Huawei Pura80 Series: Reviving Flagship Glory, Can its Imaging Prowess Reach New Heights?

Huawei Pura80 Series: Reviving Flagship Glory, Can its Imaging Prowess Reach New Heights?News regarding the Huawei Pura80 series is finally emerging. As one of Huawei's dual flagship product lines, its 2024 hype lags behind its sibling, the Mate70 series, which achieved remarkable success in both reputation and sales

Huawei Pura80 Series: Reviving Flagship Glory, Can its Imaging Prowess Reach New Heights?

News regarding the Huawei Pura80 series is finally emerging. As one of Huawei's dual flagship product lines, its 2024 hype lags behind its sibling, the Mate70 series, which achieved remarkable success in both reputation and sales. The reason lies in the insufficient competitive configuration of the Pura70 series. While its price matched its specs, it lacked impressive highlights. So, can the upcoming Pura80 series revive the glory of the Huawei Pura series?

One-Inch Sensor: Huawei's Imaging Apex Returns?

The Huawei Pura80 Ultra will reportedly feature a self-developed, domestically produced one-inch large-sensor, a stark contrast to the Sony IMX989 sensor used in the Pura70 Ultra. Released in 2022, the IMX989's technology and algorithms no longer fully meet Huawei's needs. This new one-inch sensor is reportedly a joint production between Huawei and Chinese manufacturer, SK Hynix (previously known as Smartsens Technology, abbreviated as ST). Huawei reportedly holds exclusive rights to its use for a period of time.

SK Hynix, a leading domestic CMOS manufacturer, has accumulated years of technical expertise, with its products widely used in automobiles, drones, robots, VR, and other fields. Its smartphone sensor shipments were once among the top five globally. It's noteworthy that the main camera of the Huawei Mate70 Pro+ also comes from SK Hynix, demonstrating image and optical quality on par with mainstream manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, and OmniVision. However, detailed specifications of this one-inch sensor remain unconfirmed online; its actual performance compared to competitors' Sony IMX900 remains to be seen.

It's worth recalling that the Huawei Pura70 Ultra pioneered a rotating telescopic lens structure. Instead of simple lens extension for zoom, this design increases light intake while significantly reducing the phone's thickness. The Huawei Pura80 Ultra is expected to build upon this, offering a more refined shooting experience.

Besides the Pura80 Ultra, the lower-tier Pura80 Pro is also expected to feature a large-sensor main camera, though it may likely use the same IMX989 sensor as the Pura70 Ultra. The Huawei Pura80's main camera is projected to have a 1/1.3-inch sensor, with the specific model yet to be announced.

Leaks suggest that the Pura80 Ultra's telephoto lens will be a 50MP 1/1.3-inch sensor, speculated to be OmniVision's OV50H, which has been used in models such as the Xiaomi 15 series, Honor Magic7 series, vivo XFold3, and the Huawei Pura70 series.

However, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo's flagship imaging phones already utilize 200MP large-sensor telephoto lenses, providing a natural advantage in resolution. Can Huawei compensate for this hardware gap with its exclusive algorithms and AI technology? It's not impossible. Reports suggest the Pura80 Ultra's telephoto lens employs shift-continuous zoom technology, mechanically adjusting the lens position for up to 8.4x lossless zoom, far exceeding traditional digital zoom. However, this complex structure also means increased potential problems, the successful mitigation of which remains to be seen.

The Pura80 Pro and Pura80's configurations are relatively more standard, with the former featuring a 50MP small-sensor and the latter a 12MP small-sensor.

Imaging Technology Upgrades: Hongfeng Original Color Imaging System Evolution

Beyond sensor upgrades, Huawei's existing imaging technology, the Hongfeng Original Color Imaging System, will undoubtedly continue in the Pura80 series. This system, first introduced in the Huawei Mate70 series, addressed the long-standing issue of color cast in mobile phone photography, resulting in more realistic colors a significant advancement.

The self-developed RYYB array filter arrangement and variable aperture will also be used in the Huawei Pura80 series. Compared to the mainstream RGGB, RYYB offers higher light intake, performing better in low-light and night scenes, although early technical flaws caused color cast issues. Now, with Huawei's algorithms and the Hongfeng Original Color Imaging System, this problem has been effectively solved.

The Huawei Pura80 series' imaging improvements are evident, but beyond hardware advancements, we anticipate new software algorithm surprises from Huawei.

How Far is the Huawei Pura80 from a Top-Tier Flagship?

Beyond the imaging system, let's examine other Pura80 series configurations. It's said the series will offer two screen options: a 6.7-inch 1.5K resolution four-equal-narrow straight screen and a 6.78-inch 1.5K resolution four-equal-narrow curved screen. The former will be used in the lower-end Pura80, while the Pura80 Pro and Pura80 Ultra will feature the curved screen. While Huawei hasn't followed the trend of smaller screen variants like OPPO and Xiaomi, the ultra-narrow bezel design enhances the visual experience.

However, the side-mounted fingerprint sensor may be controversial. Internal opinions are divided: some prefer in-screen fingerprint sensors due to their speed, larger unlock area, and perceived higher-end feel; others believe side-mounted sensors are more ergonomic and faster. Huawei's choice of side-mounted fingerprint sensing might be a cost-cutting measure, prioritizing investment in imaging and other hardware.

In terms of processing power, the Pura series usually aligns with the previous generation Mate series, suggesting the Kirin 9020. However, whether Huawei will introduce a new Kirin processor remains unknown.

Other features, such as infrared remote control, full-function NFC, X-axis linear motor, IP68/69 dust and water resistance, dual speakers, and satellite communication, are almost all included. The Huawei Pura80 series achieves top-tier industry standards in imaging, screen, and charging technology.

However, based on the Pura series' past pricing strategy, the Pura80 series is unlikely to be budget-friendly, with the lowest price possibly around 5000 yuan (approximately $680 USD), and the top configuration potentially exceeding 10,000 yuan (approximately $1360 USD). Unless a dedicated Huawei fan or with high photography demands, purchasing the Pura80 series might not be worthwhile. Its target demographic is clear: photography enthusiasts seeking a flagship experience.

The Huawei Pura80 series' hardware specs might not be the absolute strongest but are sufficient for everyday use. The phone's ultimate performance depends not only on hardware but also software optimization and tuning. Lei Technology's previous reviews of several Huawei flagship phones indicate consistently excellent overall performance.

Following the Mate Series, Can the Pura80 Help Huawei Return to the Peak?

Last year's Huawei Mate70 series was Huawei's best-performing product since its comeback, with sales exceeding 900,000 units in less than a month, according to Digital Chat Station, a feat for a domestic phone. Huawei's strong brand influence and product power give it high competitiveness in the market. If the Mate70 series marked the beginning of a new era for Huawei phones in terms of software and hardware, the Pura80 series bears the responsibility of leading Huawei flagships back to their peak.

However, high expectations come with high pressure. Besides longtime rival Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo also perform excellently in the high-end market; the era of Huawei and Apple dominating the market is over. Whether the Pura80 series can continue to lead the domestic mobile phone market will be crucial for Huawei's market share in 2025. Lei Technology will continue to monitor the Pura series' final product power and release date.