The HUAWEI Pura 90s series marked a new era for Huawei’s flagship devices. It ushered in the age of 5G connectivity and, more notably, the time for the King of Imaging.
I’ve had the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max for about three weeks now, taking it to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the HUAWEI Flagship Product Launch.
Here’s my personal experience with the top end of the HUAWEI Pura 90s series. If you missed my First Impression of the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max, you can read that here.
HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max Review
Full Specifications
| Display | 6.9-inch 1.5K LTPO OLED 120Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | Kirin 9030S |
| GPU | Maleoon 935F |
| RAM | 12GB |
| Storage | 512GB |
| Rear Camera | 50MP variable aperture main (1/28”, RYYB, LOFIC, f/1.4-f/4.0)| 200MP 4x periscope telephoto (1/1.28”, 100x digital zoom, f/2.6, OIS) 40MP ultrawide (f/2.0, RYVB) True-to-Colour Camera 2.0 |
| Front Camera | 13MP |
| Battery | 6000mAh100W wired fast charging80W wireless charging |
| OS | EMUI 16 |
| Colors | Graphite Black Blush Gold Blaze Purple Orange Ocean |
Design and Build
The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is a Pura device at the core with color options that harken back to the days of the HUAWEI P series. There’s the iconic Flash Forward triangular camera module. Then there are the gradient colors, namely Blaze Purple and Orange Ocean. The latter is this year’s hero color and features the same gradient along the sides. Meanwhile, the former has a purple-and-orange back panel and metallic sides.
It is built around a pretty large 6.9-inch display, but the placement of the volume and power buttons on the right side seems perfect for my average-sized hands. This has additional practicality because the power button doubles as its fingerprint sensor.
The Flash Forward camera island would take getting used to, for me, because it is quite thick, even in the pocket. This is pretty much the same when you have it camera down on the table. Although its triangular shape does seem to offer pretty minimal wobble.
I can’t forget that the device is protected by Huawei’s own Kunlun Glass, which has proven its durability throughout the years.
Multimedia
As previously mentioned, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is built around the 6.9-inch 1.5K 120Hz LTPO OLED. Its display can get bright enough to be seen even under the midday sun.
The device also features two speaker grilles, on the top and bottom of the device. I always appreciate it when devices have a dedicated secondary speaker, rather than using the call speaker as a second speaker.
The dedicated speakers, based on my experience, help provide a better listening experience, whether it be when gaming or watching videos on YouTube, Netflix, and social media. And this is pretty much the same for the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max.
The stereo speakers coupled with the large and bright display made for a very enjoyable multimedia experience
Performance
Under the hood, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is powered by the Kirin 9030S with the Maleoon 935 GPU. It has 12GB RAM and 512GB storage onboard as well. Upon checking the Malaysian website, it comes in only one configuration.
I’d love to see a 16GB RAM + 1TB storage option, but I don’t have my hopes up because of the chip shortage in the market these days.
The Kirin 9030S is a toned-down version of the Kirin 9030 Pro that the HUAWEI Mate 80 Pro uses. On paper, the Kirin 9030S has a higher clock speed than the Pro, but everywhere else, it’s either identical or the Pro trumps the S chip. However, this doesn’t really feel like a big deal when it comes to everyday use of the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max.
What surprised me the most, though, was the 5G capability of the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max, which we tested during our trip in Malaysia. If you want to watch our tests, you can watch our reel below:
Aside from that, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max, despite not having the Pro chip, still impressed me. My everyday use, meaning social media scrolling, YouTube video watching, and checking emails, was a breeze, unsurprisingly.
The Pura 90s Pro Max also handles gaming with ease. Yes, this includes heavier games like Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact. The device handles both games pretty well. I was able to push it to Highest settings for both games, but I did get a bit of heating. If you want good graphics while pushing it, High is better. But I think the sweet spot will be around Medium, especially if you’re gunning for longer gaming sessions.
Camera
The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max, along with the Pura 90s Pro, is dubbed the King of Imaging. Which I think holds up.
It boasts a 50MP variable aperture RYYB main camera and an even more impressive 200MP 4x periscope telephoto lens. These use massive 1/28” sensors that aid in capturing more light. Rounding out the rear camera module are a 40MP ultrawide snapper and a True-to-Colour Camera 2.0.
The main sensor coupled with the impressive telephoto lens makes for a fun shooting experience. Being able to shoot things at essentially 24 mm, then suddenly switch to up to 4x, 10x, and 20x zoom and still get roughly the same quality is just perfect for any situation.
Here are some samples:
The ultrawide lens, on the other hand, doesn’t quite fare as well, but it holds its own. And allowing more in your shots is just such a valuable option to have, further showing its flexibility as a shooter.
The front snapper is no slouch either on the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max, despite it being only a 16MP lens. Which seems like a massive let-down compared to the rear system.
Battery
The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is equipped with a massive 6000mAh battery, the largest on the Pura series to date. And while I wasn’t able to install PCMark, our go-to battery benchmarking app, I was pretty impressed with its performance in everyday use.
Having used the phone throughout our Malaysia trip and beyond as a main device, I was able to get more than a day of battery life. And this was with 5G Mobile Data enabled for most of the day.
If the 6000mAh battery does run out, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max supports 100W wired fast charging and 80W wireless charging.
Software
On the software front, it runs on EMUI 16, the latest version of Huawei’s operating system for the global market.
It features upgrades to Celia, the company’s AI assistant, which include features like calling a Grab for you. Additionally, it introduces new features to photo editing, namely AI De-glare, AI Move, AI Composition 3.0, AI Best Expression, and AI Remove.
Depending on how much you take photos and what you take photos of, these will come in handy at some point in time. In my case, I found AI De-glare pretty handy because I like taking photos in transit.
AI Composition 3.0 could come in handy if you’re practicing your photography skills or just want an artsy shot, but don’t want to think about a shot. All you have to do is basically point the phone, wait for it to apply changes, and then press the shutter button.
AI Move, on the other hand, is a pretty fun feature for those who want to play around with their photos. It allows you to move objects from a photo around the same photo, or add new elements from other photos into another.
Admittedly, though, some features like AI Move can be quite finicky. Some attempts at it struggled to cut out the person/object and smooth it out when I placed it. This, though, could be solved with a software update from Huawei.
AI Best Expression is perfect for people who take a lot of photos with groups but can’t quite get that perfect shot where everyone has their best face on. It allows you to replace the face to feature the Best Expression.
That said, I always like seeing features like these on devices nowadays. I may not end up using them in my daily life, but it surely will be of use to someone out there.
Verdict
The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is a solid device that I think is worthy of the King of Imaging. On top of that, the colorways help the device stand out.
As of finishing this review, I don’t have the local pricing of the Pura 90s Pro Max and the Pura 90s Pro. This makes it quite difficult to say if it’s something that’s worth considering, because if priced right, I think it can stand its ground or even be worth checking out. But if it reaches the upper echelons of the price range, it could be harder to recommend.
However, I must say that the 5G capability coupled with the camera performance makes it such a compelling device for me.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
