger and is throwing a free pair of Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 with your purchase. Not that bad.

The first phone that comes to mind is the €1200 Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which is better at almost everything - screen, speed, wired charging speed, video recording, including GMS. The only area where the Pura 70 Ultra is better than the 14 Ultra is quite possibly the selfie camera.

Then we have the €1000 Honor Magic6 Pro, which has a similar display to the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra but comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 5G chip, similar main and ultrawide cameras, and an even better selfie one. This Honor often shoots a bit better than the Huawei, too.

The €1000 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is not only known for its great screen and fast chipset, but also for its S-Pen, two telephoto cameras and numerous lossless-like zoom steps. We cannot imagine many people getting the Pura 70 Ultra over this phone, unless you are intentionally after a product without Google' services.

And, finally, the best phone for video recording should not go unmentioned - the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple did a wonderful job with their latest iPhone and it is not only one of the most beautiful smartphones lately, but also a truly powerful camcorder with Dolby Vision output, ProRes on external storage option, an outstanding stabilization and overall excellent video quality across the board. And this iPhone is now cheaper than the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, too.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra • Honor Magic6 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra • Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Our verdict

The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is indeed the best Huawei can offer - a dynamic high-res OLED screen, an excellent design and build, good speakers, super-fast charging options, powerful OS, and innovative camera solutions with flagship sensors and lenses.

We liked almost everything on this phone, and the photo quality turned out impressive across the board.

On the other hand, the lack of 5G, GMS and the most recent Android version is not something that can be easily forgotten. Then comes the mediocre video quality, which is a big mishap for one of the most expensive cameraphones out there.

The Pura 70 Ultra might sell well in its home Chinese market, but elsewhere, it's a mere showcase device of Huawei technical prowess in the face of US sanctions.

Outside of China, the expensive Pura 70 Ultra will attract only consumers looking for a high-end alternative to Android and iOS. And by the looks of it, this makes it an incredibly niche product.

Pros

• Great design, IP68, amazingly tough screen glass.
• Excellent OLED - 1B colors, bright, HDR.
• Good battery life, fast wired, wireless and reverse wireless charging.
• Outstanding photo quality day and night, selfies, too.
• Rich retail bundle.

Cons

• No Google Mobile Services and some apps still won't work despite available workarounds.
• Mid-range chipset performance at a flagship price.
• No 5G.
• Mediocre overall video recording quality.

Pricing

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