Huawei Pura70 Ultra unboxed

It’s not often that we see premium packaging on a smartphone nowadays. But that’s the only way to describe the way the Huawei Pura70 Ultra arrives.

That’s appropriate because the Pura is the new version of the Huawei P series sub-brand. The P always stood for premium, so the packaging is highly appropriate. And now it also stands for pure. That is because Huawei is hoping to add not just a premium experience but a pure smartphone experience.

The phone has a 6.8 inch AMOLED display with a 460 pixel per inch density, which is pretty decent in terms of display resolution, especially when it’s paired with 120Hz refresh rate.

The standout feature though, and I use that term with pun fully intended, is what Huawei calls the Ultra Lighting Pop-out camera, which is an innovative approach to camera arrays. It features a retractable main camera mechanism that allows for a one-inch sensor. That is far more significant than the megapixels in the three lenses on the rear, because the size of the sensor determines the amount of light that’s lit in, and therefore the quality of the image. And we have only seen one-inch sensors on smartphones in very rare examples.

In terms of mainstream devices that are widely available, this is going to really set the phone apart in terms of camera capability.

The screen uses a new version of Kunlun glass, which has already set Huawei apart in terms of durability, strength and scratchproof quality of the device. It’s IP 68 rated for dust and water resistance, which means you can go for up to two meters deep in a pool for up to 30 minutes.

The rear cover that comes inside the box is an incredibly rare example of a cover that is aesthetically pleasing and not just a lump of plastic slapped on the back of the device. It integrates exceptionally well with the color scheme of the Pura70 Ultra.

The charging brick is a 100 Watt Huawei Supercharge that will take the battery from zero to 100% in 30 minutes, meaning it doesn’t even matter if the battery runs out before the end of the day. That said, it’s a 5200mAh battery, which is pretty impressive for a device that is built in so much technology and still goes for a bigger battery.

Of course Huawei phones don’t come with Android. They run on Huawei’s own EMUI operating system. Version 14.2 is now running on this phone.

What is most notable about the skin is that it doesn’t look very different to the standard Android experience. So unless you’re looking for specific Google services like Maps or Gmail, you’re not going to notice that it operates in a different ecosystem and a different universe.

Different is probably the word that best sums up this device. It is different to anything else that we see on the smartphone market, and it’s not going to be confused with any other device.

• You can buy it at the Huawei store here.

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on social media on @art2gee.