HUAWEIPura 70 Pro First Impressions

The HUAWEI Pura 70 series recently went on sale in China, and we recently got our hands on a unit to try out. I’m sure some of you might not be familiar with the Pura 70 series, but it is HUAWEI’s successor to the highly successful P60 series. The brand decided to rename the series for this iteration, and at the same time, HUAWEI also changed up a lot of things on this device.

Given how impressed we were with the P60 series, specifically the P60 Pro, we do have high expectations for the Pura 70 Pro.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

HUAWEI does go out of their way to make their flagship smartphone look distinct. For example, the P60 Pro had a distinct camera island, which somewhat resembled that of a Koala if you looked at it sideways.

On the Pura 70 Pro, it now features an even larger camera island with a revised triple camera layout. The camera layout this time reminds me somewhat of Mickey Mouse when viewed in a landscape perspective. It’s not just me right?

The unit we have is finished in white, and it looks great. Aside from the unique camera island, the back panel features a minimalist design with Huawei logo at the lower left corner. It appears to be made of glass, which helps make the phone not only look but also feel premium. It’s also quite smudge-resistant, making it nice to use even without the provided case. Meanwhile, the frame is made out of metal and further adds to the Pura 70 Pro’s appeal.

The phone itself features a curved design that makes it nice to hold. However, it is rather heavy to hold. Specifically, it is a bit top heavy so your hand will get a bit tired after using it for quite some time. This also makes it a bit difficult to shoot video, but more on that later.

But overall, the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro is a great looking phone that also feels very much like a flagship unit. If you liked how the P60 Pro felt, you will definitely like the Pura 70 Pro.

Display and Multimedia

One of the best aspects of the new HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro is the display. It’s a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display with 2844 x 1260px resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The borders are very thin, almost nonexistent. More importantly, they are even all around.

While we didn’t get to watch YouTube or Netflix on the phone due to regional restrictions, we were able to watch some videos on BiliBili. I must say, it’s one of the best displays from a smartphone I’ve tried this 2024. The colors are really vivid, and the blacks can get very deep. Not to mention the colors are quite accurate too, which makes it great to review all the content you can capture on this phone.

But it’s not just the display. The audio also sounds really great. You get a dual stereo speaker setup, which sounds amazing. The speakers produce very clear sounds and have a great sound stage from a smartphone. Not to mention it is quite loud too, and even at max volume there is no distortion in output.

As a result, you have a great combination of a nice display and speakers for watching video. With the 120Hz refresh rate, you have smooth animations all around too.

Cameras

Perhaps one of the biggest and best aspects of the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro are the cameras, just like its predecessor. On the Pura 70 Pro, you get a triple rear camera highlighted by a 50MP main shooter with PDAF and OIS, a 48MP telephoto, and a 12.5MP ultrawide lens. Meanwhile, the front shooter uses a 13MP ultrawide.

If you were already impressed by the cameras of the P60 Pro last year, you’ll definitely enjoy the ones on the Pura 70 Pro. I was certainly impressed. You are able to take really sharp photos all around and very accurate colors. Even up to 10X zoom, you are still able to get some really great photos.

If you turn on AI, you can even take some crazy photos and the AI will do a lot of the work for you. This can clearly be seen when you zoom in to the max when taking photos. For example in the photo above, you can see that the license plate reads somewhat distorted instead of blurred showing the AI algorithm at work.

But aside from zoom, it also helps improve photos taken at night. Despite taking a bunch of photos with almost zero light, you can still get really sharp images with barely any grain. Not to mention the photos don’t end up looking filtered, allowing you to capture some really great content in almost all lighting conditions.

It’s a similar story when you’re shooting with video. The HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro can shoot up to 4K@60FPS, allowing you to capture some of the best videos possible. Whether it’s at night or in the morning, the video you can capture is really nice and sharp. While you do have stabilization, it only works at 1080P@60FPS maximum.

To give you a better idea, check out the sample gallery we have below of just how capable the cameras on HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro is.

While they are really great, I should mention that the Pura 70 Pro unit we have is a test unit. With that said, the final results could change given that there will be future software updates.

Performance & Benchmarks

The HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro is powered by the company’s own Kirin 9010 chipset. The unit we have comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. There is no option to expand storage even further though, and you can easily go through that when you capture content on this phone.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to try out games or run benchmarks. The unit we have is a test unit, and there will still be updates to come. At the same time, regional restrictions made it almost impossible to download our usual benchmarking apps. With that, we suggest you stay tuned for the full review.

Battery

The battery on the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro is a 5,000mAh unit. Interestingly, it lasted me quite a long time despite shooting the entire day. Like the performance benchmarks, we weren’t able to do a proper test. However, it does last quite a long time. But when we do need to recharge, you do get 100W fast charging.

Conclusion

So far, we’ve been really enjoying our time here in China with the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro. It’s a really great smartphone to use, and not to mention the camera. It’s arguably one of the best in the market today with its advanced AI algorithm that helps improve the quality of the image. Content creators will definitely want to get their hands on one of these.

As for the benchmarks and other performance metrics, we’ll do that in our full review which will be coming out soon. But so far, what do you think of the HUAWEI Pura 70 Pro? Share your thoughts in the comments below.