Huawei Pura 90s Pro brings back gradient nostalgia — but HarmonyOS is still a dealbreaker

By: Anton Kratiuk | today, 12:48

Huawei officially unveiled the Pura 90s Pro at a global launch event on July 14 in Kuala Lumpur, and the headline feature isn't a camera spec — it's a color. The Pink Guava finish blends saturated pink, lime-yellow, and light green in a three-tone gradient that deliberately echoes the Twilight colorway that made the P20 Pro a head-turner back in 2019. Whether that nostalgia is enough to compete in a crowded premium market is a different question entirely.

The look

The gradient finish sits alongside three other color options at launch: Orange Soda, Coconut White, and Mulberry Black. The triangular camera module — a design element Huawei has carried through the Pura line — sets it apart visually from the rectangular or circular camera clusters on most rivals. It's an intentional aesthetic statement in a segment where phone design has grown monotonous.

The Pro Max variant pushes the camera story further with a 200MP periscope telephoto lens on a 1/1.28-inch sensor — reportedly the largest telephoto sensor fitted to any smartphone so far. The standard Pro makes do with a 50MP telephoto and 4x optical zoom. Both models run Huawei's Kirin 9030S chip under HarmonyOS 6.1.

The catch

HarmonyOS 6.1 ships without Google services. That means no Gmail, no Google Maps, no YouTube, and no Play Store out of the box. Huawei's AppGallery is the alternative, and while its library has grown, Western users will find far fewer familiar apps than on any Android phone. Workarounds exist, but they add friction that most buyers shouldn't have to deal with at this price.

Pricing landed around $900 for the Pro and upward of $1,100 for the Pro Max globally — territory occupied by Samsung's Galaxy S25+ and approaching the iPhone 16 Pro. For camera enthusiasts who shoot a lot of telephoto and can live without Google, the hardware spec makes an argument. For everyone else, the software gap is hard to overlook.

Availability

UK and US release dates are unconfirmed. The Pura 80 series took four to six months to reach British retail after its China debut, so a similar wait is the most realistic expectation here. No carrier partnerships or pricing in GBP or USD have been announced. If Huawei follows past precedent, early adopters in the UK and US will need patience alongside their enthusiasm for gradient finishes.