Almost Ulti(mate) Form

In hand, much like its predecessors, the Huawei Mate 10 is a behemoth with its 5.9-inch display – something that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. We do like that Huawei has upped the ante with the design of the device; it feels luxurious and sturdy. That said, calling the Mate 10 the “Perfect 10” smartphone in 2017 would be inaccurate. We’d rather reserve that title for its more souped up sibling: the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. However, if you’re in the market for a device that is below the RM2,700 mark, this ever-so-slightly less powerful variant of the two will still do right by you.

AI See What You Did There

Huawei has really come a long way when it comes to its Mate series. While we loved the Mate 8 – the Mate 9 was just okay for us – the brand has really taken it a step further with its latest rendition of the series. It is touted as the world’s first AI processor: the Kirin 970. According to the brand, through its AI computing platform, combined with a dedicated Neural-Network Processing Unit, the processor is optimised for speed, responsiveness and efficiency.

Delivering on the above, the word lag doesn’t exist in the Mate 10’s vocabulary. Thanks to the Kirin 970 processor, the Mate 10 is a powerful phablet that could possibly rival your productivity and entertainment machines. The device ran smoothly even with multiple apps running con-currently – believe us when we say we take multi-tasking very seriously around here. It’s also backed up by its 4,000mAh battery pack – something that many performance junkies can appreciate.

We also prefer the fingerprint scanner for the Mate 10 when compared to the Mate 10 Pro. The former’s scanner lies beneath the screen at the front, whereas the latter is located at the back of the phone.

More Than Meets the AI

Aside from being performance optimised, the Mate 10 takes further advantage of its brand-spanking new processing power. Like its ever-popular P-series, specifically the P9 and P10, the Mate 10 houses a Leica dual rear camera that further utilises its AI-capabilities.

Marketed as a sharp shooter when it comes to photography, the camera is programmed to identify the different types of subjects in real-time through intelligent photographic algorithms. We have a love/hate relationship with this feature; photos can come out as looking over-exposed or simply too processed. However, the Mate 10 certainly makes up for it with its astounding low-light photography capabilities that is unrivalled. Its ability to capture sharp images on moving objects is something noteworthy – trying to catch moments has never been easier.

Putting Itself on Display

Featuring a barely-there bezel and HDR10 technology, the 5.9-inch display of the Mate 10 will spoil you for choice. The colour reproduction on the screen is vivid and bright. That said, we do feel that the overall colour temperature runs on the cool-side of the spectrum – just a smidgen though. Consuming multimedia on the Mate 10 had been a pleasure.

Watching movies or videos on the device is quite the experience, despite its hefty size and weightiness. We suggest for you to be extra careful when doing so – it can get very tiring holding up the device for extended periods (and even more painful when it drops). When it comes to owning a phablet, it definitely takes some getting used to. However, the ergonomic curved glass design of the Mate 10 lessens the discomforts of using one.

EMUI-tional Experience

If there was one thing that we wish that Huawei could continue to improve on, it would be the EMUI ecosystem. While the EMUI 8.0 is a much better platform that its predecessor (the EMUI 5.1), it still lacks that user-friendliness and crisp design of launchers like Nova provides us. This could be chalked down to personal preference. On the flip side, EMUI 8.0 comes equipped with several nifty features. This includes its ability to easy project on bigger screens just by using a USB-C to HDMI cable – no proprietary dock needed. Though not quite a selling point for the Mate 10, it is definitely something that desktop replacement seekers could possibility enjoy.

Verdict: A phab-ulous smartphone that’s all about size and performance.

Written by: Nur Atifi

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