Huawei Mate 10 Review and Comparison

The Huawei Mate 10 is a powerful smartphone that's packed with features. It features a 5.9-inch OLED display, providing vibrant colors and crisp visuals.

The Mate 10 has a Kirin 970 processor, which is a significant upgrade from its predecessors. This processor is designed to provide fast performance and efficient battery life.

One of the standout features of the Mate 10 is its dual camera setup, which includes a 12-megapixel RGB sensor and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor. This allows for incredible low-light photography and advanced portrait mode capabilities.

With a large 4000mAh battery, the Mate 10 can easily last a full day with heavy use.

The Huawei Mate 10 has a 5.9″ IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2560×1440 and a brightness of ~730 nits. This makes it a great device for watching videos or browsing the web.

The Mate 10 is powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset, which provides a fast and efficient performance. This chipset is paired with 4 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64 GB of UFS 2.1 storage, which can be expanded up to 256 GB using the SIM 2 slot.

Here are the specifications for the Huawei Mate 10:

The Mate 10 has a 4,000 mAh battery with fast charging capabilities, which can charge the device up to 58% in just 30 minutes.

The Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro/Porsche Design both pack a powerful HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset, with a 10nm process and a built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU).

The Mate 10 series features a 4GB LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB UFS 2.1 storage, expandable up to 256GB via the SIM 2 slot. The Mate 10 Pro/Porsche Design offers 4GB/6GB or 6GB + 128GB UFS 2.1 storage, with the Porsche Design variant boasting 6GB + 256GB storage and no micro-SD slot.

The Mate 10 series boasts a 5.9-inch IPS LCD display with a 2560x1440 resolution, while the Mate 10 Pro/Porsche Design features a 6.0-inch AMOLED display with a 2160x1080 resolution.

The cameras on both devices are Leica-certified and feature a 12MP RGB sensor, 20MP monochrome sensor, and an 8MP front camera.

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The Mate 10 series has a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging capabilities, while the Mate 10 Pro/Porsche Design also features a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging.

Here's a comparison of the different storage options:

The Mate 10 series features a glass front and back with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, while the Mate 10 Pro/Porsche Design also features a glass front and back with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, but with a rear fingerprint sensor and no headphone jack.

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The Mate 10 Pro has at least two configurations, 4 GB/64 GB or 6 GB/128 GB. Each of these configurations can be found on multiple models.

The BLA-LOAC model is an alternate name for the BLA-A09 model sold through special OEM arrangements. The BLA-A09 model is sold at U.S. retailers like Best Buy.

The A09/LOAC models are for U.S. distribution, while the AL00 models are for China. The L09 and L29 models are for Europe and international distribution.

The TL00 model appears to be a limited distribution Himalayan model, closely resembling the AL00 Chinese models.

The Huawei Mate 10 is available in several markets, including Australia, China, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, UAE, and others.

Availability in the US and UK is uncertain, with no confirmation of a release date.

The Mate 10 will be available in Australia from November 15, with confirmed availability for Vodafone AU and JB Hi-Fi.

You can get the Mate 10 SIM free for AU$899, which is around $710 or £530.

Here are the confirmed markets for the Mate 10, along with their release dates:

The Mate 10 was initially released to select markets on October 16, 2017, followed by the UK and Europe in late 2017, and then the United States on February 18, 2018.

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The Huawei Mate 10 has very good performance, with quickness and battery life that will satisfy most users. Its CPU and GPU are identical to those in the Mate 10 Pro, resulting in very close performance between the two models.

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The Mate 10 Pro has a slight advantage due to its lower screen resolution, especially in graphics-intensive applications. However, the Mate 10's performance falls short of the A11 Fusion powered iPhone 8, 8+, and X, as well as Snapdragon 845 powered devices released later.

The phone's performance is also limited by its use of a special benchmark mode, which doesn't reflect real-world performance, according to Geekbench. This mode is used by the Mate 10 and Mate 20 Lite, but not by predecessor phones like the Mate 9 and P10.

The phones run on Android 8 "Oreo" with Huawei's own custom skin, EMUI 8.0 on top of it. This upgrade from the previous EMUI version of 5.1 allows the phone to match the latest Android version number.

Huawei's EMUI 8.0 brings some new features, including a desktop mode called "Easy Projection". This custom desktop interface is similar to Samsung DeX and appears when connecting the phone to a display via an HDMI-to-USB-C cable.

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The Huawei Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro have very close performance, thanks to their identical CPU and GPU and clock frequencies. Their performance is especially comparable in graphics-intensive applications, where the Mate 10 Pro's lower screen resolution gives it a slight advantage.

The Mate 10 Lite, on the other hand, lags far behind its flagship counterparts, with CPU and GPU 2-3 generations older. This results in significantly lower performance compared to the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.

The Mate 10 actually scored top in the list of Android phones at its October 2017 release date, but it still falls short of the A11 Fusion-powered iPhone 8, 8+, and X, as well as Snapdragon 845-powered devices released a few months later.

The official Geekbench testing site excludes the Mate 10 and Mate 20 models (except the Lite) from published results, citing that they run benchmarks in a special mode that doesn't reflect real-world performance. This has led to discrepancies in benchmark results, with the Mate 10 sometimes performing poorer than the Kirin 960/Mali G71-powered Mate 9 in certain tests.

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Huawei has attributed these discrepancies to AI processes allocating resources during heavy workloads, but private benchmarks have shown radically different performance compared to public ones. The company has announced plans to make 'Performance mode' available to ordinary users, but it's unclear if this will address the issue.

The Mate 10's performance is comparable to other high-end devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, as well as the LG V30.

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The Huawei Mate 10's design is a masterclass in minimalism. The phone has a premium finish and a big screen that takes up 81.6% of the front, making it feel spacious and modern.

Below the screen, you'll find a fingerprint scanner that's easily accessible and responsive. Above it, there's a front camera and speaker that blend seamlessly into the design.

The phone's buttons are located on the right-hand side and offer excellent tactility, so you'll know exactly when you've pressed one. The bottom firing speaker and USB-C port are located at the base, while the 3.5mm headphone port and IR blaster are up at the top.

The back of the phone features a curved sheet of Gorilla Glass that provides a comfortable grip and looks sleek. However, it does attract fingerprints readily, especially in darker variants, so you may want to consider using the soft touch case that comes in the box.

The Mate 10's screen is a 5.9-inch QHD IPS LCD panel that delivers punchy colors and a high dynamic range when watching HDR10 content. It's also extremely bright, reaching up to 730 nits.

Here are some key specs for the Mate 10's screen:

While the screen is great, it's worth noting that it can't compete with OLED rivals like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Mate 10 Pro in terms of color accuracy and overall quality. However, it still offers very good viewing angles and is a great option for those who want a large screen without the premium price tag.

The Huawei Mate 10 series received mostly positive reviews, especially regarding the camera feature, with DxOMark giving it an overall 97 points.

Reviewers praised the long battery life, thanks to the 4000 mAh battery, but criticized the heavily skinned EMUI software.

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro's lack of QHD+ resolution, storage expansion, and a headphone jack received some criticism, but it was praised for its bright and accurate-color OLED display.

Here are some key differences between the three models:

The Huawei Mate 10 series received mostly positive reviews, especially regarding the camera feature, with DxOMark giving it an overall 97 points.

Many reviewers praised the long battery life, thanks to the 4000 mAh battery, but criticized the heavily skinned EMUI software and the lack of certain features such as WLAN without MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, and inductive charging for both models.

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro was criticized for its lack of QHD+ resolution, storage expansion, and a headphone jack, but was praised for its bright and accurate-color OLED display, LTE Cat. 18, Dual-VoLTE, Dual-SIM, aptX HD, good performance, and high build quality.

Some reviewers found the EMUI software to be not for everyone, and the Mate 10 Pro was also criticized for its lack of waterproofing and wireless charging.

Here are some of the key cons of the Huawei Mate 10 series:

Despite these cons, the Mate 10 series has its strengths, including a very competent camera, a 4000 mAh battery, and a design that gives it an edge over pricier devices.

In the same month as the Mate 10 series release, the Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone X were launched, positioning themselves as direct competitors.

The Mate 10 series also competed with the Samsung Galaxy S8 series, which was released in April 2017.

Additionally, the OnePlus 5 and Google's Pixel 2 series were other major competitors in the same timeframe.

The Huawei Mate 10 is a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the Mate 9. Its 5.9-inch QHD screen is a major improvement, providing a much sharper display.

The Mate 10's camera is also improved, with f/1.6 apertures across both dual rear lenses. This allows for better low-light performance and more detailed photos.

One of the standout features of the Mate 10 is its AI-powered camera UI. This smart scene detection technology gets to know how you shoot and fine-tunes results accordingly.

The Mate 10 ships with the latest version of Android, Android 8, complete with EMUI 8, Huawei's custom interface. This also includes EMUI desktop, a feature that allows you to output to a TV or monitor and use a full keyboard and mouse input.

Here are some key specs to consider:

The Mate 10's build quality is also improved, with a combination of glass and metal that gives it a more premium feel.

The Huawei Mate 10 is a big phone with an excellent camera. Its striking design and plenty of power under the hood make it a standout device.

With its size, it won't be for everyone, but the Mate 10 has very few shortcomings. It's a definite contender for best value for money big phone of 2017.