Huawei Technologies has held a launch for its Pura 80 series of smartphones in Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, in the company’s latest move to revive its once-massive smartphone business outside of China after it was levelled by US sanctions.

The company launched international versions of three handsets, the Pura 80, Pura 80 Pro and Pura 80 Ultra, which aim to compete with models from the likes of Apple and Samsung in spite of their lack of Google services.

In mainland China Huawei has replaced Android with its own HarmonyOS operating system, apps developed specifically for the platform and domestically developed services.

International markets

But the latest Pura international devices, as with other models previously released for the overseas market, use Huawei’s EMUI operating system, which is based on the open-source version of Android and is capable of running Android apps.

In China, Huawei has been phasing out Android compatibility with HarmonyOS, and its most recent devices run only HarmonyOS-native apps.

The three international devices launched in Dubai use an AI agent called Celia that has been trained on languages including English, Spanish and French, and is distinct from the Xiaoyi AI used in Huawei’s Chinese products.

The Pura 80 series made its debut in China last month and includes improved photographic capabilities.

Huawei has held one other international launch so far this year, the tri-fold Mate XT smartphone in Malaysia in February.

The Pura 70 series was released internationally in May of last year, as was the Mate X6 series last December.

Andreas Zimmer, head of product at Huawei’s consumer business group, said at the launch event in Dubai that the Pura series “has always been the smartphones that had the biggest impact in the market”.

‘Cutting-edge’ tech

He said the latest devices focused on “cutting-edge, first-of-its-kind camera technology”.

The Pura 80 Pro and Pura 80 Ultra were expected to cost 1,099 euros (£950) and 1,499 euros respectively for the 512-gigabyte versions, while pricing for the standard Pura 80 has not yet been announced.

US sanctions have for years cut off Huawei from technologies such as the smartphone chips used by other phone makers as well as Google’s Android ecosystem.

The company has gradually developed domestic hardware and software alternatives, allowing it to ramp up its device business domestically and abroad, fuelling a 38 percent revenue increase in its consumer business last year and an overall 22 percent year-on-year revenue rise.