With the advent of smartphones with big displays a few years ago, many have speculated that tablets will be out of the market for good. However, it is already 2020, and it is still not the case. Yes, tablets released became fewer, but it is still alive, kicking, and innovating. Just like the latest Huawei offering, the MatePad.
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| Huawei MatePad Review; Power of Exploration |
The Huawei MatePad is the non-professional sibling of the MatePad Pro, which was launched in the country around April of this year. Without the "PRO" attached to its name simply means it is the less expensive variant among the two. Hey, don't get us wrong. It may be more affordable, but it still packs great features that make it a real contender in today's tablet segment. And we will discuss those things in detail in this review. So, let's start!
Get yours now at https://bit.ly/huaweimatepad or http://bit.ly/huaweimatepads.
PHYSICAL:
The Huawei MatePad is slightly more compact and lighter than its MatePad Pro brother. It measures 245.2mm x 155mm and weighs 456 grams, while the latter measures 246mm x 159mm and weighs 460 grams. That is because it also has a slightly smaller screen of 10.4-inch as compared to the 10.8-inch of its sibling. However, it is a 0.2mm thicker at 7.4mm versus the 7.2mm of the pro variant.
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| 10.4-inch 2K FullView Display |
The 10.4-inch FullView Display offers a 2K resolution, which is 2000 x 1200 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 5:3. It also has up to 81% screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 7.9mm narrow bezels. With 224 pixels per inch density, it gives users stunning graphics and vivid colors. Moreover, it offers tons of features that allow users to maximize their usages of the tablet, such as E-Book Mode, Multi-Window, Huawei Share Multi-Scree Collaboration, and M-Pencil support.
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| Midnight Grey Color |
At the back, it has a classic Midnight Grey color with a matte finish, and at the upper left corner is where the 8MP autofocus primary camera is located along with its LED flash. Meanwhile, the 8MP front camera is placed at the center of the upper bezel in landscape mode.
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| USB Type-C Port and Speakers |
Going through the sides, the top holds the volume keys and the four microphones, yes you read it right, it has a quad-array mic. The bottom has the dual-slot card tray that can support a Nano-SIM card for calls, texts, and mobile data, and a MicroSD card for storage expansion. The left side has the power button and the two speakers, while the right side has the USB Type-C port at the center of the third and fourth speakers.
It has no 3.5mm audio jack, but Huawei is generous enough to include a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter. The other items in the retail package include the ejector pin, warranty card, quick start guide, USB cable, and a 10-watt charger. There is no case included in the box itself, but if you are one of the early adopters, you probably get the Huawei Folio Case as well as the Huawei M-Pencil.
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| Huawei MatePad with Folio Case and M-Pencil |
Overall, the Huawei MatePad is a slim and stylish tablet, just like the MatePad Pro. It is comfortable and easy to hold. All buttons are tactile, the microphones and speakers are placed in their ideal positions, and remain open or accessible even with the use of the folio case.
Huawei MatePad Unboxing and Hands-on
To learn more about its physical appearance and items on the box, among other things, please watch our unboxing and hands-on video above.
See Also: Huawei P40 Pro Review; Flagship Full of Excitement
SOFTWARE:
The Huawei MatePad runs on EMUI 10.1.0, which is based on Android 10. It has no Google Mobile Services, but that is already old news. Huawei has done so many great things in the past to improve user experience.
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| Software - EMUI 10.1 Based On Android 10 |
The Huawei AppGallery has most, if not all, the essential apps you need - from social, productivity to financial applications. Moreover, the manufacturing giant has able to convinced lots of local companies to include their apps in the system, such as PayMaya, BDO, SM, Robinsons, PAL, and many more. In addition, Huawei now has Petal Search, which provides a convenient and powerful option for users to search for apps.
Huawei Petal Search
To learn more about how to get your favorite apps on your Huawei device, visit https://consumer.huawei.com/ie/campaign/favourite-apps/.
PERFORMANCE:
Under the hood, the Huawei MatePad is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 810 chipset, which is the same chip inside the Huawei Nova 7i. It is based on a 7nm FinFET process that has an octa-core processor clocked up to 2.27GHz each paired with ARM Mali-G62MP6 graphics. It also comes with 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage, wherein 49.72GB is available for the users.
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| CPU-Z Info |
We run it through the benchmarking apps that we usually used, and below are the results:
| Benchmark | Samsung Galaxy M31 | Vivo V19 Neo | Huawei MatePad |
| Antutu | 194,588 | 233,599 | 265,341 |
| Geekbench 5 (Single-Core) | 349 | 515 | 598 |
| Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core) | 1,318 | 1,673 | 1,608 |
| Geekbench 5 (RenderScript) | 1,587 | 387 | 2,431 |
| PC Mark | 5,462 | 7,407 | 7,781 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot | 2,111 | 2,017 | 2,749 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (Vulcan) | 1,547 | 1,213 | 2,012 |
| 3D Mark Sling Shot (OpenGL) | 1,574 | 1,274 | 2,453 |
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| Benchmark Results |
It scored more than 260K in Antutu, topping off the Vivo V19 Neo with Snapdragon 675, Samsung Galaxy M31 with Exynos 9611, and realme 6i with MediaTek Helio G80. However, it is around 20K+ points lower when compared to realme 6 with the Helio G90T chipset.
In real-life usage, switching between multiple apps is pretty snappy, even if there are about 10 apps running in the background. We also played several games with it, all of which are set in the highest settings possible, and they work just fine with very minimal lags that are barely noticeable too. The games we played included Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9, and Mobile Legends.
To be honest, we don't play much with the MatePad as our hands get easily tired are 20 minutes. But, we love binge-watching with it as the audio is pretty loud and clear, the quad speakers are really one of the great assets of this tablet. It is also great for online meetings as it has four microphones too!
Moreover, if you have a youngster at home, it has Kids Corner wherein users can limit the items that the young ones can access as well as the time they can use the gadget.
Productivity-wise, it is apparent that it is much comfortable working with it than a smartphone. And, it is much easier if you have a keyboard folio case. In addition, you won't need a traditional pen and paper during meetings to take down notes as the M-Pencil works quite well with it.
CAMERA:
The Huawei MatePad is equipped with an 8MP front camera for taking selfies and for video calls, and another 8MP shooter, this time an autofocus one, is mounted at the back together with its LED flash. Both cameras can record videos at 1080p resolution at 30fps.
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| 8MP Primary Camera |
Camera Samples:
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| Morning, Playground, Normal |
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| Morning, Playground, HDR |
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| Morning, Selfie |
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| Night, Pool, Normal |
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| Night, Pool, HDR |
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| Night, Selfie |
Huawei is very popular when it comes to camera quality on their smartphones, which most of the time is better than its competitors. However, we did not see the same level of image quality with the MatePad. The outputs of both the front and rear cameras are on the average side. Colors are slightly washed out, thankfully, enabling HDR elevates them. Don't get us wrong, the camera outputs are still okay and very much usable, especially for 8MP modules. It just lacks the wow factor normally found on similarly priced Huawei smartphones.
CONNECTIVITY:
The exact model of the Huawei MatePad that was released in the Philippines is the BAH3-L09, which has a SIM slot for calls, texts, and 4G LTE data connection. This gives the tablet the ability to be connected on the go; of course, you need to have active data for that. If you are a Smart subscriber, you can check our Complete List of Smart Prepaid Promos for Texts, Calls, and Data (Internet) for 2020 to learn more about Smart Prepaid data offers. Or, if you are using Globe, you can read our List of Globe Prepaid Promos for 2020 to know more about Globe Prepaid offers.
For home connection, it has fast dual-band 802.11/ac WiFi, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C ports, and GPS with A-GPS for location-based services. As mentioned earlier, it has no 3.5mm audio jack, but there is a free adapter in the package. Or better yet, use BT earphones or headphones when you need a little privacy.
BATTERY:
The Huawei MatePad tablet comes with a massive 7,250mAh battery with a 10-watt charger included in the package. To be honest, a higher wattage charger or other fast-charging technology would be much better, as it took us more than 4 hours to have it fully charge from 0 to 100%.
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| PC Mark Battery Test Result |
In PC Mark Battery Test, it scored an impressive 25 hours and 53 minutes.
FINAL WORDS:
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| Huawei MatePad |
The Huawei MatePad is a sleek and capable tablet with lots of cool and useful features, making it an excellent device for both entertainment and productivity.
Huawei MatePad Specs Philippines:
- Single Nano-SIM, supports 4G LTE connectivity (BAH3-L09 model)
- 10.4-inch IPS 2K (2000 x 1200) touchscreen display, 5:3 aspect ratio
- Dimensions: 245.2mm x 154.96mm x 7.35mm
- Weight: 450 grams
- EMUI 10.0.1 based on Android 10, Huawei Mobile Services
- 2.27GHz 64-bit octa-core CPU, Mali-G52 MP6 GPU w/ GPU Turbo, HiSilicon Kirin 810 chipset
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage, expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD card, uses a dedicated slot
- 8MP AF main camera with LED flash
- 8MP ultrawide front camera
- Multimedia Player
- Four microphones
- Four speakers, 4-channel output
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth v5.1
- USB Type-C with OTG
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
- Sensors: accelerometer, light, gyroscope, compass, hall
- Battery: 7,250mAh non-removable, support 10W fast charging
- Colors: midnight grey
- Price: Php20,990