Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines verdict: The Huawei Pura 70 Pro is a monster of a camera phone, surpassed only by the Ultra version that currently sits on the top of the DxOMark charts. It’s an impressive smartphone despite the US government’s best efforts to hinder Huawei though you still have to live with many of the idiosyncrasies caused by the ban.

Pros

• Cameras only surpassed by the Pura 70 Ultra
• Excellent design
• Great-looking screen
• Solid performance

Cons

• No 5G
• Some slight inconveniences in apps that require Google account integration

Huawei’s gone all out this year for the launch of its newly re-branded Pura 70 series of phones. Unlike last year when they only launched a Pro model of their P60 phone, 2024 sees the launch of three Pura 70 phones – the vanilla Pura 70, the Pura 70 Pro, and the Pura 70 Ultra.

The Pura 70 Pro is a great middle ground between the vanilla and Ultra model, and while it loses the motorized camera sensor on the highest-end version it’s still one of the most capable camera phones around.

READ MORE:

• Huawei Pura 70 Pro First Impressions: Heir to the Throne
• 5 Days in Shenzhen with the Huawei Pura 70 Pro

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines: Design

The P60 Pro’s giant camera module was a polarizing design choice for many, but for me, it wasn’t that bad. Ultimately it all came down to personal preference, and I liked the fact that Huawei wasn’t afraid to think outside the box and make something that wasn’t based on the twin lens reflex design that everyone and their mother is using for their phones.

Naturally, Huawei continues with the design language that they established with the P60 Pro, with the Pura 70 series sporting a more “fashion-forward” design mentality for their latest flagship series. And unlike the P60 Pro, the Pura 70 series uses frosted, matte colors for the back of their phones, though you can get the Pura 70 Ultra with a vegan back.

The mostly flat back of the phone curves gently into the sides of the steel frame, and the phone has heft without feeling too heavy. The corners are rounded and curved, which aids greatly in ergonomics and one-handed use. You’re not going to mistake it for anything less than a flagship device once you pick it up.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines: Display

Aside from the body, another thing you’re going to notice right away with the phone is the display. It’s a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, 2500 nits peak brightness, and a pixel density of 460ppi. The display isn’t as insanely bright as the other phones we’ve sampled recently, but it’s more than likely that 90% of the population won’t notice. It’s plenty bright and the display is very easily seen even under direct sunlight.

As for display quality, it’s really good. I haven’t seen a bad display on a Huawei flagship yet, and the Pura70 Pro isn’t about to start on that trend. The phone has a curved display but the curve is very subtle and merges nicely with the frame of the phone. It’s that detail that makes Huawei’s phones rise above its competitors.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines: Cameras

The Pura 70 Pro doesn’t have the retractable main sensor that’s on the Ultra variant, but the triple camera system that it has is still pretty potent. You have a 50-megapixel variable aperture lens on the main camera that can go from f/1.4 to f/4.0 and has PDAF, laser AF, and OIS. The telephoto camera has a 3.5x optical zoom lens and a 48-megapixel sensor, along with an f/2.1 aperture lens. The last camera in the stack is a 12.5-megapixel ultrawide sensor that has a f/2.2 aperture.

Huawei’s camera superiority is crystal clear in the images we shot with the Pura 70 Pro. We got stunning, true-to-life images using the phone while we were in Shenzhen China, which is impressive considering lighting conditions weren’t great during our visit because of all the rain. Regardless of bad weather, the Pura 70 Pro still managed to shoot detailed, well-exposed, and accurately lit shots.

As expected the Pura 70 Pro is a low-light monster, with its variable aperture lens able to drop to f/1.4 it’s able to collect a lot of light to properly expose images. The result is stunning photos in situations that other smartphone cameras wouldn’t dare tread.

The zoom camera is no slouch either, and while it’s pegged at 3.5x zoom for its hardware, it can go as far as 5x or even 10x without the image degrading. This is best illustrated by this series of images taken from our studio aimed towards Robinsons Galleria a good 3 km away.

The improved zoom lens along with the variable aperture lens make for a good combo when it comes to taking portrait images as well, with the bokeh looking very natural in these shots.

Huawei also has a new feature for their phone called ultra speed snapshot. With it, they promise that you’ll be able to capture clear images from fast-moving objects like race cars thanks to the fast response time of the phone’s camera.

There’s also the much improved macro mode of the zoom camera that now has its minimum focusing distance reduced to just 5cm from 10cm. The zoom camera allows users to open up a whole new avenue of photography.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines: Performance and software

Huawei’s been tight-lipped about the processor that’s in the Pura 70 series, but by now it’s well known that their Kirin 9010 chipset powers their latest flagships. Huawei’s latest processor is an entirely home-grown affair, built on a 7nm process. Benchmarking the Kirin 9010 has proven tricky, but as far as our time with it the phone has been relatively quick, fast and responsive.

Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t have 5G despite it able to connect using the high-speed network in China. It’s likely another effect of the US technology ban on Huawei.

Playing a relatively demanding game like Genshin Impact on the highest graphical settings with 60 FPS proved no problem with the Pura 70 Pro. You’re getting a flagship experience that’s on par with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-equipped phones that dropped this year.

If you’ve been following the news at all or have had a Huawei phone in the past two years, you know the drill when it comes to apps. Huawei doesn’t have access to GMS or Google Play and instead relies on its app ecosystem as well as an app search engine of sorts in the form of AppGallery for the former and Petal Search for the latter.

Contrary to what the haters say, you can still get apps that require GMS integration like YouTube, Gmail, Chrome, or Maps on Huawei devices post-ban. Huawei has made the process easier via GBox, with the phone asking for your Google credentials the first time you download and run an app that requires GMS. You then authorize apps that use GMS like normal. The days of annoying workarounds are over.

Battery life for the 5050mAh battery is surprisingly good, especially with a chipset that’s built on a 7nm process which some may argue is a generation behind what the competition is using. You’re getting a solid day’s worth of battery here plus or minus half a day depending on how hard you’ve been using the phone, which is what we typically see on flagships nowadays.

Huawei’s SuperCharge tech makes sure you’re not waiting around for the phone to charge, as the device is rated for 100W of fast charging and 80W of fast charging. Take note that you’ll only be able to use that 80W fast charging speed if you have the correct charger (Huawei doesn’t include a wireless charger in the box) but if you do, man you’ll never go back to regular wired charging again because of the convenience it gives you.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Review Philippines verdict and wrap-up:

While the Pura 70 Ultra is the one currently sitting at the top of the DxOMark charts and is the phone that’s in everyone’s minds nowadays, you shouldn’t count out the Pura 70 Pro. It’s a camera monster in its own right and is a few thousand pesos less than the top-tier version.

Sure there’s no 5G and there’s a bit of finagling you’ll have to do with GBox to get some of your apps, but that’s worth it considering the image quality you’re getting from the camera.

If camera performance is your top priority when you’re looking for a phone, the Pura 70 Pro is definitely for you.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro Price Philippines:

The price of the vanilla Pura 70 in the Philippines is Php 47,999, while the Pura 70 Pro is priced at Php 59,999. The Pura 70 Ultra is priced at Php 79,999. Pre-orders have already started and will run until May 30. those who will pre-order during the said period will also get an Osmo Mobile 6 and the FreeBuds 2 Pro with their purchase. Aside from those exciting freebies, you can avail up to a Php 10,000 token for the Pura 70 Ultra (Php 8,000 for the Pura 70 and Pura 70 Pro) if you trade in your old phone for any of the Pura 70 series.