After a good bit of anticipation, Huawei’s new flagship smartphone and the P9’s successor has finally arrived. The Huawei P10 is perhaps the best phone the firm has yet produced, as well as one of its most expensive.
This model is everything Huawei can throw out, including the P10 Plus that has slightly better specs than the base P10. As far as how it competes with other brands, there is a good bit of merit to Huawei’s newest entry into the high-end smartphone market.
Huawei P10 Design
As far as looks go, the new design makes the P10 look more like the iPhone 7 than the usual Huawei fare. It may be good for some people who like that kind of design while others may be displeased at this apparent lack of originality. But this new design does make it feel pretty solid in the hand, especially with its thickness of 7 millimeters and weight of 142 grams. It feels comfortable in the hand without being flimsy at the same time.
Color Options
The P10 also has a lot more color options compared to the P9, which is great for those who want something more than the usual black, silver, and gold colors that are available for most other Huawei phones.
There is also the hyper-diamond cut available in dazzling blue and gold colors, which is much different from the standard sandblasted finish, making for a more unique angular look for the P10.
Fingerprint Scanner
However, they did copy the position of the fingerprint scanner from the iPhone as well, opting for it being in front than in the back. For some users, that may be a design gaffe as many high-end Android smartphones now feature a fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone for easier access without having to use two hands to keep the phone in place while using the fingerprint scanner. It also makes for a much harder time for users who like to take selfies to take their photos without having to tap the screen awkwardly.
Control Options
However, there are advanced control options to make up for the positioning. Clicking the button makes for a back function, while holding it brings out the homescreen, and swiping it left and right brings up the apps overview screen. You can control the whole phone with that one button, which is a bit like the reverse of what the iPhone 7 is trying to do by eliminating its home button from its design. It is an interesting design decision in part of Huawei, to say the least.
Huawei P10 Camera
Also, taking photos with the P10 is a lot better thanks to the easy-to-use portrait mode that has become a big focus with the design of the camera for this phone. The dual-camera setup “designed by Leica” features a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and a 12-megapixel RGB sensor, coupled with a F/2.2 lens for sharp images. There’s also a 8-megapixel front camera for those who like their selfies and video calls.
Huawei P10 Display
The display itself is a 5.1-inch Full HD (1920×1080) screen, while the P10 Plus has a 5.5-inch Wide Quad HD (2560×1440) screen. Due to the slim bezels and smart design by Huawei, the P10 isn’t bulky at all despite the high resolution. That means you get sharp and clear images while still not having to deal with a bulging pocket when you put the P10 away while on the go. That screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, so you need not worry that much about cracking and scratching when you accidentally drop this phone.
Processor, Memory, and Battery
The P10 is powered by the same Kirin 960 chipset that the Huawei Mate 9 has under its hood, as well as the Mali G71 MP8 GPU, along with 4GB of RAM. The P10 Plus has much of the same, but with 6GB of RAM to put it slightly ahead. It’s certainly more powerful than the P9, and it shows with even the heaviest of apps loading in milliseconds and multi-tab browsing being no problem at all for the P10, as well as playing HD videos and running games. However, the battery life does leave much to be desired with its non-removable 3200mAh power plant.
User Interface
As always, Huawei’s Emotion UI is a sticking point for this phone as it adds too much bloatware in an otherwise functional unit. It also retains a lot of its features that many users would find annoying. On the other hand, the P10 does use the new Android 7.0 Nougat, which is arguably the best version of Android yet.
Huawei P10 Price
This smartphone is available at Lazada with the following prices:
Full Payment: ₱ 28,990.00
Installment: ₱ 1,831.30 per month (24 months)
The Verdict
While it can be said that it’s not the best value on the market today due to its high price point, the Huawei P10 does have a lot of things going for it. If you are in it for sheer performance and top-of-the-line features, then you may find it to be one of the more serious non-iPhone contenders on your wishlist.
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