HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max Review: Unstoppable!

TL;DR / At a Glance:
The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is a premium flagship smartphone featuring an industry-first dual-tone gradient metal mid-frame and a massive 200 Megapixel Ultra Large Sensor Telephoto Camera with a CIPA 7.0 stabilization rating. Built for reliable 2026 connectivity, the global version offers rapid 5G signal recovery in dead zones like basement car parks, a long-lasting 6000mAh battery with 100W wired SuperCharge, and seamless access to essential Google applications via the upgraded HUAWEI AppGallery.

You know this feeling, right? You’re driving out of a basement car park after being underground for 20 minutes. You finally hit the exit ramp, and you turn on your Waze immediately because you have absolutely no idea which direction to turn. But your phone is just sitting there, searching for a signal for God knows how long.

That is a very real problem for most phones. Well, not anymore for this brand new HUAWEI Pura 90s Series. There is 5G connectivity on the phone, and besides that, there are many other surprises that this flagship has to offer, making you wonder whether this could be not only the best smartphone HUAWEI has ever released, but possibly the best smartphone of this year.

Understanding the Pura 90s Series

Firstly, you might be wondering why this is called the Pura 90s and not just Pura 90. The “S” is actually what distinguishes this international version from the China variant. What we have here in Malaysia is specifically the global version, and the device featured here is the HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max.

Design: A Masterclass in Aesthetic Innovation

Let’s start with how it looks, because HUAWEI clearly understands that a phone needs to feel special the moment you pick it up. Both the Pura 90s Pro Max and Pura 90s Pro come in four colorways each, and every single one is built around that holiday, vacation kind of mood.

On the Pro Max side, you’ve got:

• Orange Ocean
• Blush Gold
• Blaze Purple
• Graphite Black

What HUAWEI did here is actually a world’s first. It’s not just the back glass that fades between colors; it is the actual metal mid-frame that shifts between orange at the bottom and blue at the top. This is the exact same piece of metal. This industry-first dual-tone gradient metal mid-frame is exclusive to the Orange Ocean colorway. Nobody has done this on a phone before.

If you opt for the Pro model instead, you get:

• Guava Soda
• Orange Soda
• Coconut White
• Mulberry Black

These options are cleaner, fresher, more minimal, and more youthful. The point HUAWEI is making here is clear: they want the phone you spend your hard-earned money on to look like nothing else out there, serving as a real standout against everything else on the shelf.

Looks are not the only thing they wanted to differentiate. The cameras are a whole different conversation too.

Camera: Redefining Mobile Photography and Video

The headline feature here, exclusive to the Pro Max, is the 200 Megapixel Ultra Large Sensor Telephoto Camera. This is a 1/1.28-inch sensor paired with RYYB technology, which means the sensor lets in more light per pixel than a normal setup.

With a native 96mm focal length, this is real zoom, not a digital crop pretending to be zoom. This means you can push from 4x to 10x, and all the way to 20x zoom, without losing details or textures. It almost feels like carrying a mini telescope in your pocket.

Compared to the previous generation Pura 80, this isn’t a small step up; it is a proper jump in clarity and detail. When you put it side by side against the iPhone 17 Pro Max at 4x, 10x, and 20x zoom levels, the answer is as clear and sharp as the photos coming out of the Pura 90s Pro Max itself. You still walk away with usable, sharp, shareable photos, instead of watching the quality fall apart past 10x like most phones do.

It’s not just photos, either. The standout feature on the Pro Max has to be Telephoto Video. This isn’t just zooming in; it pulls you straight into the moment with insane clarity and cinematic stability, as though you’re actually standing right there in the scene. HUAWEI is claiming up to 200% more clarity on telephoto video compared to before, providing a smooth continuous zoom from 1x all the way through to 20x zoom in real time with no cuts.

Compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max once again, the footage stays stable. This brings us to the next part: 200 megapixels is one thing, but stabilization is what makes it actually usable.

The HUAWEI Pura 90s Series combines AI motion prediction, upgraded optical hardware, multi frame processing, and zoom-specific tuning. In simple words, it’s like a mini gimbal’s worth of tech crammed into the lens itself so your handheld zoom footage doesn’t look shaky. That earns it an industry-leading CIPA 7.0 stabilization rating, meaning that even at 10x zoom handheld, your footage stays smooth enough to actually use.

Next, there is the Ultra Lighting HDR Camera, which is also a Pro Max exclusive. This one has LOFIC technology layered on top, a similar tech to what is found in the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. What it means is that when there’s too much light hitting the sensor (maybe a bright sky sitting right behind someone’s face) it doesn’t just blow out; it captures it properly.

Practically, this means no more telling your friend to turn the other way because of backlight. You see a nice angle, you take the shot, and you let the phone handle the rest. It also features the same 16EV of dynamic range as the Pura 80 Ultra, so the video is still perfect for holding detail in both the highlights and the shadows.

Across the entire series, including the Pro, you get the 2nd Generation True-to-Colour system. There are no overdone filters and no artificial punch. Greens look like greens, skies stay balanced, and city lights at night don’t blow out. It delivers exactly what your eyes saw in that moment. This right here is what actually defines a flagship camera phone: not just taking great photos when everything is perfect, but making it stupidly easy to capture them in literally any scenario.

If you love taking Macro photos, the Ultra Lighting Macro Telephoto is amazing because of its 20 centimeters focusing range. This means you can get as close as 5 centimeters to get stunning Macro detail and depth.

AI: Empowering Creativity with AI Integration

As good as the hardware is, HUAWEI didn’t stop there. They layered a seriously stacked AI camera features system on top of all of it. All of these features are already available on the phone, provided you are on the latest OTA update.

• AI Composition 3.0: Think of it like having a photographer friend standing next to you who actually knows what they’re doing. It doesn’t just give you basic framing grid lines anymore; it actively suggests better compositions, generates different framing ideas based on what’s in front of you, and even recommends the right focal length for the shot. All you do is turn it on, line up the guide point with the circle on screen, and let it do the thinking for you.
• AI De-Glare: You know that moment when you have the perfect shot, except there’s a massive reflection across the glass in front of you or behind you, and the whole thing is ruined? One tap, and the glare is gone.
• AI Move: Perfect when you finally get that ideal café shot with amazing lighting and a perfect pose, but there’s a coffee cup sitting in the most awkward spot in the frame, throwing off the whole composition. Instead of retaking the whole thing, you can select the cup, drag it to a better position, resize it if you need to, and just like that, your composition goes from good to Instagram-worthy in a few taps.
• AI Remove: This lets you easily remove that random stranger photobombing in the background or any unwanted object that just shouldn’t be in the shot.
• AI Best Expression: This comes in super handy for that one friend who always blinks mid-photo or looks away at exactly the wrong moment. This feature pulls the best expressions from everyone across multiple frames and merges them into one single shot so everyone actually looks good.

Every single one of these shots still runs through that 2nd Gen True-to-Colour system, so all that editing magic doesn’t come at the cost of how natural everything looks. Keep in mind that you’ll need to be logged in to your HUAWEI ID to unlock AI De-Glare, AI Move, and AI Remove.

Continuing on the AI side, HUAWEI features their own AI assistant named Celia. Just say “Hey Celia,” and she’s listening. You can adjust your brightness without touching the screen, change other settings, or take notes all by voice. It handles your daily commands without you having to dig through menus at all, offering a simple, functional, and responsive experience.

Just like the AI editing tools, you’ll need to be logged in to your HUAWEI ID for Celia to work properly.

Connectivity: Uninterrupted Signal in Demanding Environments

This is an area where you actually start to feel the difference in everyday use. Since this phone supports 5G connectivity, the signal strength is really where it stands out.

1. First Scenario: You step out of a lift, or you drive out of a basement carpark. In that classic dead zone where your phone typically sits searching with no signal, no Waze, and no Google Maps, the Pura 90s Series recovers that signal noticeably faster.
2. Second Scenario: In weak signal areas in general, such as basement parking or deep indoor spaces where everyone else around you is stuck buffering, this phone holds up better than expected.
3. Third Scenario: When it comes to upload and download speeds in crowded places like events, malls, or busy streets where thousands of phones are fighting for the same signal, content still uploads and downloads smoothly. This matters a lot when you’re trying to post something in real time.

Actual performance may vary depending on environmental factors, so different buildings or basements may differ, but testing in Klang Valley or in KL City has been great thus far.

Ecosystem: Seamless Software and App Integration

A fair question that often comes up is: “Can I even use Google apps on this?” The honest answer is yes, and it’s actually a lot easier than people assume.

Firstly, most of your essential apps are already sitting on the HUAWEI AppGallery, including things like Touch ‘n Go and your banking apps. For anything that’s missing, the system guides you step by step to get it installed properly without any complicated workarounds.

Standard maintenance is a breeze too, as you can literally update everything with just one click so you don’t have to manually update any of the apps. The AppGallery itself has leveled up, featuring proper search functionality across multiple languages and downloads that come with rock-solid security screening.

Under the hood, this is all running on EMUI 16, which provides a highly optimized system performance with deeper AI integration running in the background, alongside upgraded security and privacy controls. If you do run into any issues, HUAWEI Customer Service is just a WhatsApp message away. You can simply open the My HUAWEI app, tap Support, and then select Contact Us.

Durability: Engineered for Resilience

Let’s talk durability, because this is the kind of upgrade that matters the most if you want to use any phone long term. The Pro Max comes with Anti-Reflective, Scratch-Resistant Kunlun Glass, which brings three key improvements:

1. The anti-reflective coating cuts glare by up to 70 percent, so you can actually see your screen outdoors under harsh sunlight without constantly tilting your phone around.
2. The scratch resistance is up to 16 times stronger than before, meaning the screen holds up easily against daily pocket life, table surfaces, or café counters.
3. The drop resistance has improved by up to 25 times to better handle accidental drops.

Battery: Performance That Lasts

None of these features matter if your phone dies by 3 PM. Both the Pro Max and Pro come with a massive 6000mAh battery and SuperCharge support.

• The Pro Max gets up to 100W wired charging and 80W wireless charging,
• The Pro comes in at 66W wired and 50W wireless charging.

Whether you’re shooting all day, recording video, scrolling, or navigating non-stop, battery anxiety isn’t really something you’ll be dealing with here. When you pick up the retail Malaysian unit, the charger is already included in the box, so you’re good to go straight out of the packaging.

Verdict: A Benchmark for the Modern Flagship

Coming back to where we started: remember that signal spinning moment in the basement carpark? The HUAWEI Pura 90s Series fixes that. Between the 200 megapixel telephoto camera, the AI tools that genuinely make photography easier for everyone, and a 5G connectivity experience that finally keeps up with how you actually live day to day, this is what a complete flagship feels like in 2026.

It’s not about bigger numbers on a spec sheet. It’s about giving you the confidence that the phone will deliver, every single time, in every scenario, whether you’re zooming in on something 20x away or just trying to get your Waze back after parking underground. This is more than a camera phone; it’s a full AI-powered flagship experience built to help you see more, create more, and stay connected when it matters most.

The series is available for preorder from the 23rd of July, starting from an amazing price of ONLY RM3,699 after rebates. It also comes with free gifts worth up to RM3,076, including a limited rebate worth up to RM400, a free HUAWEI MatePad SE 11, and Premium Services as well.

🛒 Get the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series on HUAWEI Store, Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop.

Watch the full video on YouTube

---

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

---

Related:

• HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra 3 Weeks Review: Yes or NO?
• HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra: How? This Is Literally Impossible!