Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a pop-out main camera

It's not the pop-up camera seen on many previous phones. For Huawei's latest flagship smartphone, the Pura 70 Ultra, it's the main rear camera that pops out.

Just like how Huawei released the Mate 60 that shocked many U.S. politicians, the Shenzhen-based phonemaker held no press releases to introduce the Pura 70 series.

Yet, tech media and enthusiasts are busy posting videos about the phone, especially the most-costly Pure 70 Ultra, whose main camera extends outward when used like many professional cameras.

With this brand-new design, Huawei was able to pack a powerful camera into a thin phone.

Huawei didn't disclose the list of hardware suppliers. Initial testing showed that the phone downloads at 5G speed like the Mate 60 series, despite the absence of a 5G icon on the screen.

After the launch of Pura 70, multiple online reviewers immediately livestreamed the process of them tearing down the phone over Chinese social media. Some of the reviewers remarked that the phone did not get hot as quickly as the Mate 60.

The Pro and Ultra versions of the Pura 70 were available on Thursday, while the Plus and base versions will begin sales on April 22. The phones were out of stock at Huawei's official online store just a minute after sales started.

The Pura 70 series has four variants: the 70, the 70 Plus, the 70 Pro and the 70 Ultra. The starting price for the Pura 70 series is 5,499 yuan (about $760).

Eric Xu, Huawei's acting chairman, on Wednesday told a forum in Shenzhen that the company also plans to roll out a Mate 70 smartphone this year.

Xu said the goal is for it to use a "pure" version of its HarmonyOS operating system, as the U.S. sanctions cut Huawei's access to U.S. technologies such as Google's Android.

Huawei is in talks with major app developers to port popular apps to HarmonyOS.

(With input from Reuters.)