Huawei just announced its latest phones, the Pura 70 range. There are plenty of updates and improvements, including a retractable zoom lens, but the company also introduced a key communications feature: Satellite+ will allow images to be sent by satellite when there’s no cellular connectivity.
Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.
April 24 update below. This post was first published on April 21, 2024.
This is a first for a regular phone, and follows on from last fall’s announcement of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro which was also a world first, in that case the first to enable satellite phone calls. That capability is also on the new Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.
The new model’s image-sending feature is also pitched as something for use in emergency, when you’re in a place with no cellular connectivity. To send images via satellite, with its limited bandwidth, the files are heavily compressed, which can lead to distortion or blurring of the picture. Hence the emphasis that this feature is for emergency usage only.
To use it fully, the sending and receiving phones require a particular app, called Changlian. If the phone to which you’re sending the message doesn’t have it, then as Huawei’s Bruce Lee explains, the recipient will see only a regular text message.
Even so, this is a very big step forward, and highly valuable if, for example, it can show your location in a way that makes it easier for emergency services to pinpoint you.
Other details so far revealed, as spotted by Huawei Central, include the fact that you can edit a message after it’s been sent. It also explains, “Huawei Pura 70 Ultra also supports wireless communication with the help of an advanced fusion (Lingxi antenna, Lingxi network, and Lingxi AI algorithm) for a better, stable, and strong communication experience under weak signal conditions.”
Huawei also released a video showing how it’s used.
Apple’s satellite connection was ground-breaking, introducing clever software to help users to point the iPhone directly at a satellite passing by unseen overhead. And there have been numerous stories of lives being saved using the feature.
So, to see something even more advanced coming to Huawei’s handsets will surely have Apple and rivals thinking of what more they can do.
By the way, if you’ve noticed a different branding on the latest phones, well done. The Pura 70 is the direct sequel to last year’s P60. This fall, we may see if Huawei rebrands its M series phones with a new name. There’s no word yet on what this might be.
April 23 update. The satellite connectivity is a major step forward in the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, but it’s far from the only one. In fact, the headline-grabbing update, touched on at the top of this post, is the camera with its zoom lens mechanism.
Even without the satellite feature, this would be enough to make the new phone an original for several reasons. First, the main camera has a one-inch sensor, a size that would not look out of place in a dedicated digital SLR camera. That camera has a variable aperture, something which Huawei has done before but is another sign of photographic versatility. And the retractable mechanism is what makes such a huge sensor viable.
The nature of physics, and optics, is there has to be a certain distance between a sensor and a lens: too short and the lens can’t allow light to cover the sensor properly.
With such a big sensor, a greater length is needed, and the mechanical movement allows the sensor and lens to be suitably distanced—the alternative would be a much bulkier phone.
Each time you snap a photo on this 50-megapixel main sensor, the lens will move out. Huawei says the mechanism has been tested for 300,000 retractions.
One benefit for such a big sensor is the ability to shoot crisp shots even when the subject is moving at high speed. It’s a pretty cool innovation.
April 24 update. Since the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has gone on sale, there has been intense scrutiny of its innovations, such as the retractable camera. Just how strong is it and how much weight can it withstand?
The first public test has been done by a Weibo tipster. It was done by balancing a smartphone on top of the extended lens and adding weights. The phone, a Huawei Mate X2 weighing 295g plus 75g of weights didn’t cause the mechanism to retract, though an additional 10g was too much for it. So, in this test in far-from-laboratory conditions, the mechanism was found to withstand pressure of 365g, which is impressive.
The camera also has high-speed photo capture, as touched on above, which is capable of capturing moments when elements of the image are moving at speeds of up to 186mph (300km/h), such as a speeding car, for instance.
It has been compared to a similar feature in the Honor Magic 6 phone, where it’s called Eagle Eye. As reported by HuaweiCentral, Huawei has said that the two features are not comparable, claiming that Honor’s needs especially bright indoor light to work. Huawei executive Bruce Lee said that if, “you don’t deliberately increase the indoor lighting brightness, the image quality has deteriorated to the point.”
Honor has since responded, saying that the two features have different merits, with Honor CMO Jiang Hairong saying, On this road, we are not afraid to compete with experts, learn from each other’s talents, and make progress together.”
The systems work differently. This is how Huawei Central compares them. The effect on the Huawei Pura 70, it says, “is possible with the XD Motion engine that runs on AI algorithms. Whether it’s a speedy racing car or any other fast-moving object, far or near, the image appears clear, frozen, and wonderful. Honor Eagle Eye Camera function relies on the millisecond-level capture algorithm. It reacts like a real eagle’s eye and locks its focus on the subject. As soon as the subject appears, it quickly snaps out the delicate moments irrespective of speed and distance.”
