For a lot of the previous yr, I’ve been utilizing the Huawei Pura X flip cellphone. I introduced it again house from a visit to China in April, and the most important shock is how a lot I’ve continued to get pleasure from its oddball kind issue since then.
In specific, as rivals like Motorola and Samsung have caught to their tried-and-tested flip cellphone designs, Huawei, with the Pura X, continues to be the one flip cellphone producer to rethink what the flip cellphone kind issue must be.
I’ve returned to the Pura X a number of occasions over the previous few months, and regardless of having the entire best flip phones at my disposal, its kind issue has grow to be my favourite. So, here is why the Pura X proves that everybody else is getting flip telephones unsuitable, and why I believe Huawei may very well be onto one thing.
The flip cellphone as a mini pill
If you are selecting between the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, one factor turns into instantly clear: each telephones take the identical method.
Motorola and Samsung have up to now regarded on the flip cellphone as a method to make an enormous cellphone smaller. And whereas compact gadgets undoubtedly have main enchantment to some customers – my sister, as an example, has fallen in love along with her Razr Ultra 2025 – downsizing a cellphone has up to now required trade-offs within the digicam division and, in Samsung’s case, additional concessions with regards to battery and efficiency.
In comparability, Huawei takes a special method. First, the primary display screen of the Pura X has a 16:10 facet ratio, which is harking back to the iPad mini and different smaller tablets. This makes it higher for multitasking – though the Pura X is not going to problem one of many very best tablets in that respect – in addition to higher for watching films versus a daily flip cellphone.
Second, the primary display screen measures 6.3 inches, making it way more snug than the 7-inch shows utilized by Samsung and Motorola. Yes, the Pura X is noticeably smaller in that respect, however the facet ratio of its display screen makes it really feel extra like a transportable pill than a folding huge cellphone. It additionally makes it really feel like a pocket book you’d carry, relatively than a cellphone, which is a sense distinctive to the Pura X.
The added good thing about the Pura X
There’s one other key cause why I just like the Huawei Pura X: the 3.5-inch entrance display screen. It isn’t as massive as that of the Motorola Razr Ultra, neither is it as succesful, however the Pura X’s entrance show does have three cameras. This makes the cellphone extra versatile than all of its key rivals, and it is the closest we’ve come to seeing a real flagship digicam on a flip cellphone.
The greatest globally out there flip telephones for digicam efficiency are the Razr Ultra 2025, which makes use of two 50MP sensors, and the Honor Magic V Flip 2, which has a 200MP predominant digicam and a 50MP ultra-wide digicam. Comparatively, the Pura X has a barely much less succesful 40MP ultra-wide digicam, however the 50MP digicam is simply nearly as good (on paper, at the least).
The standout function is its 8MP telephoto lens, which affords 3.5x optical zoom and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). Samsung, Honor, and Motorola all supply 2x zoom through in-sensor cropping on their respective flip telephones, however this method doesn’t have the identical attain as a devoted telephoto lens, so, in my opinion, the Pura X is one of the best flip cellphone digicam you should buy proper now.
For many individuals, a 2x ‘optical’ zoom via in-sensor cropping is passable, however there’s little doubt {that a} devoted telephoto will all the time take higher photographs.
It additionally means there’s an extended zoom vary with AI and extra element to work with once you do want a zoom lens. Yes, the Pura X’s 8MP telephoto lens doesn’t examine to the telephoto lens you’ll discover in most of the best camera phones (suppose the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max), nevertheless it does push the boundaries ahead for flip telephones particularly.
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There’s one extra profit to the Pura X, and it is particular to the entrance display screen: not like its key rivals, the distinctive design of the Pura X means its Cover Display works in each horizontal and vertical orientations. This provides an additional stage of versatility that is completely lacking from its key rivals.
The key downsides of the Pura X
It can be remiss of me to not point out some key pitfalls of the Huawei Pura X. First, its availability is extraordinarily restricted (you will not be capable to purchase it within the US, UK, or Australia proper now), and second, Huawei’s new HarmonyOS Next platform means there’s no help for Google apps and companies (although many Google companies are out there through third-party container apps).
Yet, regardless of these apparent downsides, my general {hardware} expertise has been extraordinarily optimistic. I like the Razr Ultra 2025, however I’ve discovered myself turning to the Pura X as a rule as a result of I actually like its kind issue. It’s not a cellphone I might use as a each day gadget, particularly because it lacks the core underlying structure to supply an Android-like expertise, however it’s the most unusual flip cellphone proper now.
The Pura X isn’t as built-in nor as streamlined as an Android cellphone – and I do want that Huawei had saved the Android kernel libraries so I might simply set up native Google apps, as on the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT – however with just a few workarounds, that is definitely a compelling gadget.
Take notes, Samsung and Motorola
As I’ve spent extra time with the Pura X, one factor has grow to be clear: whether or not this way issue replaces the flip cellphone as we all know it or helps launch one other class of folding telephones, I need different cellphone makers to repeat the Pura X’s kind issue.
The facet ratio is best, the quilt show makes the Pura X really feel like a daily cellphone, and Huawei’s cameras outpace the competitors. The cellphone’s 4,720 mAh battery isn’t the most important, its 66W charging isn’t the quickest, and it has some apparent software-related pitfalls, however I’m satisfied that this can be a kind issue that different cellphone makers ought to contemplate adopting in 2026.
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