Huawei MatePad T10 Review

More and more consumers are looking for an affordable tablet that they can use for work-from-home or online schooling. Good thing, Huawei released two new affordable tablets, the MatePad T10 and MatePad T 10s. We already did a review for the latter. Now, let’s see how the more affordable MatePad T10 fares.

Design and Construction

The MatePad T10 and the MatePad T 10s sport a similar design, with the latter having a slightly larger display. It looks sleek, and it has a matte finish on it. Our unit comes in the Deepsea Blue color, and it’s the only color available. However, it can be quite a smudge magnet, so we highly advise slapping a case on.

Other than the 5MP camera at the back, you can also find some Huawei branding.

The bezels all around look relatively thick, and as you can see, the 2MP front camera and some sensors are located on the longer side, indicating that it’s best used in landscape mode.

Located on the right are its power and volume buttons, as well as two microphones.

There’s nothing on the left, but on top, you’ll find a loudspeaker.

At the bottom, it comes with another loudspeaker, a USB Type-C port, a headphone port, and a dual SIM tray for one nano-SIM card and a microSD card that’s expandable up to 512GB.

Display and Multimedia

The MatePad T10 comes with a 9.7-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 800px resolution and a pixel density of 224 PPI. So far, the quality is okay. If you’re not too nitpicky and don’t mind an HD display, then this will do you good. You can also change the screen’s color temperature and turn on the Eye Comfort feature to filter out blue light to reduce eye fatigue.

As for audio quality, unlike the MatePad T 10s, the MatePad T10 doesn’t boast any Harman Kardon loudspeakers. But even so, the sound quality is fine. There’s not much bass, but it can get amply loud and clear for a small room. Still, if you want a better audio experience, we do suggest using your favorite wired headsets.

Camera

Now for cameras, the MatePad T10 also touts the same 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. Just like what we said, don’t expect too much from it. The images produced are decent enough and would suffice for casual use. The same goes for the selfie shooter.

For videos, the front camera allows you to shoot videos at 720p while getting up to 1080p for the rear. Again, this quality is good enough for zoom-ing, video calls, and social media posting.

OS, UI, and Apps

Running the MatePad T10 is EMUI 10.1 based on Android 10. As you would expect from any Huawei devices, it doesn’t come with Google Mobile Services. Instead, you get the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS), and you get to download apps from its AppGallery. The catalog is still growing and now has some of the most popular apps in the market.

If you can’t find the app you’re looking for in the AppGallery; you can download Huawei’s Petal Search Widget. This widget allows you to install apps from the Huawei AppGallery and official and third-party websites. It also provides suggestions and trending apps information.

Sideloading Google apps can be quite a tedious process. You can also use another alternative like downloading a third-party app like APKPure or downloading apps straight from the browser.

The device also comes with handy features including Multi-Window, Tablet Clone, Kid’s Corner, and HUAWEI Share that works like Airdrop if you’re part of the Huawei ecosystem.

Out of the 32GB storage, you get a usable 15GB storage that you can further expand up to 512GB via microSD card.

Performance and Benchmarks

The MatePad T10 is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 710A chip along with a Mali G51 GPU and 2GB RAM. Due to its measly RAM, running multiple apps in the background can be quite a problem, so it is better to keep it to a minimum. Basic tasks and light gaming work smoothly, but other than that, don’t expect so much from it, mostly when you play games like Asphalt 9, PUBG Mobile, or Call of Duty.

• PCMark Work 2.0 – 6,520
• 3DMark SSE – 1,101 (OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,064 (Vulkan)
• AndroBench – 288.99 MB/s (Seq. Read), 105.04 MB/s (Seq. Write)
Other benchmarking apps crashes.

For biometrics, you don’t get any face recognition feature; instead, you can opt for traditional options such as PIN, Pattern, and Password, which aren’t bad at all and are way more secure if you’re going to ask us.

Connectivity and Battery Life

As for connectivity, the MatePad T10 is packed with WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, OTG, and yes, it comes with FM Radio.

For battery, it also comes with the same 5,100mAh battery as the MatePad T 10s. In our PCMark battery test, the device yielded 16 hours and 10 minutes, while in our standard video loop test where we loop a 1080p movie at 50% brightness and volumes, airplane mode turned on, and earphones plugged in, we got a total of 24 hours and 20 minutes of playback.

The device can surely last you a whole day on moderate use, but if you’re heavy on the video calls and streaming, then you’d probably have to charge it once more in a day. With a 10w charger, the average charging takes about an hour and a half for up to two hours.

Conclusion

The Huawei MatePad T10 has an enticing price of PHP 6,999USD 119INR 10,111EUR 114CNY 869. With almost half the bigger sibling’s price, the T 10s, the trimmed down aspects seem to be very reasonable. But if you are going to buy this entry-level tablet, be sure to manage your expectations.

Of course, don’t expect Google Mobile Services and LTE connectivity; plus, the performance isn’t buttery smooth with the limited RAM. Nonetheless, do expect a long battery life and expandable storage for up to 512GB.

Huawei MatePad T10 specs:
9.7-inch 1280×800 IPS Display, 156PPI
HUAWEI Kirin 710A
Mali G51 GPU
2GB RAM
32GB storage
Up to 512GB via MicroSD
5MP f/2.2 rear camera
2MP f/2.4 front camera
WiFi 802.11 AC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Bluetooth 5.0
Huawei Share
USB Type-C
EMUI 10.1 (Based on Android 10)
5,100mAh battery
240.2 x 159 x 7.85mm
450g
Deepsea Blue

With inputs from Justine Basco