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First Impressions: Huawei Pura 70 Pro
We go hands-on with Huawei’s pro-level flagship for 2024
In This Article
First Impressions
The middle child of the Pura 70 series offers much of what the Ultra brings to the table at a slightly lower price. However, with camera performance being the order of the day, the fully-kitted-out Ultra seems more appealing, especially with Google services-related hurdles to overcome.
Key Features
Introduction
The Huawei Pura 70 Pro is the middle child of the new Pura 70 lineup, nestled between the more affordablePura 70and the mega-priceyPura 70 Ultra. As you might expect, you’ll find elements of both mixed in here, could it be the sweet spot?
The processor is the same on all three models, and the display specs are similar, too. The main differences are in the design, the camera specifications and the memory and storage configuration. In Europe, it’s only available with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage and it’ll cost you €1199. UK-specific pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed.
I’ve only spent a short amount of time with the Pura 70 Pro, so there’s still plenty left to explore. Based on this brief experience, though, here are my early thoughts.
Design and screen
Aesthetically, the Pura 70 Pro falls somewhere between the standard Pura 70 and the Ultra. It has a glass rear like the 70 but it inherits the smooth curves of the Ultra. It’s the same size as the pricier model, which means that it’s slightly larger and heavier than the standard Pura 70. The lack of a mechanical pop-out lens shaves off a few grams, though.
The phone is available in three colours, Black, White and Purple and all have a matte finish on the back panel, with a shinier surround for the camera array. You may have seen some images of phones with a gloss back and a cross-hatched pattern, but those are actually the Pro+, which is only launching in China. The models coming to Europe have a much more understated look.
The phone feels comfortable in the hand, with just the right amount of curviness to ensure you’re not poked in the palm. Like the Ultra, the display is mostly flat, but curved edges on all sides make for very comfortable gesture control, without causing too many distracting reflections. It also boasts Huawei’s highly scratch-resistant Kunlun glass, so it should be well protected from knocks and scrapes.
The display specs are essentially identical to the flagship model. It has a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and since it’s an LTPO panel, it can dynamically switch as low as 1Hz to conserve battery. It has a 2844 x 1260 resolution, supports 1440Hz PWM dimming to reduce eye fatigue and boasts an output of up to 2500 nits.
I haven’t been able to properly put this display to the test, but I can tell you it looks great in Huawei’s brightly lit flagship store. It’s essentially the same as the Ultra’s display, and that has been nothing but impressive so far, so it’s safe to say you can expect good things here.
Features and performance
There’s no difference in processor between the three models, in any case, you’ll find Huawei’s 7nm Kirin 9010 chip. It’s definitely a few steps behind the competition, but US sanctions mean that Huawei is very limited with the silicon it can use. Still, in use, the phone feels fast, it’s just sure to lag behind in benchmarks and graphically intensive gaming.
A bigger hurdle to overcome is the lack of Google services. Again, this is something that Huawei is stuck with, and it’s sure to turn away many would-be buyers. There are plenty of workarounds to get Google’s apps installed, but it’s a hassle, and it rarely works as seamlessly as it would on phones with native support.
If you don’t mind a bit of tinkering, or you’ve somehow de-Googled your online life, there are plenty of great features to explore in EMUI 14.2. The funky eye-tracking-enabled animated wallpapers make an appearance here, as does the seamless connectivity with other Huawei devices.
As always, the camera is the star of the show. On the Pro model, you get the same main camera as the standard Pura 70, so there’s no retractable lens and no 1-inch sensor, but it still has a variable aperture and it’s still sizable at 1/1.3 inches.
The telephoto lens is upgraded to a 48MP 3.5x unit with macro focusing capabilities and OIS. Meanwhile the ultrawide loses half a megapixel, oddly. I haven’t been able to test these cameras in a meaningful way just yet, but presumably this telephoto will be more impressive than the 12MP module found on the standard Pura 70.
The camera system supports Huawei’s clever high-speed snapshot mode, so it should be just as good for action shots as the Ultra. Using either the main or the telephoto, the phone will capture a long exposure and a quick exposure simultaneously and then combine them using software magic. The result is immaculately lit shots that are completely free from motion blur. It’s really impressive stuff.
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Early Thoughts
I haven’t spent long enough with the Huawei Pura 70 Pro to reach a proper conclusion, but on first impressions, it seems like an excellent phone with lots of great features. Unfortunately, the lack of Google services and an underwhelming processor mean that it’s not going to be considered by most people.
The real pull of the Pura 70 series is the camera performance and with the Ultra offering better specifications, I can’t help but feel people will be drawn to that instead. That said, I haven’t properly put this camera to the test yet, it might be just as impressive.
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FAQs
It’s fairly durable with IP68 dust and water resistance, allowing it to survive in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes.
Full specs
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
