Huawei P10 Plus review: Eyes wide open

Performance

Just like the P10, the P10 Plus utilizes the top of the line Kirin 960 SoC. It is developed in-house by Huawei's chipmaker HiSilicon and has been around for some time now, originally making its debut on the Huawei Mate 9. Even with a few months of history behind it, the Kirin 960 is still one of the most innovative and cutting-edge chips around.

The main processor within the chipset consists of a quad-core Cortex-A73 cluster clocked at 2.4GHz, plus a quad-core array of the familiar Cortex-A53 cores, ticking at 1.8GHz. The Cortex-A73s boast a 30% power efficiency compared to the previous A72 design, while also promising improved performance.

Four A73 cores are currently one of the most potent combinations available, at least until the likes of the Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895 officially arrive on the scene. However, there is still a sea of great flagship offers out there that can outshine the P10 and P10 Plus in some respects. When picking the competition, we didn't really have to hold back, since the price of EUR 750 leaves very few current smartphone offers out of budget. Then again, you could go down a more economic route as well, so our first order of business was to draft in the OnePlus 3T and ZTE Axon 7 - the value offers in an aggressive pricing category of their own.

Then again, you don't really need to limit yourself to the pair. Proper western-friendly flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge or the LG V20 can also be had for less then EUR 700. The brand new LG G6 should be joining their ranks pretty soon as well. We also included the iPhone 7 Plus in the race, since it mostly fits the budget. However, the Pixel XL we threw in for fun and because of its solid camera reputation. In reality, it goes for an even more exuberant price than the P10 Plus.

No proper performance comparison would be complete without throwing in a few of Xiaomi's excellent offers. There are definitely models to consider in the flagship realm - the Mi 5S Plus instantly springs to mid with its dual-camera setup. And if the late Galaxy Note7's aesthetic appealed to you, the Mi Note 2 is definitely worth looking into (we're not saying anything). Even the extravagant 6.5-inch Mi Mix is within reach. Just keep in mind the potential shipping costs and import taxes.

Last, but not least, we included a few of Huawei's other devices. Of course, there are the Mate 9, 9 Pro and smaller P10 - equipped with the same Kirin 960 chip. But, looking back a bit, there is the still excellent P9 Plus with the Kirin 955 and Honor 8, with the Kirin 950 - a nice historic overview of the performance bumps in HiSilicon's hardware.

We kick things off with some CPU-only loads in GeekBench. Indeed, a single A73 core is better than any other available processor we've tested so far under Android, but Apple's Hurricane cores still trump everything else.

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3473
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  1939
• Huawei P10 Plus
  1937
• Huawei P10
  1927
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  1911
• Huawei Mate 9
  1898
• OnePlus 3T
  1890
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  1824
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  1815
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  1815
• Huawei Honor 8
  1720
• ZTE Axon 7
  1702
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  1696
• LG V20
  1576
• Google Pixel XL
  1507
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  1440

But it's multi-core tests where the four A73 units really shine. It is interesting to note that the P10 Plus seems to come in last in our Kirin 960 lineup - a good 200 points behind the regular P10. That can likely be attributed to early software on our review unit.

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei Mate 9
  6112
• Huawei P10
  6069
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  5845
• Huawei P10 Plus
  5821
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  5664
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  5645
• Huawei Honor 8
  5447
• OnePlus 3T
  4364
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  4333
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  4288
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  4278
• Google Pixel XL
  4152
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  4128
• ZTE Axon 7
  3990
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  3976
• LG V20
  3824

The Kirin 960 choice of graphics, the Mali-G71MP8, is an enormous improvement over the previous generations of HiSilicon chips and is finally flagship worthy. It managed to perform beautifully on the regular P10. However, on the P10 Plus it is tasked with pushing pixels on a QHD panel. That explains the major performance delta between it and the P10 in on-screen rendering.

Still, while looking at the synthetics, bear in mind that most games will scale back gracefully in both resolution and detail, if necessary. Real-life gaming is definitely a pleasant experience on the P10 Plus.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Huawei P10
  39433
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  37346
• OnePlus 3T
  36958
• Huawei Mate 9
  36519
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  36506
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  36062
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  32609
• ZTE Axon 7
  32243
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  32160
• Google Pixel XL
  30861
• Huawei P10 Plus
  30602
• LG V20
  29385
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  27600
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  22825
• Huawei Honor 8
  16592
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  15814
• Huawei P9 Plus
  15058

Before continuing on to GFXBench, we do feel obliged to note that while the Mali-G71MP8 on the Kirin 960 chip is powerful, it is not exactly power-efficient. There are no two ways about it, the GPU is just a bit on the power-hungry side. This sadly has two negative consequences. One is a noticeable dip in battery endurance while under GPU load. More than what is expected on most other devices, that is.

The second problem is heat. The chip runs hot and appears to thermal-throttle under prolonged stress. The regular P10 has the same problem, but unlike its case where the performance dips as much as 30%, the P10 Plus seems to have better thermal dissipation with its larger body and the performance drops only by 20% when hot.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  60
• OnePlus 3T
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  49
• Google Pixel XL
  47
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  44
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  40
• LG V20
  40
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  38
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  38
• Huawei Mate 9
  30
• Huawei P10
  29
• Huawei P10 Plus
  28
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  28
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  25
• Huawei P9 Plus
  18
• Huawei Honor 8
  18
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  17
• ZTE Axon 7
  15

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  56
• OnePlus 3T
  48
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  47
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  41
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  41
• Huawei P10
  35
• Google Pixel XL
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  29
• Huawei Mate 9
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  27
• LG V20
  25
• Huawei P10 Plus
  19
• Huawei P9 Plus
  19
• Huawei Honor 8
  19
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  18
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  17
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  17
• ZTE Axon 7
  12

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  39
• OnePlus 3T
  33
• Google Pixel XL
  32
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  32
• ZTE Axon 7
  31
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  29
• LG V20
  29
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  28
• Huawei P10
  22
• Huawei Mate 9
  22
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  22
• Huawei P10 Plus
  19
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  17
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  11
• Huawei P9 Plus
  10
• Huawei Honor 8
  10

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  42
• OnePlus 3T
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  32
• Huawei P10
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  30
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  27
• Huawei Mate 9
  23
• Google Pixel XL
  17
• LG V20
  17
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  16
• ZTE Axon 7
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  15
• Huawei P10 Plus
  12
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  12
• Huawei P9 Plus
  11
• Huawei Honor 8
  11
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  11
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  11

Again, keep in mind the QHD panel in the following on-screen tests.

GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 3T
  20
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  20
• LG V20
  20
• Google Pixel XL
  19
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  18
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  18
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  18
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  16
• ZTE Axon 7
  15
• Huawei P10
  14
• Huawei Mate 9
  13
• Huawei P10 Plus
  12
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  12
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.3
• Huawei P9 Plus
  6.2
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  5.8

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 3T
  20
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  20
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  19
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  17
• Huawei P10
  16
• ZTE Axon 7
  16
• Huawei Mate 9
  14
• LG V20
  12
• Google Pixel XL
  11
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  10
• Huawei P10 Plus
  9
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  8.3
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  8.2
• Huawei Honor 8
  6.9
• Huawei P9 Plus
  6.8
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  5.8

Moving on to some all-round performance benchmarks, we find that the P10 Plus shines bright in BaseMark OS II. It pretty much outpaces all other Android devices currently in our database, including the P10.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Huawei P10 Plus
  3447
• Huawei P10
  3393
• OnePlus 3T
  3328
• Huawei Mate 9
  3280
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  2843
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  2814
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2677
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2503
• LG V20
  2473
• Huawei P9 Plus
  2155
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  2063
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  2045
• Huawei Honor 8
  2029
• ZTE Axon 7
  1889

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3796
• Huawei P10 Plus
  2940
• Huawei P10
  2910
• OnePlus 3T
  2678
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  2670
• Huawei Mate 9
  2637
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  2496
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2434
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  2381
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2364
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  2352
• ZTE Axon 7
  2346
• Google Pixel XL
  2281
• LG V20
  2159
• Huawei P9 Plus
  2099
• Huawei Honor 8
  2099
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  2040
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  1770

AnTuTu appears to show a different story. However, it's nothing really unexpected, since Huawei handsets typically get penalized in this particular benchmark for some reason. That being said, the P10 Plus falls in line perfectly with its expected performance.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  173110
• OnePlus 3T
  165097
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  155185
• LG V20
  141945
• Google Pixel XL
  141186
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  140324
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  133242
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  132849
• ZTE Axon 7
  129926
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
  129629
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  128719
• Huawei P10
  126629
• Huawei P10 Plus
  126252
• Huawei Mate 9
  122826
• Huawei P9 Plus
  97392
• Huawei Honor 8
  94892
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  89345
• Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
  85181

The Huawei P10 Plus stands tall in the performance race - nothing short of a proper flagship offer. We really couldn't ask for anything more in the CPU department. As for the GPU, frankly, even the thermal throttling isn't a big deal and definitely not a deal-breaker. Even with it, the Mali-G71MP8 happily chewed through any graphics task we threw at it.

Even under heavy synthetic loads, the P10 Plus never actually got unpleasantly hot to the touch. So, even serious mobile gamers should be safe on long sessions. Chances are, you'll never spot these hurdles under normal circumstances, but they are still worth noting.