Huawei MatePad 10.4 review: the right tablet for the right audience

Huawei MatePad 10.4 review

Huawei, with this new MatePad 10.4 version 2022, demonstrates all its potential and all its expertise in the tablet segment. If compared to the smartphone market, unfortunately, there is still a large gap to be recovered from the more established players at the operating system level (Android and iOS), as far as the tablet market is concerned, music is completely different, with the company proving to be able to churn out, for several consecutive years, valid and versatile products, even superior to direct competition.

Because if it is true that even in this MatePad 10.4 access to Google services is obviously limited, just like with regard to the company's recent smartphones, Huawei has studied a very convincing approach capable of overcoming the potential critical issues dictated by this lack. We tried the Huawei MatePad 10.4 2022 together with the M-Pencil, a useful accessory to further extend the scenarios and the potential for use of this tablet.

HarmonyOS, the real alternative to Android in the Tablet market

In fact, I understand well how for a fundamental device such as a smartphone, with which we are now used to carrying out practically every type of action of our digital and non-digital lives, having any type of disturbance or delay caused by having to find alternative and new solutions to certain shortcomings (dictated in this case by the speech Google services) may seem an insurmountable obstacle.

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It does not change the application search and installation method, with the proprietary Huawei AppGallery store remaining the main point of reference. For all services not yet available directly and officially, the Huawei Petal Search service will carry out a web search (on sites certified by the company), in order to allow the user to obtain them, installing everything manually via a wizard and very simple procedure.

So far nothing new, with an approach equal to what has already been seen with the smartphones of the brand presented post-ban in the US. What changes is the level of optimization reached by HarmonyOS (in version 2.0 in this Huawei MatePad 10.4), with many software goodies, designed specifically for tablets, able to accompany the user in all his needs, whether it is entertainment as much as productivity.


Already from the homepage it is also possible to understand the "smart" soul conceived by Huawei, with the application icons that do not simply represent a quick start shortcut, but they can be used as quick mini widgets to take advantage of certain services immediately (compatible applications will be indicated with a horizontal line under the icon itself).



As we will see shortly with the hardware analysis, not all the possibilities offered are exploited to the maximum. However, Huawei's desire to give the user all the possible tools even for an entry product like this test object is to be rewarded, given the quality with which this operation is performed.

In a tablet market that, especially from the post-pandemic onwards, is experiencing a new youth, knowing that you have such a versatile software product on the market with such a low price is a not indifferent demonstration of strength by Huawei.

Slightly subdued hardware

Somewhere the "but" had to come, it was in the air and actually so far the story seemed almost heavenly and immune to criticism. In reality, the "problem" (if we want to call it) of Huawei MatePad 10.4 is that it proves to be so skilled and ready at the software level, that it would deserve a slightly more performing hardware base, to be able to be fully exploited at 360 °. But let's not forget the "entry level" nature in the Huawei product portfolio.



Starting from the display, a unit equipped with 2000 × 1200 resolution but in LCD technology, we understand the nature of this product that from certain points of view is able to amaze and from others does not hide the compromises and cuts necessary to contain the price. A very nice panel even if it is not the much loved OLED, which does not have the possibility to increase the refresh rate of the contents, blocked at the classic 60Hz.

Good viewing angles, a little less the oleophobic treatment and the maximum brightness, the latter which in conditions of strong external lighting will force you to work a little to maintain a truly enjoyable visibility. However, it is excellent for the use of multimedia contents, thanks also to the combination of four stereo super speakers placed in the two short sides of the product, one of the hardware components certainly more successful overall (to note the lack of the 3 audio jack here too, 5mm).

The real “critical issues”, however, are not to be found in the display, which I promote as a whole. The bottleneck is in fact represented by the combination of memories + processor, with solutions capable of not giving surprises to the user, especially a result in line with the expectations of the technical descent.

Smartphone Geekbench 5 Geekbench ML 3DMark PCMark Work 3.0 Speedometer 2.0 Jetstream 2 Single-core Multi-core CPU GPU NNAPI Wild Life Wild Life

Stress Test Performance - - realme Pad Mini 300 1191 168 217 113 471 (2.80 fps) 471 - 468

(99.4%) 8376 34.79 (± 0.23) 45844 realme 9 4G 381 1590 192 248 182 447 (2.70 fps) 450 - 449

(99, 8%) 8009 38.83 (± 0.33) 45234 Honor X8 379 1531 185 252 216 446 (2.70 fps) 450 - 447

(99.3%) 7803 39.11 (± 0 , 23) 42751 Huawei MatePad 10.4 297 1343 132 255 85 561 (3.40 fps) 545 - 480

(88.4%) 6432 18.7 (± 0.81) 29655 The performance guaranteed by the Kirin 710A processor are precisely in line with the expectations of a SoC now with some spring on its shoulders, not equipped with the most recent refinements in terms of e fficiency and energy optimization (it is a processor made with a 12nm production process equipped with 4 cores at high speed and 4 cores for the lightest tasks).

It therefore happens that during use the user has to take into account a few seconds for even the most basic operations but never anything that makes the tablet really unusable anyway, with the 4GB of RAM that clashes a bit with the productivity software potential offered.

Well l energy experience in general, with general use that does not hide pitfalls and strange drains, and a charge that for evening use only could be enough for the whole week. In our classic tests on this subject carried out with the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery application, Huawei MatePad 10.4 totaled 12 hours and 59 minutes, a figure in line with the real use scenarios of this tablet.



On board this tablet there are also two cameras, one front and one rear, which in my opinion do not need a lot of space for analysis. These are two optics that guarantee a quality bordering on sufficiency, to be used for emergency occasions and for business purposes (scanning documents or other) rather than lenses on which to rely for quality photos. However, the choice of inserting the flash at the rear is interesting, a detail that could prove useful in certain contexts.

Conclusions

Before leaving you to the real conclusions, I would like to say a few words about it. to the design of this product, an area that I understand to be very subjective and variable but which, in any case, can allow us to sketch out some more objective reflections. The presence of plastic materials on board this Huawei MatePad 10.4 should not in fact scare users, who will find themselves using a product that is in any case very refined and well made.

The frames on the front are just one of the examples of care commissioned by the company for a product that, as we will see shortly, is positioned well below 300 euros, with a general look and feel that is absolutely far from cheap products and the “basket of electronics chains”. The 10.4 "diagonal is in my opinion ideal for combining the more casual soul with the more serious and professional one, with overall weight and dimensions that allow easy transport and easy use during even longer sessions (the total weight is around 450 grams).

Huawei MatePad 10.4 2022 is available, at the time of writing this review, in the 64GB and 128GB internal memory sizes, respectively at 219.90 euros and 269.90 euros , both protagonists of a promotion that sees a 30 euro discount for both variants compared to the official price list. Two super attractive prices that allow not only to look at the few critical issues of this tablet in a much less severe way but also to reward the efforts made by the company, especially in the software field.

A product offered at the right price and that can become the study and play companion for many of you, without weighing too much on your wallet. In combination with the official accessories such as the pen tested during this review (or the official keyboard), the use scenarios increase exponentially, again with costs far from those proposed by the competition for similar products (the Huawei M -Pencil is currently on promotion for 29.90 euros).