Huawei used a flashy Dubai event to launch the HUAWEI Pura 80 Series – consisting of the Pura 80, Pura 80 Pro and Pura 80 Ultra – but beneath the design and hardware polish was something more telling: a clear pivot in strategy. The company is no longer just chasing specs. It’s building an imaging ecosystem.
At the centre of that shift is the Pura 80 Ultra. On paper, it’s a flagship phone equipped with a 1-inch Ultra Lighting HDR camera and an industry-first switchable dual telephoto lens system. But the hardware only tells half the story. What Huawei is trying to do, increasingly, is elevate smartphone photography into something that competes with and borrows from the world of professional imaging.
To hammer that point home, Huawei brought Canadian filmmaker and content creator Sam Kolder on stage. Kolder, known for his cinematic travel films and fast-paced editing style, spoke about his experience using the Pura 80 Ultra and said he was impressed by its low-light performance, dynamic range and creative flexibility. He is not just a brand ambassador. He is the kind of user Huawei wants to court: visual storytellers who want more than just computational photography.
The switchable lens design is unusual for a smartphone, and that is precisely the point. Where most brands optimise around convenience and AI-led post-processing, Huawei is focusing on optical range and creative control. You can jump between focal lengths without sacrificing clarity, and the company is framing this as more than a spec. It is a choice: shoot how you want, not how the software thinks you should.
Imaging is the product
The Pura 80 Series is not Huawei’s first imaging-centric phone, but it is the most confident articulation of its ambitions to make photography the defining feature of its mobile lineup. That goes beyond hardware. Huawei’s XMAGE platform, which powers image processing across its devices, is now being positioned as an anchor brand, like Leica once was, except entirely under Huawei’s control.
And Huawei is betting that XMAGE can carry weight on its own. The 2025 XMAGE Awards, also announced in Dubai, double down on this idea. The awards are not just about giving users a place to show off photos. They are about building legitimacy for Huawei’s imaging system by tying it directly to cultural cachet. The final exhibition will be held at the Grand Palais in Paris during Paris Photo 2025. It is a move that says a lot about how the company wants to be seen: not as a phone brand, but as a photography brand.
Design as signal
The phone’s design echoes this strategy. The Pura 80 Ultra features a distinctive glazed ceramic texture inspired by monochrome glaze, merging aesthetic references from Eastern and Western design. But again, the choice feels less like decoration and more like branding. The Pura series, like the Mate before it, is being used to set the tone for Huawei’s hardware philosophy. This time, the tone is creative, expressive and deliberate.
It is a pivot that aligns with where Huawei sits globally. The company can no longer rely on Google services or compete directly in some Western markets. What it can do is focus on areas where its hardware expertise and software stack offer a distinct advantage. Imaging is one of them.
And then there is the tablet
Also launched was the MatePad 11.5, a device clearly designed to complement this push. With a PaperMatte Display, stylus support and creative tools like GoPaint and Huawei Notes, it fits the same creative-first messaging. But the tablet, while solid, is supporting cast. The star is the Pura 80 and what it signals about where Huawei wants to go.
Huawei may not win over the masses with the Pura 80 Series alone. But that does not seem to be the point. The real play is longer term. The company is building an imaging brand, one where hardware, software, aesthetics and even global photo competitions are all part of the same strategy.
It just happens to start with a phone.