With Samsung and Apple capturing over 70% of the U.S. smartphone market, many people forget or just don’t do the research to realize that there are other handsets that are equal to or if not better options than the two heavyweights. One of the more impressive smartphones that is flying under the radar is the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.
Huawei is the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world and one of their specialties is smartphones. Last September, Huawei ousted Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone brand after Samsung. So while you may have never heard of Huawei, they are a very big deal especially in their home country of China.
When I’m looking for a new smartphone there are three aspects that are especially important: performance, camera, and battery life. The Mate 10 Pro absolutely excels in all three categories. Shiny new features are nice, but for me, functionality is of the utmost importance. If the phone constantly locks up or slows down when you need it most what good is that quirky feature that you use once a month or use in the first week and forget about because it isn’t actually helpful.
The Mate 10 Pro has a crazy-fast Kirin 970 chip and somehow fits 5.5 billion transistors into it. The brand-new Mali-G72 graphics processor has gaming in mind and can handle the most demanding of mobile games. There’s plenty of memory with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. I loaded up a ton of games and apps, then went back and forth to each one to see if I could jam it up or slow it down but it was absolutely seamless.
If you have a great phone then you don’t want to be connected to the charger all the time. The Mate 10 Pro boasts an impressive 4,000 mAh battery meaning more time actually using the phone and not charging it.
For me, the most exciting aspect of the Mate 10 Pro was the camera. I was instantly intrigued when I saw that Huawei teamed up with German lens wizards Leica. The Mate 10 Pro comes with not one, but two Leica lenses. The main rear camera features a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor along with a 12-megapixel RGB sensor. The new dual cameras boast 2x lossless zoom, optical image stabilization, and claim the title of “world’s largest aperture” on a smartphone with f/1.6 for unbelievable low-light photos.
The camera offers a plethora of shooting modes including HDR, food, vivid for colorful images, 3D panorama, night shots, an impressive time-lapse, and slow-motion. The artificial intelligence on the Mate 10 Pro is incredible. It actually knows what you’re taking a photo of and adapts the photo. So the camera recognizes if you’re taking a photo of food, a dog, or your grandma and the AI automatically optimizes the picture.
Samsung introduced a neat feature recently called the DeX that allows you to hook up your phone to your monitor and utilize your phone as a desktop computer. Huawei offers the same experience, but a huge difference — you don’t have to buy a DeX dock that starts at $60. All you need to hookup your Mate 10 Pro to your monitor is a USB-C to HDMI cable.
Huawei’s flagship phone boasts a gorgeous 6-inch OLED screen with an 18:9 display ratio and a crystal-clear resolution of 1080×2160 pixels. The Mate 10 Pro comes loaded with the latest mobile operating system — Android 8.0 Oreo. The Huawei handset is IP67-rated water and dust resistant meaning no worries if someone spills a drink and splashes your phone.
The phone is stylish, thin, and comes in eye-pleasing colors. The best part is that you get a cheaper price for a top-of-the-line smartphone. After a week-long review of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, it is definitely the best phone you’ve never heard of.
While you’re here, check out Huawei’s Mate RS that is designed by Porsche and has some insane specs.