Huawei unveils Pura 80 Ultra with new 'one sensor, two lenses' camera

The phone features three cameras fitting into a triangle-shaped base. The telephoto camera looks special, with a 3.7x lens and a 9.4x lens installed onto a 1/1.28-inch sensor, saving space while allowing more light into the camera.

"This is the biggest hardware innovation on the Pura 80 Ultra," said Li Xiaolong, chief technology officer of Huawei's terminal business. "The only catch is that the cost is very, very high."

The Pura 80 series also features Huawei's "Red Maple" camera system that the company said can greatly improve color accuracy.

Supply chain sources have reported that the lenses for the Pura 80 series are from OFILM Group, an Apple ex-supplier that was formerly blacklisted by the U.S.

Domestic reports also suggested that Pura 80's camera sensors came from SmartSens, a Shanghai-based company that is less known to the public compared to the previous supplier OmniVision, signaling that China has established a more solid supply chain for phone camera parts.

Videos on social media showed the teardown process of the Pura 80 Ultra, with engineers saying the phone has the same main chip – the Kirin 9020 – as the company's Mate 70 series introduced in late 2024.

The chip was made with a less advanced process compared to other mainstream brands, resulting in worse performance that cannot be fully compensated by software optimization.

On the software side, the Pura 80 series will ship with HarmonyOS Next 5.1, featuring live conversation with AI.

A bigger update to the company's self-developed Android alternative, HarmonyOS Next 6.0, will ship later this year, according to Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei's consumer business. The new version will feature better integration between smartphones and vehicles.

The Pura 80 Ultra is priced at 9,999 yuan (about $1,400), the same as the previous generation Pura 70 Art. Many social media users in China complained about the brand's high price in recent years, calling for the return of cost-effective models like the Honor V30 Pro in late 2019.