The HUAWEI Pura 90s Pro Max is so good that it makes me a little sad

Huawei has launched the Pura 90s Pro Max at €1,149 (about $1,330), positioning it alongside Apple’s Pro models and Samsung’s Galaxy S‑series. The device features a full‑frame aluminum chassis, Kunlun glass, a 6.9‑inch LTPO OLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, and a massive 6,000 mAh battery that Huawei claims can last over 42 hours in normal use and up to 55 hours in power‑saving mode. Power delivery is aggressive, with 100 W wired and 80 W wireless fast‑charging. Under the hood sits Huawei’s Kirin 9030S processor paired with 12 GB of RAM, delivering smooth performance with no noticeable slowdowns. The camera stack is the headline: a 50 MP primary sensor, a 40 MP ultra‑wide lens, and a 200 MP telephoto module offering 4× optical zoom and up to 100× digital zoom. Sample images show strong dynamic range, vivid colors, and low noise even in low light. However, the phone runs EMUI 16 on top of Android without Google Mobile Services, meaning no native Google Play Store, Gmail, or Wallet. Users must rely on Huawei’s AppGallery and work‑arounds like GBox to install Google apps, a process that can be confusing for non‑technical consumers. The device also ships with a suite of Huawei‑branded apps—Petal Search, Celia, Huawei Wallet—that function well but are limited or non‑functional in the United States, where the phone is essentially unavailable.

The launch underscores Huawei’s strategy of doubling down on premium hardware while building a parallel software ecosystem after the 2019 US ban forced the company out of Google’s ecosystem. Despite a global market‑share plunge from roughly 9‑10 % to under 2 %, Huawei continues to out‑engineer competitors in camera hardware and battery capacity, a pattern mirrored in its smartwatch, earbuds, and laptop lines. In the broader flagship arena, Apple and Samsung dominate with seamless Google integration, while Google’s Pixel phones leverage its own services. Huawei’s approach forces a split market: Chinese and some Asian consumers receive a fully integrated experience, whereas Western users face a fragmented app environment that could deter mass adoption.

Looking ahead, the Pura 90s Pro Max’s success will hinge on whether third‑party solutions can reliably bridge the Google‑service gap and whether Huawei can expand AppGallery’s catalog to meet Western demand. Continued sanctions could push Huawei to accelerate HarmonyOS development for global markets, but any shift away from Android may introduce compatibility challenges for existing Android apps. Watch for updates to the Kirin chipset roadmap, potential policy shifts that might ease US restrictions, and the growth of alternative app‑store ecosystems that could determine Huawei’s relevance outside China.