HUAWEI Mate 10 Review – a superior flagship smartphone

Announced last month, HUAWEI Mate 10 series is one of the most-awaited flagships to most of the smartphone fans out there. Shortly after its launch in Malaysia, we are lucky to be given a chance to test the Mate 10 so here is our HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro review!

What is in the box

The HUAWEI Mate 10 package comes in a big square box with the most basic items – the phone itself, a pair of earphones, the charger, USB-C cable, a phone case and the Quick Start Guide.

The model we get is in an elegantly-looking Champagne Gold. The front design is all about the stunning big and QHD display which measures 5-9 inch with 16:9 aspect ratio (bigger screen = clearer games!). On the other side, the rear is having a robust glass casing featuring a gold stripe highlighting the dual lens cameras.

Unlike most of the flagships in the market now, Mate 10 still equip a headphone jack (3.5mm) and microSD slot. This comes in handy especially to those who don’t want to invest their money in buying adapters or wireless headsets. Also, the phone might look big (and fat) but it is actually comfortable to hold as it would fit in the palm well.

Mate 10 Specifications:

• Size: 150.5 x 77.8 x 8.2 mm
• Weight: about 186 g
• Color: Mocha Brown, Black, Champagne Gold
• Display: 5.9″ HUAWEI FullView LCD Display with 16:9 aspect ratio
• Resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixels
• CPU: HUAWEI Kirin 970 Octa-core processor
• OS: Android Oreo 8.0
• Memory: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM (support up to 256GB with Micro SD card)
• Camera:
  • 8MP Front Camera
  • 20MP Monochrome + 12MP RGB Rear Camera
• Battery: 4000mAh
• EMUI: EMUI 8.0

Display and Camera

Comparing to other flagships that use OLED display, Mate 10 ‘s LCD display feels a bit off in the quality. However, the QHD display still looks great with punchy colours and in terms of surface area, Mate 10‘s 5.9 inches display with 16:9 aspect ratio is actually even bigger than Mate 10 Pro‘s display (6 inches with 18:9 aspect ratio).

Mate 1o equips 20MP Monochrome + 12MP RGB camera on the rear, while the front carries a decent 8MP camera. Featuring the new Leica Dual Lens with f/1.6 aperture, Mate 10 enables you to take beautiful and crystal-clear pictures even in low-light conditions. The autofocus time is improved too (thanks to the powerful AI processor) and you could evoke a professional bokeh effect easily.

Performance and Battery Life

HUAWEI Mate 10 series is the first HUAWEI smartphone series to equip the world’s first AI processor – Kirin 970, making it one of the most powerful handsets in the market. From what I observed, the phone is able to load games extremely quick and seamlessly. The same result goes for multiple tasks handling, which all of the processes runs perfectly without any glitches.

Coupled with smart battery management, the 4000 mAh battery in Mate 10 offers a long-lasting battery life. You could easily use the phone for work or for entertainment without charging through to the end of a day.

For the memory aspect, Mate 10 features 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM which is quite average for most of the high-end smartphones. If 64 GB internal storage sounds not enough for you, no worries as you could expand its storage up to 256GB by adding a microSD card.

Conclusion

Featuring all the high-end features such as powerful CPU, long-lasting battery and the brilliant cameras, HUAWEI Mate 10 is a worthy choice compared to some of the super-expensive flagships. Not to mention the retained headphone jack as one of the plus points.

However, as a flagship, it is quite disappointed that Mate 10 doesn’t support wireless charging. There is no water-proof ability too so if these are your deal breakers, you should look somewhere else.

Priced at €699 (RM2, 699), HUAWEI Mate 10 is available in 3 colours – Black, Mocha Brown and Champagne Gold. It is now buyable at most Huawei retail stores now, you can also visit their official website for more information.

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