Huawei MatePad Review - Android

A few years ago, the tablet is one of the most popular devices in the market. That market is shrinking though, as more users...

The post Huawei MatePad Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews.

A few years ago, the tablet is one of the most popular devices in the market. That market is shrinking though, as more users opt for a smartphone instead. But there are brands out there that continue to offer it and one of them is Huawei. And one of the products they have for this year is the MatePad — a mid-range tablet with a 10.4-inch screen and pen support. What is this device good for? Let’s find out.

Design and Construction

The unit we got comes in Midnight Grey color with an aluminum body. The front houses the 10.4-inch screen with thicker bezel compared to the MatePad Pro. It also has a smaller screen-to-body ratio of 81% compared to the Pro’s 86.5%.

In landscape mode, we can find the 8MP front camera and LED notification at the top bezel. In this orientation, we have the volume button up top as well as the quad-microphones so it can easily pick up audio when you’re in a video call or recording audio.

On the left, we have the power/lock button and two loudspeakers.

On the right are two more loudspeakers and USB-C port. There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack, but there’s a USB-C to 3.5mm audio adapter included in the package.

At the bottom is the card tray for the nano-SIM and microSD card.

Flip it on its back, and you will see the Huawei branding, and the protruding camera module for the 8MP shooter, LED flash, and microphone. It is a bit chunky at 7.35mm and has a decent heft at 450g, but the rounded frame blends almost seamlessly with the back panel, making it comfortable to hold. The small size also makes it easy to carry around even when it is placed in the folio.

The MatePad also supports the Huawei M Pencil, however, the pen we received is for the MatePad Pro, so it has a different way of pairing. Instead of magnetically attaching it to the top of the tablet, we have to attach it to magnetic cable then plug the cable to the USB-C port of the MatePad.

Display and Multimedia

The MatePad’s 10.4-inch IPS screen has a decent 2000 x 1200 resolution or 224ppi. It, especially if you’re more accustomed to displays with higher resolution, but you’ll find it good enough for watching videos, browsing the web, and social media. And if you like reading e-books or comics at night, there’s an e-book mode that filters blue light to reduce eye strain.

Speaking of watching videos, we like doing so with the MatePad thanks to the quad-speaker and quad-channel sound system powered by the Huawei Histen 6.0 3D stereo and Harman Kardon. It’s loud and clear. There’s not a lot of bass to go around but the audio is noticeably rich and fuller compared to smartphones.

Camera

Taking photos using tablets is usually frowned upon by many as these devices are not primarily built for photography, which is given considering that the MatePad only has an 8MP rear shooter.

Quality is not bad though, but not great either. It has decent sharpness but colors are not that punchy. As expected, low-light performance is not good as images come out noisy with smudgy details. The same can be said with the 8MP selfie shooter, but it’s good enough for Zoom calls. It also comes with a Beauty mode, in case you really want to take selfies for social media upload. As for the video, you’re limited to 1080p at 30 fps.