Huawei MediaPad M6 10.8 review: is it really a competitor to the budget iPad?

Specifications Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 10.1 (model BAH2-L09)

Huawei MatePad Pro review: sound

The manufacturer notes that five microphones on the tablet body guarantee effective noise reduction at 360 degrees. You can use this option in models without an LTE modem (MRX-W09), for example, when recording video.

The MatePad Pro's advanced acoustic capabilities are powered by four speakers tuned and certified by Harman/Kardon. But the new tablet does not have a 3.5 mm audio connector, so to connect regular wired headphones you will need a mini-jack to USB Type-C adapter, which is included in the kit. After all, only after connecting to a wired headset does Huawei Histen 6.0 technology come into play.

Its proprietary algorithms recommend automatic adjustment of sound effects based on the content used. So, along with simulating deep 3D surround sound (“close”, “front”, “surround”, “maximum”), they also offer natural and normal modes. In the latter case, you not only have access to a 10-band equalizer with bass boost, five presets and individual settings, but also the ability to select the type of audio accessory being connected.

The proprietary Music application can play high-quality tracks from FLAC files. The Voice Recorder program saves recordings, which can be tagged along the way, in M4A (AAC LC) format files. For Bluetooth headphones, SBC, AAC, LDAC and HWA (LHDC) codecs are available.

Delivery package and first impressions

The tablet comes in a white thick cardboard box. At the top there is an inscription with the name of the model. It is worth noting that on sale you can find two delivery options for the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 10 tablet. The first of them does not support mobile networks. The second one supports mobile networks. So in the first case, in addition to the device itself, the box contains a USB Type C cable for synchronization and charging, an adapter for the mains, a master key for the SIM card tray, instructions and a warranty card. The second delivery option is complemented by the Huawei M Pen lite stylus for drawing. According to the manufacturer, the stylus distinguishes 2048 degrees of pressure.

As for the tablet itself, its dimensions are typical for 10-inch models: 243.4 x 162.2 x 7.7. At the same time, the device is very thin. The weight of the device is 475 grams.

The tablet can be held with one hand. True, after a couple of minutes the hand gets tired. For this reason, it is better to operate the device with both hands. In general, no fundamental shortcomings in terms of comfort were noticed. You can choose a case to protect your tablet. The choice here is more than large. Accessories can be purchased in both Russian and Chinese online stores and online platforms such as Aliexpress. When you purchase a tablet with LTE on the Huawei website, you will automatically be given a gift case and Huawei CM-Q3 headphones.

Design and appearance

The appearance of the new Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite coincides with other tablets in this series. The back cover is made of smooth aluminum, it is very pleasant to the touch, while being resistant to fingerprints and scratches. There is a plastic insert at the top - here are the radio modules for Wi-FI, Bluetooth, navigation and mobile communications (for the option where there is support).

As we noted earlier, the tablet is quite thin. The body shape is rectangular, aspect ratio is 16:10, the corners are sloping, the edges taper on the sides. The front side is protected by 2.5D tempered glass. There is an oleophobic coating, it is quite effective. The finger glides across the display easily, and any fingerprints that appear are erased quickly.

The 10-inch MediaPad M5 Lite tablet can only be purchased in a silver color option. The front side is black.

Tablet cameras

The MediaPad M5 10.8 has an 8 MP front camera and a 13 MP main camera. Aperture in both cases is f/2.2. As for a tablet, the photos come out very good, but even from the characteristics it becomes clear that their quality suffers greatly with the onset of dusk. You can evaluate the quality of the photo below.

Conclusion

Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8 is a tablet with high build quality and nice body materials, which is better to buy directly from China, since it will be unreasonably expensive here. It is more suitable for work than for games, because the Kirin 960 processor has weak gaming performance. But otherwise it has no serious shortcomings; the tablet was equipped with good cameras, a good high-resolution screen and an unusual aspect ratio. If you connect a keyboard to it, it will be convenient to type large amounts of text, which can be done while listening to music. It sounds great here, thanks to the 4 speakers evenly distributed throughout the body. The only let down is its autonomy; with active use and especially games, it will have to be charged once every 1-1.5 days.

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Huawei MediaPad M1 8.0 - a stylish and inexpensive tablet with LTE support

Screen, graphics capabilities

MediaPad M5 Lite is equipped with a 10.1-inch screen made using IPS technology without an air gap. Frames – 15 mm on all sides. The capacitive sensor supports up to 10 simultaneous touches. Resolution - 1920x1200 (224 ppi). Thanks to the aspect ratio, the display is great for watching movies, TV series and other videos.

The screen is bright, with true colors. Viewing angles are maximum without purple and yellow tints. The automatic brightness control system, which can also be enabled in the options, works reliably. But manual control is not the best in practice - the brightness levels are too large.

The tablet has a ClariVu chip, which is responsible for image transmission. There is also “Eye care mode” technology, when the screen turns into warm colors to reduce eye strain.

The picture on the display looks realistic, with high contrast. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. The mode with automatic brightness adjustment in the dark works adequately. There are no questions here. But in the sun, the information on the screen is not readable as well as we would like. Even maximum brightness doesn't help much. If you do not have the best eyesight, you will have to peer closely, which is not very convenient.

If we talk about the sensitivity of the screen, it responds quickly to touches and recognizes gestures without problems. The display supports work with the Huawei M Pen lite stylus, which is included only with the LTE version of the tablet.

As a result, the display of the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite is high-quality and bright, but in the sun it does not behave one hundred percent out of a hundred.

Stylus

What about the stylus? It is he who should force the buyer to fork out for the more expensive Pro model. The stylus didn't really impress me in my short time with it, unlike the stylus on the Galaxy Tab S3 or Apple Pencil. It's quite thick, and the shortcut buttons are located near the tip, making them easy to press when holding the stylus as usual.

Outside of Huawei's own notes app, the stylus doesn't work particularly well and needs software optimizations. We need more time to give it a definitive assessment, but at the moment it doesn't feel like it's worth buying the Pro version for.

Hardware platform: processor, memory, performance

MediaPad M5 Lite is equipped with a 64-bit HiSilicon Kirin 659 chip with an 8-core processor: 4 Cortex A53 cores at 2.36 GHz and 4 Cortex-A53 cores at 1.7 GHz. The processor is manufactured using a 16 nm process technology. Graphics coprocessor Mali-T830 MP2. RAM 3 GB, built-in flash memory for data storage – 32 GB. You can expand the built-in memory using microSD cards. The device has a corresponding slot for this.

If we talk about the operation of the interface, then in most work scenarios we did not notice any glitches or slowdowns. The picture and transitions are smooth, launching applications is fast. Browser, video - here sometimes there are slowdowns and slowness. All this is related to the speed of the hardware used. In Antutu tests, the tablet scored about 87,610 points. This suggests that we have a fairly simple model.

Specifications

Communication capabilities

On sale you can find a Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite tablet without support for mobile networks, where there is only Wi-Fi and with support for mobile networks. It is worth noting that the Wi-Fi here is dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n, which operates in the 2.5 and 5 GHz range. There is also Wi-Fi Direct, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. All modules work quickly and without failures.

The version with support for mobile networks works with SIM cards of all Russian operators in 2G, 3G and 4G standards on Russian frequencies. The quality of signal reception is not satisfactory; the tablet confidently maintains communication indoors and does not lose the signal in areas of poor reception.

Among the additional communication tools, it is worth noting GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou (standard Google Maps cartography is built into the smartphone). The navigation error radius during testing was about 5-10 meters, which is not always convenient for the city.

Duration of work

The tablet has a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 7500 mAh. The battery life is sufficient to work under an average load for 2-3 days. Operating time in FullHD video viewing mode at 50% display brightness is about 10.5 hours. These indicators are typical for many devices of this level.

It is also worth noting that the tablet supports fast charging. You can fully charge it in a couple of hours; a corresponding charger is included.

User Interface and Operating System

The 10-inch MediaPad M5 Lite runs the original Android 8.0 operating system with Huawei's proprietary shell installed - EMUI 8.0.

All programs are displayed in one list on the main and adjacent screens.

In the settings of the MediaPad M5 Lite there is an option for eye protection (it is turned on only during reading - the amount of blue color decreases, that is, the picture becomes warmer).

Among the pre-installed programs, it is worth noting office applications from Microsoft, social network clients, a file manager, a selection of mobile games, Facebook, Netflix, an application for children, etc.

In the “Tools” folder you can find a dozen service applications: weather, calculator, voice recorder, clock, phone and contacts, messages, music, video, HI Care, compass, backup, Phone Clone and Quik.

Any other programs on the tablet can be installed from the Google Play store.

Huawei MatePad Pro review: software features

The MatePad Pro tablet runs on the Android 10 operating system, the interface of which is hidden behind the proprietary EMUI 10.1 shell. Let us remind you that here GMS is replaced by HMS services.

The tablet settings sections appear on the left side of the screen, while the options and tabs included in them are available at this time on the right side. For control, you can use a virtual panel or gestures, supplementing them with a navigation button. The virtual panel includes four icon combinations: Back, Home, Recent Apps, and Notifications and Quick Settings panel. Options are provided to hide the navigation icons, as well as move these buttons left, right or center.

The Shortcuts and Gestures tab in Accessibility offers options to activate the screen and take a screenshot. In the same section, the multi-window panel is activated.

Programs on the big screen not only share it among themselves, but also run in floating window mode.

The already mentioned App Multiplier is an analogue of multi-window mode for one application. In particular, it is proposed to activate this mode for “Yandex Zen”, when the feed is on the left, and the content of the selected entry is on the right (similar to the “Settings” program).

Since the tablet does not have a fingerprint scanner, all biometric protection functions are tied to facial recognition by the front camera. Interestingly, you can register up to five “prints” of faces. For convenience, when unlocking, you should refrain from swiping across the screen with your finger. In addition to unlocking the screen, it is proposed to protect access to applications in the same way.

The capabilities of the M-Pencil stylus are revealed already in the proprietary Notes application with a set of brushes and a varied color palette.

The electronic pen is supported by two more pre-installed programs, but from the MyScript company – Nebo for Huawei and Calculator 2. The first of them is positioned as “the best way to take notes,” when, for example, gestures are used to quickly edit content and change styles.

So, one of the “tricks” of Nebo is the creation of interactive diagrams.

In turn, the unusual calculator from MyScript offers to write calculations in a natural form, do simple editing, solve equations with one variable, etc.

Desktop mode, which allows you to perform multiple tasks in different windows, is launched from the Quick Switches panel. In addition to the keyboard, it is recommended to connect a mouse to the tablet. After all, the interface in this case fully meets the definition “a la Windows”.

Huawei Share technology, which includes support for “multi-screen”, is already known from the company’s laptops, when, after connecting, the content of the smartphone display is automatically displayed on the large screen of the laptop computer. To initialize the process, touch the smartphone with the EMUI 10 or Magic UI 3.0 launcher to the special NFC tag. In this case, this label is built into the right Shift key on the Smart Magnetic Keyboard.

After pairing, you can control your smartphone directly from the tablet screen, copying, for example, images or text.

A tablet with a stylus for every occasion

Hello, dear readers!

I had an e-reader similar to a tablet + color screen, reading books in different formats. It was convenient to use it until it broke and stopped charging again. I was thinking about buying a new e-book, but most of the books I need are in PDF format and in color, while regular e-readers are black and white. And in the end I switched my attention to tablets.

I had never wanted a tablet before and didn’t really understand why it was needed at all. I saw an advertisement for the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro tablet, which also has a stylus for drawing. I’m just learning to draw and have long wanted a graphics tablet with a screen, but they only work with a laptop or PC and are not mobile at all.

Price and place of purchase

I bought Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro tablet with a stylus from the official Huawei online store for RUB 36,990. with discount. Without a discount, it costs 42,990 rubles. and are given a choice of several gifts. My option is without gifts, and I don’t need them. The online store often runs promotions ahead of the holidays.

Characteristics

I will not describe all the characteristics of the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro ; they can be viewed on any website where it is sold. I will write only those that were important to me when choosing in the first place.

Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro tablet:

1. Metal body - I don’t like plastic, and metal is much nicer to the touch
2. IPS screen type - since I’m going to draw on it, I want to see a high-quality picture in the end
3. Diagonal 10.8
4. The main camera is 13 MP, the front camera is 8 MP - not particularly good quality, but this is a tablet, not a camera.
5. Built-in memory 64 GB - there is never too much memory.
6. Operating system Android 8.0 (Oreo) - synchronizes perfectly with the smartphone.
7. Support SIM card and memory card up to 256 GB
8. Awesome speaker sound
9. Screen resolution 2560×1600
10. Eye protection mode
11. Fingerprint recognition
12. It holds a full charge for 2 days if you use it constantly and play games periodically.

HUAWEI M-Pen stylus

1. 4096 degrees of pressure
2. Tilt and shade functions depending on the application used
3. Multifunctional buttons on the stylus body (with their help you can take screenshots, delete images, launch applications; in some applications, when the button is pressed, the stylus starts erasing rather than drawing)
4. Charges via USB cable. The charge lasts for a very long time (I have only charged it once for the first time so far).

Additional features

The tablet can be used in two modes: standard multi-screen mode and PC mode. This is a mode in which the Desktop appears like on a PC, the Start menu appears with a list of installed applications, and applications open in separate windows, like on a PC. They can be dragged and collapsed.

If you also connect a keyboard (purchased separately as an additional accessory), then the tablet can partially replace a laptop. At least typing text and using tables becomes much more convenient.

Drawing with a stylus

I was very pleased with the stylus. It really responds to pressure, making the line thicker/thinner/transparent/not transparent. I installed several drawing applications (they are publicly available on the Play Store), and the stylus works equally well in all of them. When drawing with a stylus, you can hold your hand on the screen, the sensor stops responding to it. The stylus does not scratch the screen, leaves no marks, and the movements are smooth.

Equipment:

• Tablet
• Charger
• USB cable
• USB-C adapter - 3.5 mm headphone jack (regular headphones cannot be connected without this adapter)
• Huawei M-Pen stylus
• User guide
• SIM Card Removal Tool
• Warranty card

Games and movies

I don’t really play games, but I installed two HomeScapes and Gardenscapes on my tablet. Nothing slows down, games launch quickly, pictures are clear, colors are bright.

When purchasing a tablet, you received a promotional code for three months of free use of the Ivi application with movies and TV series online. Movies on the tablet do not slow down, load quickly, the sound is excellent, the picture and viewing angles are pleasing to the eyes.

Bottom line

I definitely recommend Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro tablet Read, watch movies, surf social media. networks and much more - it’s a pleasure. I have never regretted the purchase, even though the price is not small. Additionally, I bought a stand case with a protective film. If you have any doubts, take it, you won’t regret it if you have similar preferences for the tablet as I do.

Screen

The screen diagonal is suitable for movies, games, and reading. Photo: themoderncreatures.com

10.4 inches is a very convenient display format. It's slightly smaller than the acclaimed iPad Pro 11, so the tablet itself is more portable.

The resolution, however, like the MatePad itself, is of the middle class - 2000 x 1200 pixels. But the picture is still clear and rich.

Screen brightness averages 472 nits, with a maximum of 511 nits. This is quite a lot, so the tablet is quite convenient to use outdoors on a sunny day. This is not to say that the gadget reacts to light in the same way as the most modern premium smartphones, but there is nothing to complain about: you can read text on the street with the MatePad. Huawei's viewing angle is also good: the IPS panel begins to darken the tones only when viewed from sharp angles.

The Huawei tablet does not have any special features like an increased screen refresh rate.