Huawei Honor Pad 2 vs Xiaomi Mi Pad 3: review and comparison of tablets

Huawei Honor Pad 2 and Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 are two new tablets with almost the same price. But which one is better? We will review the Huawei Honor Pad 2, as well as a quick comparison of this tablet with the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3.

Let's start with the main thing, namely Huawei Honor Pad 2 specifications.

We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the table below, which presents the main differences between the tablets.

As you can see from the table above, there really is a big difference between the Huawei Honor 2 tablet and the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3. So let's look at each category individually.

Snapdragon 616 (Adreno 405) vs Mediatek 8176 (PowerVR)

In terms of performance, both the processors used in the Huawei Honor Pad 2 and Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 belong to the mid-range.

When it comes to gaming, I would prefer the Adreno 405 GPU because it is more optimized for graphics tasks. However, it still does not provide the smoothest gaming performance as we would like.

Software part

The HONOR 30i smartphone is equipped with the Android 10 operating system with the proprietary MagicUI 3.1 shell, which implements various useful features that are not found in standard Android, for example: design, themes, Huawei Mobile Services, energy saving modes, collection of user actions, etc.

The shell is very nice, beautiful, works quickly and smoothly. Many built-in applications and services require you to sign in to your Huawei account. When turned on, the smartphone requires you to log in to your Huawei account, but there is a little secret: if you skip connecting to Wi-Fi, you can skip the Huawei authorization window.

Top navigation bar, customizable with quick access to various settings. When you hold the icon, you go to the main section of the required settings.

The HONOR 30i smartphone does not have Google services; they were replaced by Huawei Mobile Services. This platform from Huawei creates an ecosystem of various services: store, mail, calendar, themes, cloud, phone search, statistics collection, support and providing tools for third-party developers to create their own applications.

The AppGallery application store contains everything most users need: social networks, browsers, banks, stores, training, games, etc. Huawei also said that it does not strive for primacy in the number of applications, but focuses on the security and reliability of applications.

Applications that are not in the AppGallery can be easily installed on a smartphone via *apk files. Fortunately, your smartphone has several applications that search for *apk files on the Internet independently, for example, Petal Search and AppGo. There is no need to search for and download them from unverified sites, this is very good.

Displaying applications on the home screen can be achieved using two presets: all applications on the home screen or applications in the application menu. You can also enable and customize the quick launch panel, which can be pulled out by swiping on the right. It implements the function of launching applications in multiple windows.

Each application, even some system ones, can be restricted from accessing the Internet and prohibited from auto-starting when the smartphone is turned on. I think advanced users will really appreciate this functionality. Also included as standard is “Phone Manager” with a built-in firewall, Avast antivirus, garbage cleaning, blacklist, etc.

In themes, you can download and change any theme, wallpaper or icons. By the way, in the smartphone settings there is a switch to a dark interface design mode.

The standard comes with two pre-installed keyboards to choose from: Kika Keyboard (left) and Microsoft SwiftKey (right). Both support T9, training, voice input, spell checking and more.

The HONOR 30i smartphone has a built-in function for exchanging files with a computer via a local network via Wi-Fi, which is very useful when printing or transferring files. There is also a built-in smartphone search function. It works through your Huawei account and allows you to detect or block a lost smartphone, which is tightly linked to your account via a serial number.

5 GB cloud storage is also available, where archived copies of contacts, messages, calendar, photos, etc. are saved. In general, the MagicUI 3.1 firmware is very modern, stable, has excellent functionality, and protects the user from data loss or loss of the smartphone itself.

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When you connect your HONOR 30i smartphone to your computer, a disk with the distribution kit of the HUAWEI HiSuite program appears in the system. Using it, you can copy data, create backups, delete applications, update firmware, etc.

Retina vs 1080p

In terms of screen, Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 comes with one of the best screens in the tablet market. On the other hand, the display of Huawei Honor Pad 2 has a Full HD resolution, so it is unlikely to disappoint anyone. In addition, it should consume less battery power, which has a good effect on battery life.

Huawei introduced two Honor Play Tab 2 tablets with Android Nougat

Two years later, the updated Honor Play Pad 2 tablet was released, which is also available in two versions: one with a 9.6-inch screen, and the second with an 8-inch display.

Honor Play Tab 2 design

Honor Play Tab 2 has a completely new new design. Despite the fact that the device is still a budget device, it has lost its plastic casing. The tablet now has an aluminum body with rounded corners. It's not the thinnest on the market, but Huawei is proud of its thickness at 7.95mm.

The larger variant has its ports (audio and charging port), which are located on the left if you hold it in landscape mode, and the speaker grille at the bottom. For the 8-inch version, the charging port is at the bottom when in portrait mode, and the audio jack is at the top.

The tablet comes in two versions: with Wi-Fi and 4G LTE. The 4G version has a hybrid slot (nano + nano/microSD).

Characteristics of Honor Play Tab 2

The 8-inch version received an HD IPS display (1280 x 800) with 58% NTSC color gamut, a quad-core Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 graphics, 2 GB of RAM with 16 GB of internal memory or 3 GB + 32 GB. The permanent memory can be expanded up to 128 GB using microSD cards.

The smaller Honor Play 2 is a budget tablet, so don't expect flagship photos from its 5MP autofocus rear camera and 2MP front camera. It runs EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat and weighs 350 grams. The dimensions of the device are 211.07 x 124.65 x 7.95 mm.

The 9.6-inch variant has the same specifications as the 8-inch version, right down to the 4,800mAh battery capacity. So unless you need a larger screen (size: 229.8 x 159.8 x 7.95 mm; weight: 460 grams), you're better off going with the 8-inch version.

Both tablets also have a dedicated kids mode with its own app store and parental controls.

Honor Play Pad 2 price

Both versions of Honor Play Pad 2 are available in Wi-Fi or LTE variants. The 8-inch WiFi-only version with 2GB of RAM costs $116, the LTE version with 2GB of RAM sells for $145, and the LTE version with 3GB of RAM costs $189.

The 9.6-inch WiFi-only tablet with 2GB of RAM costs $145. The LTE variant with 2GB RAM costs $189, while the LTE model with 3GB RAM costs $218.

Honor Play 2 tablets will go on sale in China from June 1 on Vmall, Jingdong and Lynx.

Source: Gizmochina

Interfaces and network

There is no slot for a SIM card in the Honor Pad V6, and therefore, taking the tablet with you where there is no access to the Internet will be problematic. There is a slot for a MicroSD memory card up to 512 GB - no proprietary NanoSD storage, for which you need to purchase a separate drive.

Wi-Fi supported: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (Wi-Fi 6 standard), 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1 (compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 and 2.1+EDR), GPS, GLONASS , BeiDou, Galileo. Finding a location takes less than three seconds.

There is no fingerprint scanner, but face unlock is available. At night, the tablet turns on the screen backlight for this purpose. There is no NFC module, payment via Huawei Pay is not available. An LED indicator is available for event notification.

Photography

The HONOR 30i smartphone has four cameras: a 48 MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture, an 8 MP wide-angle camera with f/2.4 aperture, a 2 MP secondary camera with f/2.4 aperture and a 16 MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture. The main camera takes pictures at a resolution of 12 megapixels by default, but if desired, you can activate the photo mode at a resolution of 48 megapixels.

There are many color filters, artificial intelligence for automatic scene detection (greenery, sunset, night, portrait, etc.) and a manual mode with the ability to manually control the shutter speed from 30 s. up to 1/4000, ISO, white balance and more. Unfortunately, shooting in RAW is not supported.

• Aperture – adjustable background blur. The photo will be saved in 8 megapixel resolution.
• Night – mode for shooting at night. To take a high-quality photo at ISO 100, you will need a tripod. There is a choice of shutter speed and ISO.
• Portrait – a mode that blurs the background behind the subject. The appearance of bokeh can be adjusted using presets. The degree of skin smoothing is adjustable.
• Photo – automatic mode with AI. HDR cannot be turned off and is activated independently depending on the light level.
• Video – video recording mode. There is a skin smoothing control.
• Also, the menu contains specific modes: manual, HDR, shooting in 48 MP resolution, panorama, shutter speed modes, watermark and live photo.

There are few camera settings; what is missing is turning on/off the stabilizer, its settings and choosing the resolution and quality of photo compression.

An example of a photo taken with the main camera in “photo” mode and 12 megapixel resolution. The viewing angle is 77.3°, which is approximately the same as a 27mm lens on a full-frame camera. The detail in the center of the frame is acceptable, the contrast is good, the sharpness drops as expected at the edges of the image, but overall it is not critical. The camera automatically enabled HDR and cannot be disabled. Shot parameters: 1/33, f/1.8, ISO 80.

An example of a shot in night mode. In this mode, you need to hold the camera motionless for 2-3 seconds. The camera takes several pictures and stitches them into one. Image resolution is 8 megapixels. Parameters: f/1.8, ISO 100. In “Night” mode, you can take spectacular photos in the dark with low noise levels. A tripod will be very useful when using it.

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An example of a photograph in “portrait” mode with activated bokeh in the form of a spiral, like the Soviet Helios-44 lenses, looks very interesting. The detail of the object is excellent, the background is blurred very well. Image resolution is 8 megapixels. Photo parameters: 1/121, f/1.8, ISO 50.

An example of a photo in photo mode. Here, the camera automatically activated the HDR mode and the images appear to be oversharpened. Resolution 12 MP. Shot parameters 1/896, f/1.8, ISO 50.

The 8MP wide-angle camera allows you to photograph landscapes with a wider coverage. The angle corresponds to 17 mm. lens on a full frame camera. Detailing is expectedly inferior to the main camera, but overall it’s not bad – it may come in handy in some cases. Shot parameters: 1/33, f/1.8, ISO 80.

An example of a photo in 48 megapixel resolution. In this mode, the image is interpolated from 12 megapixels to 48 megapixels, so you can’t expect any increase in detail - its level is fully consistent with a 12 megapixel image, just slightly stretched.

An example of a photo in Panorama mode. A very interesting feature that allows you to take really wide-angle shots.

An example of a shot in “Water” mode. This mode uses very long shutter speeds and allows you to blur fast-moving objects, for example, water, fire, lantern light, car headlights, etc. To use it, you will need a tripod.

The front camera with a resolution of 16 megapixels allows you to take selfies by adjusting skin smoothing and background blur. For example, the minimum and maximum levels: