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Huawei Mate 10 Unboxing, First Impressions

Huawei is definitely up on top with the rest of the competition in terms of flagship smartphones in 2017. After a global launch event in Munich last October, Huawei is finally launching the Mate 10 and the Mate 10 Pro in the Philippines this November 16.

While we already have full written and video reviews of the Mate 10 Pro, we haven’t had the chance to thoroughly test out the Mate 10 yet. Nevertheless, our full review of the phone is coming. Today though, we leave you with the unboxing and hands-on. Let’s begin by taking it out of the box.

The box itself is quite elegant and is definitely fitting for a premium device. Included accessories are just the essentials; power adapter, USB Type-C cable, earphones. It even comes with a simple case for immediate protection.

The Mate 10 has a very forward-looking design up front, keeping its bezels slim, even despite the fact that it still retains a physical home button.

It packs a 5.9-inch IPS LCD display with a 2k resolution. It comes in the conventional 16:9 aspect ratio, unlike the Mate 10 Pro which has an 18:9 display though only at FHD+ resolution.

The resolution is actually set to FHD (1920×1080 pixels) by default, so you still actually need to set it to QHD (2560×1440 pixels) manually, or even lower to down to just HD (720p). This approach helps in conserving battery life depending on your usage needs.

On top of the display are the 8MP f/2.0 front camera and the call speaker, while below are the navigation buttons.

Moving to the back, right away you notice the very smooth finish that wraps around the curves on the sides, making it feel great in the hands. The main feature you will find at the back though, are the 12MP + 20MP dual Leica optic rear cameras and their accompanying Dual Tone LED flash. These cameras should perform great, so be sure to stay tuned for our full review to see our findings.

The left side houses a hybrid SIM tray, while the right side has the volume and power/lock buttons.

Finally, down at the bottom, the device has its main microphone, loudspeaker, and a USB Type-C port handling power and data. The Mate 10 retains a 3.5mm audio port, a feature that a majority of users still look for and regularly use. The IR blaster is also a welcome addition and a rare feature in many phones these days.

It’s a little disappointing that the Mate 10 is only IP53 rated (splash resistant), while the Mate 10 Pro has an IP67 rating, like many other flagships from Samsung, Apple, Sony, and LG.

The Mate 10’s design language is consistent with that of its predecessor, the Mate 9. However, there are quite a lot of improvements under the hood. This includes the new dual-Leica rear cameras with an impressive f/1.6 aperture and dual-tone, dual LED flash.

We also expect the same photo and video quality as the Mate 10 Pro.

You can also read up on our full review of the Mate 10 Pro here.

Powering the Mate 10 is the HiSilicon Kirin 970 which is composed of a quad ARM Cortex A53 1.8GHz and another quad ARM Cortex A73 running at a top speed of 2.36GHz. This is coupled with a Mali G72MP12 GPU and an i7 co-processor, making the device one of the best performing Android smartphones this year.

Our benchmark scores showed impressive results based on our test of its sibling, the Mate 10 Pro.

HiSilicon Kirin 970Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
High-Power Processor4 x ARM Cortex A73 2.36GHz4 x Kryo 280 2.45GHz
Low-power Processor4 x ARM Cortex A53 1.69GHz4 x Kryo 280 1.9GHz
GPUMali G72 MP12Adreno 540
Antutu Benchmark174,579171,789
GeekBench 4 Single-Core1,8991,938
GeekBench 4 Multi-Core6,7346,720
PCMark Work 2.06,9876,901
3DMark2,9293,195

In the hands, the Mate 10 is very comfortable to hold despite its large display and is actually quite light. Considering the internals and cameras it packs, it really feels like you’re holding a powerhouse.

That wraps up our first impressions for the Huawei Mate 10. To learn about its performance, camera quality, battery life, and more, stay tuned for our full review.

Huawei Mate 10 specs:
5.9-inch 2K IPS LCD display @ 2560 x 1440 pixels, 499ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass (Front and Back)
HDR 10
HiSilicon Kirin 970 2.36GHz octa-core
4 x ARM Cortex A73 2.36GHz + 4 x ARM Cortex A53 1.8GHz
i7 Co-processor
Mali G72MP12 GPU
4GB LPDDR4 RAM
64GB UFS 2.1 internal storage
expandable via microSD card up to 256GB (uses SIM2)
12MP + 20MP dual Leica optic rear cameras with Dual Tone LED Flash: f/1.6, OIS, 2x lossless zoom
PDAF + CAF + Laser + Depth auto-focus
8MP f/2.0 front-facing camera
LTE Cat.18 (1.2Gbps)
Dual SIM, Dual Standby (hybrid)
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, DLNA
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
NFC
Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C
DisplayPort 1.2
384k 32-bit Hi-Fi Audio
IP53 Splash resistance
Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 8.0
4,000mAh Li-Ion battery
150.5 x 77.8 x 8.2mm (dimensions)
186 grams (weight)

The Huawei Mate 10 is priced at Php32,990 and is now up for pre-order until November 16. Those who pre-order will also receive a free Huawei 10,000mAh Super Charge power bank. Pre-ordered devices will be available for pick-up starting November 17 while the free power bank will be available for pick-up on November 27.

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Avatar for Joey Maceda

Joey is YugaTech's Video Production Manager. He constantly puts effort towards his aspirations to be a filmmaker and journalist... when he's not riding his bike, playing games on his PC, watching anime, cooking, and petting his dogs.

2 Responses

  1. Avatar for EJ EJ says:

    Hi! You might have missed these parts:

    In the hands, the Mate 10 ***Pro*** is very comfortable to hold despite its large display and is actually quite light. Considering the internals and cameras it packs, it really feels like you’re holding a powerhouse.

    That wraps up our first impressions for the Huawei Mate 10 ***Pro***. To learn about its performance, camera quality, battery life, and more, stay tuned for our full review.

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