Huawei MatePad T 10 Review - 2020's affordable tablet to beat?

Huawei continues its rampage of affordable tablets for the PH market with the new MatePad T10. Here are our thoughts.

Huawei MatePad T 10

Priced at only PHP 6,999, the Huawei MatePad T 10 makes it a prime candidate for customers looking to consume media or for video calls on a budget. 

For starters, it has a 9.7-inch LCD display, Kirin 710A SoC, Mali-G51 MP4 GPU, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a 5100mAh battery. In front is a 2MP f/2.4 selfie camera and a 5MP f/2.2 rear camera.

It is running Android 10 with EMUI 10.1 and Huawei Mobile Services.

Let's see how it performs.

Multimedia Experience

Netflix's Enola Holmes

In front is a 1280 x 800, 16:10 aspect ration LCD display. It gets bright enough indoors but it may struggle under direct sunlight. The colors of the panel are decent but if you plan to consume HDR content, you may want to look elsewhere. We also recommend viewing the display directly and not from an angle as the viewing angles from the sides are not the best.

It features an eye-comfort mode that makes it easier for longer reading and video-call sessions.

The display supports up 10-points of simultaneous touches. Our taps and gestures register instantaneously and accurately. This makes this phone ideal for multi-touch supported apps and games.

Left and right side

On either side of the tablet is one speaker each that completes the stereo audio experience. At maximum volume, the tablet's speakers get pretty loud while painting clarity and with minimal distortion. The sound from the speakers, however, are easily blocked by just accidentally placing the fingers on them.

Stereo sound on a budget!

Huawei Listen comes pre-installed. This feature is only available when using earphones and allows for optimized sound experiences like 3D sound and an equalizer. This 3D sound can get pretty immersive like when watching walking vlogs and movies. We don't recommend the feature for music listening and video calls as it adds too much reverb.

The built-in microphone recording is decent. Nothing beats a dedicated external microphone but for the price, the audio picked up for calls and audio recordings are good enough.

Cameras

Rear main camera

At the back of the Huawei MatePad T 10 is a 5MP f/2.2 main camera with PDAF. The camera app has the following modes: Photo, Video, Beauty, Pro, HDR, and Panorama.

The Pro Mode allows for control of ISO (100-1600), focus, shutter speed (0.5-1/4000), EV (+-4), and White Balance.

Camera UI

Rear Camera Samples

Rear camera daylight

In daylight, the main camera produces vibrant colored images with decent sharpness and acceptable contrast. Don't expect it to perform well in low light. Use your phone camera instead.

The front-facing camera is a 2MP f/2.4 with camera modes that include Photo, Video, and Beauty.

Selfie camera

Selfie Camera Samples

selfie daylight

selfie indoor

In both daylight and indoors, the selfie camera images are soft and somewhat muddy while the color is okay. This is also decent for video calls in well-lit scenarios.

Performance

AnTuTu and GeekBench tests kept failing

Under the hood is the 14nm Kirin 710A octa-core processor, Mali-G51 MP4, 2GB RAM, and 32GB of storage.

The 14nm Kirin 710A octa-core processor is the fastest on budget Android tablets today

We run our usual benchmark apps but AnTuTu and GeekBench kept crashing. Only PCMark Work 2.0 and 3D Mark were able to finish. The tablet scored over 6485 in PCMark Work 2.0 and scored around 1.1K in 3D Mark Slingshot OpenGL and Vulkan. This means that the tablet can handle a fair share of tasks. 

Don't expect it to run games at maximum graphics or maximum frame rates.

12 hours and 42 minutes of on-screen time

Inside is a 5,100mAh battery. Like the other benchmarks, the PC Mark battery test kept failing so we resorted to a 720p video loop test. The tablet was able to last over 12 hours and 42 minutes in the loop test where the tablet would continuously play a 720p video while connected to the internet.

The included 5W charger charges the internal 5,100mAh battery for over 5 hours.

The tablet has a long battery endurance and we recommend topping it off from time to time to avoid the full 5 hour charging time.

EMUI home screen

Under the hood is EMUI 10.1 with Huawei Mobile Services. This means that you can download your apps from Huawei AppGallery, the third-largest app ecosystem in the world. And with Huawei's Petal Search, you can search for apps that are not yet in the App Gallery. If the webpage is compatible, Huawei Petal Search can create a shortcut on the home screen that links to the web-based version of the service or app you are accessing.

Multi-tasking support

The large display is perfect for multi-tasking and Huawei knows this. It is great to know that EMUI 10.1 supports asymmetrical split-screen. This means users can share the screen at different sizes that the user can define for themselves.

Kids mode

Other features include the Kids mode where the UI changes to a more kid-friendly interface. The elements are simpler and with cartoon-like representations.

Added features

Lastly, EMUI 10.1 also has an updated Digital balance feature where you can limit the time spent on specific apps while recording the time spent on the apps installed on the tablet.

Pros - Affordable price point, decent build quality, main and selfie cameras are decent, long battery life

Cons - Display could be brighter, 5 hour charging time

Huawei MatePad T 10 Specs

Display: 9.7-inch LCD screen w/ HD 1280 x 720 resolution at 152 ppi
CPU: 2.2GHz 14nm Kirin 710A octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4
RAM: 2GB
ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 512GB (dedicated)
Back Camera: 5MP f/2.2 w/ PDAF
Selfie Camera: 2MP f/2.4
Battery: 5,100mAh w/ 5W charging
OS: Android 10 w/ EMUI 10.1
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, GPS
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, sound, magnetic, sensor
Others: Stereo speakers, USB-C, Colors: Deepsea Blue
Dimensions: 240 x 159 x 7.85 mm
Weight: 450 g
Price: PHP 6,999

Verdict

Verdict?

The Huawei MatePad T 10 is priced aggressively at PHP 6,999. For that price, you are getting a tablet with capable specs the Kirin 710A, 2GB RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 5,100mAh battery that offers a decent display and an eye-catching design with a somewhat sturdy form factor. The front and rear-facing cameras are decent and can work for vid-calls in environments with decent lighting.

Our biggest concern with the tablet is the maximum brightness level of the display and the long 5 hour charging time. If you can live with these concerns and are on a strict budget, the MatePadT10 could be for you.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with us?

 

Build/Design - 4

Multimedia Experience - 3.75

Cameras - 3

Performance - 4.25

Average - 3.75/5