Huawei MediaPad 10 M2: hands-on

The MediaPad M2 10 is Huawei's brand new Android tablet, and there's plenty of stand-out features about it to catch your attention! The 10-incher is made out of aluminum and boasts a sandblasted metal finish, keeping up with the brand's established design quality.

At just 0.28in (7.35mm) of thickness, it still features a pair of cameras, in addition to four Harmon Kardon speakers driven by a dedicated amplifier with Clari-fi Audio Restoration and SWS 2.0 Surround Sound. Oh, and there's also active stylus support. Apparently, the iPad Pro made the stylus hip again!

Anyway, here are our hands-on impressions from Huawei's latest slab of technological wonder!

Design

At around 17.6oz (500g), the MediaPad is lightweight and follows the design language of Huawei's hi-end products, such as the new Mate 8 and the Nexus 6P. The metal chassis sure makes for a premium feel, and the positive impressions continue with watching the company's EMUI interface seamlessly flow on the detailed 1920 x 1200 IPS LCD screen.

Stylus

Coming in as an optional accessory, or bundled with the 64GB ROM/3GB RAM model is Huawei's active stylus, predictably titled M-Pen. It provides the expected functionality for a tablet, such as navigating the interface and accepting handwriting input. Testing the stock note writing application, it appears handwritten words are converted to text with little apparent delay.

Performance

The MediaPad M2 10 is powered by the Kirin 930 octa-core chip, the same that's present in last year's Huawei P8 flagship smartphone. The tablet's Silver version features 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage memory, while the Gold one has 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage memory. Storage on both is expandable via microSD card. Once again, we really how EMUI is smooth and fluid on the tablet, and those Harman Kardon speakers come across as pretty loud and clear!

Expectations

The 16GB ROM/2GB RAM model of Huawei MediaPad M2 10 will be available in silver color. The 64GB ROM/3GB RAM model will be available in gold color and will be bundled with an active stylus. Both will be sold across multiple markets, including the U.S. of A, in the first quarter of 2016.

The base 16GB storage model with 2GB of RAM and Wi-Fi connectivity will retail for $349, while its LTE-connected variant will cost $399. The 64GB model with Wi-Fi and bundled M-Pen will cost $419 (make that $469 for the LTE variant). Overall, the MediaPad M2 10 seems like a viable contender with its build quality, features, and competitive price!