DT English-language journalist Andy Boxall tested the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and was impressed not by the mobile phone, but by its incredible camera. Is it worth it just for that? So we’ll find out.
I use a smartphone that I think should be your next camera, not your next phone. I realize this is a pretty big statement and probably financially irresponsible, but it’s the only way Huawei Pura 70 Ultra This makes a lot of sense.
As a phone, it’s both lame and annoying. But as a camera it’s absolutely amazing. The camera is so good that almost nothing else about the phone matters.
Isn’t this a phone?
To be clear, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra works like a smartphone, just without Google services. This means that if you regularly use or rely on any of the Google apps, from Gmail to Maps, it will take effort and dedication to give them up. Huawei’s app library has significant holes, as well as the use of third-party app stores and archives. agro-industrial complex Huawei wants you to think so, this is not an easy decision. Remember, there is no Google Play Store here.
The Pura 70 Ultra’s software is essentially Android, but it’s buried deep within Huawei’s own EMUI interface, which isn’t as smooth, reliable, or enjoyable to use as it should be. All this means is that you’ll have to make a lot of compromises or be completely anti-Google to consider using the Pura 70 Ultra as your only way to communicate with the world. Take a closer look at the specs and you’ll find that the processor is also technologically inferior to flagship chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek.
Wearing it all day just doesn’t stimulate me, but with the camera it’s a completely different story. It’s not just one thing that makes it so fantastic, it’s a combination. And the overall quality is so impressive that you can experiment, play, and enjoy the camera in all situations while knowing that it will likely exceed your expectations every time you touch the shutter button.
I’ve rarely been disappointed with the results, and it makes you want to take more photos to see what it’s really capable of. It really is the complete opposite of a smartphone.
What is the secret of the camera?
The secret to the Pura 70 Ultra’s performance may be its motorized lens barrel, which isn’t something entirely new in smartphones but is used in a new way here. Huawei says that by extending and retracting the sensor lens, it has managed to fit a giant 1-inch sensor into the Pura 70 Ultra without resorting to a massive camera module or changing the design or ergonomics. Yes, the module is large, but smaller than in Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Vivo X100 Pro.
You can hear the sliding hood move, and it’s a nice sound that’s both electronic and mechanical. It works in conjunction with a mechanical aperture that operates from f/1.6 to f/4.0. You can’t hear how it works, but you can see it. Also, this is not the first time this technology has been used in a phone (Huawei Mate 50 Pro has it and Tecno is also working on this technology), but it is the first time it has been combined with a pop-up lens body.
Next, the 50MP main camera is joined by a 50MP macro telephoto lens that offers 3.5x optical zoom and excellent close-up photography. When used alone, 35mm equivalent photos from the main camera are beautiful, full of vibrant color, yet carefully tuned to create a unique look. But when you combine optical zoom, mechanical aperture, and a pop-up lens with a massive sensor, you can begin to create photos that are impossible on any other phone.
A truly amazing smartphone camera
There’s a grace to the Pura 70 Ultra’s depth of field that portrait mode will never be able to replicate, and it’s difficult for even truly capable smartphone cameras to match. As a result, the 3.5x optical zoom becomes much more versatile than the 5x optical zoom, giving camera-like qualities to photos that I actually enjoy looking at and opening up possibilities for taking photos that I would normally ignore.
The same goes for the Pura 70 Ultra’s Super Macro mode. Again, we’ve seen macro modes many times before, but the Huawei phone succeeds where others stumble. Once you get used to using it, it requires almost no effort, and what’s surprising is how little compromise there is when using it. Colors are vibrant and focusing is crisp and accurate, which brings me to the final aspect that makes the Pura 70 Ultra so good: detail.
The detail that the Pura 70 Ultra captures is amazing, and it doesn’t seem to matter which mode you use as it’s always sharp. This is what sets Super Macro mode apart from the competition, as there is no compromise when getting close to your subject, whether you’re using the 3.5x optical zoom or the 10x hybrid zoom. All of this gives you confidence in the camera, and it quickly leads to you trying something new because you know it will get results.
Nothing seems artificial
It took me a while to decide how to properly describe the Pura 70 Ultra’s camera performance, and I eventually realized that it rarely feels artificial, and I never feel like I’m activating a “mode” or feature to try to make snapshot. what I mean. Instead, I just use the camera as normal and there’s never any shaking between functions, as it always feels like it’s a focused device built for take photos rather than a product designed to perform many different tasks to an average standard.
I’ve liked Huawei’s smartphone cameras since it split from Leica a few years ago and have been very impressed with some of them, but nobody reached the heights of Pura 70 Ultra. Huawei has clearly taken what it learned about the personalities, emotions and tones of photographs from its partnership with Leica and combined it with a camera that focuses on the art of photography rather than gimmicky modes designed to grab headlines in long-term care facilities .
I have no interest in using the Pura 70 Ultra as a phone, but I can see myself using the camera instead of the camera on every other smartphone I’ve tested recently, and I think it even includes the excellent Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
I thought the days of carrying around a camera and a phone were long gone, but the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra quickly convinced me otherwise. This is the first phone I’ve used that I can’t recommend as a phone, but I can wholeheartedly recommend as a camera.
Source: Digital Trends
