Odd camera designs are all the rage right now, and the latest HUAWEI flagship is jumping right into this trend. The Pura 80 Ultra is the Chinese company’s latest effort, and once again, it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the photographic experience… but it comes with a familiar set of caveats for anyone keeping up with HUAWEI’s situation.
I recently took the phone on a trip to Dubai and took a whole bunch of samples to test it out, and I think it’s my favorite camera phone of 2025. Because of that, I just wish I could tell any dedicated smartphone photographers to rush out and buy it — but I can’t.
A one-inch camera with a phone attached to it
Paul Jones / Android Authority
I first want to touch on the biggest draw of this phone: its one-inch 50MP camera with variable f/1.6-f/4.0 aperture. This camera excels outdoors, capturing superb detail in the bright sunny conditions of Dubai. The dynamic range is probably among the best I’ve seen for a long time. I took a few shots comparing this to my daily driver, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and there is a clear winner. Check out the video at the top of this article for all my comparison samples.
At a glance, the photos don’t look massively different between Samsung’s top dog and HUAWEI’s new pup, but when you start to look a little closer, the Pura 80 Ultra clearly captures more detail. It handles colors better and more accurately, too, and overall, it just produces a much better photo.
HUAWEI made a big deal about the Pura 80 Ultra at night, suggesting that its one-inch sensor should capture some good, true-to-life pictures. That is mainly true, especially when you compare the results to the Samsung flagship. The primary lens captures much more light, the colors are more accurate, and there isn’t as much noise in the photo from the Pura 80 Ultra compared to the S25 Ultra.
The HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra's main camera gives it a huge photography boost over even the best in the business.
As for video, the Pura 80 Ultra is right up there once again. It can do 4K 60fps only, so no 4K 120fps or 8K, but I can live without these options when both daylight and low light results are so impressive. The image is sharp and has great dynamic range in bright conditions. My favorite thing is how well the phone stabilizes the sensor — it’s almost gimbal-like. Even in low light, the one-inch sensor means it can capture some pretty impressive scenes, whether it’s fish in an aquarium or a fancy boat ride down the middle of Dubai
The HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra offers three additional cameras, including a 50MP f/2.4 83mm 3.7x telephoto, a 12.5MP f/3.6 212mm 9.4x periscope, and a 40MP f/2.2 13mm ultrawide. Let’s talk about the latter.
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