Newsletter
Both Huawei and ASUS launched their most powerful smartphones ever in the first half of this year. Huawei’s arrived in April, while ASUS’ landed about a month earlier than that, in March. We’ll compare those two devices in this article, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra. They are quite different in many ways, so this should be quite interesting. Huawei’s handset is definitely more camera-centric out of the two.
It is worth noting that while both phones come in global variants, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does not include Google services. It comes with Huawei services out of the box, so no Google Play Store. We will first list their specifications, and will then compare them in various other ways. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, camera performance, and audio output.
Specs
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, respectively
– Screen size:
6.8-inch LTPO OLED display (flat, adaptive 120Hz, HDR, 2,500 nits max brightness)
6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED 2X (flat, 144Hz, 2,500 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2844 x 1260
2400 x 1080
– SoC:
Huawei Kirin 9010
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
– RAM:
16GB (LPDDR5X)
12GB/16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
50MP (f/1.6-f/4.0 variable aperture, 23mm lens, 1-inch type sensor, sensor-shift OIS, PDAF, retractable lens), 40MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 13mm lens), 50MP (telemacro, f/2.1 aperture, 90mm lens, 3.5x optical zoom, OIS, PDAF, 5cm macro)
50MP (wide, 24mm lens, gimbal OIS), 13MP (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture), 32MP (telephoto, 3x optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture)
– Front cameras:
13MP (wide, f/2.4 aperture, autofocus)
32MP (wide, f/2.5 aperture)
– Battery:
5,200mAh
5,500mAh
– Charging:
100W wired, 80W wireless, 20W reverse wireless, 18W reverse wired (charger included)
65W wired, 15W wireless, 10W reverse wired (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
162.6 x 75.1 x 8.4mm
163.8 x 76.8 x 8.9mm
– Weight:
226 grams
224 grams
– Connectivity:
5G (only China), LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.2
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner & facial scanning
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical)
– OS:
Android 12 with EMUI 14
Android 14 with ZenUI
– Price:
€1,499+
$899+
– Buy:
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra (Amazon)
ZenFone 11 Ultra (Amazon)
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Design
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is made out of aluminum and vegan leather aka eco leather. ASUS’ handset utilizes aluminum and glass. While both phones have flat displays, those displays feel entirely different to use. Huawei’s phone has quad-curved glass on top of its display, its curved on all sides, and thus feels rather unique to use. ASUS’ phone has slightly curved glass on top, but nowhere near the level of the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.
The back sides are proportional, which makes the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra rather interesting to hold and use, it’s a rather interesting design. That phone is also considerably grippier of the two, eco leather really does help with that. It’s also the more comfortable of the two to use, at least that was the case for us. The two phones have very similar weights, the difference is only 2 grams between them. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra is ever so slightly taller, wider, and thicker, while the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a slightly larger display.
Both phones have a centered display camera hole up top. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra’s corners are more rounded, and its bezels are also thinner. They’re also uniform, unlike the bezels on the ZenFone 11 Ultra. Both smartphones have their physical buttons on the right-hand side, and they have similar placement. Both devices have their camera islands in the top-left corner on the back, though they look considerably different. Huawei’s is also considerably larger in comparison, that’s mainly due to more advanced camera hardware that can be found on the inside.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Display
The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra includes a 6.8-inch 2844 x 1260 LTPO OLED display. That panel is flat, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It also supports HDR content, while it has an adaptive refresh rate. Its refresh rate goes from 1 to 120Hz. The peak brightness of this display is at 2,500 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 89%, while the Kunlun Glass (Basalt-tempered) protects this panel.
The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, on the other hand, includes a 6.78-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) LTPO AMOLED display. This panel is also flat, and it supports HDR10 content. It has a refresh rate of 144Hz, but you’ll be able to use that for specific games only. It will run at a maximum of 120Hz in all other instances. The peak brightness here is also 2,500 nits, while the display aspect ratio is 20:9. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 88%, and the display is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
There’s not much to complain about here. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does have a sharper display, but that’s not something most of you will notice. They’re both vivid, have great viewing angles, and deep blacks. They’re also quite vivid and have good touch response. Huawei’s panel has a higher PWM dimming, in case you have sensitive eyes. Both panels do get bright enough regardless of where you use them. Sure, there are brighter panels out there, but both of these are bright enough.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Performance
Huawei’s handset is fueled by the Kirin 9010 SoC. That is a 7nm processor made by SMIC for Huawei. The phone also includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and it utilizes UFS 4.0 flash storage. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 fuels the ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, that’s a 4nm chip. That smartphone comes with either 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM. It also utilizes UFS 4.0 flash storage. Neither phone offers storage expansion, though.
ASUS’ handset is the more powerful of the two, there’s no doubt about that. It has a more powerful chip, as Huawei is limited in that section due to the US ban. Despite the more powerful chip, both smartphones perform similarly well in day-to-day tasks. You would have never been able to guess that the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has an inferior chip. They can both do equally well while jumping between apps, multitasking in various ways, browsing, consuming multimedia, and so on.
You will start seeing a difference if you end up running very demanding games. That’s where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will show its prowess. If you’re not much of a gamer or don’t play the most demanding games you can possibly find, you’ll be fine with either phone. Neither of them gets too hot during use either. They both perform really well overall.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Battery
A 5,200mAh battery sits inside the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra is equipped with a 5,500mAh battery. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra does do a better job of keeping a charge than the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. With that being said, both phones do offer really good battery life. You can go the distance with both. We’ve been able to cross the 7-hour screen-on-time without a problem.
It’s possible to go over the 8-hour screen-on-time mark too, sure, if you’re careful, especially with the ZenFone 11 Ultra. We’ve even been able to push it up to 9 hours of screen-on time when we were really careful. It does offer a better battery life out of the two, there’s no doubt about that. Do note that graphically-intensive tasks will take a hit, and will mess up the battery life, of course. Your mileage may also vary, predicting battery life with different use scenarios and different signal strengths is… impossible. Do note that we’ve used both phones mainly on WiFi, with some mobile data use thrown in the mix.
When it comes to charging, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is a clear winner here. It supports 100W wired, 80W wireless, 20W reverse wireless, and 18W reverse wired charging. It also comes with a charger in the box. The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra supports 65W wired, 15W wireless, and 10W reverse wired charging. It does not include a charger in the box, unfortunately. Huawei’s phone will charge considerably faster in every way.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra vs ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra: Cameras
Both of these phones have three cameras on the back, though it’s worth noting the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does include better camera hardware/sensor. The Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a 50-megapixel main camera (variable aperture, sensor-shift OIS, retractable lens), a 40-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (3.5x optical zoom, macro). The ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra, on the flip side, has a 50-megapixel main camera (gimbal OIS), a 13-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 32-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom).
While the ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra does provide good camera performance, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is excellent in that regard. It’s regarded as one of the best camera smartphones in the market for a reason. Both phones provide really good images during the day, but the ones from the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra look more natural and have more natural processing. The ZenFone 11 Ultra images can often look overprocessed in comparison. The phone also tends to boost up the saturation a bit too much at times. HDR processing is also better on the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.
Both ultrawide cameras do a good job, but the one from the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra does provide more details. All three cameras on the ZenFone 11 Ultra suffer from too aggressive processing at times. The periscope telephoto camera on the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is miles ahead of the telephoto unit on the ZenFone 11 Ultra. Not only does it do a better job at shorter zooms, but it can do a much better job at high-zoom levels. The ZenFone 11 Ultra has a regular telephoto camera, not a periscope telephoto unit. Macro shots are also better from Huawei’s phone, thanks to that periscope telephoto camera.
Both devices do a great job in low light, though once again, shots from the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra look better overall. There’s basically no noise to be found, while the level of detail is high. There’s also no need to use night mode manually or anything like that. The colors are on point too, which is not something we can say for ASUS’ handset. We do advise you to stick to the main camera while shooting images in low light, however.
Audio
Both the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and ASUS ZenFone 11 Ultra include a set of stereo speakers. Both those sets provide good audio output, they’re well-balanced. The ones on the ZenFone 11 Ultra are a bit louder, however.
If you need an audio jack on your smartphone, you’ll be glad to know that the ZenFone 11 Ultra includes one. That’s not something we can say for the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, though you can always use its Type-C port. The Pura 70 Ultra comes with Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless audio, while the ZenFone 11 Ultra includes Bluetooth 5.4.