Huawei has officially launched its new flagship smartphone series, the Pura 80, in China — and the standout feature is the Pura 80 Ultra, which introduces a unique dual-lens telephoto camera system that shares a single image sensor.
At first glance, the camera setup looks like a typical triple-lens system, but on closer inspection, two telephoto lenses sit side-by-side inside one camera ring. These two lenses share the same periscope mechanism and sensor, with a movable prism inside that redirects light from whichever lens is in use.
Unlike Sony’s Xperia phones, which use moving optics to change focal lengths in a single lens, Huawei takes a different route by physically switching between two distinct lenses using that internal prism.
The result? The Pura 80 Ultra delivers 3.7x and 9.4x optical zoom (83mm and 212mm, respectively). The 3.7x lens comes with a wide f/2.4 aperture and uses a 50-megapixel sensor, while the 9.4x lens is f/3.6 but drops down to 12.5 megapixels, likely through cropping or pixel binning.
Why this design? Using one sensor for both lenses helps cut down on manufacturing costs and saves valuable internal space. That extra room allows for a larger 1/1.28-inch sensor, one of the biggest sensors seen in any telephoto camera on a smartphone, contributing to better low-light zoom performance.
Full Specs of the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra:
- Main Camera: 50MP with dynamic aperture
- Telephoto Cameras: 3.7x (50MP) + 9.4x (12.5MP) switchable telephoto
- Ultrawide Camera: 40MP
- Display: 6.8-inch LTPO OLED
- Battery: 5,700mAh
- Water Resistance: IP68 & IP69 ratings
- RAM/Storage: 16GB RAM, up to 1TB storage
- OS: HarmonyOS 5.1
- Price: Starts at CNY 9,999 (~$1,390)
Huawei hasn’t revealed full chipset details yet, a common practice since U.S. sanctions pushed the company to develop its own processors.
The Pura 80 series also includes the Pura 80, 80 Pro, and 80 Pro Plus. The base model features a slightly smaller 6.6-inch display and a triple camera setup, while the Pro models share most of the Ultra’s specs but stick with a single 48MP telephoto lens instead of the fancy dual setup.
All models launch with HarmonyOS 5.1, fully independent from Android, and support satellite connectivity via China’s Beidou system.
International launch details haven’t been confirmed yet, but following the global release of last year’s Pura 70 series, a broader rollout seems likely.
