The new best camera in a smartphone? Verdict on the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra

To get straight to the point: 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 such as the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, this only applies if you focus solely on the camera module.

Highlight: The quad-camera system with 9.4x optical zoom

Like its smaller sibling, the Pura 80 Pro, the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra features a 50 MP main camera with a large 1-inch sensor and a 40 MP ultra-wide-angle camera.

The Ultra model uses two OIS-stabilized telephoto cameras instead of the 48 MP telephoto camera found on the Pura 80 Pro. They have resolutions of 50 MP and 12.5 MP, respectively, and share a sliding 1/1.28-inch sensor. This allows for up to 9.4x optical zoom, giving the 4x camera system an enormous focal length range of 22.5 to 212 millimeters.

Apart from its fantastic camera, the high-end smartphone, which officially costs €1,399, is only partially impressive. One factor is its size and weight: the excellently crafted Pura 80 Ultra is bulky, obese even, because at 15.7 millimeters at its thickest point, the 234-gram Huawei phone is quite chunky.

Slow SoC, no 5G and an OS based on Android 12

The next point of criticism concerns the Pura 80 Ultra's SoC, whose performance is not flagship-worthy. Its HiSilicon Kirin 9020 is occasionally completely outperformed by other high-end devices. Of course, the performance is still easily sufficient for everyday use, and with 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage, the RAM/storage configuration is also beyond reproach.

However, what will certainly deter some potential buyers is the lack of a 5G module and the fact that it's still based on Open Android 12 and runs EMUI 15, for which Huawei promises five years of updates. The OS lacks Google services, meaning users have to use the manufacturer's Aurora Store in order to access the full Play Store library.

Interested readers can access the full review of the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra here.