Huawei Matte 10: Artificial Intelligence on mobile
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These last months we have met with smartphones flagship with close prices and even above the thousand euros. It is the case of the latest terminals of Apple and Samsung, and is expected to happen the same with the LG V30 that will arrive in the coming weeks. So, it is good news that Huawei has decided to maintain a price content (699 euros) for its new flagship, Mate 10.
The sacrifices that have been made to achieve it are not many or determinants for the operation of the terminal: OLED technology, wireless charge or water resistance are the most outstanding absences. For the rest, it adds to almost all current trends, such as a screen without frames, support for fast loading and portrait effect in photographs.
The Huawei Matte 10 has an attractive design in which the screen takes full prominence. and is that it extends practically to the edges, leaving the frames reduced to their minimum expression. As a general rule, competition models with this philosophy have an elongated format of 18:9 (twice as high as wide), thanks to which the grip is facilitated or the sensation of immersion is encouraged during the video playback.
Huawei is unmarked of this fashion and maintains the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio: the same with which the majority of multimedia content available today have been recorded. In this way, when you view them you avoid that the mobile has to adapt the images or that black bands appear on both sides. Not everything is positive: with 5.9 inches, the phone is a little wide and it is essential to use it with both hands. The feeling is enhanced with the glass finish on the back, which causes it to slip a lot when grabbing it — and make it a real fingerprint magnet.
And speaking of footprints. While most manufacturers have opted to move the reader to the back area, China leaves it on the front, under the screen. It has had to decrease its size, but that does not affect its operation (very fast and without errors) or its capabilities. In fact, it is equipped with the features of a touch panel: When you touch it, the recoil function is activated; If left pressed for a second, it returns to the main interface; And when you slide your finger back and forth, the Application menu is opened in the background. It takes a few days to get used to this method of control but, once achieved, is a very comfortable alternative to the icons on screen.
Multimedia
As far as visualization quality is concerned, this smartphone mounts an LCD panel compatible with HDR10 and QHD resolution. The experience is at the height of the best, with realistic colors and an adequate brightness, although we would have liked to see the results with an OLED panel, one of the main trends of the moment. On the other hand, we think it is appropriate to personalize the resolution according to the contents that are being viewed or the remaining battery; Something that can be done manually but also automatically. This last option is, after our tests, the most appropriate solution.
However, weakens in audio playback. The loudspeakers presume to be stereo, but are not symmetrically placed: one is placed above the screen and another on the lower edge, next to the loading port. Hence the sound is heard a bit unbalanced. For punctual uses it is not bad, but if we want to see long videos, it is quite annoying.
The rule of 8
Huawei's smartphone brings Android 8.0 series, though hidden behind the signature customization layer of the firm: EMUI, also in its version 8.0. Its operation is very fluid and includes some functions such as the possibility to connect the device to a monitor to use it as if it were a computer.
In fact, doing so is as simple as connecting both devices via a USB-C to HDMI cable (not included). It is not even necessary to link by Bluetooth a keyboard and mouse, because it is possible to use the mobile as a large touch control panel. This is not a mode designed for intensive or continuous use, but for sporadic situations it can become a highly recommended solution. In addition, performance is as positive as when using the smartphone as such: its 8-core Kirin 930 processor with 12-core GPU equipped with the chipset, along with its 4GB of RAM memory, are responsible for this.
For its part, the 4000 mAh with which your battery counts promise. During the days we have tried the device we have gone to bed with load for a few hours the next day even when its use has been intensive. In addition, it is compatible with fast loading (Huawei's own) and comes with a charger adapted to it as standard: in 10 minutes reaches 20% and in half an hour exceeds 50%.
Intelligent
Of the processor there is one aspect that stands out above all others: it has been endowed with a unit dedicated to the neural processing (NPU) that allows to enjoy artificial intelligence. What does this mean? That the phone is learning from what we do to adapt its operating mode, optimize system resources, allow more efficient battery consumption, provide real-time answers or recognize images. At the moment, it is a feature that has not been fully developed and therefore we cannot say that it is a big advantage with respect to other terminals that do not have this technology. It has been implemented in some uses, such as the app Translator, with the ability to translate texts in real time just by focusing them with the camera. It is installed by default and does this task in seconds and in a correct way.
But the great practical example of the use of IA is found in the camera. Thus, with the automatic mode activated, it is enough to focus on a person or object so that the mobile decides by itself only which are the adjustments with which the best capture will be achieved. In particular, it detects food, pets, people, nocturnal images, flowers... It is a very useful function if we are not very handy with the manual configuration and only have found small limitations in its use: A person must be at a close distance and looking at camera, for example, to activate the portrait mode.
Precisely this mode is one of the most attractive, because it incorporates the option to blur the background to create bokeh effect. The results are pretty good, though with some glitches in complex areas like hair and a blur maybe too exaggerated to make it look natural.
To achieve this, the terminal has two rear cameras, in which development has returned to collaborate the firm Leica. In particular, it has a 12 megapixel RGB sensor and another 20 megapixel monochrome that share optical image stabilization system and a very luminous f/1.6 diaphragm. With its combination you get great definition and detail in the captures with good light, as well as surprising photographs of nocturnal scenes, in which the noise almost disappears. And what to say when we decided to take pictures in black and white!
To a step
Huawei Mate 10 is a good smartphone that aims to compete with the best. Their weapons are an adequate performance, a screen without frames and a photographic camera that shines during the night scenes. That includes functions related to artificial intelligence is very good, although we have to wait for them to develop a little more to assess whether they will really be a before and after in mobile telephony. And that its price is less than about 300 euros to other models, helps to stand out. All this does not take away that it has some shortcomings that cause, unfortunately, we cannot place it at the height of the most laureates.
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