WHAT IS THE HUAWEI MEDIAPAD M2 10

The Huawei MediaPad M2 10 is a large widescreen tablet. You get no points for guessing this one, but it has a 10-inch screen. 10.1-inch to be exact.

Huawei's standard version of the tablet costs £250, significantly undercutting even the old iPad Air, but to get the most out of the MediaPad M2 you’ll want to consider upgrading to the £330 Premium edition. This version includes more storage, more RAM and a nifty pressure-sensitive stylus.

Hobbyist doodlers should consider the MediaPad M2 10 as a cheap alternative to something like the iPad Pro 9.7. However, there are some better options out there for the average tablet fan. 

HUAWEI MEDIAPAD M2 10 – DESIGN

There are two different MediaPad M2 designs. One has an 8-inch screen and, as we've mentioned, this one sports a 10-inch display. It's a pretty sizeable tablet, one that's been designed to be held landscape with two hands, rather than on its side with one. If you want something on which to read articles on your commute to work, say, then you'd be better opting for an iPad mini or a smaller Android tablet.

The MediaPad M2 10’s build is similar to that of several phones and the first MediaPad tablets. It has a metal rear, with a strip of plastic at the top that provides room for the antennas to breathe.

With a thickness of 7.3mm, weighing 492g and with fairly trim screen borders, the MediaPad M2 10 looks like a modern, if not all that interesting, tablet. It’s a little too heavy to use one-handed for any length of time, and in general I find widescreen tablets that bit more awkward than 4:3 models.

Having said all that, the standard version of the M2 is fairly affordable, and the £329 Premium version includes a whole bunch of extras. It has 64GB storage rather than 16GB, for example, although both versions have a metal microSD memory card tray much like the SIM slot of an iPhone or other high-end phone.

If you buy the Premium version then you'll also get a folio case and a screen protector as part of the package.

They aren’t exactly "premium" accessories, however – the case is very obviously fake leather and the screen protector is your usual film of plastic. However, each is tailored for this tablet. It seems unlikely too many third-party accessories will be.

Like the majority of cases of this kind, the folio’s cover folds in on itself to make a stand for the MediaPad M2 10.

HUAWEI MEDIAPAD M2 10 — STYLUS AND PREMIUM MODEL

The most interesting difference between the normal and Premium M2 10 model is the latter’s stylus. This is a metal, battery-powered device that can sense 2,048 pressure levels, matching a Wacom graphics tablet.

Like any stylus-equipped phone or tablet, the pen might end up unused if you don't have hobbies to suit, but it’s a decent addition for a budget tablet. The pen can be used to operate the MediaPad M2, replacing your finger, and built-in character recognition lets you hand-write text wherever you might use the keyboard.

While it may not end up being quicker than Swype-style typing, the software does a decent job of recognising most carefree scrawls. The MediaPad M2 also has a pre-installed Bamboo note app, which is the digital equivalent of a Post-it.

I half-expected the stylus not to work properly with the many third-party stylus-optimised apps, but it exceeded expectations. There are a number of excellent digital painting apps for Android currently available, buoyed by all the Note phones and tablets that Samsung has made over the years.

Pressure-sensitive stylus input works just great with apps such as Autodesk SketchBook Pro. The Huawei MediaPad M2 gets you a fairly natural, and fun, sketching experience – but predictably, it isn't quite as good as the iPad Pro’s Pencil.

First, while the nib has a little give to it, it’s made of hard plastic rather than a slightly softer material. Also apparent is a slight input lag, resulting in the sense your pen stroke trails the stylus. However, I’m not sure I’d have noticed this if I wasn’t looking for it, and didn’t have experience with the iPad Pro and numerous Galaxy styluses in the bank for comparison.

Lesser performance is excusable when the MediaPad M2 is around than half the price of the iPad Pro 9.7 with the Pencil too.

Both versions of the MediaPad M2 have a finger scanner that sits in the button below the screen. It’s quick and generally reliable, much like the finger scanners that Huawei builds into its more expensive phones. However, in use it feels nowhere near as convenient in a tablet such as this.

It seems much more like you’re going out of your way to use the scanner (even if it’s just 6in off-route), and since the pad isn't a button but an immovable touch sensor, you don’t get that immediate feedback telling you it’s activated. That will subside as you get used to the MediaPad M2, but if I were to continue using the tablet, I’d likely just switch off lockscreen security.

iPhone 6 Plus?

Update: We have revisited the iPhone 6 Plus, which is now packed with iOS 10, and fully updated our review to reflect the new features and lower price.

You'll also find comparisons of Apple's first plus-sized with its latest, the iPhone 7 Plus. As you might expect, a lot has changed - but there's a lot that hasn't, too.

See all Apple iPhone 6 Plus deals

Looking for an iPhone 6 Plus case? We've found the best ones available that will also fit an iPhone 6S Plus.

Original review follows below.

A 5.5-inch iPhone. That might not seem so unusual now, but when it first appeared it was something which would have sent a shudder down the spines of a collective of die-hard Apple fans, as it was a handset some thought we'd never see from the Cupertino-based outfit.

Yet here I am, staring down the barrel of what was once the biggest iPhone in history – the iPhone 6 Plus.

It arrived alongside the iPhone 6 – Apple's 2014 flagship smartphone – which measures 4.7 inches, making it more welcoming to a wider array of palms than the supersized iPhone 6 Plus.

Many of you, especially those of an Android persuasion, may be wondering what all the fuss is about – after all, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 turned up with a 5.5-inch display years ago.

• Compare: all the best iPhone 6 Plus deals

Take a moment to glance at the history of the iPhone though, and you'll see why the iPhone 6 Plus was such a big deal.

Previously Apple has only dealt in two screen sizes: a 3.5-inch display graced the first five generations of iPhone, and just three have had the pleasure of a larger 4-inch display.

5.5 inches then is a huge leap forward for Apple, moving its iPhone range into the uncharted waters of the phablet market currently dominated by Samsung and other Android manufacturers.

It's less impressive now, with the launch of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus (and even more recently, with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus) reinforcing Apple's commitment to the larger screen sizes.

Apple is looking to reach a previously untapped audience of smartphone users – those who demand a large screen – with 'productivity' the main buzzword being thrown around. A key market for the iPhone 6 Plus is Asia, where the general consensus seems to be bigger is better when it comes to smartphone screens.

In terms of specs and design, there isn't a huge amount of difference between the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6, apart from the obvious size.

The iPhone 6 Plus does boast a couple of unique features however. It was the first iPhone to pack a full HD display, plus its bigger body means it houses a larger battery than its 4.7-inch brother.

Both sport A8 64-bit processors, 1GB of RAM, M8 motion coprocessors and 8MP rear-facing cameras – although the snapper on the iPhone 6 Plus benefits from OIS (optical image stabilisation), while the iPhone 6 makes do with EIS (electronic image stabilisation). This is a much smaller difference than we see in today's batch of iPhones, with the iPhone 7 Plus sporting a dual-camera setup.

iPhone 6 Plus price

As with all Apple products, the iPhone 6 Plus didn't come cheap at launch, but you Apple ditched the 32GB variant for both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus long ago, so if you're searching for one, you'll probably have better luck finding the 64GB 

There was also a 128GB model, but that's been discontinued, so if you need a boatload of storage you'll have to opt for the newer iPhone 6S Plus or iPhone 7 Plus.

Even with some price drops, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus will probably be around the same, if not a little more expensive than rival phablets including the

It's big, it's expensive and it's inevitably played second fiddle to the iPhone 6 – so is the iPhone 6 Plus worth considering? Read on to find out.

IPhone SE?

Why should you care about the iPhone SE? It's a phone that's in an identical chassis to the one released three years ago, and beyond a new color it's impossible to know which model is which. It's the iPhone 'Special Edition'.

Then I look around the train carriage on the way to work and count the amount of iPhone 5S and 5 devices that are being prodded quietly all around. The number is staggering, and it easily dwarfs the amount of iPhone 6 or iPhone 6S handsets on show.

Has Apple been smart here? Looked at the way people are using phones and realised there's a massive market for a certain form factor - a smaller handset that you can easily reach across the whole screen with one thumb but still has some decent power?

The SE is a hark back to a long-forgotten era in smartphones, like Apple split time in two and pulled a phone back through, and charged $399 (£379, AU$679) for the 16GB model (or $449, £429, $AU749 if you choose the larger 64GB option).

That's a surprising price for Apple to hit: it's lower than the main phones, and the price of the contract for this phone is cheaper than many flagships from 2015. 

The SIM-free price isn't cheap, but it's more affordable than a 'new' iPhone has ever been and it's already begun to drop a little in price.

But enough about the price - usually, people that are embedded into the iOS ecosystem struggle to leave it, and are willing to pay whatever's necessary to get a decent new phone.

So what about this decision to re-re-release the iPhone 5? Has Apple zigged when the rest of the world has zagged, and come up with the direction everyone has been clamoring for, making a powerful-yet-palmable phone?

Or is this a company arrogantly believing it can churn out the same phone design for the third time and hope the world will consider it different enough to be worth the upgrade?

Fancy seeing the iPhone SE in action? We've filmed a video review of the palm-friendly iPhone for that exact reason - watch it below.

Key features

• All the power of a larger iPhone in a smaller chassis
• Camera is strong - on a par with the iPhone 6S
• Lack of 3D Touch is disappointing and would have worked well here
• Battery life is significantly longer than iPhone 5 / 5S

Besides price (the iPhone SE is the cheapest Apple handset on the market, after all) the key selling point with this new phone is the design. The chassis, as I've mentioned above, is precisely the same as on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, and beyond coming in rose gold, doesn't offer anything new at all.

That said, so many people are looking at the iPhone's evolution to the 4.7-inch display of the 6 and 6S and scrunched their noses up a bit, not wanting to make the leap to the larger size of screen (and that's before we even get into the iPhone 6S Plus' mega size).

The new phone is designed to be easily operated with one hand, the 4-inch screen sitting just at the edge of a thumb stretch, and Apple is banking on this fact keeping the handset current.

However, internally things are genuinely supercharged, a world away from the innards stuffed into the handset from a few years back. The camera has had one of the biggest overhauls, now coming with the 12MP iSight sensor found in the current flagship phones, and offering the same array of tricks.

IPHONE SE SPECS

Weight: 113g

Dimensions: 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm

OS: iOS 9.3.2

Screen size: 4-inch

Resolution: 640 x 1136

CPU: Apple A9

RAM: 2GB

Storage: 16/64GB

Battery: 1624mAh

Rear camera: 12MP

Front camera: 1.2MP

That means Focus Pixels to offer clearer and faster autofocus, the improved two-tone flash and Live Photos, where a small amount of video is captured with every photo taken. 4K video recording and ultra-slo-mo movie modes really help sweeten the deal too.

The power of the iPhone SE is something to behold as well - it's as powerful as the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus thanks to having the new A9 chip, the M9 co-processor and 2GB of RAM.

Compare that to the A7 chip with a measly 1GB of RAM from the iPhone 5S and side by side they're absolutely night and day in terms of speed and battery life management.

The M9 co-processor is an important element too, telling the phone when it should be heading into a dormant mode thanks to being sat quietly on a desk or in a pocket, which prevents the battery-hungry pings that lead to the red line of doom and you needing to reach for the charger at 6PM.

Battery life is impressive on the phone, especially when you consider there are only a few mAh added in here, from 1560mAh to 1624mAh, and with no increase to the size of the chassis at all, this is a really impressive feat and addresses one of the key concerns I had with the iPhone 5S.

honor 8 review

The Honor 8 is an absolutely gorgeous smartphone. Even before digging into the details, it’s difficult to associate the Honor 8’s design with its price; its level of premium appeal is comparable to that of the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S7.

The dual glass panel design is admittedly reminiscent of the Galaxy S7 and even more so of the Xiaomi Mi 4S. It is still quite remarkable, however, with the rear’s 15-panel light-refracting glass composition. This composition primarily enables some very enthralling light patterns.

Both glass panels curve down to meet with the chamfered aluminum band, which gives an impression of cohesion. The tactile power and volume buttons can both be found on the right edge of the phone. There is a nice texture on the power button, but I wish it was less subtle.

There is an IR blaster at the top of the device which can be used to control TVs and other household appliances. It worked quite well in my testing, and I think it’s a valuable addition.

Despite the metal band, handling can be a bit challenging due to the device’s slippery glass profile. You’ll want to be especially careful when setting the Honor 8 down, especially on uneven surfaces. The glass has what could be described as an “ice cube effect,” where it slips and slides very easily.

During my five days with the device, it fell a total of three times. Thankfully, the build quality seems strong enough to resist most damage, but you’ll probably still want to consider adding a case. That’d also help cover up any fingerprints, which can collect surprisingly easily. Huawei has designed a few cases that compliment the 8’s beauty, which should be available soon.

I would have preferred capacitive keys in place of the “honor” chin branding, but the on-screen navigation keys are still very pleasant to use. I also really appreciate the added software option to change the key layout as well.

Display

The Honor 8 is sporting a 5.2″ 1080P LTPS display, which looks great with a good amount of sharpness and saturated and punchy colors. Color reproduction could have been more accurate, however. Mainly, the display’s color temperature is very cool. Thankfully, you can make adjustments in the settings to compensate for this, but it’s a shame that the device didn’t ship with a better calibrated display.

The smaller display size does make handling easier in comparison to larger devices on the market. In fact, the Honor 8’s smaller size may seal the deal for some, as we rarely see this, especially at this price. The display brightness maxes out at 455 nits, which is about average. Sunlight readability is consequently good, especially for the price.

Performance

It should come as no surprise that the Honor 8 is powered by one of Huawei’s own in-house processors, a HiSilicon Kirin 950. The Kirin 950 offers comparable performance to that of the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 820

SEE ALSO:

In-depth look at the Kirin 950

February 5, 2016

As expected, performance was absolutely excellent. Everything is very smooth and responsive, which is what you’d usually expect from a more expensive device. Thankfully, there is 4 GB of RAM in both US models, so you can expect a smooth multitasking experience as well.

In my experience, the Honor 8’s Mali-T880 MP4 GPU performed very well when playing mobile games. Do keep in mind, however, that it may not be as future proof as the high-end Adreno GPUs. For example, in a 3Dmark test, the ZTE Axon 7 with the Adreno 530 scored a 2580 whereas the Honor 8 with the Mali-T880 MP4 scored a 964.

Hardware

As is the case with many Chinese smartphones, the Honor 8 is unlocked and includes dual-SIM card support, meaning that you can use up to two different lines with this single phone. In the US, carrier support includes AT&T, T-Mobile, and their respective MVNOs. The phone also supports Band 12 LTE, so you’ll receive T-Mobile’s extended range coverage.

If you’re willing to give up one of the SIM card slots, you can expand the phone’s base 32 GB of storage via microSD card, up to 128 GB. This is always a great option to have, even if you don’t think you’ll need it.

The USB Type-C charging port is accompanied by the headphone jack on the left and a single speaker on the right. The speaker is decent; it gets the job done, but sounds hollow and distorted. I would say that it performs slightly below average overall.

The fingerprint reader on the back of the Honor 8 is quite good: it’s fast while still being accurate. It’s comparable to the one found on the Axon 7, but that’s before considering the unique functionality that Huawei has implemented.

Since the reader also doubles as a tactile button, or what Huawei calls a “smart key,” you can program different shortcuts including flashlight, screenshot, or voice recording to tap, double tap, and hold. You can also have it open an app instead, if you find that useful. It’s a pretty nifty idea, and I’ve found my settings for double tap for flashlight and hold for Google Now to be quite handy.

Battery Life

Huawei provides three battery profiles out of the box: performance, smart, and ultra. While the default smart mode does seem to marginally improve battery life, I noticed that it prevented many of my apps from sending notifications. This made me miss a few important messages in Slack and a couple of Snapchats within the first few hours of using the phone, so I had to switch to the less power-conservative performance mode in order to continue with my review.

Thankfully, the Honor 8 supports 9V/2A fast charging with the factory supplied charger. You can charge the phone from 0 to about 42% in 30 minutes, which is almost as good as competing options. I do wish that the phone supported fast charging with third party 9V/2A chargers, but Honor has informed us that they will be selling compatible chargers directly to US consumers in the future.

Camera

The Honor 8 includes a 12 MP dual-camera configuration with an f/2.2 aperture and hybrid autofocus (laser assisted). One of the lens captures color, while the other is monochrome; Huawei states that this setup helps the phone capture better, crispier looking images.

It's a great shooter overall

And for the most part, the Honor 8 takes great, contrasty images with a good amount of sharpness and excellent dynamic range. I was surprised at how well it handled balancing the highlights and shadows in many of the images I took.

Honor 8 camera samples:

It’s a great shooter overall, and you’ll likely be very pleased with the images it takes. It’s not going to outperform the Samsung Galaxy S7, but that’s okay considering the Honor 8’s price. The 8 MP front-facing camera is also good.

Low-light performance was surprisingly strong, unlike many other affordable smartphones. Images don’t turn out excellent, but they’re more acceptable than those taken by the Axon 7 and even the OnePlus 3.

One of the perks of having the dual camera setup is the wide aperture mode, which allows you to set an aperture from f/0.95 to f/16 when taking a photo. Once you take the image, you can go back and change the aperture or focus point. This worked pretty well in my testing overall, although the widest of apertures weren’t as convincing.

Unfortunately, there’s no 4K video recording, and you’re limited to 1080P/60p. That’d be acceptable on its own given the phone’s price, but the video quality itself is poor as well with disappointing colors. You can see a sample clip in our video review, featured above.

The camera app is fairly nice, and offers some very useful manual controls. Unfortunately, they don’t rotate when switching to landscape mode, which is quite annoying. The myriad of camera modes can be overwhelming too, and many of them feel half-baked.

Software

For software, the Honor 8 is running Huawei’s Emotion UI 4.1 over Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Overall, the software is very different from stock Android: there’s no app drawer, the UI is iOS-like, and there are a great number of additions. Some users will enjoy this experience, but it may not be for everyone.

Some users will enjoy this experience, but it may not be for everyone

Some of Huawei’s additions are certainly appreciated, but a lot of them can come across as gimmicky. For example, the knuckle gestures are cool in theory, but don’t always work in practice. There’s also a good number of bloatware apps, which I quite frankly wasn’t expecting.

EMUI also has an entirely different scrolling mechanic than stock Android, which is smoother but slower. It looks pretty nice, but you have to wait for the inertia scrolling to completely stop in order to select something. This is incredibly frustrating in day-to-day use, as you’ll find yourself having to repeatedly tap on something until the phone finally responds.

It’s not all bad, however, as the lock screen view is refreshing, the timeline notifications are kind of cool, and the power management tools are quite useful. I just wish that Huawei would have approached software wholeheartedly and made more refinements instead of including a bunch of features that few people will actually use.

On a positive note, Honor has committed to updating the Honor 8 with new features every three months for the first year, and then providing security and bug fix updates for an additional year. With this phone, the question is not whether you will receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update, but rather, when it will arrive. It’s great to see this kind of software support, especially at this price.

There’s also the recently announced partnership with XDA-Developers that aims to create developer interest in the Honor 8. While it’s difficult to say just how many custom ROMs will be available for the phone in the future, this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Gallery

Price

The Honor 8 is now available for pre-order from Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, and HiHonor starting at $399.99 for the 32 GB storage option or $449.99 for the 64 GB storage option. There are several promotional offers available, including a $50 gift card, which can certainly sweeten the deal. The color options include blue, black, and white.

If you accidentally crack the Honor 8 within the first three months of owning it, Huawei will repair it for free. This is a great protection to have, although I wish it covered the phone for a bit longer.

Conclusion

Huawei has brought what many have wanted from an affordable flagship for a while now: a gorgeous design, a smaller size, and a great camera. In addition, the Honor 8’s excellent performance and IR blaster are not always common on an affordable smartphone.

While the Honor 8 is indeed a great value for the money, it is important to recognize that this is a very competitive price segment so you have many options to chose from. It would be wise to consider what you value most in a smartphone and base your final decision off of that.