Tablets have been increasing in popularity lately, with the recent lockdowns and current pandemic playing a central role in this.

It makes sense after all; sometimes all we need is a device that’s bigger than a smartphone to work with and yet more portable and affordable than a laptop to get things done. And powerful tablets even have the ability to convert into a laptop with the right accessories.

Now Huawei has launched a range of tablets this year, including the powerful Huawei MatePad Pro which comes with plenty of powerful tech which does exactly what I mentioned earlier. But if you’re looking for a much more humbler and affordable option, there’s the Huawei MatePad T10s.

Design And Display

The Huawei MatePad T10s comes packed with a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 FHD display with narrow bezels for a much bigger screen to body ratio. This is all packed in a sleek, slim, minimalistic, and ergonomic body design, that’s available only in one colour; Deepsea Blue.

After testing out big and powerful devices, the Mate T10s comes off as simpler and a lot easier to carry around. It’s really a no fuss tablet, in which if you’re looking for a simple tablet with a good screen, this is the device for you. Despite being the same size as the Huawei Mate T10, the Mate T10s comes with a bigger screen as the Mate T10 has a 9.7 inch instead. Which means the Mate T10s is superior mainly in terms of display.

Internal Specs

The MatePad T10s runs on a Kirin 710A chipset and has 3GB RAM with 64GB storage that’s expandable to 512GB with microSD, same as the MatePad T10s. It has the LTE option so you can put in a SIM card should you need it, and weighs at only 450g which makes it extremely portable. 

You don’t have to worry about its battery either as it comes packed with a huge 5100mAh battery, so you can carry it around your home easily without needing to worry about keeping a charger at hand.

The device runs on Android 10 with EMUI 10.1, which is the latest operating system to give you all that you need.

So all in all, spec wise, the MatePad T10s is packed with all that you need in a tablet. But it does come with some good aspects, as well as some questionable aspects that need to be discussed.

The Good

Great performance overall

The Mate T10s performance is definitely on the good side as it can perform tasks quickly with little to no lags. This is of course thanks to the Kirin 710A, which paired with the EMUI 10.1 means you’re getting a powerful performance along with easy use.

The tablet can also make getting things done efficiently thanks to the Multi-Window feature that comes with the tablet, as you can have two apps open concurrently, and the apps can also interact with each other for maximum multitasking efficiency. 

Great screen and audio

This is where the tablet really shines. The Mate T10s  comes with a Full HD display with HUAWEI ClariVu Display Enhancement Technology. So details come through with incredible colour vibrancy as it dynamically optimises colour, brightness and saturation – everything you see is vivid and bright, coming to life in your hand.

It also comes equipped with Harmon Kardon that provides audio with great clarity. So you’re getting a home theatre-like cinematic audio experience not just for watching movies, but for learning or gaming as well. 

And for students who want to use it to read, there’s a unique eBook mode that changes the display to a more grayscale like view so you can read books or study materials easily and comfortably, which is definitely important.

Highly portable

There’s no doubt about it. The Huawei Mate T10s is easy to carry around, thanks to its screen size and weight. It is open to smudges though, so I recommend getting the Flip Cover, which you should be able to get for free when you purchase the device online.

The Questionable

No fingerprint scanner or face unlock

Unfortunately the Mate T10s lacks any form of biometric unlocking, so no fingerprint scanner or using face unlock here. You will need to use a pin or a pattern unlock to access your device.

Huawei App Gallery

I wouldn’t say this is a major downside as the Huawei App Gallery has improved a lot and has added so many new apps that should cover most of what you need, and if the Huawei App Gallery is missing an app, you can always use something like APKPure to get what you need.

With that said though, it still comes with issues where it’s obvious the app isn’t optimised for the tablet. So even though the tablet is capable of HD videos, the Netflix I downloaded from APKpure is unable to display the movies I watch in HD.

Plus, if you are dependent on Google apps especially for work, this is definitely not the ideal tablet. Sure, you can access it on the browser which is fine for light work and viewing, but that may not be ideal for others who are more work centric.

Conclusion

Now the price of the Huawei MatePad T10s is at RM999 which means you’re pretty much getting your money’s worth with this one. There is the MatePad T10 if you want a much cheaper option as it costs RM799 but the MatePad T10s has a superior screen if that’s what you’re looking for.

Overall I recommend this device to those in need of a tablet for studying or entertainment as it will do well in both areas. If you have kids, this is also a good option as it has a kids corner that also comes with eye safety features.

But it’s definitely not ideal for those who aim to use it for work or want to convert it to a laptop. There are better options for that one, and you can find out in our review section under tablets.

As such, I give the Huawei MatePad T10s 4 stars for its great basic tablet features.

The Huawei MatePad T10s is priced at RM999 and is available online and in official retail stores.