Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Huawei has aggressively still been launching great products, and most recently launched the Huawei Matepad T10 series in the market this September 2020. Huawei Philippines gave us the opportunity to test out their newest budget 10-inch tablet.
Matepad T10: Huawei’s entry into the budget segment
Previously this year, Huawei launched the higher-end versions of its tablet lineup, such as the Matepad Pro and Matepad. They also launched some smaller 8-inch tablets such as the Matepad T8 and the Matepad T, both of which are a bit awkward due to the in-between sizing of the screen. 6-inch mobile phones are normal now, even in the budget segment, so why waste your money on tablets that are only slightly bigger, right?
Enter the Matepad T10, a Php6,990 (USD144) budget tablet with specs that can rival a midrange tablet. Normally, budget 10-inch tablets frustrate us due to the underpowered CPU and RAM that usually accompanies it. This usually results in an overall sluggish or frustrating experience, especially after multiple applications have been installed.
The Matepad T10, however, has proven so far to be a worthy tablet and definitely something we can personally recommend. For this review, I also got the opinion of someone who probably would use this tablet more often than me – my 5-year old son.
INSIDE THE PACKAGING
We’ve done a pretty comprehensive unboxing here, check it out!
The Huawei Matepad T10 comes with the main tablet, an ejector tool, charging cable, and the charger.
BUILD QUALITY
Right out of the box, the Huawei Matepad T10 has a very different feel compared to other 10-inch tablets in its price range. It weighs just 450grams which is neither too light nor too heavy. My 5-year old commented it was just right, and much lighter than my 9.7-inch iPad Air.
The Huawei Matepad T10 has a very sturdy metal and solid back, compared to other plasticky tablets. I tried to bend it slightly (which is important, considering that kids might likely use this more often), and it didn’t even bend a little with moderate force. Definitely a plus for me. The edges curve a little bit and the thinness is just right for holding properly even for tiny hands, without any screen covers or protectors.
DISPLAY
The 9.7-inch IPS screen of the Huawei Matepad T10 can produce up to 16.7 million colors, with a WXGA resolution of 1280×800 with 156ppi. Overall, it’s a great looking screen that can reproduce some pretty sharp details for basic tasks. Most people would not notice any screen tearing or resolution issues. My 5-year old barely noticed the difference when watching Netflix or Youtube. It is a fantastic display for its price.
However, one thing that was very noticeable about the Huawei Matepad T10 was the performance of the screen under sunlight. Even under minimal sunlight, and brightness turned up to max, the screen was barely readable.
Perfect for the pandemic situation, this is definitely just an stay-at-home tablet, and not a bring-anywhere, do-it-all tablet.
OS AND APP PERFORMANCE
The Huawei Matepad T10 runs on EMUI 10.1, which is based on Android 10. I’ve been reviewing Huawei devices for some time now and definitely this is the most polished version of EMUI to date. Gone are minor irritations such as sluggishness and weird menu options from previous iterations.
Powering the Huawei Matepad T10 is a Kirin 710A SoC (System on Chip) which includes a Quad-Core Cortex A73 2.0Ghz CPU + Quad-Core Cortex A53 1.7Ghz CPU, plus a Mali G51 GPU. Last 2019, its older brother the Kirin 710 (powering the Huawei P30 lite, Huawei Nova 3i, Honor 8x, Honor 10 lite) was a mid-range chip, but now the refreshed and updated 710A has become a powerful entry-level SoC. Don’t expect too much gaming power or heavy tasks that can be done. The Huawei Matepad T10 is good for every day use such as watching videos or reading ebooks, even for handling basic productivity tasks.
One great thing about the Matepad T10 is that they also included Kid’s Corner out of the box. This is a really intuitive way for Kids to use relevant content for learning. In addition, it also blocks kids from being able to access the other content in the tablet.
Huawei Appgallery vs Google Play Store
Most users, however, will still be trying to find Google Play Services or Google Play store on the Huawei Matepad T10 – unfortunately it still isn’t the Matepad T10, as with most Huawei devices now. I’ve also tried using the latest method (Sept 2020) to install Google Play but was unsuccessful in installing it, probably because there is no current backup that can be compatible with it (Or I did something wrong, LOL). This means that a lot of Google-connected apps will not work on it. However, for those not too familiar with doing this, via other methods, there is still a way to make Youtube or Netflix run on it.
Don’t worry though – Huawei App Gallery is still growing, and adding more and more apps in its portfolio. We will add another article on this in the future.
AUDIO PERFORMANCE
There’s really not a lot of things to say about the audio performance of the Matepad T10. Unlike it’s older brother, the Matepad T10s, it doesn’t have Harman Kardon speakers. That’s fine, considering that most users of this tablet probably won’t mind if the speakers don’t fire out the most intense bass or clearest mids. Watching Cocomelon, Tulfo, or TWICE videos was still an enjoyable experience (hey, again, it’s for everyone). If you really care about audio performance, then plug in bluetooth headphones or wired headphones, since the Matepad T10 still does come with a 3.5mm jack.
The placement of the speakers is not too ideal. Normally, user will hold tablets this size on its side when used horizontally. However, my 5-year old’s hands kept on blocking the speakers during use. In my opinion, back-firing or front-firing speakers should have been used for this tablet.
CAMERA
This Huawei Matepad T10 produced photos that had a very basic quality to them, but still passable for daily use such as video calls. Strangely enough, the front camera (2MP f/2.4 aperture Fixed Focal) produced better quality at times compared to its rear camera (5MP f/2.2 Phase Focus) after multiple tests, with indoor lighting only.
SAMPLE PHOTOS AND VIDEO
The cameras on the Huawei Matepad T10 are definitely not its strength. Photos produced lacked color and there was a lot of over-smoothing done especially for the front camera.
CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity options are plentiful on the Huawei Matepad T10, although they don’t have the latest technology. For Wi-fi, it can connect up to WI-FI 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, and can utilize both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bandwidths. The Matepad T10 supports Bluetooth version is 5.0, and bluetooth low energy (BLE) (meaning “passive” devices such as smartwatches, weighing scales and such will not consume too much power from the device. It also supports USB OTG (On-the-go) as well as USB 2.0. The tablet also uses USB Type-C for charging, which is a breath of fresh air for these kinds of devices. However, don’t expect any fast charging since it still relies on just 5V/1A tech.
GAMING PERFORMANCE
The Huawei Matepad T10 is not a gaming device, so don’t expect very high-end games such as Genshin Impact to be able to run it.
However, when we tried the available games from the Huawei Appgallery, performance was pretty good. It wasn’t really groundbreaking, but still pretty acceptable. We tried installing Mobile Legends, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Zombie Frontier.
For Mobile Legends, the game ran at medium settings with HDR and HFR mode on. I tried cranking it up to high settings but the device mentioned that it had low frame rates during clashes so I set it back to medium. Overall, it was still definitely playable, considering that the Kirin 710A was trying to power a 10-inch screen.
COD:Mobile was a bit of a challenge. I had to adjust the Matepad T10 to the lowest possible settings to get smoother play. Not really a fun experience for this game overall.
BATTERY LIFE
A 5100mAh non-removable battery powers the Huawei Matepad T10. This was enough for a little less than a day’s use. This was for moderate usage – occassional youtube videos, using Kid’s corner, and some light gaming for around 2-3 hours, watching netflix for 3-4 hours, and standby mode for the rest. Unsurprisingly, the tablet lasted less than a full day – but that’s the downside of having such a big display. Increased brightness would make this drop down even further.
Charging the Huawei Matepad T10 took around 3-4 hours, since it doesn’t have any fast charging technology.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When I asked other people to try the the Huawei Matepad T10 and guess how much the price was, no one believed me that it cost only Php6,990 (USD144). The closest guess was Php12,000. Definitely, with its performance and features, the Huawei Matepad T10 give much more value, even compared to cheaper options.
If you’re aiming to buy a big tablet that the entire family can use, and budget is an issue, don’t opt for those plasticky tablets that can be found all over the marketplaces which will probably last for a weeks or months. For just Php6,990, The Huawei Matepad T10 is the best value 10-inch tablet that your money can buy right now.
Huawei Matepad T10 Specs Philippines
| Specification | Details |
| SIZE | Width: 240.2 mm Height: 159 mm Depth: 7.85 mm Weight: Approx. 450g (including battery) |
| COLOUR | Deepsea Blue (Philippines) |
| DISPLAY | Size: 9.7 inches Colour: 16.7 million colours Type: IPS Touchscreen Resolution: 1280 x 800, 156 PPI |
| PROCESSOR | Huawei Kirin 710A CPU: 4 x Cortex A73 2.0 Ghz x 4 x Cortex A53 1.7 GHz GPU: MalI G51 |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | EMUI 10.1 (Based on Android 10) |
| MEMORY | RAM*: 2GB ROM*: 16/32 GB Extended Storage: microSD Memory Card**, support 512 GB maximum |
| CAMERA | Rear camera: 5MP f/2.2 aperture AutoFocus (Phase Focus) Image resolution: Up to 2560 x 1920 pixels* Video Resolution: Up to 1920 x 1080 pixels** Front camera: 2MP f/2.4 aperture Fixed Focal Image resolution: Up to 1600 x 1200 pixels* Video resolution: Up to 1280 x 720 pixels** Shooting Features: Supports professional mode, panorama, HDR, beauty; Support timing photography and other functional settings. |
| BATTERY | 5100 MAh (typ.) |
| CHARGING | 5V/1A charger |
| NETWORK | AGR-L09: FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28 TD-LTE: B38/B40/B41 WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B6/B8/B19 GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8 |
| CONNECTIVITY | WLAN: supported, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Low Energy is supported Bluetooth file transfer: supported OTG: supported (maximum output current 5V/1A during reverse power supply) USB: USB Type-C, USB 2.0 |
| LOCATION | GPS, AGPS (not supported by AGR-W09), GLONASS, BeiDou |
| SENSORS | Gravity Sensor |
| MICROPHONES | Single microphone for calls, video recording, and audio recording |
| SPEAKERS | 2-speaker, 2-channel output |
| AUDIO | Huawei Histen 6.1 Sound Effect Audio File Format: *.MP3, *.MP4,*.3gp.*.OGG.,*.AAC,*.FLAC,*.MIDI |
| VIDEO | Video File Format: *,mp4, *.3gp |
| IN THE BOX | Tablet (built-in battery) Charger Type-C Cable Eject Pin Quick Start Guide Warranty Card |