While Huawei might not be the name it was several years ago in the West, it remains a dominant powerhouse in its home market, offering up some of the best camera phones around. Huawei is now stepping back into the global market, unveiling the Pura 90s Pro Max and Pura 90s Pro, bringing its latest pair of 5G photography-focused flagship phones to Europe.
The phones are known simply as the Pura 90 Pro Max and Pura 90 Pro in Huawei’s home market, with a mysterious “s” added to the international versions. Huawei has not explained what the letter stands for, although the overseas lineup appears to retain the same camera hardware that made the Chinese models so interesting.
The headline act is undoubtedly the Huawei Pura 90s Pro Max, which has a 200MP telephoto camera built around a large 1/1.28-inch RYYB sensor. That is around the same size as the main camera sensors used by many competing flagship phones, except Huawei has placed it behind an approximately 96mm-equivalent f/2.6 lens, offering roughly 4x optical zoom rather than the more common 3x.
Huawei also claims the telephoto camera offers optical stabilization equivalent to seven stops, as well as a close-focusing telephoto macro mode. The company is particularly promoting its performance at longer digital zoom settings, including a new 20x ultra telephoto video mode.
Video also now sends more of the original image data to the phone’s processor before enhancement – which Huawei claims produces cleaner, more detailed footage.
A full-resolution 200MP photo mode will be available at the native 4x focal length. But for more conventional shooting, the sensor will use pixel binning to improve light gathering and produce more manageable image files.
The telephoto is joined by a 50MP main camera with the latest LOFIC tech for high dynamic range, as well as a proper 10-step physical aperture running from f/1.4 to f/4.0. Whilst variable aperture is an unthinkable omission in a digital camera, it is still very rare to find this in a phone. This should give photographers greater control over exposure and depth of field than the fixed apertures found on most rival phones. There is also a 40MP, 13mm-equivalent f/2.2 ultra-wide camera.
Huawei’s also included its second-generation True-to-Colour Camera 2.0, which works alongside all three cameras to analyze the light and colors within a scene. Huawei says this should improve color accuracy in difficult conditions, particularly when shooting under mixed artificial lighting where skin tones, neon lights and strongly saturated colors can quickly confuse a smartphone’s processing.
There are plenty of AI features as well, although one of the more interesting additions is designed to help photographers before they press the shutter. The phone can analyze a composition and suggest that the photographer physically moves forward, backward, or sideways to improve the framing. This seems to be a new frontier of camera AI, with Google, Samsung, and Sony all debuting versions of this tech in the last 12 months.
The smaller Pura 90s Pro retains the 50MP main camera with its f/1.4-f/4.0 variable aperture, but swaps the 200MP telephoto for a 50MP f/2.1 telephoto macro camera. Its ultra-wide camera also drops to 12.5MP, although it keeps the True-to-Colour Camera 2.0 system.
Away from the cameras, the Pura 90s Pro Max has a 6.9-inch LTPO OLED display with a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a 2880 x 1308 resolution. The screen uses Huawei’s anti-reflective and scratch-resistant Kunlun Glass, while the phone weighs approximately 230.5g.
The Pura 90s Pro is a little more manageable, with a 6.6-inch 1-120Hz LTPO OLED display, a 2760 x 1256 resolution, and a weight of around 213.5g.
Both phones have a 6,000mAh battery in their Chinese specifications, but the international version will ship with a 5,200mAh cell to meet EU regulations. The Pro Max supports charging at up to 100W over a cable and 80W wirelessly, while the Pro offers 66W wired and 50W wireless charging, so long as you use a compatible charger.
Not afraid of standing out, the design is an interesting one, with one of the more unique camera bumps around. The standout Pura 90s Pro Max finish is Orange Ocean, which blends orange and blue across both the rear panel and metal frame. More demure Blush Gold and Graphite Black versions will also be offered, while the Pura 90s Pro comes in White, Mulberry Black, and Orange Soda finishes.
Huawei has not yet confirmed final pricing or precise country-by-country availability for Europe. Buying and living with a new Huawei phone still remains more complicated than it should be. The Pura 90s phones do not officially include the Google Play Store or other Google apps and services. Huawei offers its own AppGallery store, and many popular apps can be installed through alternative methods, but software that depends on Google Play Services may not work correctly.
That remains frustrating because on camera hardware alone, the Pura 90s Pro Max looks like it could be one of the most interesting camera phones of the year.
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