Huawei P10 review: The Mini-Mate

Final words

Huawei P10 is upgrading the P9 big time - there is a new and striking design, a huge hardware leap with the Kirin 960 chip, and the new Leica Dual Camera 2.0. If we had to plan a sequel for the P9 one year ago, we couldn't have imagined it better than the P10.

Indeed, every P9 owner is probably looking to upgrade. If you loved the first-gen Leica camera, you'd love the new one even more. The new camera system offers higher resolution, a lossless 2x zoom, and 4K video capturing. The selfie camera is also much better.

The Dazzling color options are another aspect of the P10, which can easily become a personal favorite. But if you are not keen on the industrial feel, you can always stick to the sand-blasted finish available in many paint jobs.

Finally, one of the most notable issues we had with the P9 is no more - the GPU performance - in P10 it's nothing short of blazing-fast. And we couldn't wish for any other processor to be in charge of the P10's operations.

Huawei P10 key test findings

• Premium build and design, stunning color options.
• The IPS-NEO LCD screen has great pixel density, superb contrast, and brightness. Color accuracy may not be top-notch, but the sunlight legibility is excellent for an LCD unit.
• The new Home key is a very smart set-up: it does fingerprint scanning, and replaces the whole Android control deck. It's a welcome change, though it would have been even better if it was also clickable as Meizu's mTouch button.
• Solid battery life, the P10 is excellent at web browsing, video playback, and voice calls.
• EMUI is a functional Android overlay, even if it has its quirks. Huawei has worked a lot on polishing single-handed operation, and it shows. Knuckle gestures are somewhat gimmicky, but the option to restore the app drawer will make the transition easier for those who are not used to an iPhone-like single-tier interface.
• The Kirin 960 chipset offers class-leading CPU and GPU performance.
• The onboard speaker is loud with clean output. We are disappointed by the lack of stereo speakers this time around.
• Multimedia package gets the job done - the gallery benefits from the new Discover tab with GoPro-made Highlights, the image editor is powerful. The video player has little more than play/pause, and the music app looks good and works well, but lacks an equalizer. There is a DTS headphones enhancement, though.
• Audio output via the analog jack is quiet, but clear.
• Still images show laid-back processing with accurate colors, high detail level, and great dynamic range. The monochrome camera takes these another notch up (minus the colors, obviously). The lossless-like zoom works up to 3x, which is nice.
• Good regular selfies, but the camera lacks autofocus and the widely advertized Portrait Mode is very disappointing.
• 4K videos are very detailed, if a little noisy, but the h.265 codec makes for problematic sharing. Only one of the stabilization systems work in 4K . 1080p footage is nothing special in terms of image quality.

The only negative thing about the advancements on the Huawei P10 is that we've already seen each of them on the Mate 9. The Kirin 960 chip is still as modern and powerful, and the Leica 2.0 setup is still as awesomely capable. It's just we've tried all of it, and the only thing we were looking forward as reviewers - the proudly advertised selfie effects - turned out disappointing. If it weren't for the lovely design, the P10 might as well pass as Mate 9 Mini.

And to put some salt into all of this, Huawei has kept the novelties for the P10 Plus model, much like it did last year. The stereo speakers didn't make it to the regular P10, nor did the wider f/1.8 lens for the main camera.

But unless you are coming from a Mate 9 or Mate 9 Pro, you'd probably love the P10. And despite our criticism, at the end of the day we love it, too.

We already mentioned the Huawei P10 Plus and if you like the idea of a bigger and higher-res screen, stereo speakers, and brighter camera lens - you should probably check it out.

Huawei P10 Plus

The Huawei Mate 9 offers a much bigger screen and stereo speakers, while everything else stays the same. Then there is the Mate 9 Pro with a curved AMOLED screen and Quad HD resolution. If you want the creative Leica experience on a phablet, the Mates are out there.

Huawei Mate 9 • Huawei Mate 9 Pro

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 is yet to be officially unveiled, though it will surely make P10's job tougher. The S8, just like the S7, will be waterproof, powered by a flagship chipset (Snapdragon/Exynos), and feature a high-end design wrapping. The camera is where the P10 will keep its edge over the Galaxies, as Samsung has opted for single cameras on both S7 and S8.

Samsung Galaxy S8 • Samsung Galaxy S7

The newly announced LG G6 is a real threat to the P10. It has a higher-res screen, water ingress protection, and a slightly better chipset. The secondary wide-angle camera is a real treat too. Both the regular and wide-angle snappers produce top-notch images and videos, and while less creative-friendly, they are better suited for trips and vacations.

LG G6

Finally, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are where Apple fans go. We doubt anyone showing interest in Huawei's camera would go for the regular iPhone 7, but the 7 Plus model has lots of charm in its regular+telephoto setup. Apple did a great job with the Portrait shots, and they look stunning, so Huawei has to do some tweaks to reach their level of Portrait quality. Then again, the normal images aren't anything special as they lack vibrancy and the P10 does better on many occasions. Ultimately, it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons.

Apple iPhone 7 • Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Huawei P10 is a thoughtfully designed smartphone with the P9 legacy in mind, and it's one of the worthiest sequels we've seen lately. At least from P9 owners' point of view. The Mate users should probably look elsewhere. And, of course, to everyone else - the P10 is everything Huawei claims to be - beautiful device, capable of both performance and photography. Just don't expect it to make the perfect selfies. We'll probably have to wait for Huawei P11 for that.