Introduction
Show-stealing looks and imaging prowess, the Huawei P10 Plus was one of the headliners at the MWC with good backing on the inside (by a little less special sibling) and not too heavily challenged from the outside. Early in the new season though, the competition is just about starting to hit harder, so the P10 Plus has big trials ahead.
That's right, Huawei will certainly find the heavyweight action it's looking for. After all, the only way to get better is to compete with the best. That's what has consistently been driving Huawei in everything they do and we guess we've got to give it to the P10 plus - it's got ambition and attitude, and we'll just have to see if it's got the aptitude to match them.
Huawei P10 Plus key features:
- Body: Aluminum unibody, 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5 front and back camera plate; IPX3 certification
- Screen: 5.5" IPS-NEO LCD with 1,440 x 2,560 px resolution (540ppi)
- Camera: Leica co-engineered dual camera: 20MP monochrome/12MP color sensors, both with f/1.8, 28mm equiv. focal length; 4-in-1 hybrid autofocus (phase/laser/contrast/depth sensing); dual-LED, dual-tone flash; 2x hybrid zoom; 2160p and 1080p @ 30/60fps video capture; OIS in the 12MP camera
- Selfie cam: 8MP f/1.9; 26mm lens; simulated bokeh effect; 1080p @ 30fps video capture
- Chipset: Kirin 960 - octa-core CPU (4xCortex-A73@2.4GHz + 4xCortex-A53@1.8GHz), i6 co-processor, octa-core Mali-G71 GPU
- Memory: 4GB of RAM plus 64GB storage / 6GB of RAM plus 128GB storage; microSD slot (hybrid)
- OS: Android 7.0 Nougat with Huawei EMUI 5.1
- Battery: 3,750mAh Li-Po (sealed); Fast charging
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM option available; LTE-A (Cat.12 600/150Mbps); USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS/GLONASS/Beidou/Galileo; Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; Infrared port
- Misc: Front-mounted fingerprint reader
Main shortcomings:
- Non-removable battery
- No FM radio
- The older USB 2.0 standard on a Type-C connector
- Low-grade water-proofing (not protected against immersion)
- No wireless charging
The dual Leica imager may have looked like a novelty for its own sake in the preceding P9 but this generation reaffirms a long-term commitment. The upgraded Leica Dual Camera 2.0 Pro setup is available on the regular P10 and the Mate 9, but only the Huawei P10 Plus takes advantage of a brighter and faster f/1.8 aperture.
In a bid to back the lineup's flagship aspirations, a WQHD screen is a first for the P-series - a special treatment afforded so far to only the Honors (a stand-alone brand), the Mates and the Huawei-made Nexus 6P.
A 5.5" screen makes the P10 Plus a little more manageable than a Mate or the Huawei-made Nexus by the way. The Kirin 960 with an octa-core processor and Mali-G71 is the same engine that powers the Mate 9. The 12MP RGB / 20MP monochrome camera setup delivers optical image stabilization, 4-in-1 autofocus, hybrid 2x zoom.
The one caveat - and not a small one at that - is that the expertly crafted and eye-catching exterior, high-end internals and the extra special Leica combo fetch a rather high price. At the time of writing, the P10 Plus is still in the pre-order stage but EUR 750 is quite a price tag to live up to.
Huawei P10 Plus in official photos
Its very own sibling, the regular P10, and especially the almost identical Mate 9 Pro may end up as too good alternatives if you want to stay within budget (P10) or you insist on AMOLED (Mate 9 Pro).
We guess the Huawei P10 Plus will be keener to face up to the "real" competition than worry about in-house rivalries but we just can't imagine it's feeling too comfortable in the AMOLED shadow of its own cousin.
Anyway, join is on the following pages, as we try to determine whether the P10 Plus can, indeed, make its mark at home and out in the world.
Unboxing
The Huawei P10 Plus arrives in style. Its rectangular box looks simple enough but when you try to open it, you quickly realize the clamshell top actually folds away like an old-school toolbox. There are magnets to lock the lid flaps in place. The whole thing has a pleasant soft-touch finish and makes a more than solid first impression.
Huawei P10 Plus retail box
As for contents, you get the phone cradle on top of the usual manuals, leaflets and a SIM ejector. A pair of boxes is stacked at the bottom. One has a Huawei SuperCharger unit, rated at 5V@2A, 4.5V@5A and 5V@4.5A. Sounds pretty good for snappy top-offs. However, despite the Type-C port on the phone itself, the P10 Plus still uses USB 2.0.
Huawei has opted for a custom fast-charging solution with its own dedicated pins. That means, you must use the included custom cable to get fast charging. It is housed in the other box along with a fairly decent set of Apple-style earbuds.
Last, but not least, you also get a starter transparent plastic case to protect the phone. However, it does have a frosty finish that masks the handset's color to some extent so you might consider getting another one down the line.
Huawei P10 Plus 360-degree spin
The basic Huawei P10 is pretty similar in size to its predecessor the P9 and the relationship extends to the Plus versions. The P9 Plus measures exactly 153.5 x 74.2 x 7mm tipping the scales at 165g. The new generation P10 Plus is pretty close at 152.3 x 75.3 x 7mm, but not as wide. This is the more important dimension for a handheld device and we don't really mind the added height as long as the width is manageable.
Design
High design is pretty much an integral part of Huawei's image nowadays. It is hard to pinpoint exactly when it all started, but ever since it shed the "Ascend" moniker, the P-series' has been all about perfecting and promoting smartphone craftsmanship and sophisticated elegance. The same goes for some of the company's other offers as well and we're not only referring to the exclusive collaborations with Porsche Design.
With the P10 pair, it's all about options. The P10 Plus can be picked up in three distinct finishes. And that doesn't only refer to color either. To elaborate a bit, we currently know of eight distinct options for the P10. These include Ceramic White, Dazzling Blue, Dazzling Gold, Prestige Gold, Graphite Black, Mystic Silver, Rose Gold, and Greenery. It is worth noting though that not all of them are necessarily available where you are.
The dazzling colors (Blue and Gold) have this hyper-diamond cut finish on the back, which mimics the surface of a vinyl record but coarser. This is the finish we got on our P10 unit, so you can head over to its review for some close-up shots. The texture is a bit unusual to the touch, so it might be an acquired taste. On the plus side, though, it does not smudge all that easily - or at least, not as easily as the sandblasted matte black version we got for review.
Huawei P10 in Dazzling Blue • P10 in Dazzling Blue • P10 in Dazzling Gold
Yes, there are sandblasted options, too. These look quite a bit more traditional and also feel that way. Fingerprints and smudges are truly an issue here, but we do have to note the P10 Plus means business in Graphite Black, the paintjob of our review unit. That may actually be true about Mystic Silver and Prestige Gold too.
P10 in Greenery • P10 in Graphite Black • P10 in Mystic Silver • P10 in Prestige Gold
Greenery on the other hand is a whole different story. Along with Dazzling Blue, it comes straight from the Pantone Color Institute's palette, where Greenery is the Color of the Year. It is an exclusive option you are probably not going to see on another smartphone any time soon.
This is what we mean when we talk about options. The Huawei P10 Plus though has such a clean and refined profile that it can simply work in both a subdued and a really out-there color palette. The perfect chameleon, really. This point is only further proven by the Ceramic White option. It is all glossy and pretty striking at first. Then come the smudges and you kind of realize it might not be such a good idea to have a shiny finish on your phone.
Huawei P10 and P10 Plus compared
One thing we should mention, though, is that we have been getting reports that the sandblasted options are pretty prone to scratches. We did notice a few little chips of paint around the SIM tray just a few days into the review, so there might actually be some room for concern, regarding the toughness of the finish.
Huawei P10 in Ceramic White
Finishing off the back is a large camera plate - but no hump whatsoever. It provides a nice little color accent on the back and really brings attention where it is due, the high-end Leica dual-camera setup. To put your mind at ease, it is not just a piece of plastic but is rather covered with Gorilla Glass 5.
Leica Dual Camera setup
Moving on to the front of the P10 Plus, we find a clean and subtle 2.5D shaped Gorilla Glass 5 piece. Yes, that includes the fingerprint reader. We definitely have to say we prefer it in black, but white is also an option with some of the above finishes.
Huawei chose a rounded shape for the P10 Plus' frame, but it also improved the antenna bands. Now the top strip runs above the Leica camera setup, while the bottom one follows the frame - neither of them spoiling a near seamless design.
The unibody, coupled with all that Gorilla Glass also qualifies for an IPX3 rating, something the regular Huawei P10 lacks. This essentially makes the P10 Plus splash-proof. We wouldn't take any risks around water though. The Huawei P10 Plus is not protected against immersion or even running water.
Huawei P10 Plus in the hand
Hardware overview
We kind of got caught up in the aesthetics of the P10 Plus a bit too much and we should probably get back to the point. Up front and center is a 5.5-inch IPS-NEO display. It sports QHD resolution, making it sharper that the FullHD panel on the regular P10. More on that later.
Huawei P10 plus front
There are a few sensors above the display, along with the 8MP selfie camera and a LED notification light - increasingly rare to find, even in this price range. We are also happy to report that, unlike the P10, which lacked the feature, here the earpiece also doubles as a speaker, essentially making the P10 Plus a stereo device.
There is only a single control under the display and it's not even a real button. As previously mentioned, it is actually hidden away under the Gorilla Glass finish, which is a feat in itself. Huawei is calling it a multi-functional Home key. It houses an always-on (and blazing-fast!) fingerprint sensor and supports swiping gestures. While the key isn't clickable, you can still use it as a three-way Android control - hold for Home, tap for Back, swipe for Tasks.
If that isn't your thing, you can always use Android's on-screen navigation. The fingerprint reader is also PayPal-certified so you can clear your PayPal payments authenticating with that instead of a password.
Mostly empty left side
A lonely SIM tray occupies the left-hand side of the device. On the dual model, it can take two Nano SIMs, but one does share a slot with the microSD card. We find that quite irritating and will definitely hold it against the P10 Plus, considering an increasing number of manufacturer have already recognized the issue and started switching to a dedicated slot.
It's also worth noting that we noticed a few chips in the paint surrounding the SIM tray. This isn't a really good sign for the overall quality of the finish in our book, since we did only take it out a few times during our tests.
Right-hand side
The right side houses both the volume rocker and power button. Both are positioned quite comfortably and are easy to operate with one hand. The power button features a red color accent and a different texture that make it impossible to miss. It's a nice design touch as well.
Top and bottom of the device
The secondary mic only shares the top of the P10 Plus with the infrared emitter. Yes, the IR blaster is one of the other features that the P10 Plus has over the regular P10.
The bottom of the phone has the primary mic, the USB Type-C port, the loudspeaker grille, and the audio jack.
Display
If you are considering the P10 Plus over its smaller sibling, chances are the bigger 5.5-inch display is a significant factor in that equation.
The 5.5-inch IPS-NEO LCD panel also has a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, which at 540ppi is definitively sharper than the 1080p P10. Still, there are also the well-known downsides that come with a higher resolution display, like a bigger strain on the GPU and lower battery endurance. But, we'll cover that in the performance chapter.
One thing we definitely can't overlook though is the surprisingly frequent ghosting we experienced on the P10 Plus. There're definitely some issues with the screen's response time. Display brightness seems to play some part in the equation as well, with lower settings the issue is bigger and at max brightness, it's hardly visible. When you scroll through lists of text items, like emails or even menu entries on the P10 Plus, you can see a very noticeable halo effect left behind moving shapes and text.
The regular Huawei P10 doesn't exhibit this behavior. Frankly, we haven't experienced this type of issue on any other recent phone. It may be specific to our review unit.
Other than that, the panel seems to be pretty decent in terms of contrast and brightness. The regular P10 seems to outshine it a bit at 100% pure white but in daily use to an untrained eye, they look about equal.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.416 | 592 | 1423 | |
| 0.335 | 547 | 1633 | |
| 0.41 | 665 | 1622 | |
| 0.011 | 366 | 33273 | |
| 0.00 | 400 | ∞ | |
| 0.34 | 374 | 1101 | |
| 0.34 | 395 | 1161 | |
| 0.00 | 352 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 447 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 352 | ∞ | |
| 0.44 | 637 | 1448 | |
| 0.43 | 673 | 1565 | |
| 0.45 | 589 | 1309 | |
| 0.37 | 551 | 1489 | |
| 0.005 | 341 | 68200 | |
| 0.41 | 573 | 1398 | |
| 0.50 | 681 | 1362 | |
| 0 | 432 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 392 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 610 | ∞ | |
| 0.43 | 475 | 1097 | |
| 0.59 | 628 | 1064 | |
| 0.228 | 468 | 2053 | |
| 0.277 | 564 | 2036 | |
The P10 Plus' screen isn't particularly great in terms of color reproduction. There is a very noticeable blue tint in the image, quite reminiscent of early OLED units. Color calibration is pretty uniformly off for most colors with an average deltaE of 5.5 and a maximum of 9.3 in the default color mode. Switching over to the Warm preset does yield better accuracy - an average deltaE of 4.1 and a maximum of 5.8.
There are manual settings available as well which may further improve the color accuracy. However, you won't be able to do much better with a naked eye without a colorimeter.
Sunlight legibility is pretty good, especially for an LCD. The P10 Plus remains perfectly usable outdoors - a strong testament to the second merit of IPS NEO panel after the above-average contrast with relatively deep blacks.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Sony Xperia X Compact
3.694 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
2.378 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Battery
The Huawei P10 Plus is powered by a sealed 3,750mAh battery. The phone ships with a beefy charger capable of outputting 5V/4.5A, 4.5V/5A, and 5V/2A, with the maximum power of 22.5W exceeded only by Oppo with their VOOC chargers (some of them 25W). Low voltage ratings also allow all the internal components to remain cool during charging.
To reiterate our point from a few chapters back, the only real problem with Huawei's fast charging is the proprietary combo of a SuperCharger and cable. Mixing and matching won't break anything, but could leave you charging at 5V/2A or even 1A.
Using the SuperCharger and right cable, we were able to charge the P10 Plus flat to just over 50% in around 30 minutes. Not bad at all.
The P10 Plus managed to score a total of 76 hours in our battery endurance test. That's hardly any better than the P10. So what happened to the extra 550mAh?
We can instantly spot a decrease in browsing endurance - 10:41 hours, compared to the P10's 11:47. This is easily due to the higher resolution screen. On the flip side, when the display is not in play at all during a call, we see a bump in endurance up to 20:25 hours. Video playback seems to be virtually identical, so we can only presume the player is smart enough to run full-screen at 1080p when presented with our 1080p video file.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
Just like its little sibling, the Huawei P10 Plus is pretty decked out in terms of connectivity. Its LTE-Advanced modem supports 3-carrier aggregation and is rated at Cat.12, for theoretical speeds of up to 600Mbps down and 150Mbps up. There are 20 LTE standards on the supported list, along with six 3G and four 2G bands, so the phone should feel pretty welcome on almost any carrier anywhere. Huawei also prides itself in providing a higher rate of successful call connections than some unnamed competing products. Even though we didn't test that claim, in particular, we find it easy to believe having in mind their expertise in networking.
On the local side of things, you get a dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac module. Also, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC, and a versatile GPS receiver, with support for A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo. One thing the P10 Plus has over its sibling is an IR blaster - a convenient little feature, which we appreciate.
The USB Type-C port at the bottom of the P10 Plus definitely gives off a modern vibe. However, Huawei still hasn't moved to USB 3.0 or 3.1 and the Type-C interface supports only the older USB 2.0 standard. OTG is supported, though.
Last, but not least, you also get a good old 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom of the P10 Plus.
EMUI 5.1
As expected, the Huawei P10 pair runs on the company's own EMUI ROM. It is now up to version 5.1, groomed to accompany the new lineup. The OS is not only based on Android 7 Nougat, but has also been refreshed in a number of ways. Design-wise, there is a clearly-visible stylistic progression coming from previous generations of the skin. There are now different colors and themes, crafted from the ground up by Huawei's design team.
But most Emotion UI 5.1 upgrades reside under the hood and offer boosts in various performance aspects. There are some relatively simple things, like improved mis-touch detection, better dictation algorithms and Moments, for more convenient photo organizing. Then there are a few major new background systems put in place.
Ultra Memory is a new algorithm with focus on recycling and freeing RAM faster. It also learns from your app habits and speeds up app launching/resuming by keeping what you consider important in the RAM.
Ultra Response, on the other hand, allows for faster touch response thanks to a new driver. It works towards lowering touch latency and support for predictive finger tracking. According to Huawei, their screens are now as fast and accurate as the iPhone's.
Huawei also talks a big talk about advanced machine learning, designed to catalog and predict your behavior and allocate CPU, GPU and I/O resources to the apps you use accordingly, making them more responsive. This is closely tied to SmartPower 5.0 - the latest installment of Huawei's intelligent power management platform, that promises up to 7% improvements to battery efficiency or as much as 3 hours extra battery life.
Single navigation key
Circling back to something a little bit more tangible, the new Home key single navigation scheme also comes courtesy of EMUI 5.1. You can get rid of the touch-sensitive Back and Tasks keys, and use the hardware Home key as a multifunctional tool instead. Once enabled - you tap for Back, hold for Home, or swipe for Tasks. There is also advanced gesture support on the key, where available, where you can assign some custom actions per gesture. It works pretty well and is really easy to get used to.
Back to UI then, the lockscreen is one of the elements being carried over from previous versions of the ROM. Still, it was already quite functional. The Magazine unlock style greets you with a different wallpaper every time you wake up the device, with new ones being downloaded when you connect to Wi-Fi and an option to delete the ones, which are older than three months.
The lockscreen itself is minimalistic at first glance, with just a large clock with a date and a shortcut to the camera. You can also quickly start the camera by a double press of the Volume Down button with the option to take a snap right away, or just go to the app.
While still at the lockscreen, you can pull up an iOS-style menu from the bottom, where you get a ton of functionality. The top row lets you manage the wallpapers - you can remove, favorite, share, or pause on the current one. In addition to that, you get a row of handy shortcuts for basic apps - voice recorder, calculator, flashlight, timer, and QR code reader.
Functional lockscreen
If you opt for a fingerprint unlock method, you probably won't be seeing much of the lockscreen anyway. Almost a shame, considering all the effort that Huawei has put into making it unique. Still, the reader is blazing fast and using it is a no-brainer.
On top of the multi and guest user support that comes standard with Android, you can also set up a so-called Private space, which you can access with a different fingerprint. The data accessible there is independently encrypted, Huawei says, and is inaccessible to the other users. Only one Private space can be set up per device.
Fingerprint settings • enrolling a fingerprint • Twin app • A couple of Facebook accounts • Slightly odd prompt
In addition to that, you also get App twins for multiple instances of a single application. Sadly, in its current state the feature only works with Facebook and WhatsApp.
But, we got a little sidetracked again. That's just the thing with EMUI 5.1. It is so jam-packed with features left and right that you can't look at a screen without stumbling onto at least a few things worth mentioning. Still, despite all the customization freedom and the powerful feature bundle, on the surface the ROM manages to maintain a clean and usable UX.
Beyond the lockscreen, we're treated to a pleasant surprise - on top of the usual all-apps-on-the-homescreens approach Huawei now gives you the option to pick the standard Android two-tiered interface with homescreens for your most-used apps and an app drawer for all of them. Kudos to Huawei for letting the user choose.
No app drawer by default • Layout settings • but you can opt for one • app drawer shortcut • app drawer
There are a few other interesting homescreen and general layout tweaks to check out as well. The app drawer, if you opt for it, is a vertically scrollable list of all your apps, 4 in a row, with a search field on top.
And if that wasn't enough customization already, EMUI 5.1 has Theme support. As previously mentioned, Huawei's design team put a lot of effort into re-imagining various shapes and colors in the UI. The theme store offers a wide selection and some really, really artsy options, that fit in well with the general high-design image of the P10 Plus. Of course, you can always keep things simple and only customize the wallpaper and possibly transition animations.
Powerful Theme engine • The Theme store has some good options • General UI tweaks
The notification area is a 50/50 mix between stock Nougat and Emotion. Huawei has tweaked the look of the quick toggles and added the auto-brightness switch, which Google so stubbornly refuses to keep in plain sight. The notifications themselves look just like on a Pixel.
The task switcher is rather straightforward, but again with added functionality over Google's own - apps in the rolodex can be locked by tapping on the padlock icon, so killing all apps will spare the locked ones. The kill all button is readily available too, not up in the right corner as Google does it.
There are a few other interesting tweaks you can apply to the status bar. For example, notification icons can be replaced by a simple numerical counter. You also have control over whether the notification LED and display should react to a new notification.
Notification shade, step 1 • step 2 with more toggles • task switcher • Status bar tweaks
The P10 Plus features granular notifications control - Huawei had that even before it was a part of vanilla Android. You can control which apps can send you the three types of available notifications - the shade notifications, the lockscreen notifications and the banner style notifications.
This level of control is also employed when it comes to the app access to network data and permissions. The user can control the rights of each application to access either WiFi or mobile data. This can save a lot of traffic and help you optimize your data plan and consumption in an easy and convenient way. You can also rest assured that there is no unregulated access to your personal data or phone sensors.
Notification management • Notification permissions • App permissions
But Huawei managed to go even one step beyond. EMUI 5.1 implements a really approachable way for managing what it calls App links. In other words, URL associations with certain apps. The same goes for default file type associations. Last, but not least, there is a dedicated menu for controlling really crucial permission on a per-app basis. It's a great addition, since you definitely don't want any old app ignoring the system's attempts to optimize its power consumption or drawing over other applications.
App links • Default apps • Special access permissions
While these are options accessible from the settings menu, most of them are also featured inside the Phone Manager app. In there you'll also find a one-touch optimization button (which may make you feel better, but we see no reason not to let Android do it for you). A virus scanner, powered by Avast is on board as well.
Battery saving modes are available from the Power manager, two of them. There's Power saving, which imposes some minor limitations on hardware and software, and then there's Ultra power saving, which condenses your entire phone's functions to a single black homescreen with six shortcuts. You can customize those shortcuts, and you can pick from any app on the phone, so this mode is very much a psychological constraint to prevent you from using many apps simultaneously than anything else.
By Huawei's estimates, that should triple your battery life, so apparently, there's more going on under the hood. Ah, there's no task switcher in this mode, you only get one app at a time, though judging by the loading times, they have to be in the RAM. Screenshots are disabled.
Power manager
A large portion of Huawei's optimization efforts seem to have gone into usability and navigation and it shows. Throughout the interface, you get contextual menus with relevant options right at the bottom of the screen above the navigation bar - hugely convenient for single-handed operation. The universal drawer that pulls out from the left side of Google apps is a lot better suited for left-hand use than right-hand, and even for lefties some of the higher-placed options are still too far away.
Contextual menus
You can also enable the so-called Floating dock - it's a virtual key you can move anywhere on the screen, allowing you to expand it to the primary Android keys - Back, Home, Task Switcher, Lock and Close all running apps. It will help you control your phone with just one hand. There are other interesting alternative controls as well, like the ability to map the buttons on your headphones to various actions.
Smart assistance • Smart headset control • One-handed UI • Floating dock
Motion control also plays a significant role on the Huawei P10 Plus as it did on previous Huawei models. There are flip gestures, as well as picking up, tilting and even things like knuckle detection and drawing. All of those are extensively customizable to your liking.
You can start recording a video of your interaction with the UI by the intuitive double knock with two knuckles while drawing an S with a single knuckle launches the scrolling screenshot. The latter is available from the regular Power/Volume down shortcut.
Motion and knuckle gestures
Voice commands are constantly getting better as well. Talking to your phone is still plenty weird around other people, but otherwise, you could potentially operate the P10 Plus entirely hands-free. The functionality boils down to the ability to trigger a voice command even when the phone is locked and its screen is off.
Huawei does this by always listening for a "trigger word", which by default is... "Okay, Emy." Once triggered, the phone wakes up and awaits for further voice instructions, like placing a call. Speech awareness is also customizable. The wake-up phrase can be changed, and you can also train the device to recognize your voice better.
Voice control
For certain scenarios, like in-car use, you can enable a Simple homescreen mode, which features large tiles for easy tapping. It's not particularly consistent, though, offering simple version of some menus, but not others - the dialer is the same size as in regular mode (in all fairness it's fairly oversized to begin with).
Simple homescreen with a tiled interface
Performance
Just like the P10, the P10 Plus utilizes the top of the line Kirin 960 SoC. It is developed in-house by Huawei's chipmaker HiSilicon and has been around for some time now, originally making its debut on the Huawei Mate 9. Even with a few months of history behind it, the Kirin 960 is still one of the most innovative and cutting-edge chips around.
The main processor within the chipset consists of a quad-core Cortex-A73 cluster clocked at 2.4GHz, plus a quad-core array of the familiar Cortex-A53 cores, ticking at 1.8GHz. The Cortex-A73s boast a 30% power efficiency compared to the previous A72 design, while also promising improved performance.
Four A73 cores are currently one of the most potent combinations available, at least until the likes of the Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895 officially arrive on the scene. However, there is still a sea of great flagship offers out there that can outshine the P10 and P10 Plus in some respects. When picking the competitions, we didn't really have to hold back, since the price of EUR 750 or so leaves very few current smartphone offers out of budget. Then again, you could go down a more economic root as well, so our first order of business was to draft in the OnePlus 3T and ZTE Axon 7 - the value offers in an aggressive pricing category of their own.
Then again, you don't really need to limit yourself to the pair. Proper western-friendly flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge or the LG V20 can also be had for less then EUR 700. The brand new LG G6 should be joining their ranks pretty soon as well. We also included the iPhone 7 Plus in the race, since it mostly fits the budget. However, the Pixel XL we threw in for fun and because of its solid camera reputation. In reality, it goes for an even more exuberant price than the P10 Plus.
No proper performance comparison would be complete without throwing in a few of Xiaomi's excellent offers. There are definitely models to consider in the flagship realm - the Mi 5S Plus instantly springs to mid with its dual-camera setup. And if the late Galaxy Note7's aesthetic appealed to you, the Mi Note 2 is definitely worth looking into (we're not saying anything). Even the extravagant 6.5-inch Mi Mix is within reach. Just keep in mind potential shipping and import taxes.
Last, but not least, we included a few of Huawei's other devices. Of course, there are the Mate 9, 9 Pro and smaller P10 - equipped with the same Kirin 960 chip. But, looking back a bit, there is the still excellent P9 Plus with the Kirin 955 and Honor 8, with the Kirin 950 - a nice historic overview of the performance bumps in HiSilicon's hardware.
We kick things off with some CPU-only loads in GeekBench. Indeed, a single A73 core is better than any other available processor we've tested so far under Android, but Apple's Hurricane cores still trump everything else.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3473 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
1939 - Huawei P10 Plus
1937 - Huawei P10
1927 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
1911 - Huawei Mate 9
1898 - OnePlus 3T
1890 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
1824 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
1815 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
1815 - Huawei Honor 8
1720 - ZTE Axon 7
1702 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
1696 - LG V20
1576 - Google Pixel XL
1507 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
1440
But it's multi-core tests where the four A73 units really shine. It is interesting to note that the P10 Plus seems to come in last in our Kirin 960 lineup - a good 200 points behind the regular P10. That can likely be attributed to early software on our review unit.
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Huawei Mate 9
6112 - Huawei P10
6069 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
5845 - Huawei P10 Plus
5821 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
5664 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
5645 - Huawei Honor 8
5447 - OnePlus 3T
4364 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
4333 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
4288 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
4278 - Google Pixel XL
4152 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
4128 - ZTE Axon 7
3990 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
3976 - LG V20
3824
The Kirin 960 choice of graphics - the Mali-G71MP8 is an enormous improvement over the previous generations of HiSilicon chips and is finally flagship worthy. It managed to perform beautifully on the regular P10. However, on the P10 Plus it is tasked with pushing pixels on a QHD panel. That explains the major performance delta between it and the P10 in on-screen rendering.
Still, while looking at the synthetics, bear in mind most games will scale back gracefully in both resolution and detail, if necessary. Real-life gaming is definitely a pleasant experience on the P10 Plus.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Huawei P10
39433 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
37346 - OnePlus 3T
36958 - Huawei Mate 9
36519 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
36506 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
36062 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
32609 - ZTE Axon 7
32243 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32160 - Google Pixel XL
30861 - Huawei P10 Plus
30602 - LG V20
29385 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
27600 - Huawei Nexus 6P
22825 - Huawei Honor 8
16592 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
15814 - Huawei P9 Plus
15058
Before continuing on to GFXBench, we do feel obliged to note that while the Mali-G71MP8 on the Kirin 960 chip is powerful, it is not exactly power-efficient. There are no two ways about it, the GPU is just a bit on the power-hungry side. This sadly has two negative consequences. One is a noticeable dip in battery endurance while under GPU load. More than what is expected on most other devices, that is.
The second problem is heat. The chip runs hot and appears to thermal-throttle under prolonged stress. The regular P10 has the same problem, but unlike its performance dips of a much as 30%, the P10 Plus seems to have a bit more wiggle room with its larger body. Still, you can expect up to 20% less frames when hot.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
60 - OnePlus 3T
49 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
49 - Google Pixel XL
47 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
44 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
40 - LG V20
40 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
38 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
38 - Huawei Mate 9
30 - Huawei P10
29 - Huawei P10 Plus
28 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
28 - Huawei Nexus 6P
25 - Huawei P9 Plus
18 - Huawei Honor 8
18 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
17 - ZTE Axon 7
15
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
56 - OnePlus 3T
48 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
47 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
41 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
41 - Huawei P10
35 - Google Pixel XL
30 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
29 - Huawei Mate 9
28 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
27 - LG V20
25 - Huawei P10 Plus
19 - Huawei P9 Plus
19 - Huawei Honor 8
19 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
18 - Huawei Nexus 6P
17 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
17 - ZTE Axon 7
12
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
39 - OnePlus 3T
33 - Google Pixel XL
32 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32 - ZTE Axon 7
31 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
30 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
30 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
29 - LG V20
29 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
28 - Huawei P10
22 - Huawei Mate 9
22 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
22 - Huawei P10 Plus
19 - Huawei Nexus 6P
17 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
11 - Huawei P9 Plus
10 - Huawei Honor 8
10
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
42 - OnePlus 3T
33 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
32 - Huawei P10
30 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
30 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
27 - Huawei Mate 9
23 - Google Pixel XL
17 - LG V20
17 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
16 - ZTE Axon 7
15 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
15 - Huawei P10 Plus
12 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
12 - Huawei P9 Plus
11 - Huawei Honor 8
11 - Huawei Nexus 6P
11 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
11
Again, keep in mind the QHD panel is the on-screen tests here.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 3T
20 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
20 - LG V20
20 - Google Pixel XL
19 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
18 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
18 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
18 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
16 - ZTE Axon 7
15 - Huawei P10
14 - Huawei Mate 9
13 - Huawei P10 Plus
12 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
12 - Huawei Honor 8
6.3 - Huawei P9 Plus
6.2 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
5.8
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 3T
20 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
20 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
19 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
17 - Huawei P10
16 - ZTE Axon 7
16 - Huawei Mate 9
14 - LG V20
12 - Google Pixel XL
11 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
10 - Huawei P10 Plus
9 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
8.3 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
8.2 - Huawei Honor 8
6.9 - Huawei P9 Plus
6.8 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
5.8
Moving on to some all-round performance benchmarks, we find the P10 Plus shines bright in BaseMark OS II. It pretty much outpaces all other Android devices currently in our database, including the P10.
Basemark OS II
Higher is better
- Huawei P10 Plus
3447 - Huawei P10
3393 - OnePlus 3T
3328 - Huawei Mate 9
3280 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
2843 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
2814 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2677 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2503 - LG V20
2473 - Huawei P9 Plus
2155 - Huawei Nexus 6P
2063 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
2045 - Huawei Honor 8
2029 - ZTE Axon 7
1889
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3796 - Huawei P10 Plus
2940 - Huawei P10
2910 - OnePlus 3T
2678 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
2670 - Huawei Mate 9
2637 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
2496 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2434 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
2381 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2364 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
2352 - ZTE Axon 7
2346 - Google Pixel XL
2281 - LG V20
2159 - Huawei P9 Plus
2099 - Huawei Honor 8
2099 - Huawei Nexus 6P
2040 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
1770
AnTuTu appears to show a different story. However, it's nothing really unexpected, since Huawei handsets typically get penalized in this particular benchmark for some reason. That being said, the P10 Plus falls in line perfectly with its expected performance.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
173110 - OnePlus 3T
165097 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
155185 - LG V20
141945 - Google Pixel XL
141186 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
140324 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
133242 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
132849 - ZTE Axon 7
129926 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (E8890, Nougat)
129629 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
128719 - Huawei P10
126629 - Huawei P10 Plus
126252 - Huawei Mate 9
122826 - Huawei P9 Plus
97392 - Huawei Honor 8
94892 - Huawei Nexus 6P
89345 - Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
85181
The Huawei P10 Plus stands tall in the performance race - nothing short of a proper flagship offer. We really couldn't ask for anything more in the CPU department. As for the GPU, frankly, even the thermal throttling isn't a big deal and definitely not a deal-breaker. Even with it, the Mali-G71MP8 happily chewed through any graphics task we threw at it.
Even under heavy synthetic loads, the P10 Plus never actually got unpleasantly hot to the touch. So, even serious mobile gamers should be safe on long sessions. Chances are, you'll never spot these hurdles under normal circumstances, but they are still worth noting.
Telephony
The EMUI dialer shares a common interface with the contacts app. There are no groundbreaking features here, and nothing missing.
Smart dialing • Contacts
The dual-SIM settings menu lets you rename cards, disable them from software and select which one does calls or data by default. The interface leads us to believe that while 4G may be limited to just one card, both get 3G connectivity in addition to 2G, which the specs don't indicate.
The interface is not ideal in that dual SIM settings is in one menu, while the mobile networks are in a different one, and you may need to do a little back-and-forth to set things up precisely to your liking - say limit the primary card to 3G. 'Primary' as in the default card that gets 4G connectivity - you choose that in dual SIM settings. Then in the mobile networks section you get to pick the preferred network type, but only for this primary card - the other one makes do with the rest of the available radios.
Messaging and text input
Everything is pretty standard in the messaging department as well. You get conversations, separated neatly into threads. There are a few nifty attachment options as well, although that does necessitate an MMS rather than SMS.
Messaging
Out of the box, text input is handled by SwiftKey. It is pretty powerful and loaded to the brim with features. There are custom dictionaries, swipe input and all sorts of customization options, including a full-fledged theme engine. We really couldn't ask for more.
SwiftKey is pretty powerful
Loudspeaker
The regular P10 has a pretty powerful speaker at its disposal, but during our time with it, we just couldn't shake the feeling that having a single speaker was kind of cheat. The Mate 9 has a stereo setup, the same goes for its Pro variant and the P9 Plus. This might be a clear case of forced market segmentation, but regardless, we are happy to report that the P10 Plus is back to stereo.
It actually uses the earpiece as a second speaker. The system works surprisingly well, despite the difference in orientation between the pair. We found watching videos a bit more enjoyable on the P10 Plus. Then again, a lot of the credit should also go to the larger 5.5-inch display.
Still, as expected, the dedicated bottom-mounted speaker turned out to be the more powerful of the two and facilitated the Good score the P10 Plus managed in our loudspeaker test. This is a bit lower than the Mono-only P10. More likely than not, loudness was brought down to properly facilitate the hybrid "stereo+" mode. What this means is that in portrait mode, the earpiece is only used to enhance the main speaker as a tweeter in what is essentially a two-driver mono setup. Rotating the phone horizontally routes the left and right channels to their own respective speakers.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 65.0 | 68.2 | 70.8 | Average | |
| 63.4 | 68.6 | 76.4 | Good | |
| 61.0 | 69.3 | 78.3 | Good | |
| 66.8 | 68.8 | 74.5 | Good | |
| 70.0 | 69.1 | 71.8 | Good | |
| 68.3 | 72.2 | 72.9 | Good | |
| 66.9 | 70.0 | 76.9 | Good | |
| 67.1 | 66.2 | 82.6 | Good | |
| 64.8 | 69.8 | 82.5 | Good | |
| 68.2 | 68.6 | 80.9 | Good | |
| 67.2 | 72.4 | 79.5 | Very Good | |
| 67.7 | 70.0 | 83.6 | Very Good | |
| 66.4 | 72.2 | 84.1 | Very Good | |
| 64.2 | 72.8 | 86.0 | Very Good | |
| 74.7 | 77.8 | 72.1 | Very Good | |
| 71.7 | 73.7 | 81.3 | Very Good | |
| 73.4 | 72.1 | 84.1 | Excellent | |
| 67.6 | 74.2 | 91.7 | Excellent | |
| 83.1 | 74.5 | 85.0 | Excellent |
Pre-installed apps
Huawei offers a pretty rich default app package. In fact, we would even go as far as to call certain parts of it bloat. HiGame and Health are two thing you get out of the box. The former is an app store alternative of sorts, dedicated to games. Functional yes, but not really that necessary.
Health, on the other hand, is pretty great, It tracks steps and calculates calories burnt, but can also supposedly count the number of floors you've climbed. All metrics are also presented in a very stylistic fashion.
Another quintessentially Huawei app loaded on there is HiCare. If you ever feel lost in EMUI, you should definitely give it a try, it has all the guides and support you need.
HiGame • Health • HiCare
Smart Controller and Compass are another pair of pretty generic, yet hardware-specific apps. Its a good thing Huawei was nice enough to throw it its own IR controller app, since otherwise, you would be left searching for a third-party solution that knows how to communicate with the Huawei IR API. The application itself also looks good and offers a surprisingly rich database of device remote control codes.
As for the compass app, well, it's pretty self-explanatory. It looks pretty good though. Oh, an you also get a Mirror app, that simply fires up your selfie camera, along with some additional filters.
Smart Controller • Adding appliances • Compass • Mirror
You also have a ton of basic tools preloaded, including a proper file manager, calendar app, notes, weather, sound recorder, and flashlight.
File manager • Clock • Calculator • Recorder • Flashlight
Gallery with Quick
EMUI 5.1 comes with an updated Gallery app. GoPro has partnered with Huawei to bring the Quik video editing app into EMUI's Gallery. With EMUI 5.1, Quik is responsible for all Highlights and custom video edits.
The gallery defaults to a timeline, which sorts your images by the date you've taken them. The pinch gesture is available for setting thumbnail size. You can opt for the standard Album view with all of your images sorted in different albums, and you can also have hidden albums, though that's more of an organizational tool than a privacy one - they are there when you hit hidden albums.
Gallery
Highlights is a new gallery feature, which isn't new for Android, but is now making its way to EMUI's default gallery app. While your phone is idle, the gallery will index your photos and sort them by places and people. GoPro's Quik integration generates video highlights from your best moments. It can detect faces and frame the picture accordingly, or it can even sync the whole video with music's beat. All of these new features are available in the new Discovery tab.
Opening a single image lets you quickly delete or rotate it, as well as gives you a host of sharing options. The info icon up top gives some pretty detailed information about the image, including a histogram.
Viewing a single image
The built-in editor is also pretty capable. It offers nifty light and exposure adjustments, including shadows and highlights. To top off the manual controls, there are also levels. If you prefer a more automated approach, there are quite a few filters (more than Instagram and Prisma combined) and beauty enhancements.
The image editor is quite capable
Video Player
In contrast, the video player is pretty basic. It still gets the job done, but the only extra features you really get are playback speed and a hovering windowed mode.
Simple video player
Music Player
The P10 Plus has quite stylish Music app pre-installed. It offers four default playlists - songs, artists, albums, folders. You can create your playlists, too. The background of the app changes dynamically to match the album art, which is a nice little touch.
The music player
The Now Playing screen is pretty standard, it offers album art and lyrics. If you're especially into lyrics, you can have them overlayed on top the homescreen.
Audio player settings • Stereo+ is a opt-in system-wide toggle
Interestingly enough, we couldn't find any audio mixer adjustments. These would have been a nice touch. Stereo+ is one option that goes hand in hand with the P10 Plus' interesting stereo setup. On paper it boils down to this: In portrait mode, the earpiece is only used to enhance the main speaker in what is essentially a two-driver mono setup. Rotating the phone horizontally routes the left and right channels to their own respective speakers. The thing is, however, the earpiece can't keep up with the dedicated speaker, so some compromises to quality and loudness are made to make the whole setup work and sound uniform. It is not an ideal solution by a long shot, but stereo is always a nice option to have around. You can always leave it off.
Audio output has its ups and downs
The Huawei P10 Plus clarity was as high as we'd xpect when hooked to an active external amplifier, posting excellent scores top to bottom. Its below average loudness however doesn't go well with its flagship status.
Volume was equally disappointing when attached to our standard headphones and we also saw a moderate amount of extra stereo crosstalk plus some extra distortion. A decent performance this certainly is, but we had much higher hopes going into this.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.05, -0.01 | -93.4 | 95.2 | 0.0017 | 0.0077 | -92.9 | |
| +0.25, -0.07 | -92.5 | 94.1 | 0.221 | 0.239 | -62.2 | |
| +0.01, -0.04 | -93.0 | 94.8 | 0.0019 | 0.0080 | -93.5 | |
| +0.25, -0.02 | -92.7 | 93.0 | 0.192 | 0.175 | -59.5 | |
| +0.01, -0.02 | -93.3 | 93.3 | 0.0059 | 0.0095 | -94.4 | |
| +0.01, -0.02 | -93.4 | 93.4 | 0.0067 | 0.020 | -56.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.03 | -93.0 | 93.0 | 0.0045 | 0.0086 | -92.6 | |
| +0.22, -0.03 | -92.7 | 92.7 | 0.0054 | 0.129 | -50.9 | |
| +0.06, -0.10 | -92.4 | 92.3 | 0.0015 | 0.0093 | -80.9 | |
| +0.03, -0.11 | -92.3 | 92.3 | 0.0011 | 0.012 | -77.0 | |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 | +0.01, -0.04 | -92.5 | 92.6 | 0.0027 | 0.0078 | -92.7 |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 (headphones) | +0.05, -0.05 | -91.9 | 92.1 | 0.0044 | 0.063 | -73.4 |
Huawei P10 Plus frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Leica Dual Camera v2.0, with a little twist
The Leica branding has had a proud spot on the back of quite a few Huawei devices now. And while you'd think that's a simple PR stunt, an excellent track record says otherwise. The Leica Dual Camera v2.0 setup is one of the major yardsticks on today's mobile photography scene. The Huawei Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro, as well as the regular P10 can all attest for its impressive performance.
The P10 Plus claims to sweeten the deal even further. The basic formula remains the same - a 20MP monochrome sensor and a 12MP RGB one, the latter complete with OIS. So, what is the difference then? Well, it all comes down to the lens. While the regular P10 nad the Mate 9 pair all rely on an f/2.2 Leica SUMMARIT lens, the P10 Plus ups the stakes with a brighter and faster, f/1.8 Leica SUMMILUX.
But, if you're not a photo buff or familiar with Leica's lens grading system, this might not mean a whole lot. Besides the obvious benefits that come with a wider aperture, which we will get into more detail in a little bit, in more practical terms, Huawei also promises better corner sharpness and a more noticeable bokeh in macro shots.
So, in theory, the P10 Plus should produce higher quality photos than its smaller sibling. We do have a few notes to make on the topic. But first, let's dial things back a bit and cover some of the basics, like how the 20MP+12MP setup even works.
Obviously, the difference in resolution presents somewhat of a challenge for mixing and matching shots from the two cameras. By default, when you're shooting color, the P10 blends the footage from the monochrome camera with the one from the RGB camera with the goal being, you guessed it, to produce better images. The high-res 20MP monochrome camera records luminance data as reportedly, that's where most of the fine detail is, while the lower-res 12MP camera provides the color to go with the detail.
Not only that, but the cameras are capturing multiple frames each, Pixel HDR+ style. Leica engineers didn't specify the exact number of stacked frames, unlike Google who claim to be capturing 9 frames simultaneously. This does leave you with higher resolution 20MP shots. However, clever as it may be, all that digital interpolation and merging does leave some noticeable artifacting and softness in the final results.
If that is not to your liking, however, you can always use the two sensors independently and capture straight-forward 12MP color shots or beautiful black and white 20MP ones. But there are other benefits of Huawei's dual camera setup as well. There is a Variable Aperture bokeh affect to play around with. The P10 Plus even has a dedicated Portrait mode for applying a combination of beautification and bokeh effects on your subjects. Last, but not least, the pair of rear shooters also provides hybrid zoom up to 2x with lower quality loss.
All off these modes and more can naturally be accessed through various menus ion the camera app. The interface itself is a hit and miss affair, as we've previously noted. It's not cluttered but it's fiddly so to speak. There are two panes with options that can be evoked from the left and the right edge of the viewfinder. The left one brings forward the mode selector, while the menu coming from the right edge is the settings menu. We called the UI fiddly because, the two panes don't just slide out with a simple swipe; you need to practically pull them through half the screen for them to stick, which doesn't always happen on the first try, particularly in landscape.
Camera viewfinder • available modes • settings
There's also the added convenience of having to flip back and forth between these panes for selecting resolution and color mode. Say, for example, that you like to shoot 20MP monochrome and 12MP color images to use both cameras in their native resolution (to the extent that you get control over that, in the first place). Well, going from 20MP mono to 12MP color requires a switch to color on the left and then, to 12MP on the right. Overall, you do have to pay attention to keep on top of exactly what mode and camera you are shooting with at any given time.
Also, for a phone with a dedicated 20MP monochrome camera, you'd expect the P10 to have a prominent switch to go to black&white capture straight from the viewfinder, but no - it's a shooting mode in the left pane. Instead, the shortcuts that are constantly visible in the viewfinder are Variable aperture mode, Portrait mode, Color saturation selector, and filters. Not necessarily our top choices.
More settings • Variable aperture • Zoom
At least the Pro Mode has all its controls neatly laid out. Also, it is absolutely full-featured: ISO, Shutter speed, Exposure compensation, White balance, Focus modes, the works.
Pro Mode
Image quality
As previously mentioned, a higher quality Leica SUMMILUX is what sets the P10 Plus apart. Underneath it lies the same familiar Leica sensor combination. There are certain obvious advantages to having a wider f/1.8 aperture. As most of you probably know, it is one of the three components that determines the exposure on a camera. Since on cameraphones the aperture is fixed rather than variable, the wider aperture you get on your phone's camera, the more light would reach the sensor, with all other things being equal.
Since more light would reach the sensor through the wider aperture, the camera can adjust the other two exposure components to its benefit without altering the exposure negatively. These two parameters are shutter speed and ISO, and unlike aperture, they are variable. So a camera that gets more light through the wider aperture can afford to shoot at a lower ISO value, resulting in less noise. Another option is to go with a higher shutter speed. This allows you to freeze the action and helps against camera shake, which at low shutter speeds may ruin your shot.
Most of the advantages of the brighter lens start to shine through to a different extent in low-light conditions. If you really want to get down to the nitty gritties of the matter and exactly how the P10 and P10 Plus stack up after dark, we have a pretty extensive comparison already available.
At night: Huawei P10 Plus • Huawei P10 • Huawei P10 Plus • Huawei P10
If we had to sum it up though, after carefully introducing the pair into the same exact conditions, it appears the P10 Plus uses its extra wiggle room to capture at a pretty similar, if not identical exposition as the P10, but at a lower ISO. This does lead to less noise, or rather noise suppression artifacts on some occasions. Also, some monochrome samples do have better-exposed shadows due to the wider dynamic range.
All that being said, however, we do have to note that the differences were really, really hard to spot and required very precise shooting procedures and a large number of samples to illustrate. Chances are that in a normal point and shoot end-user scenario, the P10 and P10 Plus will practically produce identical results, even in low light, where the SUMMILUX lens stretches its muscles.
In well-lit conditions, any perceivable quality difference gets watered down even further. The fact is, both the P10 Plus and its smaller siblings, as well as the Mate 9 pair, for that matter, offer splendid shooters that won't steer you wrong. And unless you really value the extra Leica cred for the SUMMILUX lens, camera quality shouldn't really be a determining factor in your purchase decision between any of these Huawei flagships. In fact, as an interesting side note, we even found that the combination of the SUMMILUX lens and Gorilla Glass 5 top coating resulted in relatively more frequent and noticeable lens flares than with the simpler SUMMARIT. But that is nitpicking at its finest.
All of our samples came out with vibrant colors, yet pretty true to life, unless one of the Leica color modes was intentionally put into play. Detail is abundant, and textures are rendered in a very natural way, but ultimately the 20MP color images don't match the 20MP monochrome ones for high-intricacy subject resolution. For a while there we thought it was as simple as blending 12MP color on top of the 20MP detail, but apparently, it's more complicated than that.
Dynamic range is admirable in color stills, but it's even better coming from the 20MP monochrome sensor. We suspect some auto HDR trickery is involved here. Some samples did mention HDR in the EXIF, even though we didn't have it toggled on. Then again, those who lacked the "HDR" mention in the EXIF, were just as good.
The 12MP color samples are great - there is plenty of detail, little noise, accurate colors, wide dynamic range, and the sharpening hasn't been overdone. The native 12MP images are among the best we've seen on a smartphone. Frankly, we would probably stick to them on a daily basis, rather than the 20MP interpolated ones.
Then again, if you are a stickler for higher resolution, the 20MP hybrid option is still there. Be warned, though, samples shot in this mode could use some extra detail, as they clearly look like upsampled from 12MP. They do share all other benefits from the native 12MP ones, though.
And then there is the 20MP native black and white shooter. This one is hard to beat in terms of dynamic range. Still, it is a monochrome camera and thus more of a specialty tool, and unless you love monochrome photography particularly, you are unlikely to use it all that often on its own. The monochrome 20MP images came with plenty of resolved detail, but there is not that much more detail than in the 12MP color ones. They have superb contrast, low amount of noise, and great dynamic range - especially in the shadows. Those are perfect for dramatic effects and creative street photography but you really need to pick the right subject for them to shine.
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
12MP color sample • 20MP color sample • 20MP monochrome sample
Manually toggling HDR doesn't really seem to do much. Still, since we suspect there is some automatic HDR correction going on behind the scenes anyway, we can't really complain at all.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
You can check how the 12MP RGB camera stacks against the Huawei P10's and Mate 9's.
Huawei P10 Plus vs. Huawei P10 vs. Huawei Mate 9 in our photo compare tool
You could also use our tool to compare the monochrome camera and the 20MP hybrid samples, if you like.
Color modes
Now, Huawei (and potentially, Leica) sort of acknowledge that the somewhat conservative Leica look may not be to everyone's taste and have included an option for selecting punchier (Vivid or Smooth) color reproduction (though again, default is not bad at all). It's readily available, too, instead of being buried in the menu, so you can change it on a shot by shot basis.
Normal sample • Vivid sample • Smooth sample
Zooming
Just like its little brother, the P10 Plus has some zooming tricks up its sleeve. Zooming is facilitated by those multiple frames that the camera captures all the time, which give it more data to work with than what you'd get from a single 12MP shot (or 20MP).
We tried upscaling and sharpening 12MP and 20MP 27mm shots to 50MP in software and then cropping the center 12MP to match the 54mm field of view of the zoomed-in P10 shots and we couldn't achieve the same level of detail that the phone itself is capable of, which means there is a real benefit of using the 2x zoom.
As for image quality when zoomed in - the 2x and up to even 3x - the pictures are excellent with little to no loss in detail. It is, however, worth noting that this is still not true optical zoom, so at least some impact to quality is expected. Zoom any further than that (up to 10x with the latest firmware), and image quality would quickly go south.
Zooming
Variable aperture and Portrait modes
Thanks to the depth information the P10 Plus can gather from its two cameras, it can try and reproduce the blurred background of a proper portrait lens. The feature is accessed from the Wide aperture mode toggle and lets you simulate apertures from f/0.95 to f/16.
Even with the extra information, however, the effect is still mostly software-dependent. Results are thus fine overall, but it doesn't really take much pixel-peeping to find some oddly miss-blurred areas. Given the limitations, we have to give it a passing grade.
F/16 sample • F/0.95 sample
As we mentioned before, the new Portrait Mode is available on both the main and selfie snappers. It combines the Variable Aperture with Beautification and should offer Portrait shots with beautified faces and bokeh background effects. There is no live preview for the main camera, which is rather strange.
Anyway, you can adjust the level of beautification, while the bokeh strength stays the same across all shots.
Regular sample • Portrait with beautify
8MP selfie shooter
Huawei didn't limit its camera efforts to the main setup alone. The Huawei P10 Plus is equipped with an 8MP f/1.9 front-facing snapper, complete with the Leica branding. Even though it is still fixed focus, it sounds great on paper and is an improvement over the Mate 9.
In terms of raw quality, our samples turned out great. Colors are nice, detail is plenty, the photos are nice and sharp and exhibit good dynamic range. Of course, there are some beautification filters here as well, if you really feel like "rouging up" your portraits.
Selfie sample • Beautification to 5 • Beautification to 10
There is a selfie portrait mode as well. Since the camera is only one, the algorithm is left to deal with depth perception on all its own, with a lone vantage point. That likely explains why bokeh doesn't really come out great most of the time and the beautification sometimes eats parts of your face. Most of the samples we took were more miss than hit, so don't get your hopes as high as Huawei's marketing would like you to.
Front portrait sample • Beautification to 5
Panorama
Panorama shots taken with the P10 Plus are excellent. Detail is on par with still images; stitching shows no obvious issues, and exposure variation is handled smoothly. The dynamic range once again deserves praise.
Huawei P10 Plus panorama sample
Video
Huawei has definitely put some work into video capture to go along with the upgraded photo experience. Just like the P10 and Mate 9, the P10 Plus can record 4K video, using the H.265 (HEVC) codec. The consequences from this are two-fold.
On the positive side, the bitrate of 30Mbps is very low for 2160p footage, and hence files take up less space (compare that to the ~50Mbps MPEG-4 4K videos of most competitors). The downside is that YouTube still doesn't offer support for this standard, so we've uploaded the test samples on Vimeo instead.
We also observed some minor compression artifacts when we examined the P10 videos of our lab test charts. In the real-life footage, however, we didn't notice any issues. Apparently, the algorithm doesn't like stationary uniformly gray objects. So while we do suggest you check out the video compare tool below, be aware that it's not strictly representative of real world scenarios.
Going down to 1080p, you are back at h264, MPEG-4, which YouTube is more than happy to gobble-up. 1080p/30fps videos have a pretty standard bitrate of around 17Mbps, while 1080p/60fps is exactly double that. That does leave you with larger files per second of footage when shooting 1080p @60fps, compared to 4K@30fps. A little bit odd, but we'll take it. Audio is recorded in stereo at 192kbps, which is great.
4K videos are sharp and detailed and exhibit good contrast and pleasing colors. The dynamic range is quite decent, too.
Here is a quick demo of the optical image stabilization doing its job.
FullHD footage is simply OK, nothing spectacular, really. The good thing is that the smoother 60fps mode doesn't come at the expense of detail.
One thing we do have to mention, though, is that Huawei felt the need to include some electronic video stabilization as well, It only works in 1080p resolution and crops the video, as you would expect. That, however, is the least of its problems. Our P10 Plus review unit exhibited an almost constant "jello" effect while using it, both handheld and on a tripod. It is quite similar to a rolling shutter problem, but not quite the same kind of distortion.
Bottom line is, turning it on ruined all of our videos. We'd take the optical stabilization, good thing it's available all the time. Hopefully, this is an issues.
You can also download the untouched video samples: 2160p (10s, 39MB), 1080p at 60fps (10s, 44MB), 1080p at 30fps (11s, 23MB).
And last, but not least, here is our video compare tool, where we've pitted the P10 Plus against the Mate 9 and Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus.
Huawei P10 Plus vs. Huawei Mate 9 vs. Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus in our video compare tool
Conclusion
There's no right or wrong way to end a story but it would be unfair to the P10 and the P10 Plus to not give them what they well deserve. Huawei simply did a good job. The P-series has come a long way thanks, in no small part, to strategic partnerships in design and imaging. Huawei's own Kirin 960 chipset (HiSilicon's a Huawei subsidiary) is another major part in the equation.
So are the looks and craftsmanship. The Huawei P10 plus is a phone that gets attention and one most people would be pleased to be seen with.
Frankly, unless you are coming from a Mate 9, Mate 9 Pro or perhaps a P9 handset, both the P10 and P10 Plus will be a very refreshing experience and a thoroughly satisfying one. To be fair, we did complain of a lack of "reviewer excitement" during our time with the regular P10 and we still stand by that, but not necessarily in a negative way. Huawei opted for a more logical, linear upgrade there, saving all the special treatment for the P10 Plus.
The IR blaster is a nice little treat and so is the IPX3 rating - increasingly more important on today's flagship scene. We also appreciate the hybrid stereo speaker system. It has its limitations, but then again, might be just enough of an incentive to facilitate a few extra sales. Of course, there is always the natural incentive of having a bigger 5.5-inch, QHD panel to help in this respect.
Huawei P10 Plus key test findings
- Premium build and design, stunning color options and a whopping three types of material finish. The sandblasted variants do come with some durability concerns in terms of the finish.
- The new Home key is a very smart set-up: it does fingerprint scanning, and replaces the whole Android control deck. Gesture control is abundant on the P10 Plus.
- The IPS-NEO LCD screen has great pixel density, superb contrast, and brightness. Color accuracy may not be top-notch (although it can be calibrated), but the sunlight legibility is excellent for an LCD unit.
- The Huawei P10 Plus delivers solid battery life with an endurance rating of 76 hours. The exta battery capacity over the P10 is skilfully used towards offsetting the added strain of the higher resolution panel.
- EMUI is a functional Android overlay, even if it has its quirks. Huawei has worked a lot on polishing single-handed operation, and it shows. It is filled to the brim with features and you can pretty much tweak every aspect of the UI, including opting in for an app drawer. The default app package is a bit on the heavy side.
- The Kirin 960 chipset offers class-leading CPU and GPU performance. The GPU is a bit power-hungry and does run a bit hot, but there are no noticeable consequences to real world gaming performance.
- The hybrid stereo speaker system works pretty well, but using it does take its toll on loudness and quality to some extent.
- Multimedia package gets the job done - the gallery benefits from the new Discover tab with GoPro-made Highlights, the image editor is powerful. The video player has little more than play/pause, and the music app looks good and works well, but lacks an equalizer. There is a DTS headphones enhancement, though.
- Audio output via the analog jack is quiet, but clear.
- Still images show mature processing with accurate colors, high detail level, and great dynamic range. The monochrome camera takes these up another notch (sans the colors, obviously). Lossless zoom works pretty well, but we wouldn't push it past 2x.
- The upgraded brighter, f/1.8 SUMMILUX Leica lens gives the pair of shooter a little extra wiggle-room, especially in low light. However, most users are unlikely to really notice the extra optical quality over the regular P10 in day to day use.
- Good regular selfies, but the camera lacks autofocus and the widely advertized Portrait Mode is very disappointing. In fact, all the wide aperture effects suffer from some inconsistencies, even when using data from both rear cameras. That is to be expected.
- 4K videos are very detailed, if a little noisy, but the h.265 codec makes for problematic sharing. Only OIS works in 4K. EIS tends to introduce some weird jello effect on the 1080p videos but even without it, the 1080p footage is nothing special in terms of image quality.
The upgraded F/1.8 SUMMILUX lens setup for the main camera is the marketing centerpiece and Huawei will have you believe the whole package is well worth a EUR 750 or so price tag. Well, we're not so sure about that.
Still, we agree the bump in display resolution warrants a price hike - a common practice in the smartphone realm. However, justifiable as it might be, the P10 price lets it rub shoulders with some pretty high-end offers. But, before we get to that, it worth noting where the P10 Plus stands within Huawei's own ranks.
We definitely mentioned this already, but the Mate 9 is basically in the same ballpark as the P10 Plus, specs-wise. If a bigger footprint is what you are after, its 5.9-inch, FullHD panel definitely has that covered. Plus, it costs quite a bit less. For an even closer match, there is the Mate 9 Pro. It packs the same internals and an equally-sized 5.5-inch panel. However, it is a dual-curved, QHD, AMOLED one - a veritable hat-trick by 2017 standards.
Huawei Mate 9 • Huawei Mate 9 Pro
But, if you don't need all that fancy display tech, there are a few other viable Huawei offers out there, that won't break the bank. For one, the older P9 Plus is still an excellent choice. It also sits at 5.5 inches with a Leica dual-camera setup. The Kirin 955 is still a solid chip and the Super AMOLED panel is a nice addition. You can also go with the just announced Honor 8 Pro. It looks like a pretty good deal on paper, with its 5.7-inch QHD panel, Kirin 960 chipset and 6GB of RAM.
Huawei P9 Plus • Huawei Honor 8 Pro
If you are, indeed, willing to spend as much as EUR 750 on your next phone, you can pretty much take your pick from most of the mainstream flagship pool. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is still a month or so from being released and even with this budget, it might be a bit of a stretch. However, a subsidized carrier deal will likely be within reach in most markets. Failing that, the S7 edge will only be getting cheaper. And the 5.5-inch, dual-curved, Super AMOLED, Snapdragon 820 flagship is not exactly pricey at the moment either. You could get it as low as EUR 550.
Samsung Galaxy S8 • Samsung Galaxy S7 edge • Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro
Things are looking even brighter over at camp LG. You might still have to wait a few more days for the G6 in most markets, but it does appear to be a pretty closer to the P10 Plus price-wise and that's without counting LG's generous pre-order bonuses. Its 18:9, 5.7-inch, QHD panel might just be a safe bet as far as futureproofing goes, now that we are on the brink of a new widescreen mobile revolution.
And if you are not exactly ready to make the leap to taller displays just yet, the LG V20 is an excellent alternative, with its traditional phablet-style, 16:9, 5.7" screen. It also has the added bonus of a secondary "ticker" display to play around with. Interestingly enough, these are all common traits it shares with HTC's latest high-end offer - the U Ultra. It is a pretty viable candidate to add to the list as well.
LG G6 • LG V20 • HTC U Ultra
Of course, no proper list would be complete without the OnePlus 3T. The Snapdragon-powered smartphone boasts a 5.5" AMOLED screen and 6GB of RAM and yet resides in super-value niche of its own, priced around the EUR 450 mark. Of course, it only has a Full-HD screen when most flagships are in their second QHD generation.
OnePlus 3T
While we're at it, why not Meizu and Xiaomi either? Their value offers are near impossible to beat.
Here's why. We said in the beginning that trouble will find you if you're looking for it. But Huawei's not your average trouble-maker, flagship-killer or cost-cutter - whatever it is you think best describes the likes of OnePlus, Meizu and Xiaomi.
Huawei's driven by ambition and only wants to compete with the best. Ambition is a good thing, it can take you to a nice place but you can end up in bad places too.
Like a place where direct competitors have a dual-camera setup and wireless charging, more screen in less body, water-proofing, more processing power, higher brand equity. Scary? We've got to give it to Huawei - they obviously got balls too, next to the brains, the flair for design and the eye for detail.
The problem is they're still the underdog compared to the likes of Apple and Samsung yet acting like they are a part of this established elite. Oh well, maybe the right bit of arrogance is what one needs to get where they want to be.
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