My Hands-On Review of the Huawei Pura 70 Pro: A Camera Phone That Surpasses Expectations

Hello everyone!

My trusty old Huawei P20 Pro finally met its demise – it was doing alright, aside from the battery life and performance, but it was time for an upgrade that would keep up with the times. And today, we've got a comprehensive review of the Huawei Pura 70 Pro.

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❗This review won't be a rehash of the phone's specs, other reviews, or any other info you can find in the phone's description. It's all about my personal experience, nuances, and tips.

I took all the photos of the Pura 70 Pro's exterior using my trusty old P20 Pro, so apologies in advance if the quality isn't great.

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Huawei Pura 70 Pro xa0

Price: 60,500 rubles (I got it for 49,822); Purchase location: OZON, Moscow; Date of purchase: January 2025; My rating: 5/5.

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Where to buy? And how I saved some cash?

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I'm a first-time buyer on OZON, and I was nervous as hell – the price was 60 grand, which was a steal compared to other stores (M.Video is selling it for 85 grand, and other electronics stores for 75-80 grand). The seller was Huawei Epicenter Store, the official Huawei dealer. Based on the reviews, everything seemed fine, so I took the plunge and ordered it on OZON.

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I managed to slash the price to 49 thousand by redeeming my Ozon points: you can do the same, even down to 90% of the price. And I still have points left over from the pineapple promotion that ended on New Year's Eve!

Voucher tip: if you've got Ozon points, use them to buy this phone. It'll knock off some of the already relatively low price.

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Next, I waited for the delivery: it was delayed by a day, and I was starting to think I'd get a rock instead of a phone. But it all worked out: it arrived in its original packaging, everything was in great shape. The absolute original. It was meant for the Kazakh market, but it works smoothly in Russia and everywhere else. Just activate it in Russia or the CIS.

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Unboxing. First boot.

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I was happy to see the original packaging, as some marketplaces might send it with the box open. Kudos to Ozon and the seller for that.

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Inside, we've got the standard bundle:

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— The phone itself; — 100W power adapter (we'll get back to this beast); — USB Type-C cable; — Protective case (I'm not sure how well it'll protect the phone); — SIM eject tool; — A bunch of useless paper with instructions and a warranty.

There's no headphone or other goodies that were standard a decade ago. And honestly, I don't need them – I'd probably just leave them on the shelf.

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The phone itself comes with extra protection against drops and scratches.

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The SIM card tray is a lifesaver – I always seem to misplace them from old phones.

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The power adapter is massive – 100W, to be exact. It's even more powerful than my Honor laptop charger. The cable is about a meter long.

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Fast charging is a given, and it even supports ultra-fast charging where the percentage jumps right before your eyes in seconds. It looks pricey and bulky. The power bank specs are shown in the photo.

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The wireless charging is a 50W affair, and it can even charge other phones. Talk about a miracle!

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The accessory that came with the phone is a flexible transparent case. It's transparent, I'll give it that.

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But as for its quality, it's a cheap plastic that's not even worth calling a protective case – it won't survive a single drop, let alone protect your phone. We'll be discussing phone protection later, and it's crucial.

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The drum roll...

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This is our star - the Huawei P30 Pro in black. The design is sleek, but also quite strict. The main camera is roughly the size of a human eye in terms of both appearance and dimensions.

Huawei P30 Pro

The camera block sticks out quite a bit, but it looks awesome!

Huawei P30 Pro

The 6.8-inch screen is more than enough for most tasks: work, communication, messaging, and even gaming for those who are interested.

Huawei P30 ProOn the side (frame), you'll find the volume buttons and power button. You can also see the metal camera frame: again, I'd recommend adding extra protection for it.

Huawei P30 Pro

These cameras are mesmerizing - it's like looking into a whole new world. Just like human eyes!

Enough gazing, let's get started.

Huawei P30 Pro

❗Pay attention to the initial setup: that's how you'll save your battery, memory, and nerves.

I won't go into the full setup process: you choose your language, country, set a password, and select a network.

Huawei P30 Pro

Insert your SIM card right away: there's no point in putting it off. By the way, it has two slots for SIM cards and supports eSIM: that's a great feature for travelers.

Huawei P30 Pro

You'll then have a very important (not really) screen: installing popular apps. Uncheck all the unnecessary ones, you'll never use them in real life.

Huawei P30 Pro

And we're all set with our new phone. Time to get rid of those unnecessary apps (it's a good idea to do this right away), install the ones we need, and swap out the icons. Next, let's transfer our favorite photos from the old phone to the 'Gallery'. In settings, we'll set up the things we're used to (for me, that's a solid black screen on the phone, the lower control buttons, manual brightness control, and no constant screen display). That last one is a great battery saver – why have the screen turn on when I pick up the phone?

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Now, the screen is seriously impressive – everything works smoothly and looks great. Plus, it's bezel-less and has a slight curve to the edges. Nice little fact, right?

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My experience with it. A quick photo (with zoom) and some details.

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First things first, let's talk about phone protection – something you should tackle in the first few days after buying.

First off: don't expect to find a decent screen protector here, since the screen is curved at the edges. Second: you'll need a case, but even with one, it's not a guarantee that it'll fit perfectly.

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I recommend a combo of a case and screen protector. I went with a case from XUNDD (more on that in a separate review) and a screen protector from Bronks – you can read my review on that here.

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Huawei P30 Pro

I noticed a first issue: if you apply the screen protector and a thick case right away (like I did), the protector will start bubbling up at the edges, as you can see in the photo below, which is exactly what happened to me:

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The solution is simple: reapply the screen protector, pressing the edges firmly in place. Then, wait for two whole days before putting on the case. Everything will be fine.

The screen protector without a bezel doesn't protect the cameras or the body as a whole, while a bezel without the screen protector leaves the screen vulnerable. Although, if the edges are at least 1mm protruding, that shouldn't be a problem.

Now, let's talk about using it!

Example photo

Let's take a look at these three photos below: that's an example of the zoom. It's a monster here.

Huawei P30 Pro

See the crossover in the neighboring yard? I'll remind you that it's nighttime.

Huawei P30 Pro

Looking down from the 11th floor, I can already make out the color of the car, its make, the type of tires, and the people inside even with the lack of daylight.

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So, the zoom works amazingly well even in the evening and nighttime when the camera's low-light capabilities are limited. And since we started snooping on other people, let's keep going.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro

We moved to the evening in the LCD display. As you can see, the color reproduction is excellent, nothing is smudged or distorted, and the contours of all objects are clear. And I decided to play around with the zoom again.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro

In theory, with a tripod, you can 'snoop' on your neighbors even in a distant house. The zoom here is impressive.

By the way, the Pura 70 Ultra (the more expensive version) has a more advanced camera, it's even pop-out. But the differences are relatively small, including the camera, battery, and processor.

What's the point of the zoom's cool factor? Now let's look at some regular shots:

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I was blown away by how well the camera handled low-light conditions, even in the dimly lit tunnel inside the Ostankino TV Tower.

Huawei P30 Pro

As you can see, the colors remained vibrant even in the dark.

Huawei P30 Pro

The camera did a great job capturing the beauty of the scene, even in low-light conditions. And it handled static shots with ease.

Huawei P30 Pro

Some users on Ozon complained about condensation inside the camera when the temperature dropped to around -4 to -2 degrees Celsius. I didn't experience that issue, although I took the phone to both warm indoor spaces and cold outdoor temperatures. Maybe it was just bad luck for those users.

I decided to put the camera to the test by taking a shot of the Moscow City complex as a train was moving at full speed on the MTC line. Even my old P20 Pro struggled with this shot, and it's a camera phone from 2018.

Huawei P30 Pro

I'm seriously impressed with the quality of the shots I've taken on this thing, even at high speeds. You can make out the edges of each window in the photos.

Here are a few more examples:

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Huawei P30 Pro

The camera on this thing is seriously earning its title as a camera phone. And check this out - there's even an ultra-wide-angle mode that's not too shabby, even if it does sacrifice a bit of quality. Here's an example:

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That's the shot before I turned on the ultra-wide-angle mode

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As you can see, the camera's position hasn't changed - it's still about 6-8 inches from the subject.

Performance.

Let me put it this way - everything flies smoothly - I even launched one game for testing. Nothing freezes, all messengers work perfectly, if the process is heavy, it gets a bit warm.

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There's also some heat during fast charging. If you enable the 'Turbo Charging' mode during charging, you can get from 0% to 50% in about 15 minutes. I'm not kidding.

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So, charging here is truly a beast, following the standard recommendations to avoid leaving it overnight, keeping it in the 20-80% range, and it'll last you more than a year, just like my old P20 Pro.

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The 512GB memory will last you relatively long: unless you're an avid photographer and storing a billion videos from WhatsApp every day, it's enough. You should regularly clean it up, going through your gallery. And, as I mentioned before, get rid of unnecessary apps.

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What about Google Play and Google services?

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They're not here. However, you can install GBox and Micro-G, and you'll have a complete Google experience: all your favorite apps will be back in place. And, of course, no one will stop you from installing .apk files. This is how we bring back all our familiar Google services

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So, in this regard, I don't have any issues. Anyone who's stressing about this is just making things complicated. Let's be real, you're on Android, where you can pretty much do anything if you really want to. And, of course, the AppGallery has most of the apps you need.

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Battery life in active use lasts for two days: and I've still got around 25-30% left. If you're using your phone for less than 4-5 hours in total, you'll easily last longer. And if you turn off some background processes and switch to power-saving mode, you can basically live life to the fullest.

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The Verdict

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I've used this phone for a month, and I think that's long enough to form a solid impression and get a feel for it.

The camera on this phone is a total game-changer, with great autonomy, a sleek design – I'm seriously impressed. I didn't have any major issues with it, it's got plenty of memory, and you can install all the apps you need from the AppGallery or GB Box. The phone came with a standard screen protector, which I swapped out for a more reliable one. Everything's been smooth sailing with the warranty and all that. I bought this phone from Rostest, and it was brought in officially, no shady dealings.

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One thing to note is the lack of tempered glass on the phone – so be careful, as some screen protectors might not fit properly. I'd recommend getting a bumper to protect the camera module.

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This phone has never let me down: fingers crossed it'll keep performing like this for years to come. Definitely 5 stars for this device.

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Thanks for reading my review – I hope it helps someone out there make a decision

Well, I've been using this product for a while now, and I have to say, it's been a game-changer for my daily routine. The value for money is amazing, considering the quality you get. I mean, I've paid way more for products that didn't even come close to this one. The build quality is top-notch, the materials feel premium, and it's clear that the manufacturer put a lot of thought into designing this product. I've been using it for a week now, and I'm still impressed by the ease of use. It's so intuitive, even my grandma could figure it out! The customer support has been great too - whenever I had a question, they responded quickly and helped me out. I did have to return one of the items due to a return issue, but the process was smooth and hassle-free. I'm really happy with my purchase, and I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a reliable and efficient solution. It's been a great experience, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it continues to perform in the long run.