Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max hands-on review

Introduction

Huawei just unveiled the global Pura 90s series of phones. These are meant for the international markets, and it doesn't take a lot of investigating to figure out that the Pura 90s Pro Max we are looking at today is using the same hardware as the China-only Huawei Pura 90 Pro Max.

Huawei doesn't really hide this either. Quite the opposite, they publicly acknowledge that the "s" in the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series represents a special edition designed for the markets outside the Chinese mainland.

Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.0x77.1x8.1mm, 231g; Glass front, aluminum frame, glass back; IP68/IP69 dust tight and water resistant (high pressure water jets; immersible up to 2m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.90" LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, PWM, HDR, 1308x2880px resolution, 19.82:9 aspect ratio, 458ppi; Anti-reflective coating.
• Chipset: Kirin 9030S.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM.
• OS/Software: EMUI 16.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.4-4.0, 24mm, 1/1.28", PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 200 MP, f/2.6, 89mm, 1/1.28", PDAF, OIS, 4x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 40 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, AF.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.0, (ultrawide), AF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, HDR, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, HDR, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 6000 mAh (Global); 5500 mAh (EU); 100W wired, 80W wireless, 18W reverse wired, Reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: LTE; Wi-Fi; BT; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers.

And while we were able to spot a few differences here and there from the spec sheets alone, based on the best we could gather, the most major divergence points between the two are likely in software.

The hardware highlight of the Pura 90s Pro Max, as defined by Huawei itself, is the 200MP Ultra Large Sensor Telephoto Camera, complete with True-to-Colour Camera 2.0. There has been chatter of a Pura 90 Ultra online, but we can't really be certain whether it is coming at all, let alone whether it is going international. So, for now, the Pura 90s Pro Max we have at hand represents the flagship offering in the lineup.

Technically, we didn't have an unboxing experience of our own since we were just handed a unit at the global launch event today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

However, we are told you will get a 100W charger in the box, a cable and a clear plastic case for the handset.