Huawei MediaPad M5s brand positioning
The MediaPad M5 is a new tablet range from Huawei which is positioned to take on the competitive turf with Samsung Galaxy Book and range of Apple iPad tablets. Huawei has come up with three distinct versions, respectively two basic 10.8-inch and 8.4-inch versions along with a top notch 10.8-inch pro version. The only downside is Huawei decided to load all these tablets with its previous generation Kirin 960 processor instead of the latest Kirin 970 processor. All the tablets will run on Android Oreo skinned OS and will have the support of new M Pen stylus of Huawei.
Design
Coming to design, the inspirational element taken from both Apple iPad and Samsung seems quite evident with this new tablet range. But like other such Huawei devices, this tablet range also doesn't fail to deliver a unique look and feel. The Pro version of the 8.4 MediaPads, all of them look premium with aluminum chassis and 2.5D Gorilla Glass screen. The body metal used for building these tablets feels like the stellar alloy which is commonly used in the Apple iPads.
Though the weight of the devices has not been confirmed yet, certainly they are not going to be bulky. Though whether these tablets can survive accidental bumps and falls could not be confirmed, from the built quality we can think that they can withstand minor fall-offs.
Screen and display
The best thing about all these new Huawei tablets is that all of them have a great screen to bezel ratio. The bezel in the 10 inch and pro versions is particularly slim and offers very similar look to latest iPad range. The 8.4-inch version apart from its handy and lightweight built also offers a stunning 2560 x1600 resolution display. It seems in the market for small tablets this can be a quick hit.
The best thing about the display of these new tablets is their use of IPS which gives all of them an astonishingly wide viewing angles. These tablets by using IPS panels instead of OLED screens made a sweet and bitter proposition. While on the one hand, these panels are good for wide viewing angles, on the other hand, they will miss the rich colours of the OLED panels as we have experienced with Galaxy Book. This IPS screen also doesn’t conform to the mobile HDR standard which has been a mainstay for most cutting-edge display of smartphones and tablets.
But even after going through all these comparisons the practical viewing experience confirms that MediaPad M5 offers far higher quality display compared to most other IPS panels. The company ensured at least a 20% improvement in picture quality, and that is probably the reason why we get such crisp picture quality in all these tablets.
Impressive audio output
If the crisp display is one major plus point for new MediaPad M5 tablets, the audiovisual experience gets superb with the impressive audio output of the Harman Kardon-optimised dual speakers. The speakers have further been given a boost by Huawei’s custom virtual surround sound system. The bigger 10-inch and Pro MediaPad M5 versions with the same audio tech offer louder and cleaner audio output.
M-Stylus pen
The Huawei M-Stylus Pen worked quite well with 4096 pressure sensitivity level and offers quite an accurate and robust performance for note taking and photo editing.
Price and availability
Huawei as of now only unveiled the European prices for all the versions, and all of them are likely to be available from the end of March or beginning of April this year.
Huawei Mediapad M5 8.4 will come in three distinct configurations and respective prices such as 4GB+32GB Wi-Fi €349 (£306), 4GB+64GB Wi-Fi €399 (£350) and 4GB+128GB Wi-Fi €449 (£395).
The three versions of Huawei Mediapad M5 10.8 and their respective prices are 4GB+32GB Wi-Fi €399 (£350), 4GB+64GB Wi-Fi €449 (£395) and 4GB+128GB Wi-Fi €499 (£438).
The Huawei Mediapad M5 Pro will be offered in two distinct configurations, and their prices stand at 4GB+64GB Wi-Fi €499 (£438) and 4GB+128GB Wi-Fi €549 (£482).
Final Verdict
With top-notch features and performance elements, Huawei seems to deliver a great range of tablets with the MediaPad M5. Most important of all, while both the top models of iPad Pro and Galaxy Book cost well over £600, Huawei still seems to cost a lot lower.