Huawei took to the stage at MWC 2017 to
show o its’ 2017 fl agship, the P10. It has a
focus on portrait photography and design,
but does it perform as well as Huawei claims?
Price
Despite announcing a €649 price tag during the
event, we’re not sure about a specifi c UK price or
release date on the upcoming P10 just yet.
Design
Huawei P10 is no di erent. Featuring a refi ned
MWC: Huawei P10
AA36 PAGES.indd 38 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 39
design reminiscent of the Huawei P9, there are
subtle changes to the design of the smartphone
that make it stand out from the crowd, following
an ‘organic minimalism’ design philosophy.
Everything’s a little bit ‘neater’ on the P10, and
the curved but slightly elongated edges of the
smartphone give it a distinctive look, while also
being comfortable to hold in the hand (vital for a
5.1in/5.5in smartphone) and less slippery to hold.
The most obvious change, compared to the
Huawei P9? The staggering number of colour
options available. Huawei wanted to o er
consumers more than just the standard black, silver
or gold colour options, and o ers the Huawei P10
in colours including dazzling blue and greenery.
In fact, the P10 comes in eight di erent colours:
graphite black, dazzling blue, dazzling gold, rose
gold, greenery, white ceramic, mystic silver and
prestige gold, although not all colours will be
headed to the UK. Huawei worked alongside
Pantone to produce the vibrant and eye-catching
dazzling blue and greenery colour options, which
are noticeable even in low-light conditions – you
just can’t miss that colourful shimmer.
It’s not just the colours that are new, as Huawei
has also introduced a new fi nish: the hyperdiamond
cut, available on the dazzling blue and
dazzling gold colour options. It’s di erent to the
standard sandblasted fi nish, creating tiny ridges
along the length of the rear of the P10. It’s a unique
look when compared to other 2017 fl agships so far,
and provides an interesting (in a good way) texture
to run your fi ngers across when holding the phone.
Huawei also claims that the fi nish should reduce
AA36 PAGES.indd 39 09/03/2017 10:45
40 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
the smudges and fi ngerprints that appear on the
rear of the device, but we’re unable to confi rm
this until we use it for extended periods.
Huawei has also moved the fi ngerprint scanner
from the rear of the device to the front, and in
doing so removed the ability to easily take selfi es
without needing to awkwardly tap the screen – but
we’ll come to that in more detail below, as there’s
reasoning behind the move. Huawei claims that the
fi ngerprint scanner is beneath the glass, and while
it’s technically true as there’s no split lines between
the scanner and the glass, there’s still a dent on the
front of the device for users to place their fi ngers
and isn’t like what upcoming smartphones like the
iPhone 8 are rumoured to feature.
Hardware
Huawei put a huge focus on the design and
software capabilities of the Huawei P10 during
its MWC 2017 announcement, but there’s a good
reason behind that: the internals of the smartphone
are almost identical to that of the Huawei Mate 9,
which was released back in November 2016.
Just like the Huawei Mate 9, the Huawei P10
features the latest Kirin 960 2.4GHz octa-core
processor coupled with a Mali G71 GPU, 4GB
of RAM and 64GB storage. Those looking for a
little more oomph can opt for the P10 Plus, which
features 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Of
course, as with all Huawei devices, the P10 also
features a microSD card slot that’ll allow you to
expand the storage by up to 256GB.
That’s not a bad thing though, as in our Huawei
Mate 9 review we described the processing power
AA36 PAGES.indd 40 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 41
of the smartphone as stunning, and it’s a similar
story with the P10: it’s blisteringly fast, with not
even the slightest sign of lag at any point during
our time with the smartphone. That’s due in part
to the hardware, but also the software, as Huawei
o ers additional machine learning algorithms when
compared to the Mate 9 to make it perform even
better. Despite the high-end internals, Huawei has
confi rmed that the P10 isn’t DayDream compatible,
although it wouldn’t go into detail about the reason.
In terms of the display, the Huawei P10 packs
a Full HD 5.1in IPS display with a resolution of
1920x1080, compared to the 5.5in WQHD IPS
display with a resolution of 2560x1440. However,
due to slim bezels and smart design from Huawei,
the phone isn’t overly bulky and is relatively easy
to use one-handed. As with most Huawei displays,
it’s bright, colourful and crisp, although a little
heavy on the contrast for our personal taste.
AA36 PAGES.indd 41 09/03/2017 10:45
42 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
Cameras
Of course, apart from design, the biggest draw of
the Huawei P10 is the cameras. Huawei has made a
few changes that it claims will make the rear-facing
dual-lens setup perform better than ever, and there’s
a few notable changes to the selfi e camera, too.
Let’s start with the rear-facing camera. It’s a similar
setup to that of the Huawei Mate 9, featuring one
12Mp colour sensor and one 20Mp black and white
sensor, which should help it to capture more light
and perform better in dark environments. The lenses
have also been improved when compared to the
Huawei P9, which should help to capture clearer
images, although the real improvements are to the
P10 Plus. The larger variant features “dual camera
2.0,” according to Huawei, with Leica Sumulux
H lenses and f1.8 aperture for better low-light
photography, compared to f2.2 on the standard P10.
Alongside the improved camera, Huawei
introduces Portrait mode with the Huawei P10. As
the name suggests, the mode is designed for use
when taking photos of people. Huawei claims that it
features advanced facial recognition, thanks to the
dual-lens setup, and that the phone can identify and
track 190 di erent facial points in a 3D space for
snaps that are always in shot. It doesn’t stop there
either, as it tracks your face, o ers automatic portrait
enhancements (varying levels from 0-10, much like
the Beauty mode on some Androids), and even
tweaks the lighting for the best possible outcome.
It should highlight the contours and facial features,
while fading the background with the bokeh e ect.
That sounds amazing, right? While in theory it
could spell the end of bad selfi es, we weren’t blown
AA36 PAGES.indd 42 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 43
away with the new photo mode during our time with
the phone. In fact, at one point the phone focused
on the wall behind us, rather than our faces, blurring
out everything else in the shot apart from a pattern
on the wallpaper. In Huawei’s defence, the room
wasn’t lit very well so it might have struggled to
recognise our faces, so we’ll be testing this out in
more depth once we get a sample back to Android
Advisor. General photography was decent, though,
but again, the lighting conditions were not ideal so
we’d rather withhold our judgement for now.
As mentioned, the front-facing camera has also
had an upgrade: it’s not Leica-branded, just like the
rear-facing cameras, although not a dual-lens setup
like rumours suggested. Nor is there any kind of iris
scanning technology, sorry guys. What it does have
is a new sensor that Huawei claims lets in double
the amount of brightness compared to older Huawei
phones, and features a wider dynamic range. That’s
AA36 PAGES.indd 43 09/03/2017 10:45
44 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
not all though, as it’s smart enough to identify
whether you’re taking a selfi e or a group photo,
and will adjust the angle accordingly (wide-angle
for group, standard for selfi e).
Software
Let’s talk a little bit about the software on
the upcoming Huawei P10. Like many other
2017 fl agships, the P10 is due to ship with
Android: 7.0 Nougat. However, it’s not a vanilla
implementation as Huawei is also throwing in EMUI
5.1, the latest version of the fi rm’s Emotion UI. It
brings with it many of the improvements o ered
with EMUI 5.1, like machine learning for better
performance and an overhauled design, along
with a few new features too.
Let’s talk about One Button Control, as it was
briefl y mentioned when talking about the fi ngerprint
scanner of the smartphone. While Huawei used to
use the rear-facing fi ngerprint scanner of the likes
of the Huawei P9 and Mate S to activate the camera
shutter, and provide access to the notifi cation shade
with a single swipe, these options are now gone
(much to our disappointment). Now the scanner lives
on the front of the device, it o ers standard Home
button capabilities, and then some.
Rather than just using it to return to the home
screen, the scanner has all three function buttons
that Android users need within a single button. To
go back a step, tap it. If you want to go home, tap
and hold it. If you want to access the multitasking
menu, simply swipe from left to right. It’s that
simple, and works really well, but does take a little
bit of getting used to – we still found ourselves
AA36 PAGES.indd 44 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 45
reaching for the non-existent buttons during our
limited time with the phone.
Huawei also o ers integration with Quik, the
GoPro owned app that takes photos and videos
and automatically edits them, on the P10. Just
head into the Gallery app and you’ll fi nd options
to select media from an event or day, then Quik
analyses everything and edits it together in a short,
punchy video ready for sharing on social media.
Verdict
It’s too early to give a verdict on the Huawei P10
– we’ll get it back to Android Advisor labs, put it
through its paces and provide a full review in a
future issue. Lewis Painter
Specifi cations
• 5.1in (1920x1080, 432ppi) display
• Android 7.0 Nougat
• HiSilicon Kirin 960 CPU
• Mali-G71 MP8 GPU
• 4GB RAM
• 32/64GB storage (region dependent)
• 20- and 12Mp dual-rear cameras
• 8Mp front camera
• 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2
• 4G LTE
• Nano-SIM (Dual-SIM in some regions)
• GPS
• NFC
• 3200mAh non-removable battery
• 145.3x69.3x7mm
• 145g
show o its’ 2017 fl agship, the P10. It has a
focus on portrait photography and design,
but does it perform as well as Huawei claims?
Price
Despite announcing a €649 price tag during the
event, we’re not sure about a specifi c UK price or
release date on the upcoming P10 just yet.
Design
Huawei has a reputation for o ering high-end
design and materials in its smartphones, and theHuawei P10 is no di erent. Featuring a refi ned
MWC: Huawei P10
AA36 PAGES.indd 38 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 39
design reminiscent of the Huawei P9, there are
subtle changes to the design of the smartphone
that make it stand out from the crowd, following
an ‘organic minimalism’ design philosophy.
Everything’s a little bit ‘neater’ on the P10, and
the curved but slightly elongated edges of the
smartphone give it a distinctive look, while also
being comfortable to hold in the hand (vital for a
5.1in/5.5in smartphone) and less slippery to hold.
The most obvious change, compared to the
Huawei P9? The staggering number of colour
options available. Huawei wanted to o er
consumers more than just the standard black, silver
or gold colour options, and o ers the Huawei P10
in colours including dazzling blue and greenery.
In fact, the P10 comes in eight di erent colours:
graphite black, dazzling blue, dazzling gold, rose
gold, greenery, white ceramic, mystic silver and
prestige gold, although not all colours will be
headed to the UK. Huawei worked alongside
Pantone to produce the vibrant and eye-catching
dazzling blue and greenery colour options, which
are noticeable even in low-light conditions – you
just can’t miss that colourful shimmer.
It’s not just the colours that are new, as Huawei
has also introduced a new fi nish: the hyperdiamond
cut, available on the dazzling blue and
dazzling gold colour options. It’s di erent to the
standard sandblasted fi nish, creating tiny ridges
along the length of the rear of the P10. It’s a unique
look when compared to other 2017 fl agships so far,
and provides an interesting (in a good way) texture
to run your fi ngers across when holding the phone.
Huawei also claims that the fi nish should reduce
AA36 PAGES.indd 39 09/03/2017 10:45
40 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
the smudges and fi ngerprints that appear on the
rear of the device, but we’re unable to confi rm
this until we use it for extended periods.
Huawei has also moved the fi ngerprint scanner
from the rear of the device to the front, and in
doing so removed the ability to easily take selfi es
without needing to awkwardly tap the screen – but
we’ll come to that in more detail below, as there’s
reasoning behind the move. Huawei claims that the
fi ngerprint scanner is beneath the glass, and while
it’s technically true as there’s no split lines between
the scanner and the glass, there’s still a dent on the
front of the device for users to place their fi ngers
and isn’t like what upcoming smartphones like the
iPhone 8 are rumoured to feature.
Hardware
Huawei put a huge focus on the design and
software capabilities of the Huawei P10 during
its MWC 2017 announcement, but there’s a good
reason behind that: the internals of the smartphone
are almost identical to that of the Huawei Mate 9,
which was released back in November 2016.
Just like the Huawei Mate 9, the Huawei P10
features the latest Kirin 960 2.4GHz octa-core
processor coupled with a Mali G71 GPU, 4GB
of RAM and 64GB storage. Those looking for a
little more oomph can opt for the P10 Plus, which
features 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Of
course, as with all Huawei devices, the P10 also
features a microSD card slot that’ll allow you to
expand the storage by up to 256GB.
That’s not a bad thing though, as in our Huawei
Mate 9 review we described the processing power
AA36 PAGES.indd 40 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 41
of the smartphone as stunning, and it’s a similar
story with the P10: it’s blisteringly fast, with not
even the slightest sign of lag at any point during
our time with the smartphone. That’s due in part
to the hardware, but also the software, as Huawei
o ers additional machine learning algorithms when
compared to the Mate 9 to make it perform even
better. Despite the high-end internals, Huawei has
confi rmed that the P10 isn’t DayDream compatible,
although it wouldn’t go into detail about the reason.
In terms of the display, the Huawei P10 packs
a Full HD 5.1in IPS display with a resolution of
1920x1080, compared to the 5.5in WQHD IPS
display with a resolution of 2560x1440. However,
due to slim bezels and smart design from Huawei,
the phone isn’t overly bulky and is relatively easy
to use one-handed. As with most Huawei displays,
it’s bright, colourful and crisp, although a little
heavy on the contrast for our personal taste.
AA36 PAGES.indd 41 09/03/2017 10:45
42 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
Cameras
Of course, apart from design, the biggest draw of
the Huawei P10 is the cameras. Huawei has made a
few changes that it claims will make the rear-facing
dual-lens setup perform better than ever, and there’s
a few notable changes to the selfi e camera, too.
Let’s start with the rear-facing camera. It’s a similar
setup to that of the Huawei Mate 9, featuring one
12Mp colour sensor and one 20Mp black and white
sensor, which should help it to capture more light
and perform better in dark environments. The lenses
have also been improved when compared to the
Huawei P9, which should help to capture clearer
images, although the real improvements are to the
P10 Plus. The larger variant features “dual camera
2.0,” according to Huawei, with Leica Sumulux
H lenses and f1.8 aperture for better low-light
photography, compared to f2.2 on the standard P10.
Alongside the improved camera, Huawei
introduces Portrait mode with the Huawei P10. As
the name suggests, the mode is designed for use
when taking photos of people. Huawei claims that it
features advanced facial recognition, thanks to the
dual-lens setup, and that the phone can identify and
track 190 di erent facial points in a 3D space for
snaps that are always in shot. It doesn’t stop there
either, as it tracks your face, o ers automatic portrait
enhancements (varying levels from 0-10, much like
the Beauty mode on some Androids), and even
tweaks the lighting for the best possible outcome.
It should highlight the contours and facial features,
while fading the background with the bokeh e ect.
That sounds amazing, right? While in theory it
could spell the end of bad selfi es, we weren’t blown
AA36 PAGES.indd 42 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 43
away with the new photo mode during our time with
the phone. In fact, at one point the phone focused
on the wall behind us, rather than our faces, blurring
out everything else in the shot apart from a pattern
on the wallpaper. In Huawei’s defence, the room
wasn’t lit very well so it might have struggled to
recognise our faces, so we’ll be testing this out in
more depth once we get a sample back to Android
Advisor. General photography was decent, though,
but again, the lighting conditions were not ideal so
we’d rather withhold our judgement for now.
As mentioned, the front-facing camera has also
had an upgrade: it’s not Leica-branded, just like the
rear-facing cameras, although not a dual-lens setup
like rumours suggested. Nor is there any kind of iris
scanning technology, sorry guys. What it does have
is a new sensor that Huawei claims lets in double
the amount of brightness compared to older Huawei
phones, and features a wider dynamic range. That’s
AA36 PAGES.indd 43 09/03/2017 10:45
44 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 36
not all though, as it’s smart enough to identify
whether you’re taking a selfi e or a group photo,
and will adjust the angle accordingly (wide-angle
for group, standard for selfi e).
Software
Let’s talk a little bit about the software on
the upcoming Huawei P10. Like many other
2017 fl agships, the P10 is due to ship with
Android: 7.0 Nougat. However, it’s not a vanilla
implementation as Huawei is also throwing in EMUI
5.1, the latest version of the fi rm’s Emotion UI. It
brings with it many of the improvements o ered
with EMUI 5.1, like machine learning for better
performance and an overhauled design, along
with a few new features too.
Let’s talk about One Button Control, as it was
briefl y mentioned when talking about the fi ngerprint
scanner of the smartphone. While Huawei used to
use the rear-facing fi ngerprint scanner of the likes
of the Huawei P9 and Mate S to activate the camera
shutter, and provide access to the notifi cation shade
with a single swipe, these options are now gone
(much to our disappointment). Now the scanner lives
on the front of the device, it o ers standard Home
button capabilities, and then some.
Rather than just using it to return to the home
screen, the scanner has all three function buttons
that Android users need within a single button. To
go back a step, tap it. If you want to go home, tap
and hold it. If you want to access the multitasking
menu, simply swipe from left to right. It’s that
simple, and works really well, but does take a little
bit of getting used to – we still found ourselves
AA36 PAGES.indd 44 09/03/2017 10:45
ISSUE 36 • ANDROID ADVISOR 45
reaching for the non-existent buttons during our
limited time with the phone.
Huawei also o ers integration with Quik, the
GoPro owned app that takes photos and videos
and automatically edits them, on the P10. Just
head into the Gallery app and you’ll fi nd options
to select media from an event or day, then Quik
analyses everything and edits it together in a short,
punchy video ready for sharing on social media.
Verdict
It’s too early to give a verdict on the Huawei P10
– we’ll get it back to Android Advisor labs, put it
through its paces and provide a full review in a
future issue. Lewis Painter
Specifi cations
• 5.1in (1920x1080, 432ppi) display
• Android 7.0 Nougat
• HiSilicon Kirin 960 CPU
• Mali-G71 MP8 GPU
• 4GB RAM
• 32/64GB storage (region dependent)
• 20- and 12Mp dual-rear cameras
• 8Mp front camera
• 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2
• 4G LTE
• Nano-SIM (Dual-SIM in some regions)
• GPS
• NFC
• 3200mAh non-removable battery
• 145.3x69.3x7mm
• 145g
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