The P series was formerly marketed as part of Huawei's larger Ascend brand, and some models were called P smart.

hardware release cadence, Pura series phones are typically directed towards mainstream consumers as the company's flagship smartphones, refining and expanding upon technologies introduced in Mate series phablet devices (which are typically positioned towards early adopters).

[8]The Huawei P10 and P10 Plus were launched in Mobile World Congress 2017[9][10] on February 26, 2017, at Barcelona, Spain.

[16] The pro version has a Leica triple camera setup featuring a 40 MP RGB sensor, 5X Hybrid Zoom, and an AI Scene and Object Recognition sensor capable of detecting 19 scenes.

[17] The P30 and P30 Pro were unveiled in Paris during a media event on 26 March 2019 which features a main RYYB subpixel array (replacing green pixels for yellow) that is very sensitive to light making it able to shoot photos in very low lighting conditions.

The P30 Pro also has a telephoto camera that utilises a triangular prism (using periscope technology with lenses and a camera sensor 90° offset near the centre of the phone) reflecting light giving it the ability to have 5x optical, 10x hybrid and 50x digital zoom.

The P40 Pro and P40 Pro+ are the first P series phones to feature a 90 Hz display and infrared face unlock.

The software is also improved with a new Golden Snap feature that takes a burst of HDR+ photos and automatically picks the best shots.

[23] According to news reports, the Huawei P60 will not be sold in the United States and Australia due to the "tech embargo".

On 28 June 2024, Huawei announced new version of Pura 70 featuring BeiDou satellite messaging and Kirin 9010E processor.

The new processors are HiSilicon Kirin 9000S1 and Kirin 9010, a purely domestic Chinese development, used in the Pura 70 were noted for their performance relative to other competitors' processors, with analysts seeing them both as "a step backward"[30] in comparison with the "international" processors used in the 2023 Huawei P60, but also highlighting[31] that the "fact that Huawei persevered and produced the Kirin 9010 with the [US] trade ban in place is a miracle in its own right.

[34] Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in April 2024 that the Huawei Pura 70 series could conceivably increase sales compared to the preceding Huawei P60 series by a factor of 1.5, selling more than 10 million Pura smartphones in 2024.

[35] As of late 2024, Huawei Pura 70 Ultra is the best camera phone in the world according to DXO Mark.