Huawei Mate10 experience: a flagship phone with no shortcomings

After three years of IT168 review, Huawei’s Mate series has now firmly occupied the first echelon of domestic smartphones. In terms of product strength and brand value, it has become comparable to Samsung Note, which also focuses on the business field. series, or iPhone to compare. According to statistics, Huawei shipped 112 million units in the first nine months of 2017, even surpassing Apple in global market share, ranking second, and firmly ranking first in the Chinese market. To a certain extent, Huawei has done what many domestic manufacturers want to do but have not yet done: brand promotion. Therefore, the current Mate series, whether for the media or users, in a sense carries everyone's deepest expectations for domestic smartphones. So today we won’t talk about running scores or theory, but just look at one thing: whether Mate10 is easy to use or not.

1. Appearance and experience

Whether it is driven by the market or technological upgrades, the rapid development of smartphones has also brought about various upgrades. In the current era of "full screen" flagships, perhaps it is to differentiate its product strength from Mate10, or perhaps because of its business-oriented positioning, Mate10 still needs a stable product. The Huawei Mate10 standard version we experienced today still uses a 16:9 screen ratio. However, thanks to its narrow bezels and tightened "forehead" and "chin", the Mate10's screen-to-body ratio reaches 81.6. And this number is even higher than most so-called "full-screen" mobile phones on the market. After waking up the screen, it still brings a certain visual impact.

Here, the author would like to say a few words about full screen. Currently in the market, there is still some debate about the topic and definition of full screen, whether in terms of screen size (18:9) or screen-to-body ratio. For many mobile phone users who don’t often go online or care much about their phones, they don’t even care about what a true full screen is. For them, the full screen may just be the first visual stimulation when they get a real phone and light up the screen. Therefore, from this perspective, I think that the Mate10, which is positioned as a business flagship, adopts a traditional 16:9 screen, which ensures but also gives users a considerable screen-to-body ratio, which is undoubtedly a smart decision.

In terms of content, Huawei Video has opened a "Mate10 exclusive" area, which contains HDR videos and "full-screen version" videos, which can be filled with 16:9 video resources. The actual experience is quite good. Therefore, compared with other manufacturers following the trend and producing an 18:9 screen without post-adaptation video resources, Huawei is more considerate to users.

In fact, when the 16:9 video is spread across the screen of the Mate10, the display area is much larger than that of an 18:9 mobile phone with large black borders on the left and right. Therefore, today, when the software and video resources of the 18:9 screen ratio are not fully adapted, Huawei Mate10 has a screen-to-body ratio that is not inferior to that of the full-screen, more software and video adaptation, and the front fingerprint unlocking is retained. , which can undoubtedly give users a better experience.

However, due to the narrow chin of the Mate10, the area left for the fingerprint recognition module on the front appears relatively narrow. Regardless of the visual center of gravity or the center of gravity of holding, Mate10 has certain requirements for hand gestures when using the Home button daily to prevent it from accidentally falling. The multitasking and return keys are also inappropriate on both sides of the home key.

Huawei seems to be aware of this, so it has added a "suspended navigation" function to the system. It has four gestures: tap, long press and release, long press and slide, and drag, which respectively correspond to the functions of returning to the previous level, returning to the main interface, and multitasking. We know that most human-computer interactions on the screen use two operations: tap and slide. Among these four gestures, two of the most commonly used functions require a combination of long tap and slide. In this way The experience also brings a certain learning cost to users. Therefore, here, the author recommends using the Home button directly. Although you may need to pay attention to your hand posture, it is always more direct than performing gesture operations on a thumb-sized ball.

2. System Function Experience

As the first commercial Android 8.0 model in China, the EMUI version of Mate10 has also jumped to 8.0, aligning with the Android version. The actual experience can be said to have surprises and regrets.

In terms of system UI design, the theme elements carried by Huawei Mate series have always been based on a more stable style. Until last year’s EMUI 5.0, inspiration based on the Aegean Sea also resulted in some more active elements on the interface. Therefore, on EMUI 8.0, the interface still does not change much from the previous generation.

However, one of the highlights of upgrading to Android 8.0 is that it finally adds a function in native Android 7.0 similar to that in iOS using 3D touch to press the APP icon to call out the shortcut menu, but Mate10 uses a long press method to do so. : For example, long press on the settings icon to call up the switch menu of "Hotspot/Mobile Data/Bluetooth/WLAN", long press on the camera icon to call out the shortcut operations of "Dynamic Photo/Large Aperture Photo/Video/Selfie", both are Some of the more commonly used functions are needed, and third-party APPs that are adapted to this function have been tested one by one, including: Alipay, Weibo, NetEase Cloud Music, Meituan, Vipshop, etc.

It should be possible in the future There are more software to adapt to, and there is vibration feedback after making a call. The function is very complete, the experience is good, and it is friendly to users who have switched from iPhone to Mate10. Overall, it is a practical function.

The artificial intelligence voice assistant mentioned at the press conference is also relatively playable: slide your finger upward from any area at the bottom of the screen to call out the voice assistant. You can say "The phone is a bit stuck" and other commands. Let it help us clean up our mobile phones, and we can ask about the weather, recipes, etc. However, we may encounter a "stuck" phenomenon when recognizing some commands, that is, we cannot recognize the meaning. At this time, we often have to change the expression method helplessly, or Leave it at that. But generally speaking, it is very convenient to help us send text messages and set alarm clocks when we are in a hurry. It is hoped that it can learn more semantics and habits in the future and become a true artificial intelligence assistant.

In addition, another highlight of the system is the integration of Microsoft Translator, which supports offline real-time translation. It was also explained at the press conference that it is not a mechanical use of the functions of this software as a selling point, but because Kirin With the support of NPU in 970, Mate10 will be much faster than other phones with Microsoft Translate application installed. In actual experience, if you want to translate English into Chinese, you need to download an additional 108M Simplified Chinese language pack. In fact, it seems that this language pack can be pre-installed directly in the National Bank version, because some users may just encounter this In the scenario where the function is used, it may be embarrassing if there is no traffic or wifi with sufficient speed.

Another point that can be improved is that under a certain probability, some text, which is obviously the same font, cannot be recognized and translated. But overall, thanks to the assistance of NPU, the recognition and translation experience is still very good. It can solve the urgent need when you urgently need to understand some foreign language instructions or travel abroad.

Huawei also brings many benefits to Mate10 users for in-system film, television, music, reading and other resources. For example, a three-month Huawei Video membership with an original price of 60 yuan can be activated for only 10 yuan. Comparing film and television resources More, and as mentioned above, the Mate10's 16:9 screen provides a large number of video resources that can be filled, which undoubtedly improves the viewing experience. Huawei Reading also directly gives Mate10 users a three-month trial membership worth 30 yuan. In addition, there are Mate10 exclusive gift packs in the app store, including game gift packs, electronic parking coupons, food, travel vouchers, etc., which shows Huawei's sincerity.

However, despite further improvements in functionality, there are still some things that need to be paid attention to with this generation of EMUI.

Perhaps due to the problem of adapting to Android 8.0, the adaptability of some software needs to be improved in the early stage of the experience. For example, Weibo will freeze at a certain probability, the screen will go black, and the final prompt will be unresponsive, asking whether to end the task, but this is also the case with third-party software. Regarding the adaptation issue, I believe that there will be more and more Android 8.0 models in the future, and third-party software will be more active in adapting. And there is still room for improvement in terms of system fluency. Frankly speaking, at some moments, Mate10 does not even have the same smooth feeling as Mate9 when I first got it.

3. Photography experience

In terms of photography, after Huawei P9 announced its cooperation with Leica, each generation of flagships has left a good impression on people in terms of photography. After a few days of experience with Mate10, it can be said that Mate10 has a very good standard in taking photos among domestic mobile phones.

From a parameter perspective, two Leica-tuned F1.6 ultra-large aperture SUMMILUX-H lenses, a combination of 12 million pixels color and 20 million pixels black and white, were just approved by French authorities on the day of the domestic press conference. Dxo Mark, a photography equipment rating agency, gave the camera 100 points (not a perfect score) and endorsed it with a high evaluation of 97 points.

As introduced at the press conference, the Mate10 equipped with the artificial intelligence 970 chip can automatically recognize the scene type and adjust the shooting presets when shooting most scenes, such as when shooting food. The icons of knives and forks, the icon of leaves when photographing plants, and the icon of text "T" when photographing objects with text are all optimized for different scenes. When actually taking pictures, the recognition of the scene is very fast, allowing users to Get the right preset for every capture.

The camera function settings are divided into three screens. Swipe left on the default viewfinder screen to enter the mode menu, such as black and white camera, HDR switch, 3D dynamic panorama, streamer shutter and other modes. Swipe right on the viewfinder screen. You can enter the settings, such as setting resolution, output format, watermark, reference lines, etc., it can be said that everything is available.

When the bright or soft mode is turned on in the camera interface, the screen preview will have a strong "German flavor". This is also something I want to mention: in addition to picture quality, Huawei has a relatively unique style in adjusting the color of the proofs, with rich colors, which is more suitable for artistic creation. For ordinary non-technical users, this undoubtedly gives them a "crash course" in taking good photos at will.

In actual experience, the advantage of the large amount of light entering the F1.6 large aperture is fully demonstrated in low-light situations. Whether it is an overpass in the evening or a light box in the street at dusk, low light is retained to the maximum extent. While the light details are high, there is no blur or vignetting at the edges of the light.

In terms of night scenes, Mate10 also gave me a surprise. During the evaluation, no additional equipment such as a tripod was required, and the super night scene was turned on. The long exposure of up to 9 seconds not only greatly improved the photo quality, but also recorded the busy streets, which has a great artistic effect. The performance of the photos is excellent in terms of image quality and atmosphere.

4. Battery life/charging experience

Battery life is naturally a special skill of the Mate series. Mate8 and Mate9 have captured the hearts of many business users because of their excellent battery life. , this time the Mate10 is no exception. It is equipped with a 4000mAh battery, uses the Kirin 970 which is a 10nm process that is more power-saving in principle, and supports Huawei's super fast charging.

This Mate10 is the first device to use a 2K screen among the standard Mate products. Therefore, Huawei has designed an "intelligent resolution" option. After it is turned on, it will automatically reduce the resolution as needed. You can manually select three resolutions: 720P, 1080P, and 2K to give users who don’t need 2K more battery life.

When the battery is low, there are power saving mode and super power saving mode. In power saving mode, it will limit background active applications, turn off automatic email synchronization, etc. to save power. In super power saving mode, it can only Use up to 6 apps.

After a few days of experience, the battery is fully charged at night. During the day, from leaving for work at 7 am to returning home at 9 pm, the battery is generally around 30%. The author uses it moderately, making and receiving calls, sending and receiving emails, and reading Weibo and Moments, I believe that even with heavy use, it is enough to last a day.

This time Mate10 is equipped with Huawei's super fast charging. My first impression is that it is fast. Since I often start charging from 20, it can reach around 80 in almost half an hour. The faster the fast charging, the faster the charge. It is coming faster and faster, and it has also caused users to have doubts about charging safety. This time Mate10 has passed Rheinland Security certification. I believe it reflects the emphasis on the basic red line of charging safety after the Note7 incident last year.

In general, I don’t know if it is due to the adaptation problem of Android 8.0. The battery life of Mate10 is not as good as Mate9 from a subjective perspective. However, the difference is not big. It is still in the first echelon of battery life, but the cooperation is better. Super fast charging, overall it can still bring excellent usage time.

5. Summary

The first-tier performance and battery life, top-notch photography capabilities, and artificial intelligence bonus determine that Mate10 is the absolute domestic flagship of the year this year, but it is artificial intelligence The functions of the NPU are still very limited. Voice assistants and camera scenarios still need to learn user habits and further enrich them. The adaptation of Android 8.0 is also a problem that cannot be ignored, but I believe these can be solved over time.

In recent years, with the cooperation with well-known institutions such as Leica, Pantone, and Rheinland Security, Huawei's high-end brand tone has been continuously shaped, and there is finally a domestic brand that can compete with Samsung, Samsung, and others internationally. Apple’s arm-wrestling brand. The elevated brand tone also objectively gives the Mate series stronger genes. At the end of the article, if I could sum up the subjective experience of Mate10 in one sentence: this should be a product with almost no shortcomings at this stage.