Huawei Mate 10 review

Display

The Huawei Mate 10 brings a long overdue update and the 5.9" IPS LCD screen now boasts 1440p resolution and 499ppi. There is also HDR10 support, but no Dolby Vision. The high-res screen was previously exclusive to the Pro model but this time around it's only available on the regular version. Go figure.

Huawei Mate 10's screen uses a PenTile RGBW matrix with an extra white subpixel. This allows the screen to reach higher brightness levels while using less power than the traditional QuadHD LCD panels.

As you will notice, this subpixel arrangement replaces every second blue pixel with a white one - or rather every second blue filter is removed to let more light. Even for an RGBW screen, this sub-pixel arrangement is unusual. Instead of having a string of red-green-blue-white subpixels (RGBW), here you get a string, which looks something like RGB-RGW.

The screen of the Mate 10 has two modes, Normal and Vivid. Some units have the Normal option chosen by default, while others come with the Vivid mode pre-selected. Those two settings offer different levels of brightness and color accuracy.

Normal allows for 415 nits of maximum brightness, while the screen can automatically light up to 630nits under sunlight if needed. The blacks are some of the deepest we've seen on an LCD screen and the contrast is excellent.

The color accuracy is fine with an average deltaE of 4.2 with the most notable deviation being the bluish whites. If you want superior accuracy you can achieve it by setting the display's color temperature to warm - then you'll get an average deltaE of 2.5 with mostly accurate hues. This looks so much better than the Mate 9's screen, which had a color cast that we could never get rid of no matter how long we played with the custom settings.

The Vivid mode on the Mate 10 offers 430 nits of maximum brightness, deep blacks and, once again, excellent contrast. The maximum automatic brightness in Vivid mode, however, is 670 nits under bright sunlight.

Since Vivid tries to emulate the punch of an AMOLED screen, the color accuracy is all over the place with an average deltaE of 6.8 and maximum deviation of 12.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get the advertised max brightness of 730nits but the margin is not huge and could be down to the methodology of measurement. In any case, 670 nits is about as much we got back when we reviewed the Mate 9 using an identical measurement methodology.

As for sunlight legibility, the Mate 10 does an OK job here producing a good enough contrast for an LCD unit.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  4.768
• Samsung Galaxy S8+
  4.658
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Motorola Moto Z2 Play
  4.459
• Oppo R11
  4.454
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• OnePlus 3
  4.424
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy Note7
  4.247
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• Nokia 8
  4.239
• OnePlus 3T
  4.232
• Google Pixel XL
  4.164
• ZTE Axon 7
  4.154
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  4.148
• Meizu Pro 7 Plus
  4.147
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
  4.096
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• LG V30
  4.022
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 7
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
  3.957
• Huawei P9 Plus
  3.956
• Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  3.935
• Lenovo Moto Z
  3.931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• OnePlus 5
  3.914
• Samsung Galaxy C5
  3.911
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.896
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Sony Xperia XZs
  3.818
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3.812
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3.804
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3.798
• LG V20 Max auto
  3.798
• Sony Xperia XZ
  3.795
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Xiaomi Mi 6
  3.767
• Sony Xperia XZ1
  3.765
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  3.756
• Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
  3.729
• Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
  3.725
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.688
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Huawei Mate 9
  3.68
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
  3.597
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3.588
• LG G6
  3.556
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.526
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.523
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
  3.523
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• nubia Z11
  3.466
• Huawei P10 Plus
  3.456
• HTC U Ultra
  3.453
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• LG V20
  3.402
• Huawei P10
  3.379
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  3.378
• Oppo R9s
  3.352
• Honor 8 Pro
  3.341
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Lenovo P2
  3.316
• Honor 9
  3.289
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3.276
• Nokia 5
  3.261
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  3.244
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  3.238
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  3.228
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Oppo F3 Plus
  3.218
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  3.206
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
  3.19
• ZTE Nubia Z17
  3.159
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• HTC U11
  3.089
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Sony Xperia XA1
  3.012
• Sony Xperia L1
  2.994
• Huawei P10 Lite
  2.974
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.95
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  2.92
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.913
• Sony Xperia XA Ultra
  2.906
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  2.893
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2.884
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
  2.877
• Sony Xperia XZ Premium
  2.877
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Nokia 3
  2.871
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.813
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2.803
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• Meizu MX6
  2.751
• LG V10
  2.744
• Huawei Mate 10
  2.742
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  2.714
• Meizu M5
  2.71
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  2.689
• Huawei P9 Lite
  2.679
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  2.679
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2.658
• Doogee Mix
  2.642
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Xiaomi Redmi 4a
  2.635
• Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
  2.616
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.609
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
  2.582
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus
  2.582
• Meizu M5s
  2.58
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• LeEco Le Max 2
  2.567
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  2.563
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Xiaomi Mi Max 2
  2.561
• Lenovo Moto G4
  2.544
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.544
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
  2.506
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Oppo F1s
  2.481
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Huawei nova
  2.467
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  2.459
• Meizu m3 max
  2.447
• Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
  2.417
• HTC 10 evo
  2.407
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• Sony Xperia E5
  2.386
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• HTC 10
  2.378
• Oppo F3
  2.376
• vivo V5 Plus
  2.371
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Huawei nova plus
  2.329
• HTC One E9+
  2.305
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.254
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2.253
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  2.249
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2.235
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Meizu M5 Note
  2.189
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
  2.145
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Xiaomi Mi 4S
  2.095
• Acer Liquid X2
  2.084
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• vivo V5
  2.059
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Xiaomi Mi 3
  2.001
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  1.996
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Meizu m3 note
  1.923
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1.772
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1.759
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Asus Zenfone Selfie
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  1.659
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Sony Xperia L
  1.351
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215

Battery life

Some aspects of the Mate series are now changed in the Mate 10 but the battery capacity is not among them. The Mate 10 stays true to tradition with a large 4,000mAh battery, the same commendable capacity which the Mate 7 came with back in 2014.

Huawei Mate 10 supports the company's proprietary SuperCharge at 5V and 4.5A. Because of the low voltage the battery won't heat up as much as other competing solutions while charging. And that's while the bundled cable and charger can fill a flat battery up to 58% in just 30 mins.

Huawei promised the Mate 10 would have the Mate 9's battery life and our test confirmed that. The Mate 10 did a little bit better in talk time and standby, and thus it scored an extra 5 hours to its total endurance rating.

Our endurance rating indicates how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Huawei Mate 10 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

In real life, we were able to get as much as two days of battery life on a single charge while having all connectivity options such as Wi-FI, location and mobile data always on. Of course, your own mileage will vary based on your usage pattern.

Connectivity

The Huawei Mate 10 supports LTE-Advanced with 3-carrier aggregation, Cat.16 LTE for theoretical speeds up to 1Gbps of download and 150Mbps of upload, 16 LTE bands, 6 3G bands, and the usual quad-band 2G.

There's a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi support with dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot capabilities. You also get Bluetooth v4.2 for connecting peripherals, A-GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou for positioning and NFC for close-range communication. We expected to see Bluetooth 5.0, but we guess that's a feature for the next Kirin.

There's an analog 3.5mm headphone jack on board the phone. An IR blaster allows you to remote control your not-as-smart home appliances.

One connectivity feature the Mate 10 lacks is FM radio support.

Finally, the Type-C USB port adheres to the USB 3.1 specs and supports DisplayPort v1.2. The latter means you can use a passive USB-C-to-HDMI cable or dongle for TV-out connectivity. EMUI 8 introduced the so-called Projection mode for a PC-like Android experience, so it may be a good idea to buy the right cable.

Once you connect the Mate 10 to an external screen via a cable, you will get a dedicated desktop user interface. Then you can either use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, or the phone's screen as a trackpad and on-screen keyboard. Even though the phone doesn't come with Bluetooth 5.0, you can connect a Bluetooth mouse and a keyboard at the same time. Of course, you can't charge the phone while using Projection. But you can still make calls and send messages without interrupting the desktop view.