The tablet as a genre appeared not so long ago. Since then, these devices have experienced ups and downs and suddenly stopped in development at some incomprehensible level. It so happened that the advanced developments in the field of screen technologies, built-in cameras and processors, first of all, go to smartphones - and among them the competition is absolutely serious. The reason is simple - from a functional point of view, a typical tablet completely repeats a smartphone, except for a larger screen, but with the advent of 6,5-inch smartphones, this has ceased to be a serious matter. This means that a smartphone in some cases successfully replaces a tablet, so for many people there is no point in buying a separate device with a large screen.
But perhaps a tablet can replace a laptop? It seems that in some cases it can. At least for tablets, convenient snap-on keyboards have long been released, and many of them even surpass laptops in terms of operating time. Well, let's get to know the Huawei MatePad Pro with this idea in mind.
Technical specifications
| Huawei MatePad Pro | Apple iPad Pro 11 (2020) | ||
| Display | 10,8" IPS 2560 × 1600 dots (16:10), 280 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
10,8" IPS 2560 × 1600 dots (16:10), 280 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
11 inch IPS 2388 × 1668 dots (4:3), 265 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
| Protective glass | No data | No data | No data |
| Processor | HiSilicon Kirin 990: eight cores (2 × Cortex-A76, 2,86GHz + 2 × Cortex-A76, 2,09GHz + 4 × Cortex-A55, 1,86GHz) | HiSilicon Kirin 980: eight cores (2 × Cortex-A76, 2,60GHz + 2 × Cortex-A76, 1,92GHz + 4 × Cortex-A55, 1,8GHz) | Apple A12Z Bionic: eight cores (4 × Vortex, 2,5 GHz and 4 × Tempest, 1,6 GHz) |
| Graphics controller | Mali-G76 MP16 | Mali-G76 MP10 | Apple GPUs |
| RAM | 6/8 GB | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| Flash memory | 128/256/512 GB | 64/128 GB | 128/256/512/1024 GB |
| Memory card support | Yes (NV up to 256 GB) | Yes (microSD up to 512 GB) | No |
| Разъемы | USB Type-C | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| SIM cards | One nano-SIM | One nano-SIM | One nano-SIM + eSIM |
| Cellular 2G | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Cellular 3G | HSDPA 800/850/900/1700/1900/2100 МГц | HSDPA 800/850/900/1700/1900/2100 МГц | HSDPA 800/850/900/1700/1900/2100 МГц |
| Cellular 4G | LTE Cat. 13 (up to 400/75 Mbps), bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 19, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 | LTE Cat. 13 (up to 400/75 Mbps), bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 19, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 | LTE Cat. 16 (up to 1024/150 Mbps), bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 34 , 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 48, 66, 71 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NFC | There is | There is | There is |
| Navigation | GPS (dual band), A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS (dual band), A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS (dual band), A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| SENSORS | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Light, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), Face ID |
| The fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, front | No |
| Main camera | 13 MP, ƒ/1,8, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | 13 MP, ƒ/1,8, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | Dual module, 12 MP, ƒ / 1,8 + 10 MP, ƒ / 2,4 (ultra wide-angle lens), phase detection autofocus, LED flash |
| Front-camera | 16 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus | 16 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus | 7 MP, ƒ/2,2, fixed focus |
| Food | Non-removable battery: 27,55 Wh (7250 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 28,5 Wh (7500 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 28,65 Wh (7500 mAh, 3,8 V) |
| Size | 246 × 159 × 7,2 mm | 257 × 170 × 7,2 mm | 247,6 × 178,5 × 5,9 mm |
| Weight | 460 grams | 498 grams | 471 grams |
| Housing protection | No | No | No |
| Operating system | Android 10.0 + EMUI 10 + HMS (without Google services) | Android 9.0 Pie + EMUI 9.1 | iPadOS 13.4 |
| Actual price |
Design, ergonomics and software
The tablet is quite a utilitarian device. It is much less used on the go and to a much lesser extent allows you to judge the status of the owner compared to a smartphone. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the design of tablets, manufacturers do not go for equally obvious ways to attract attention. No iridescent cases, no complex colors.
Huawei MatePad Pro can be called a typical tablet - it looks much simpler than Huawei's flagship smartphones. Although when compared with the recent MediaPad M6, we must admit that the design of MatePad Pro is more minimalistic and pretty. Here, perhaps, it is worth saying that the model is available in four colors - orange, white, green and gray. Moreover, depending on the color, the back side has either an artificial leather coating (as in the case of orange and green), or frosted glass (in the case of white and gray). Orange color has become my personal favorite, but in Russia the tablet is available, alas, only in a dark gray version with a matte back cover, which came to us for a test. However, the first step is to look at the front side.
The most striking characteristic feature of the front of the case is the narrow bezels - 4,9 mm on each side. By the standards of smartphones, it seems to be not very impressive, but among tablets this is either a record or very close to it. Especially for this, the designers changed the standard front camera - they made a round cutout in the corner. This decision looks completely logical, but it looks a little unusual. Will such a cutout interfere with work?
Oddly enough, no. There is not a single element in the Android and EMUI interface that would fall under the camera, and when watching movies with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (that is, almost all), the camera falls exactly in the area where the black bar is located.
The next question that may concern a potential MatePad Pro buyer: how to hold a tablet with such narrow frames in your hands? It looks like the frame is not wide enough for a comfortable hold. This moment was foreseen in Huawei - the extreme areas of the screen "understand" when you hold the tablet, and these touches are not registered. I checked it works quite well, problems can only arise if you like to hold the device with a too wide grip.
The frame around the perimeter of the case is made of plastic, but the color and texture of the coating very convincingly imitates metal. But if you look closely, they do not see slots for antennas, in the case of metal, they would be inevitable.
There is no fingerprint scanner in the MediaPad Pro. The tablet only supports unlocking with face recognition, but this is done using the front camera - a complex and sophisticated recognition system in the manner of modern flagship smartphones is not here.
There are no controls left on the front panel, and the standard buttons for working with the Android interface are already on the screen. And in general, only two mechanical elements remain on the MatePad Pro case - the power button on the left side and the double volume rocker on the top. Just in case, I will clarify that the location of the faces is relative to the horizontal orientation of the tablet. The prerequisites are simple - firstly, this is how the logo on the rear panel is read correctly, and secondly, this is how the tablet is connected to the keyboard case. In this position, it turns out that the speakers are located on the sides - again, it is logical.
The lower edge of the case is completely empty, except for the SIM tray and memory card. The slot is double, so both cards can be installed at the same time.
The weight of the tablet is very moderate (460 grams) and does not cause any inconvenience. I managed to hold it with one hand in reading mode for quite a long time, but I note that it is a little easier to do this in an upright position.
The operating system on the MatePad Pro is Android 10 with the EMUI 10 shell. A familiar combination for any Huawei device. But, as always, it should be mentioned that the device comes without Google services. This means that officially you will not be able to use applications for YouTube, Gmail, maps and the Google Play app store. It is quite possible to live with this, although it is hard.
For example, you won't be able to install apps in the usual way. You will either have to download APK files for installation, which is associated with certain risks, or use alternative stores. However, some programs without Google Mobile Services (GMS) will not start at all, and some will work intermittently.
Source: 3dnews.ru