Huawei Pura 80 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S26 FE

EDITORIAL: Huawei is back with another shot at "world's best camera-phone" title. The company has adopted a full self-reliance approach in both hardware (Kirin chip, screen protective glass, camera design) and software (moving it's OS away from Google dependence) and seems to be back to finding excellence. With Pura 80 Ultra, Huawei brings the first in the smartphone photography: two different periscope telephoto lenses that share one sensor. The rest of imaging setup is stellar and will get you photos as good as any top 2025 phone. The processor, battery and software remain Pura's weaknesses.

EDITORIAL: When S20 FE arrived in 2020, it created a lot of interest as a cheaper (fan edition) version of it's Galaxy S20+ flagship phone. It made compromises to achieve lower price and they were reasonable: 1mm wider, plastic back, good but lower quality screen, downfraded 8MP tele (instead of a 64MP) lens, sans-AF selfie and no DeX. That phone sold well and Samsung had a S FE phone every year (skipped only 2022) since. Over time, the compromises became bigger and now we got an FE that omits latest processor, comes with lower endurance and a slow USB-C 2.0 port. It still brings other sacrifices typical for a Samsung FE phone: cheaper Victus glass, lower quality screen, 8MP telefoto and a sans-AF selfie but wireless DeX is now included (as it is on all Samsung's flagship phones). It is hard to understand why is Samsung degrading a phone model that build good reputation and following over the years but it is what it is.