Huawei P10 review

Huawei’s latest phone bucks the shiny glass trends of the past year, opting for an all-metal case design. Reviewers had issues with the glossier finishes feeling slippery. However, the new diamond cut finish was a hit. They loved both the subtle shimmer and the added grip of the t
textured back.

While reviewers questioned the flashier color options, GSM Arena said, “The Huawei P10 exterior is both trendy and amazing, even though it looks somewhat familiar. But its build quality and finish are equally excellent.”

If you’ve used an earlier Huawei P-series phone, you’ll notice the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is missing. Huawei opted to move it to the front for the P10. They’ve also included features that allow you to replace the on-screen navigation buttons with fingerprint scanner gestures.

Most reviewers found the gesture controls accurate enough for daily use. Pocket Lint summed up scanner performance well, saying, “The gestures idea is a logical solution to avoid those Android soft keys from eating up screen real-estate, but it's going to be a love or hate situation for many.”

Above the scanner, you’ll find a 5.1-inch 1080p display. Reviewers noted that the default settings looked cold, with whites taking a blueish tint. Huawei offers calibration settings to adjust this to your liking. Pocket Lint was happy with the screen overall, saying, “Unless you're going to be rubbing your retinas across the front of the panel, it hardly comes across as low-res by any means.”

The phone features the same processor as the P9--a 2.4GHz octa-core Kirin 960--paired with 4GB of RAM. Reviews had no issues with performance or overheating. Phone Arena praised the P10, saying, “It will hardly break a sweat no matter the task at hand. You will rarely experience choppy frame rate even with the heaviest of games available on the Play Store. Navigating the interface is also as agile as you'd expect from a contemporary flagship.”

With 32 or 64GB of storage, you should have plenty of room for your favorite apps, games or media. But, after Huawei’s customizations to the phone software, you’ll find over 11GB of that space reserved for the system. If you’re planning to keep your media on your phone or play multiple games, you’ll want to opt for the 64GB model or take advantage of the microSD card slot.

While their customization might take up space on the phone, reviewers were happier with EMUI 5.1 than older versions used with other phones. You can now use an app drawer if you’d prefer.

Recombu put the software through a week of use and said, “Huawei's additions help to strengthen an already solid user experience. You get a useful one-handed mode, some vibrant themes that match the colourful hardware, plenty of gesture shortcuts to save time and more besides.”

One feature touted by Huawei is the dual rear cameras with Leica lenses. Pairing a 20MP monochrome sensor and a 12MP color sensor, they claim it offers improved color, detail and focusing.

Reviewers agreed. DXOMark called the P10 “one of the best Smartphones we’ve tested for photography enthusiasts.” PhoneArena put the camera through a variety of tests and declared, “As far as image quality goes, the P10 shoots excellent pictures. It produces well-exposed images with plenty of fine detail that easily passed our pixel-peeping tests with flying colors.”
One of the most popular features was the new Portrait mode. It combines auto beautification features and a faux bokeh effect to create professional looking portraits. Overall, reviewers loved
the effect.

While the phone includes a 3,200mAh battery, many reviewers found battery life getting low before the day ended. However, using the included charge cable and wall adapter, reviewers found blazing fast recharge times. Many saw as much as 25% added to the battery in 15 minutes.

Reviewers found a lot to love in Huawei’s latest release. Pocket Lint summed up opinions well, saying, “The P10 feels like a coming of age device for Huawei. The experience is sleeker, the software more mature, the finish more refined than it has been before. Add great battery life, decent dual cameras and microSD expansion (or dual SIM) and there's a plenty to like. There's all the power and usability you're likely to ever need from a phone.”