Huawei's Pura 70 line: a retractable lens on the Ultra, variable aperture and satellite connectivity on the base models

The Pura 70 Pro series features a 6.8-inch OLED display at 2844 x 1260 resolution, supporting a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate, 1440 Hz PWM dimming, and 2500 nits brightness (peaking, of course), protected by second generation Kunlun glass – Huawei claims it's tougher and improves the drop resistance.

In contrast, the Pura 70 has a slightly smaller 6.6-inch display at 2760 x 1256 resolution, also protected by second-generation Kunlun glass.

Both series are powered by the Kiron 9010 chip, successor to the Kirin 9000s (lots of rebranding has been happening lately!), running HarmonyOS 4.2. The chipset includes two cores at 2.30GHz, six cores at 2.18GHz, and four cores at 1.55GHz.



The Pura 70 Pro boasts a 5050 mAh battery with 100W wired and 80W wireless charging, plus 20W reverse wireless charging. The base-line Pura 70 has a 4900mAh battery with 66W wired, 50W wireless, and 7.5W reverse wireless charging. Both support satellite connectivity.

The Pura 70 Pro's camera setup includes a 50MP main sensor with f/1.4-F4.0 aperture and OIS, a 48MP macro telephoto with 35x super macro and f/2.1 aperture, and a 12.5MP ultrawide camera at f/2.2. It also features the XD Motion engine for capturing fast-moving subjects.

The Pura 70 features a 50MP main camera with variable f/1.4-F4.0 aperture and OIS, a 12MP periscope telephoto, and a 13MP ultrawide camera at f/2.2 aperture.

The Big Kahuna: Pura 70 Pro+ and Pura 70 Ultra

Ok, on to the "bad boys", namely the Pura 70 Pro+ and the Pura 70 Ultra.

They both pack the Kirin 9010 chipset, which is an upgraded version of the Kirin 9000s, found in the Mate 60 series. The chipset comprises two large cores working at 2.30GHz, six medium cores operating at 2.18GHz, and four small cores running at 1.55GHz. For graphics, it features the Maleoon 910 GPU, which is also available with the Kirin 9000s.

Both the Pura 70 Pro+ and the Pura 70 Ultra models sport a 6.8-inch OLED LTPO panel with a 1Hz–120Hz refresh rate, 1440Hz PWM dimming, in-screen fingerprint scanner, and second-generation Kunlun glass.

The Pro+ has a 5,050mAh battery, while the Ultra edition packs a 5,200mAh battery, both supporting 100W wired and 80W wireless charging, along with 20W reverse wireless charging. Both phones run Harmony OS 4.2 and feature dual SIM, 5G, Wi-Fi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, IR blaster, and satellite connectivity, housed in an IP68-rated chassis.

The cameras are a promise:

The upper end of the photo-centric Pura 70 line sure does deliver on the photography end, at least on paper!

• The Huawei Pura 70 series boasts the XMAGE image system with a one-inch, 50-megapixel camera sensor.

• On the Pura 70 Ultra, there is something that will make tech-savvy mobile photographers drool: a mechanical telescopic (not periscope!) lens structure capable of internal expansion and contraction! Huawei claims it's to endure over 300,000 cycles and is said to capture clear images even at speeds of 300 km/h.

Many X/Twitter users that are lucky enough to try the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra show what this retractable lens system looks like:


On a side note: pocketable cameras, the so-called point and shoots, that have retractable lenses, often suffer from dust on the sensor. Does Huawei guarantee that dust won't enter the P70 Ultra's body and make a mess on the 1-inch sensor?

The main camera supports a variable aperture from f/1.6 to f/4.0 and features sensor-shift anti-shake technology. It is complemented by a 40-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 50-megapixel telephoto macro camera with OIS.

The Pura 70 Pro+ shares the primary camera specs with variable aperture and OIS, but lacks the retractable lens system exclusive to the Ultra model. It features a 12.5-megapixel ultrawide lens and a 48-megapixel telephoto macro camera, with a 13-megapixel front camera.

Price, availability

The four Pura 70 models will be available in China and probably won't make it globally. Some reports state that the Pro and Ultra versions were out of stock just a minute after the sales began.

There are various RAM/storage variants available, and here's the approximate starting price for each device:

• Pura 70: ~$760
• Pura 70 Pro: ~$898
• Pura 70 Pro+: ~$1,105
• Pura 70 Ultra: ~$1,380

While these are going to be hard to get, these days anything is possible. Having a variable aperture and satellite connectivity across all four models – even the 'vanilla' ones – is nothing short of mesmerizing. As far as that retractable lens on the Ultra's main camera… let's see what it can do!