Huawei Matepad 10.4″ Tablet Review

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Understanding the Huawei Matepad

Tech reviews are an interesting part of writing for Rapid Reviews. They are a different style of review, and when the chance arose to get my hands on a Huawei Matepad 10.4″, I just couldn’t say no. Was this tablet the technological friend I had been looking for or was it a straight relationship from the get-go? Keep reading this Rapid Review to find out.

All Tablets Are Not Created Equal

When it comes to tablets, I have always been somewhat uncertain of their uses. I have a laptop, and that surely gives me everything I need. Well, after spending some time with the Huawei Matepad I can safely say, I now better understand the appeal of a tablet.

The Huawei Matepad is a lightweight device that I could just slip into my bag, or when wearing one, my coat pocket and away I went. It didn’t weigh me down and while I have not been doing the usual office commute, for obvious reasons, a tablet such as this would have made it far more enjoyable.

The Technical Details

Before we talk about the tablet, let’s take a quick look at the technical details.

Model	BAH3-W09 (BAH3-WO9NM)
Manufacturer	Huawei
Board	BAH3-W09
Architecture	6x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.88 GHz 2x @ 2.28 GHz
Cores	8
Hardware	KIRIN810
Screen Size	10.38”
Screen Resolution	1200 X 2000 pixels
Screen Density	224 dpi
Total RAM	2827MB
Internal Storage	19.21GB

With that out of the way, let us continue.

Easy to Set Up and Use

As is the case with most tablets or other smart devices, setting up the Huawei Matepad is simply a matter of just following the on-screen instructions, making the relevant choices and waiting for the all-clear.

The tablet works on an Android operating system and as such the navigation and controls were like putting on a favourite pair of slippers. I could find my way around the device without issue and quickly started looking at its different features.

That said, I did run into the occasional issue when trying to exit out of different apps. Unlike my (old) iPhone and Samsung phones, there is no button or clear indicator on where to touch or swipe to exit certain apps or features. I always figured it out fairly swiftly, but it felt a little awkward and as if not every app followed the same rules.

A Casual Tablet User

There is no end to the different ways you can use a tablet. For the purpose of this review, I focused on using it in a casual way. Being a casual tablet user as I am, I immediately installed my core apps: MixerBox, Premier League and the Microsoft Office app so I could write while on the go.

I struggled to get some other apps that I usually enjoy, and did find the Huawei App store a little obtuse to use. Many apps I would download as standard on my iPad or Galaxy couldn’t be directly downloaded from the store which was a nuisance. However, there were plenty of options for those that are into exploring apps. Me, I’m old before my time and like my comforts. I did consult the web and there are explanations out there for how to download other apps for the tablet, but for me, that is a drawback as it made the tablet more complicated than it needed to be.

The Huawei Matepad Met My Needs

I enjoyed my time with the Huawei Matepad. It is a smooth piece of kit. The 10.4-inch screen feels bigger than the dimensions suggest. I found myself getting lost down several different YouTube rabbit holes while using the tablet and never once felt like swapping over to a bigger screen.

The visuals were sharp and the colours vibrant and you can’t really ask for anything more than that. The sound levels were one thing that I did find impressive. This little tablet has some lungs on it that’s for sure. I’m someone who enjoys watching shows with the volume turned up. Nothing is worse than sitting straining to hear something. Even on less than full volume, the Huawei Matepad was loud enough for almost any purpose. Even when the house was full and I was hiding away in my office – reviewing this tablet and definitely not watching wrestling highlights hoping not to be found – I had no problem in hearing the videos.

The audio was also very clear, even when pushed to the max it never felt distorted or dropped in quality.

All Tablets Are E-Readers but Not All E-Readers Are Tablets

When I mentioned the standard apps I install, I forgot to mention the eReader apps. I own a Kindle and have the Kindle app installed on my phones – both business and personal, and on my iPad. I struggled to get it installed on the Huawei Matepad, for the same reasons I mentioned above. However, there were a few eReader apps that I downloaded, and they provided me with some free books under a pretty fun scheme.

Selected books were free for 24 hours. This was a fun challenge and I enjoyed picking a random title and just experiencing the words. However, I digress. One thing I really liked about the Matepad was eBook mode, which made reading everything that much gentler on my eyes. This mode did apply to the entire tablet until I turned it off through the settings.

Taking Pictures Was Never More Fun

My partner and I have a thing for taking pictures. We are always snapping away, capturing moments for later reflection. While I have never been a huge fan of using a tablet for taking pictures, the Huawei Matepad certainly had me snapping more than any other tablet in the past.

I should say my aversion to using them is not because of poor photo quality but because I am somewhat clumsy and know it wouldn’t take long before I dropped it.

The Huawei Matepad however had me reaching for it whenever I could. I really enjoyed the large screen as it meant I could better align my shots, and the different filters that it applied meant I could get extra creative when out and about. I particularly enjoyed the Vintage, Crayon and Sketch effects. The camera also had several different photo modes including, Beauty, Moving Picture, Light Painting, Panorama and Time-Lapse.

I played around with all of these but predominantly stuck with just taking and editing regular photos. However, I would love to spend more time playing with the light mode settings as this seems really fun.

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The Huawei Matepad is a Solid Enough Tablet

I certainly enjoyed my time with the Huawei Matepad, however, I would not say I loved it. This was mainly due to the difficulty in getting certain apps to download. They were visible in the Appstore but took me to some strange third party site that still didn’t directly allow me to download them. We’re talking apps like Netflix and WWE Supercard. Nothing scandalous or outrageous. While I am sure there were ways of getting them, for a mild technophobe like myself, it lacked the simplicity of other devices.

That said, it is a cool tablet, and I loved the camera, and I really like good sound levels and image quality.

Overall, I would say this is a solid tablet, but possibly not the most user friendly when it comes to actually getting the things you need. Once they are there, it’s a really solid piece of kit that comes at a very good price for what you get.

If you like this review, why not check out some of our other Tech Reviews while you are here?