Early Verdict: As the model filling the gap between the MatePad and MatePad T 8, the MatePad T 10s offers an ideal balance between decent internals and an affordable price. While we may have mixed thoughts about Huawei’s decision to use a Kirin 710A processor, we will need to do our usual tests to see if this budget mid-range tablet is worth considering for productivity and school work. 

The MatePad T 10s is priced at Php 12,999 and is available for pre-order starting today until October 9. Those pre-ordering will receive a Flip Cover, FreeLace wireless earphones, 15GB Huawei Cloud storage for 1 year, 3 months membership to TVB, and a 1-month membership to Mango TV.

As Huawei strengthens its line of tablets, there’s a noticeable gap between the upper mid-range MatePad and the entry-level MatePad T 8. To fill that gap, Huawei is bringing the MatePad T 10s, which offers some of the MatePad’s modern design and the MatePad T’s affordability, the MatePad T 10s is a large-screened tablet that aims to be an all-around productivity device.

Pros

• Sleek unibody aluminum body
• Large display with relatively slim bezels

Cons

• Kirin 710a processor underwhelms
• Undersized battery

Packaging and contents

Huawei keeps things straightforward with the MatePad T 10s’ packaging. You get a white box with a photo of the MatePad T 10s in front and the usual Huawei and App Gallery branding.

Inside the box, you have the MatePad T 10s, USB-C cable, 10w charger, and SIM ejector tool. Our review unit did not come with any documentation but expect them to be included in official retail units.

Design and Display

The MatePad T 10s has design elements borrowed from the MatePad T 8, though in a bigger form factor. You get an aluminum unibody back panel with a large plastic tab (both dressed in Deepsea Blue), along with a protruding circular module for the 5-megapixel front camera. The aluminum back panel has a brushed finish that is resistant against smudges.

The front panel has relatively thick bezels, but they are more symmetrical than those on the MatePad T 8. Like the more expensive MatePad, the MatePad T 10s is meant to be used in landscape orientation, which is why the 2-megapixel selfie snapper is found on the right side of the bezel instead of on the top part of the bezel.

For the tour of buttons and ports, the top part houses a speaker, while the right side has the power and volume controls. The bottom part of the MatePad T 10s is pretty busy, as it has another speaker, a microphone, USB-C port, headphone jack, and the SIM tray.

Like the more expensive MatePad, you get an IPS display in a slightly smaller 10.1-inch size. Resolution is at 1920×1200, and you get a 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you better estate for productivity work and better viewing experience with videos.

On our initial use, the MatePad T 10s’ display rendered good colors, though we feel that its automatic brightness settings are not as accurate. We will get back to our overall impression of the display once we finish our full review.

Camera, Performance, Battery

If the cameras sound familiar, that is because the MatePad T 10s borrows the same setup found on the MatePad T 8. While we would manage our expectations given the modest resolution of both front and rear snappers, the Kirin 710A should provide better image processing compared to the MT8768 processor used on the MatePad T 8. Here are a few sample shots:

For the processing package, the MatePad T 10s comes with a Kirin 710A processor that is paired with 3GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. Unlike the Kirin 710 and Kirin 710F, the Kirin 710A is not made by TSMC. Instead, this processor is manufactured by SMIC. Aside from being manufactured with a 14nm process (vs. 12nm for the Kirin 710 and 710F), the Kirin 710A runs at a lower clock speed at 2.0Ghz (vs 2.2Ghz on the Kirin 710 and 710F).

Huawei Taps SMIC for Production of Mid-Range Chips

While the Kirin 710A is relatively new, its use of a 14nm process may be considered dated especially with recent mid-range processors using 11nm or 8nm manufacturing processes. It will be interesting to see how does the Kirin 710A performs compared to other Kirin 710 variants and see if SMIC’s manufacturing process can match that of TSMC.

Like every current Huawei device, you get an open-source version of Android, along with Huawei’s App Gallery and Petal Search for app downloads.

The display of the MatePad T 10s may be bigger than the MatePad T 8, but it still has the same 5100mAh battery found on its more affordable sibling. We feel that the battery is a tad undersized for its size, but we will have to do our usual tests to see how it fares when it comes to battery life.

Wrap up and Conclusions

While the MatePad T 10s appears to deliver the right balance between the more expensive MatePad and the more affordable MatePad T 8, we have to see if its Kirin 710A processor and rather small 5100mAh can make this budget mid-range tablet a worthy option for those looking for a tablet that they can use for work-from-home or study-from-home purposes.

The MatePad T 10s is priced at Php 12,999 and is available for pre-order starting today until October 9. Those pre-ordering will receive a Flip Cover, FreeLace wireless earphones, 15GB Huawei Cloud storage for 1 year, 3 months membership to TVB, and 1-month membership to Mango TV.