Published 17/07/2017
Huawei P10 Review
Summary:
The Huawei P10 is an excellent smartphone. It shows just how much Huawei has matured over the past number of years. It's a beautiful phone, crafted from aluminum and glass with subtle chamfered edges. The P10 is the fastest Android phone I've ever used, everything feels butter smooth and theres no annoying lag like found on some other android phones. It has three fantastic cameras which Huawei claims are 'co-engineered' with Leica. The two rear cameras are among the best out there and Huawei's software makes these cameras very flexible also. This phone will last you all day, and when you need to top up the battery Huawei's fast charge technology ensures you're not stuck to the plug for long. The fingerprint sensor beneath the display is mind blowingly fast, and it's the most accurate out there. Huawei's EMUI skin atop Android is ugly but does add some neat features such as scroll screen shots and knuckle gestures. However, I think the P10 is too expensive and you could save quite a bit of money if you opted for the OnePlus 5 or even spent a little bit more to get Samsung's Galaxy S8. That said, Huawei deserves credit for creating a near flawless smartphone.
Cons:
- No Oleophobic coating
- No waterproofing
- Ugly EMUI skin atop Android
- Expensive
- No waterproofing
- Ugly EMUI skin atop Android
- Expensive
Pros:
- Great design
- Very fast and fluid performance
- Flexible and powerful cameras
- Good battery life and fast charging
- Super fast fingerprint sensor
- Very fast and fluid performance
- Flexible and powerful cameras
- Good battery life and fast charging
- Super fast fingerprint sensor
Design: The P10 looks as good as it feels
The Huawei P10 is a beautiful smartphone. The aluminum back curves to meet the chamfered edges along the display creating a seamless unibody design. These curves make the P10 one of the most comfortable phones to hold and one of the slipperiest. A glass section occupies the top rear of the phone where the dual cameras and flash lie. Some may say the phone looks similar to Apple's iPhone 7 Plus however I feel Huawei has done a better job than Apple. The dual cameras are flush with the aluminum back and Huawei has managed to fit a headphone jack into a 7mm thin phone. Two antenna lines situated at the back top and bottom blend with the aluminum to create a clean and symmetrical design.
Perhaps my favourite part of the P10's design is it's buttons. All of which are located on the upper right hand side. A volume rocker sits above a textured red power button. The buttons are clicky and the textured finish make them easily identifiable. The display is surrounded by reasonably large bezels, something which Samsung and LG have decided to omit this year. A fingerprint sensor sits below the 5.1 inch display. This fingerprint sensor is super fast but cannot be used as a home button in the traditional sense. A short press acts as the standard Back button, while a long press brings you back to the homescreen. Swiping left or right will bring up the apps Overview screen.
The display comes wrapped with a plastic screen protector out of the box, a seemingly welcome addition which has actually caused more hardship than if it weren't present. This hardship stems from Huawei's ironic decision not to include an oleophobic coating on the display. This is a feature that is present on basically every other expensive smartphone. Without the oleophobic coating, the P10's display becomes covered in dust, fingerprint and smudges within a matter of seconds of use.
A sim and microSD card tray are hidden in the right side of the P10. Some variants of the P10 allow users to have two sims or one sim and a microSD card installed at once. Huawei has opted for a USB-C port at the bottom of the phone. To the right of the USB-C port is the mono down firing speaker. The 3.5mm headphone jack lies to the left, along with a microphone. Another microphone can be found along the top of the phone. Unfortunately the P10 misses out on waterproofing, so don't let this phone fall down the toilet or drown it in the pool.
Perhaps my favourite part of the P10's design is it's buttons. All of which are located on the upper right hand side. A volume rocker sits above a textured red power button. The buttons are clicky and the textured finish make them easily identifiable. The display is surrounded by reasonably large bezels, something which Samsung and LG have decided to omit this year. A fingerprint sensor sits below the 5.1 inch display. This fingerprint sensor is super fast but cannot be used as a home button in the traditional sense. A short press acts as the standard Back button, while a long press brings you back to the homescreen. Swiping left or right will bring up the apps Overview screen.
The display comes wrapped with a plastic screen protector out of the box, a seemingly welcome addition which has actually caused more hardship than if it weren't present. This hardship stems from Huawei's ironic decision not to include an oleophobic coating on the display. This is a feature that is present on basically every other expensive smartphone. Without the oleophobic coating, the P10's display becomes covered in dust, fingerprint and smudges within a matter of seconds of use.
A sim and microSD card tray are hidden in the right side of the P10. Some variants of the P10 allow users to have two sims or one sim and a microSD card installed at once. Huawei has opted for a USB-C port at the bottom of the phone. To the right of the USB-C port is the mono down firing speaker. The 3.5mm headphone jack lies to the left, along with a microphone. Another microphone can be found along the top of the phone. Unfortunately the P10 misses out on waterproofing, so don't let this phone fall down the toilet or drown it in the pool.
Display: Big, Bright, Beautiful
Huawei has chosen to stick with a 1080p or Full HD display again this year, something that may annoy some spec heads. The 5.1 inch display is now considered as an average size as smartphones continue to feature larger displays every year. The display is good, not quite as good as the one found on the Galaxy S8, but thats no surprise considering Samsung's flagship has the best display ever made. The P10's display gets very bright and I had no trouble using it in direct sunlight. It gets dim too so you're not blinded at night by your phone screen. Huawei decided to pass on the OLED craze this year and is using an IPS-NEO panel as an evolution from standard IPS technology. IPS-NEO promises deeper blacks and better viewing angles, both of which are welcome enhancements.
Similar to Samsung's software, Huawei allows you to tune the colour temperature of the display to whatever you like. The P10 also comes with a feature called 'eye comfort' which allows you to filter the blue light being emitted from the display to help you get a better sleep. Gorilla glass 5 protects the display so scratches and cracks shouldn't be a major issue with the P10. I've had no problem with the display, it's clear and vivid and it's virtually impossible to discern individual pixels.
Similar to Samsung's software, Huawei allows you to tune the colour temperature of the display to whatever you like. The P10 also comes with a feature called 'eye comfort' which allows you to filter the blue light being emitted from the display to help you get a better sleep. Gorilla glass 5 protects the display so scratches and cracks shouldn't be a major issue with the P10. I've had no problem with the display, it's clear and vivid and it's virtually impossible to discern individual pixels.
Performance: This is one fast phone
Huawei has managed to do something its android competitors still struggle to do. They've managed to create a blazingly fast android phone which rivals the fluidity of the iPhone, which has long been considered the fastest phone available. Coming from using a Galaxy S8, the P10 feels significantly faster. Opening apps, multi-tasking and playing graphic intensive games were a breeze with the P10. Everything just works, and everything works fast. I haven't had an app crash, a game lag or a connection drop. Even everyday actions such as swiping between home screens and unlocking the phone feel significantly faster and smoother than on the Galaxy S8. That's not to say Samsung's flagship is sluggish, because it too is very fast but there is a noticeable difference.
The P10 is powered by HiSilicon's 8 core Kirin 960 CPU and a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU. By the way, HiSilicon is a subsidiary of Huawei so like Samsung's Exynos line of chips, this CPU is built in house. The P10 is loaded with 4GB of RAM so switching between apps and using splint screen mode is very smooth and quick. Even very demanding graphic intensive games such as Asphalt 8 and Riptide GP2 ran perfectly on the P10 with no dropped frames. The phone does get quite hot at times, especially when charging and using it at the same time. But it doesn't get to a point where it is uncomfortable to hold.
Speaking of charging, Huawei has managed to devise its own fast charge technology which it dubs 'Super Charge'. Huawei claims the P10 can last a day with a half an hour of charging, something that I don't completely agree with. The phone does charge very fast, faster than any iPhone. But that's from zero to eighty, after which the phone trickle charges to one hundred per cent. Technically the P10 is faster on average than my Galaxy S8 but my S8 managed to charge faster altogether.
What amazed me most with the P10 was it's incredible Wi-Fi performance. The P10 supports all the modern Wi-Fi standards including Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band. Compared to my Galaxy S8, the P10 repeatedly managed to score speeds multiple times faster. This is true on virtually every Wi-Fi network I use, no other phone comes close to the speeds which the P10 manages to achieve. This same advantage is also true for range, the P10 managed to hold a connection further away from the modem than my Galaxy S8. For example, with just one bar of Wi-Fi, the P10 managed 35Mbps download while my Galaxy S8 managed 10Mbps. I repeated this test many times, however the P10 consistently beat the S8.
The P10 is powered by HiSilicon's 8 core Kirin 960 CPU and a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU. By the way, HiSilicon is a subsidiary of Huawei so like Samsung's Exynos line of chips, this CPU is built in house. The P10 is loaded with 4GB of RAM so switching between apps and using splint screen mode is very smooth and quick. Even very demanding graphic intensive games such as Asphalt 8 and Riptide GP2 ran perfectly on the P10 with no dropped frames. The phone does get quite hot at times, especially when charging and using it at the same time. But it doesn't get to a point where it is uncomfortable to hold.
Speaking of charging, Huawei has managed to devise its own fast charge technology which it dubs 'Super Charge'. Huawei claims the P10 can last a day with a half an hour of charging, something that I don't completely agree with. The phone does charge very fast, faster than any iPhone. But that's from zero to eighty, after which the phone trickle charges to one hundred per cent. Technically the P10 is faster on average than my Galaxy S8 but my S8 managed to charge faster altogether.
What amazed me most with the P10 was it's incredible Wi-Fi performance. The P10 supports all the modern Wi-Fi standards including Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band. Compared to my Galaxy S8, the P10 repeatedly managed to score speeds multiple times faster. This is true on virtually every Wi-Fi network I use, no other phone comes close to the speeds which the P10 manages to achieve. This same advantage is also true for range, the P10 managed to hold a connection further away from the modem than my Galaxy S8. For example, with just one bar of Wi-Fi, the P10 managed 35Mbps download while my Galaxy S8 managed 10Mbps. I repeated this test many times, however the P10 consistently beat the S8.
Shown below is the score achieved by the P10 on Geekbench 4 and Antutu.
|
|
Camera: The most flexible camera out there
Perhaps the most polarizing part of the P10 is its dual camera system which Huawei claims is 'co-engineered' with Leica, a German company famous for producing high quality optics and cameras. It isn't clear how involved Leica actually was with the development of the P10's cameras but Huawei has insisted that the P10's lenses are designed by Leica. The dual rear camera system is now trend being pushed by other smartphones manufacturers such as Apple, LG and OnePlus. Last years P9 and Mate 9 already featured dual rear cameras so Huawei isn't new to the game. Some companies such as Samsung have disputed the usefulness of dual cameras but Huawei claims benefits include better low light performance, the ability to create DSLR-like bokeh effects and better colour accuracy and improved dynamic range. The P10's cameras are also capable of capturing more realistic black and white images if you like retro-style photos.
Huawei has paired a 20 megapixel monochrome sensor with a 12 megapixel RGB sensor at the rear of the phone and an 8 megapixel front facing camera. All the cameras are 'co-engineered' with Leica and all three cameras are excellent. As with all smartphone cameras, the weakest aspect is low light performance but unfortunately the P10 suffers worse than some of its flagship competitors. It can't compete with the Galaxy S8 or Google's Pixel in low light situations as its photos lack detail and noise becomes an issue. It can also be difficult to focus in low light too with the P10. This is likely due to the camera's f/2.2 aperture which is smaller than the f/1.7 aperture found on the Galaxy S8 and the f/1.8 aperture on the iPhone 7.
Take the P10 into daylight and you won't be disappointed. Photos are vivid, detailed and benefit from excellent dynamic range. Colours are accurate and stabilisation isn't an issue as Huawei has included optical image stabilization. The dual camera does allow for some neat features such as 2x optical zoom and fantastic black and white photos. The dual cameras also allow for 'wide aperture', a mode which creates a bokeh effect in photos. I love the feature because it makes photos look more dramatic and gives them energy. The wide aperture mode is best used when capturing people or close up plants. It works almost every time and is significantly more accurate than similar modes found on Samsung and Sony phones. The bokeh can be adjusted after you take the photo so you can customize its severity to your choosing.
The P10 has one of the best focusing systems around with laser auto focus and the focus can be manually adjusted in the 'pro' mode. The camera app is less intuitive than ones found on Samsung or Apple's phones but is relatively easy to use after some time. Settings are a swipe to the left while modes are a swipe to the right. The camera app features one of the best pro modes out there with very granular controls. The camera can be accessed with a swipe up from the lockscreen or by drawing the letter c with your knuckle.
The 8 megapixel selfie camera is also one of the best out there. With an f/1.9 aperture the selfie camera is good in low light situations. This camera also features the wide aperture bokeh mode and features modes to beautify your face. The selfie camera is capable of capturing 1080p video but misses 2K support this year. The rear cameras can capture 4K video at 30fps and 1080p video at 60fps. Video is stable and vivid with accurate colours and fast focusing. Audio from the microphones is good also with excellent noise cancellation.
Huawei has paired a 20 megapixel monochrome sensor with a 12 megapixel RGB sensor at the rear of the phone and an 8 megapixel front facing camera. All the cameras are 'co-engineered' with Leica and all three cameras are excellent. As with all smartphone cameras, the weakest aspect is low light performance but unfortunately the P10 suffers worse than some of its flagship competitors. It can't compete with the Galaxy S8 or Google's Pixel in low light situations as its photos lack detail and noise becomes an issue. It can also be difficult to focus in low light too with the P10. This is likely due to the camera's f/2.2 aperture which is smaller than the f/1.7 aperture found on the Galaxy S8 and the f/1.8 aperture on the iPhone 7.
Take the P10 into daylight and you won't be disappointed. Photos are vivid, detailed and benefit from excellent dynamic range. Colours are accurate and stabilisation isn't an issue as Huawei has included optical image stabilization. The dual camera does allow for some neat features such as 2x optical zoom and fantastic black and white photos. The dual cameras also allow for 'wide aperture', a mode which creates a bokeh effect in photos. I love the feature because it makes photos look more dramatic and gives them energy. The wide aperture mode is best used when capturing people or close up plants. It works almost every time and is significantly more accurate than similar modes found on Samsung and Sony phones. The bokeh can be adjusted after you take the photo so you can customize its severity to your choosing.
The P10 has one of the best focusing systems around with laser auto focus and the focus can be manually adjusted in the 'pro' mode. The camera app is less intuitive than ones found on Samsung or Apple's phones but is relatively easy to use after some time. Settings are a swipe to the left while modes are a swipe to the right. The camera app features one of the best pro modes out there with very granular controls. The camera can be accessed with a swipe up from the lockscreen or by drawing the letter c with your knuckle.
The 8 megapixel selfie camera is also one of the best out there. With an f/1.9 aperture the selfie camera is good in low light situations. This camera also features the wide aperture bokeh mode and features modes to beautify your face. The selfie camera is capable of capturing 1080p video but misses 2K support this year. The rear cameras can capture 4K video at 30fps and 1080p video at 60fps. Video is stable and vivid with accurate colours and fast focusing. Audio from the microphones is good also with excellent noise cancellation.
Software: Full of features but needs refining
It's no secret now that most companies suck when it comes to creating skins for Android. Fortunately Huawei isn't one of them. Huawei calls its skin 'EMUI' and it's packed full of handy features not found on most other phones. The software is definitely less polished than Samsung's skin found on the Galaxy S8 but it does manage to maintain a butter smooth experience. Emotion UI 5.1 is based on Android 7.0 Nougat.
To make the software more smooth and responsive Huawei has devised an optimisation called 'Ultra Memory'. This under the hood optimisation is designed to allow the P10 run more smoothly by recycling memory faster. In my opinion the weakest part of Huawei's skin is the look and feel of the UI. App Icons on the P10 are ugly even if they can be changed. Also the design consistency between apps is poor. For example, the P10's camera app settings menu looks significantly different than its actual settings app and the notification pull down and quick toggles look out of place compared to the rest of the UI. I hate the default lock screen as well because the time is squished into the bottom left hand corner making it difficult to see at times.
Huawei does deserve credit for improvements to its skin over previous version. The app drawer which was ironically omitted from previous Huawei devices is back if you want it. Some pre-installed apps can be uninstalled to make your phone cleaner. There are still some pointless apps like HiCare and HiGame which the vast majority of people will never use. Huawei even decided to add a 'mirror' app for people who like to see themselves. Most of Huawei's own standard apps such as the calendar, calculator and notepad are usable but I'd personal prefer to use the same apps provided by Google.
When it comes to features Huawei is following Samsung's path by packing the P10 with a host of useful and unique options. Features such as 'app twin' ( allows you to have two of the same apps for different accounts on services such as Facebook and Whatsapp), knuckle gestures ( customisable gestures which allow you to launch apps of your choosing by drawing a letter with your knuckle) and screen recording are not found on most other phones. Thankfully Huawei hasn't made the same mistake Samsung made by launching its own personal assistant, Bixby. Instead you get Google's own Assistant which I think is the best out there. Long press the home key to launch the Google Assistant.
I've always said the biggest flaw with Android is Apple's biggest strength, the ability to roll out software updates. If we're to look at Huawei's track record for providing Android updates we'd be quickly frightened because Huawei has earned a reputation for being one of the worst companies to update its devices. I do expect the P10 to get Android 7.1 at some point but am less optimistic about the P10 receiving Android O. Don't buy this phone if you want to get the latest updates from Google because you'll likely be waiting much longer than anyone else.
To make the software more smooth and responsive Huawei has devised an optimisation called 'Ultra Memory'. This under the hood optimisation is designed to allow the P10 run more smoothly by recycling memory faster. In my opinion the weakest part of Huawei's skin is the look and feel of the UI. App Icons on the P10 are ugly even if they can be changed. Also the design consistency between apps is poor. For example, the P10's camera app settings menu looks significantly different than its actual settings app and the notification pull down and quick toggles look out of place compared to the rest of the UI. I hate the default lock screen as well because the time is squished into the bottom left hand corner making it difficult to see at times.
Huawei does deserve credit for improvements to its skin over previous version. The app drawer which was ironically omitted from previous Huawei devices is back if you want it. Some pre-installed apps can be uninstalled to make your phone cleaner. There are still some pointless apps like HiCare and HiGame which the vast majority of people will never use. Huawei even decided to add a 'mirror' app for people who like to see themselves. Most of Huawei's own standard apps such as the calendar, calculator and notepad are usable but I'd personal prefer to use the same apps provided by Google.
When it comes to features Huawei is following Samsung's path by packing the P10 with a host of useful and unique options. Features such as 'app twin' ( allows you to have two of the same apps for different accounts on services such as Facebook and Whatsapp), knuckle gestures ( customisable gestures which allow you to launch apps of your choosing by drawing a letter with your knuckle) and screen recording are not found on most other phones. Thankfully Huawei hasn't made the same mistake Samsung made by launching its own personal assistant, Bixby. Instead you get Google's own Assistant which I think is the best out there. Long press the home key to launch the Google Assistant.
I've always said the biggest flaw with Android is Apple's biggest strength, the ability to roll out software updates. If we're to look at Huawei's track record for providing Android updates we'd be quickly frightened because Huawei has earned a reputation for being one of the worst companies to update its devices. I do expect the P10 to get Android 7.1 at some point but am less optimistic about the P10 receiving Android O. Don't buy this phone if you want to get the latest updates from Google because you'll likely be waiting much longer than anyone else.
Call & Data Quality: Reliable and fast
Using the P10 on Vodafone's network was a joy. I never ran into a place where I had no signal and spent 95% of my time on either 4G or 4G+. Of course speeds were excellent, its Vodafone. Both download and upload speeds were well above the average and the ping was very low too. When the P10 received 4G+, upload speeds rocketed upwards, as did the download speed. I've performed over thirty speed tests on the P10, in different locations on the Vodafone network and the lowest speeds I've seen is 10Mbps down. I regularly achieved upload speeds exceeding 40 Mbps in and outside my town where there is 4G+. Some of the speed tests are shown below. Call quality was very good also. Vodafone's HD Voice ensured calls were crisp clear and background noise was eliminated.
|
|
Audio Quality: Nothing to boast about
Huawei has never been know as the company for audiophiles and the P10 doesn't change that. Instead of including stereo speakers or even a front firing speaker Huawei has followed Samsung by including a single down firing speaker at the bottom right of the phone. Like with most mono speakers on smartphones, there's nothing to boast about. To be fair, the speaker does actually get quite loud when set to full volume and it's plenty loud for watching youtube and playing some music. The sound produced is average in terms of quality. There is a good balance of bass and treble but the sound becomes thinny when set to high volumes.
Thankfully Huawei has included a 3.5mm headphone jack on the P10. The jack is located on the bottom left of the phone and produces audio perfect for everyday users who listen to music or podcasts via their wired headphones.
Thankfully Huawei has included a 3.5mm headphone jack on the P10. The jack is located on the bottom left of the phone and produces audio perfect for everyday users who listen to music or podcasts via their wired headphones.
Battery Life: Not a Road Warrior
With a 3,200mAh battery powering a 5.1inch 1080p display you'd expect great battery life. You do get it - sort of. For everyday use such as playing video, checking social media, calling, gaming and reading the news, the P10 should be perfect. I had no trouble using the phone for a full day starting with 100% battery. By the end of the day I'd still have about 20% left in the P10 after moderate to heavy usage.
Verdict: The best phone people don't know about
Apple and Samsung have managed to gain the title 'duopoly' because the two tech giants rule the mobile market. The iPhone 7 and upcoming iPhone along with the Galaxy S8 and upcoming Note 8 will dominate the news and will be the phones the vast majority of people end up buying. That's a pity though because Huawei's P10 is better than the iPhone 7 and comes close to the Galaxy S8. I personally think the P10 is too expensive to make it attractive to the broader market and it lacks some features such as waterproofing and an oleophobic display. It's the fastest Android phone on the market and likely will be until Google launches the Pixel 2 later this Autumn. It has a killer camera which happens to be the most flexible out there with it's dual camera system 'co-engineered' with Leica. Huawei's EMUI is smooth and packs plenty of unique features which I miss on other phones but the UI is less visually pleasing than one's found on the Galaxy S8 or Google Pixel. The P10 does have great battery life and super fast charging in a body that feels as good as it looks. For most people the P10 isn't worth the steep price, and for those looking for a top of the range smartphone I think the Galaxy S8 is superior. However, there is no doubt in my mind that this is an excellent premium smartphone that deserves more praise than it gets.
|
