To cut to the chase: The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra has one of the best cameras currently available on a smartphone. This makes the Huawei smartphone a real alternative to devices like the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, this is only applicable if you focus solely on the camera module.
Features: four-camera system with 9.4x optical zoom
Like its younger sibling, the Pura 80 Pro and Huawei Pura 80 Ultra have a 50MP primary camera with a large 1-inch sensor and a 40MP ultra-wide-angle camera.
The Ultra model uses two telephoto lenses with OIS stabilization instead of the Pura 80 Pro’s 48MP telephoto lens. They are 50MP and 12.5MP respectively and have a 1/1.28-inch sliding sensor. This allows for up to 9.4x optical zoom, giving the 4x camera system a wide focal length range of 22.5mm to 212mm.
Apart from the fantastic camera, the high-end smartphone, which officially costs 1,399 euros, is only partly impressive. One factor is its size and weight: the perfectly made Pura 80 Ultra is bulky, even thick, because at 15.7 millimeters at its thickest point, Huawei’s 234-gram phone is quite hefty.
Slow SoC, no 5G and Android 12 based OS
The next point of criticism concerns the SoC Pura 80 Ultra, whose performance is not worthy of a flagship. Its HiSilicon Kirin 9020 sometimes completely outperforms other high-end devices. Of course, the performance is still quite sufficient for daily use, and with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage, the RAM/storage setup is beyond reproach either.
However, what will undoubtedly put off some potential buyers is the lack of a 5G module and the fact that it is still based on Open Android 12 and runs EMUI 15, for which Huawei promises five years of updates. The OS lacks Google services, which means users must use the manufacturer’s Aurora Store to access the entire Play Store library.
Interested readers can access the full Huawei Pura 80 Ultra review here.
