Samsung pulling the plus-sized Note 7 from shelves last year left a massive hole for would-be phablet owners. It was a chasm that Huawei’s Mate 9 desperately tried to fill, but did so with middling results. This year, it's the turn of the Huawei Mate 10 but circumstances have changed.
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With the Samsung Galaxy Note back, and steadfastly refusing to blow up in people's faces, the competition is far stronger this year; but there's also a raft of new big-screened competitors to contend with, including the 6in Google Pixel XL.
So the Mate 10 has a job on its hands; just as well Huawei has given the phone total re-jig when it comes to both exterior design and internal specs. From first impressions, this is a handset that has every chance of success against the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
Huawei Mate 10 review: What you need to know
The Huawei Mate 10 is the firm’s latest plus-sized smartphone. Created in an effort to shove the Note 8 off the top spot, it employs Huawei’s latest flagship processor – the Kirin 970 – and includes 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of storage that's expandable via microSD card.
There’s a 5.9in 1,440 x 2,560 RGBW IPS display on the front, complete with a pair of Leica-branded f/1.6 dual cameras on the back. One is a standard 12-megapixel RGB lens, while the other incorporates a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor.
Huawei Mate 10 vs Huawei Mate 10 Pro: What's the difference?
There's also a Pro version of the Mate 10 this year, and this looks the more attractive of the two phones.
It has a slightly larger 6in OLED display and this has an long-tall 18:9 aspect ratio, just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Oddly, though, the resolution is lower than the regular Mate 10's at 1,080 x 2,160.
The key difference, though, is that the Pro is rated as being both dust- and water-resistant to IP67 where the Mate 10 is not. In all other respects, other than the higher price, it's the same as the regular Mate 10.
Huawei Mate 10 review: Price and competition
At the time of writing, there’s still no word on the Mate 10’s initial launch price, but expect that to change very soon. As it stands, rumours suggest the Mate 10 will launch for roughly £600 which, if this is indeed the case, will undercut the Note 8 by a considerable margin. Currently, the Note 8 is available to buy for between £820 and £870.
Huawei Mate 10 review: Design, specifications and first impressions
From the front, the Mate 10 is particularly special. Available in either “mocha brown”, “champagne gold”, “pink gold”, or bog-standard black, its entire front is dominated by an arresting 5.9in display, with very little bezel on show, bar a sliver at both the top and bottom. It really is a sight to behold.
Flip it over, and more changes are afoot. There’s the usual dual camera arrangement with both cameras sitting just above the rear fingerprint reader, but the all-aluminium matte unibody rear of last year’s Mate 9 is gone and, in its place, sits what Huawei calls its “multi-axis curved glass back”.
In plain English this is an aluminium rear with a sheet of superheated, scratch-resistant "6H"-rated glass on the top, which wrap attractively around the sides of the phone's body. If last year's Mate 9 was a bit of a looker, this year's is a supermodel.
Both the power and volume rocker keys sit on the right-edge of the phone, while the dual microSD (expandable up to 256GB) and nano-SIM tray is on the top. On the bottom you’ll find a solitary speaker grille and USB-C port for charging. Alas, in a depressing development that looks to be spreading throughout the industry, there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack on the Pro model, though thankfully the regular model keeps it for another year.
Likewise, what’s most alarming is the lack of waterproofing. Despite the fact that the Pro model does benefit from IP67 dust- and water-resistance, the regular Mate 10 receives no such luxury, making do with a “water-resistant” coating instead.
As for the display, the Mate 10 has a 5.9in 2K (1,440 x 2,560) resolution RGBW screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It’s bright – 30% brighter than last year’s in fact – with a claimed peak brightness of 730cd/m2.
On the inside, the Mate 10 is the first device to be powered by Huawei’s own octa-core 2.36GHz Kirin 970 chip, backed up by 6GB of RAM and a choice of either 64GB or 128GB of storage, expandable up to 256GB with a microSD card.
The phone also runs the latest version of Android Oreo, although you won't see much of it as it's slathered with a thick layer of custom manufacturer launcher software, in this case that's Emotion UI 8 (EMUI).
I’m yet to put the Mate 10 through our usual suite of rigorous benchmarks, but if Huawei's claims are anything to go by, this will deliver 20% performance uplift over the Kirin 960 in last year’s Mate 9.
Hopefully, the new chip will be a touch more efficient, too, because battery life wasn’t the Mate 9’s strongest suit.
The claims are on point, with Huawei promising two-days of stamina in regular use and up to 20 hours of continuous video playback, but we'll have to run the phone through our tests before we can confirm any of that.
As for the camera, the Mate 10 is equipped with a pair of wide f/1.6 aperture rear-facing cameras, complete with optical image stabilisation (OIS).
The main 12-megapixel camera utilises an RGB sensor, while the secondary camera uses a 20-megapixel, monochrome-only sensor, which helps to capture finer details.
The end result is a camera that’s a solid performer from what we've seen so far, producing detail-rich images even in the darkest of shooting conditions.
Huawei Mate 10 review: Early verdict
Huawei seems to have done just enough to earn a spot in your pocket this year. The Mate 9 was surprisingly underpowered and didn’t last long on a single charge, the Mate 10 is prepared to improve on the shortcomings of its predecessor. But, the Note 8 will be difficult to unseat from its position at the top of the Android phablet table.
Still, I’m impressed with what Huawei has shown us so far. It all rests on the Mate 10’s launch price; I’ll be delaying my final judgement until we find out, and receive a unit for review.
