Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Review
Today we come to one of the most special and talked about flagships on the market, namely the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra. After many ups and downs, Huawei has returned to show itself again with the Pura series, which is actually a continuation of the P series. The Pura 80 Ultra, as the flagship of this family, with a special focus on photography capabilities and advanced technical specifications, was released on June 11, 2025. This phone is not only a powerful tool, but also a demonstration of the peak of Huawei’s engineering in design and innovation.
Let me put your mind at ease right away; the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is a camera-centric phone in every sense of the word. Its camera system is so large that when you look at it from the back, you feel like you have a professional camera attached to the back of the phone! This design shows how much Huawei has counted on the photography capabilities of this model and has focused all its attention on photography and videography innovations. This phone is introduced with innovations such as the world’s first interchangeable dual telephoto camera, which is really attractive. But can this focus on the camera cover its weaknesses and make it a valuable option in the market?
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Review | Huawei Pura 80 Phone Review
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Design Review
Measuring 163 x 76.1 x 8.3 mm and weighing 233.5 grams, the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is a relatively large and heavy phone. This weight may be a bit tiring for some during long-term use, but it conveys the feeling of a premium product well. The body material is a combination of glass on the front and back and an aluminum frame, which conveys the feeling of a true and luxurious flagship. Its build quality is really high and when you hold the phone in your hand, you notice the elegance and precision in the construction.
The back design of the phone is very special and distinctive. Huawei calls it Glazed Texture Design or Dazzling Forward Symbol, which has a unique and eye-catching pattern, complete with a gold ring around the camera module and the XMAGE logo. Of course, this gold ring is not made of real gold, but it has an attractive visual effect and sets the phone apart from the rest. Its camera module is really large and has a special triangular protrusion that Huawei calls the forward symbol. This design may be tasteful and some may not like it, but it definitely sets the phone apart from the rest and attracts attention at first glance.
The good news is that the Pura 80 Ultra is IP68/IP69 certified, meaning it is completely resistant to dust and water (up to 2 meters for 30 minutes). This means you can rest assured about dropping it in the water or getting caught in the rain, an important feature for a flagship phone that gives users peace of mind about durability and resistance. Despite its weight and size, the four-sided curved design of the screen and frame makes the phone look more elegant and fits better in the hand. However, the bezels around the screen are a bit thick, which reduces the effect of the curved edges and may be annoying for some.
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Display Review
The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra display is a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED panel that can display 1 billion colors and supports the HDR Vivid standard. This means that colors look incredibly vivid, true-to-life, and with high contrast. The resolution of 1276 x 2848 pixels with a pixel density of 459ppi makes images incredibly sharp and detailed, so that pixels are not at all discernible, providing an unparalleled visual experience.
It has an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, which means that scrolling, switching between menus, and playing games is incredibly smooth and enjoyable. This dynamic refresh rate also helps optimize battery consumption. Huawei claims that the peak brightness of this display reaches 3,000 nits. However, in real-world tests, this number was measured at around 1,000 nits. Companies usually measure peak brightness under very specific conditions and for a small portion of the screen, not for the entire screen consistently. However, even with this actual brightness, the display is perfectly readable and usable in direct sunlight, and you won’t have any problems with outdoor visibility. This brightness level is sufficient for most everyday usage scenarios, but you shouldn’t expect a sustained brightness of 3,000 nits.
To protect this beautiful and high-quality display, Huawei has used the second generation of Kunlun Glass (Kunlun Glass 2), which is highly resistant to scratches and impacts. This is an important layer of protection for a flagship phone, which gives users peace of mind about the durability of the display.
As expected from an OLED panel, it delivers vivid colors and deep, infinite blacks. Colors are more natural by default than some competitors, but if you like more vibrant and saturated colors, you can use the Vivid option in the settings to make them a little more eye-catching. The infinite contrast also makes videos and images very eye-catching.
However, there is one important point that affects the viewing experience. Despite having a high-quality LTPO OLED display and support for HDR Vivid, due to DRM (digital rights management) restrictions, watching HD and HDR content on popular streaming services is not possible and the quality is limited to SD (standard definition). This is a big drawback for users who watch a lot of movies and series and value high quality. This limitation is likely due to Huawei’s lack of full access to the necessary Google certificates (such as Widevine L1), which are essential for streaming high-quality content on streaming platforms.
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Pura 80 Ultra Charging Review
The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is equipped with a 5170 mAh battery for the global version and a 5700 mAh battery for the Chinese version. This capacity is good and sufficient for a flagship and promises good charging. One of the main strengths of this phone is its incredible charging speed. With 100W wired charging and 80W wireless charging, the phone’s battery is charged in the shortest possible time. These speeds are truly impressive and make you worry less about running out of charge. It also has 20W wireless reverse charging and 18W wired charging, so you can use the phone to charge other gadgets such as wireless headphones or even another phone in emergencies. This feature is very useful for those who have a lot of gadgets.
In the tests conducted, the battery life in active use was about 11 hours and 51 minutes. This means that the battery will last you a day of heavy use, or even more than a day of normal use, and it won’t let you down during the day.
However, there’s one important thing to note about fast charging. To achieve the maximum charging speeds of 100W wired and 80W wireless, you need to use Huawei’s own charger and cable (HUAWEI SuperCharge). This means that standard USB-C chargers or generic wireless chargers can’t deliver these high speeds.
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Camera Review
Now, here’s where the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra really shines! The camera is the star of the show, and Huawei has done its best to make it the best. The phone’s 50-megapixel main camera has a large 1-inch sensor that, along with a variable aperture of f/1.6 to f/4.0, allows it to capture an incredible amount of light and have unparalleled control over depth of field. This variable aperture feature allows you to capture beautiful bokeh photos, as well as control the light in bright environments so that your photos don’t look too bright.
Huawei has used its own RYYB color filter, which is claimed to offer 16 stops of dynamic range. This means that details in shadows and highlights are captured perfectly, and there’s no sign of burn-in or overexposure. In low light, the camera performs superbly, producing highly detailed photos, well-exposed, and well-developed shadows and highlights. Its unmatched dynamic range also makes night photos truly eye-catching. It even performs better at night than Samsung’s flagships.
This phone is the world’s first phone with a dual interchangeable telephoto camera. That means it has two separate telephoto lenses; One is 50MP with 3.7x optical zoom (83mm) and the other is 12.5MP with 9.4x optical zoom (212mm). Interestingly, both use a large 1/1.28-inch sensor, which is the largest sensor for a telephoto lens on a smartphone. This innovation is achieved with a light-blocking mechanism and a two-prism design that even the sound of its tiny motor can be heard! Huawei says that this mechanism has been tested 180,000 times and is reliable. The detail this telephoto camera captures is truly excellent and is unmatched for stationary subjects. At 3.7x and 9.4x zoom, images are clear and detailed.
40MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture and 13mm focal length. This camera is great for wide-angle shots and landscapes, and is great for vlogging or capturing wider shots. It performs well during the day, but at night it can be a bit noisy and lacks the detail of the main camera. The selfie camera is 13MP with an f/2.0 aperture and autofocus. It can also record 4K video and even slow-motion.
The Pura 80 Ultra supports 4K video recording at 60fps. It also has optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (gyro-EIS), which makes videos very stable, almost as if you were filming with a gimbal. This stability is excellent even in low light.
Compared to competitors like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Pura 80 Ultra performs better in capturing details and managing colors. Especially at night, its 1-inch sensor takes more realistic and high-quality photos than Samsung flagships.
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Hardware Review
The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra uses the Kirin 9020 (7nm) chip. This chip, which is made in-house by Huawei, cannot benefit from the latest chipset manufacturing technologies due to sanctions, and therefore lags behind the flagship processors of competitors such as Snapdragon and Apple’s A-series.
This chip falls into the mid-range category and is not a gaming chip, but it is still powerful. This means that for everyday tasks, web browsing, social networks and most applications, you will not have any problems and you will experience smooth performance. However, if you are a professional gamer or use very heavy applications constantly, you may notice some differences with the high-end flagships on the market. Its performance is not so good in the long term and it shows a fairly significant performance drop.
Its benchmark scores also confirm this; AnTuTu 1,160,268 (v10) and GeekBench 4,368 (v6). These scores show that it is a bit behind compared to other flagships in the market and you should not expect performance at the level of the best of the best. When a phone is released with a flagship price tag, users expect to get the best performance in all areas, including processing power. The processor lagging behind competitors in this price range can reduce the overall appeal of the phone and make it look less valuable compared to other flagships.
The phone comes with 16 GB of RAM, which is great for multitasking and running multiple programs simultaneously, and you will not have any shortage of it. The internal storage is also available in two versions, 512 GB and 1 TB, which provides a lot of space for photos, videos and applications.
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra UI Review
The global version of the phone comes with EMUI 15, which is based on Android 12. The Chinese version runs HarmonyOS 5.1, which Huawei is trying to make a real alternative to Android and iOS. EMUI 15 brings new features like air gestures (for scrolling or taking screenshots without touching the screen, for example), lock screen customization, and multitasking improvements. The interface is intuitive, friendly, fast, and familiar, and Huawei has tried to keep the user experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
But the biggest challenge for users outside of China is the lack of direct and official access to Google Mobile Services (GMS). This means that the Google Play Store, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, and other Google apps are not available by default, which is a big inconvenience. Huawei uses its own AppGallery to install apps, which also has fewer ads. For Google-related apps, there are solutions like GBox and microG. GBox is a small virtual machine that emulates Google services and allows you to install and even update Google apps. This method usually works well for apps like Google Maps, Chrome or YouTube.
But even with GBox and microG, some Google apps and features still don’t work or don’t have a complete user experience. For example, Google Wallet (for NFC payments), Android Auto, Screencasting or Quick Share (for quick file sharing) are currently unusable. Video streaming quality may also be reduced due to DRM restrictions in the GBox emulation layer and be limited to SD quality, even if the phone’s display supports HD and HDR.
These restrictions, which are a direct result of the US sanctions against Huawei, create a Huawei tax for international buyers. Despite paying the price of a flagship phone, users have to put up with software limitations and lack of full access to the Google ecosystem. This can make the everyday user experience challenging for many people who depend on Google services.
Pura 80 Ultra Speaker Review
The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra features stereo speakers that provide an immersive audio experience for watching movies and listening to music. The sound quality is very good and the volume is acceptable. Huawei even had a demo where the phone blew out the candles with its bass! This shows that Huawei has also worked on sound quality and tried to innovate in this area.
The addition of an up-firing grille helps the speakers produce a rounder and fuller sound and increases the sense of surround sound. This means that the overall listening experience from the phone, whether for calls or multimedia content, is satisfactory and overall, the audio section of this phone performs very well.
Is the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra worth buying?
The Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is a flagship phone with very outstanding features in some areas and significant weaknesses in others.
Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Highlights:
- Unparalleled Camera System: With a large 1-inch sensor, variable aperture, dual telephoto zoom, and excellent low-light performance, this phone is truly built for professional photography and videography, and it outperforms many competitors in this area.
- Super fast charging: 100W wired and 80W wireless, which fills the battery in the shortest time and minimizes waiting time for charging.
- Special and premium design: With IP68/IP69 certification, it is both beautiful and water and dust resistant, which conveys the feeling of a luxurious and durable product.
- High-quality LTPO OLED display: Vivid colors, deep blacks, and a 120Hz refresh rate for a great and smooth visual experience.
- Powerful stereo speakers: Loud and high-quality sound for a good and immersive multimedia experience.
Weaknesses of Huawei Pura 80 Ultra:
No official support for Google Services (GMS): This is the biggest drawback for users outside the region. It requires third-party solutions (such as GBox) that are not always complete and some apps or features (such as Google Wallet, Android Auto) may not work.
No 5G support in the global version: For those who need high 5G speeds, this is a serious limitation.
Processor performance is not on par with competing flagships: The Kirin 9020 chip, while good, falls short in benchmarks and heavy games compared to Snapdragons and Apple’s new chips.
DRM restrictions on streaming HD/HDR content: You may not be able to watch video content in the highest quality on streaming services.
High price: Given the software and hardware limitations, the price of the phone is relatively high. - Need for special and expensive charging accessories: To achieve maximum charging speed, you need to purchase Huawei’s own charger and cable.
According to all the reviews, the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is a special phone that is not suitable for everyone.
Who is it for:
- Professional mobile photography and videography enthusiasts: If the camera is an absolute priority for you and you are looking for the best photography experience on a phone, the Pura 80 Ultra can satisfy you with its innovations and unparalleled camera quality.
- Those who are not dependent on Google services: If using Google apps is not vital for you or you have enough patience and knowledge to work with alternative solutions (such as GBox) and deal with their limitations.
- Those who do not need 5G: If there is no 5G coverage in your area or 4G speed is enough for you.
n Users with a high budget: And are willing to pay for camera innovations and special design, and overlook other limitations.
Who should think more: n Those who are completely dependent on the Google ecosystem: If you can’t live without the Google Play Store, Gmail, Maps, Wallet and other Google apps and don’t want to deal with third-party solutions and their hassles.
n Gamers or users who need the highest processing power: If raw processor performance is a priority for you and you want to run the heaviest games and apps without any lag and at the highest frame rates. - Those who absolutely need 5G: And have 5G coverage in their area.
- Those who are looking for the best value for money in this price range: And want to have a complete flagship experience, without any compromises in software, hardware and network connectivity.
Ultimately, the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra is a phone with great camera capabilities and a distinctive design that could be very attractive to photography enthusiasts.
