Huawei MatePad T8 Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Huawei MatePad T8 is a compact and affordable tablet that aims to provide a seamless digital experience. With its sleek and portable design, it is perfect for on-the-go usage. The 8.0-inch IPS LCD display offers immersive visuals, while the powerful octa-core processor ensures smooth performance. The tablet runs on Android 10 with EMUI 10, providing access to a wide range of apps and features. The MatePad T8 also caters to your storage needs with options of 16GB or 32GB internal memory, expandable via microSD. With a 5MP main camera and a 2MP selfie camera, capturing moments is a breeze. The long-lasting 5100mAh battery keeps you connected throughout the day. Available in Deepsea Blue, the MatePad T8 offers great value for its affordable price tag, making it an ideal choice for budget-conscious consumers.

Design and Build Quality

The Huawei MatePad T8 boasts a sleek and modern design, perfect for users who prioritize aesthetics. With its compact form factor and slim profile, this tablet is highly portable, making it ideal for on-the-go use. The dimensions of 199.7 x 121.1 x 8.6 mm and a weight of 310g make it comfortable to hold in one hand without causing fatigue during extended use. The tablet's back panel features a smooth texture that enhances grip, preventing accidental slips.

Constructed with high-quality materials, the Huawei MatePad T8 exudes a premium look and feel. The build quality is commendable, showcasing Huawei's attention to detail. The tablet's frame is sturdy and robust, ensuring durability even with regular use. The finishing touches on the device are refined, enhancing its overall appeal.

The Huawei MatePad T8 features slim bezels around its 8.0-inch IPS LCD display, maximizing the screen-to-body ratio and providing an immersive viewing experience. The placement of buttons and controls is ergonomic, allowing for convenient one-handed usability.

In terms of design elements, the Huawei MatePad T8 showcases a minimalist approach with clean lines and a seamless design. The deepsea blue color option adds a touch of sophistication.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad T8 combines a sleek design, premium look, and robust construction, making it an attractive choice for users in search of a stylish and durable tablet. Its portability, comfortable grip, and ergonomic layout further enhance its appeal, allowing for seamless usage in various scenarios.

Display

The Huawei MatePad T8 features an 8.0-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:10. The screen size provides a good balance between portability and usability, making it suitable for both entertainment and productivity tasks. The LCD technology ensures decent color accuracy and vibrancy, although it may not match the color reproduction of OLED displays.

In terms of brightness levels, the MatePad T8 offers adequate brightness for indoor use, but it may struggle a bit under direct sunlight due to its average outdoor visibility. The touch responsiveness of the display is generally smooth and responsive, allowing for precise interaction with the device.

Unfortunately, the display lacks any specific protection, such as Gorilla Glass, which could make it more prone to scratches and damage. The pixel density of around 189 ppi is not the highest, but it should still provide a decent level of detail for most tasks.

The MatePad T8 does not support features like HDR or wide color gamut, which could enhance the visual experience. However, the viewing angles are generally good, ensuring that the content can be easily viewed from different perspectives.

There is no mention of an anti-reflective coating, so it is advisable to use the device in well-lit environments to minimize any potential glare. The tablet has noticeable bezels surrounding the display, which might affect the screen-to-body ratio, but it does not have a notch design.

Overall, the display of the Huawei MatePad T8 offers a satisfactory viewing experience with its decent size, resolution, and color reproduction. While it may lack some advanced features found in higher-end tablets, it still provides a functional and enjoyable display for everyday use.

Performance

The Huawei MatePad T8 offers a decent performance for its price range, thanks to its MediaTek MT8768 chipset and PowerVR GE8320 GPU. The octa-core CPU, consisting of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.50 GHz, provides sufficient power for everyday tasks and light multitasking. In terms of CPU benchmarks, the MatePad T8 performs reasonably well, delivering smooth app loading speeds and a lag-free user experience.

When it comes to gaming capabilities, the MatePad T8 can handle casual games and less demanding titles with ease. The PowerVR GE8320 GPU delivers satisfactory graphics scores and ensures a relatively smooth gaming experience. However, for more graphically intensive games, the tablet may struggle to maintain consistent frame rates and may experience occasional stutters.

In terms of thermal management, the MatePad T8 performs adequately, ensuring that the device doesn't overheat even during extended gaming sessions or intensive tasks. This is essential for maintaining a smooth user experience and preventing performance throttling due to excessive heat.

The tablet's system optimization also plays a role in its performance. With Huawei's EMUI 10 and Android 10, the MatePad T8 benefits from various optimizations that enhance overall efficiency. This results in a relatively smooth and responsive user interface, as well as efficient processor and GPU utilization.

Benchmark tests and synthetic benchmarks provide further insight into the MatePad T8's performance metrics. While it may not achieve top-tier scores like flagship devices, it delivers respectable results for its price range. The tablet's processor efficiency and GPU efficiency contribute to its overall performance, ensuring that it strikes a balance between power and battery life.

In summary, the Huawei MatePad T8 offers a satisfactory performance for its price point. It handles everyday tasks, light multitasking, and casual gaming with ease. While it may not excel in graphically intensive games, it provides a smooth user experience and lag-free performance for most tasks. The tablet's system optimization, thermal management, and decent benchmark scores further contribute to its overall performance.

Software and User Interface

The Huawei MatePad T8 runs on the Android 10 operating system with EMUI 10, but it lacks Google Play Services due to Huawei's ongoing trade restrictions with the United States. This means that users won't have access to popular Google apps such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps. However, Huawei offers its own AppGallery as an alternative app store, which has been steadily growing and includes a decent selection of popular apps.

EMUI 10 on the MatePad T8 offers a user-friendly interface with smooth navigation and intuitive controls. The tablet comes with several pre-installed apps, including Huawei's own suite of productivity tools such as Huawei Cloud, Huawei Video, and Huawei Music. These apps provide users with cloud storage, video streaming, and music streaming services.

While some users may find the absence of Google apps and services disappointing, the MatePad T8's software still offers a decent user experience. The tablet's interface is clean and easy to navigate, and the absence of bloatware ensures a clutter-free experience. However, the lack of Google Play Services may limit the availability of certain apps and services that users may be accustomed to.

Overall, the software experience on the Huawei MatePad T8 is functional and user-friendly, with Huawei's own app ecosystem filling the void left by the absence of Google apps. Users who rely heavily on Google services may find the tablet's software limitations to be a drawback, but for those who are open to exploring alternative app options, the MatePad T8 still offers a solid software experience.

Camera

The Huawei MatePad T8 features a 5-megapixel main camera with an aperture of f/2.2. While the camera specifications may not be as impressive as those found on flagship smartphones, it is important to remember that the MatePad T8 is primarily a tablet and not a dedicated camera device. The camera sensor size and focal length are not specifically mentioned in the available information.

In terms of image quality, the MatePad T8's camera performs decently for basic photography needs. It is suitable for capturing moments during daylight, offering natural colors and adequate sharpness. However, due to the limited specifications, the dynamic range and low-light performance may not be as impressive as higher-end devices.

The camera also lacks features such as image stabilization, which can result in slightly blurry images if not held steady. It does support video recording, with a maximum resolution of 1080p at 30fps. However, it does not offer advanced video features like 4K video recording or video stabilization.

Additionally, the MatePad T8 does not mention specific camera modes such as portrait mode, HDR, or panorama mode. It is unclear if it supports AI scene recognition for optimized settings based on the subject being captured.

Overall, the camera on the Huawei MatePad T8 is suitable for casual photography needs, but it may not deliver the same level of performance and versatility found in dedicated camera devices or higher-end smartphones.

Battery Life

The Huawei MatePad T8 is equipped with a non-removable Li-Po 5100 mAh battery, which provides a decent battery life for a tablet in its price range. The battery capacity is sufficient to power the device through a full day of regular use, including web browsing, media consumption, and light gaming. With power efficiency optimizations, the battery performance is optimized to ensure longer screen-on time and standby time. However, it is important to note that the MatePad T8 does not support fast charging or wireless charging options. This means that charging the device may take longer compared to other tablets with fast charging capabilities. Nevertheless, the battery management features, such as battery saver mode, help in conserving power and extending battery endurance. Overall, the Huawei MatePad T8 offers a reliable battery backup and decent battery life for everyday use.

Connectivity and Networking

The Huawei MatePad T8 offers a decent range of connectivity options to keep you connected on the go. It supports GSM, HSPA, and LTE network technologies, allowing for reliable cellular connectivity. With its dual SIM capabilities, you can easily switch between two different SIM cards for added convenience. In terms of wireless connectivity, the tablet features Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, ensuring fast and stable internet access. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct, which enables direct communication with other devices without the need for a router. Bluetooth 5.0 is available for seamless wireless connections with compatible devices, offering improved data transfer speeds and energy efficiency. While the Huawei MatePad T8 lacks NFC capabilities for contactless payments, it compensates by providing GPS, GLONASS, and BDS for accurate navigation and location services. The tablet comes with a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data transfer, but unfortunately, it does not support USB-C. Overall, the Huawei MatePad T8 offers a satisfactory range of connectivity options, ensuring that you can stay connected and make the most out of your tablet experience.

Additional Features

• Standout features: The Huawei MatePad T8 offers a range of standout features that make it a competitive option in the tablet market. With its compact size and lightweight design, it is highly portable and easy to carry around. The tablet runs on Android 10 and EMUI 10, providing a smooth and user-friendly interface for seamless navigation.


• Advanced sensors: The MatePad T8 is equipped with an accelerometer, allowing it to detect motion and orientation. This feature enhances the gaming experience and enables other interactive applications.


• Long-lasting battery: The tablet boasts a Li-Po 5100 mAh battery, ensuring long hours of usage without the need for frequent charging.


• Wireless connectivity: It supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, providing fast and stable internet connectivity. Additionally, Bluetooth 5.0 allows for seamless pairing with other devices.


• Expandable storage: The MatePad T8 comes with a microSDXC card slot, allowing users to expand the storage capacity and store more apps, files, and media.


• Camera capabilities: With a 5 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front camera, the tablet enables users to capture clear photos and videos.

Comparison with Other Related Phones

When comparing the Huawei MatePad T8 with related gadgets in the market, it is important to consider its features, specifications, and performance in relation to its competitors. One such competitor is the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0, which offers a similar screen size and resolution. However, the MatePad T8 is priced more affordably, making it a cost-effective option for budget-conscious consumers.

In terms of specifications, the MatePad T8 features a MediaTek MT8768 chipset and octa-core processor, which provides decent performance for everyday tasks. It comes with 2GB or 3GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, expandable via a microSD card. While these specifications may not be as powerful as high-end tablets, they are sufficient for browsing the web, watching videos, and running lightweight applications.

One notable aspect of the MatePad T8 is its lack of Google Play Services, due to the ongoing trade restrictions. This may be a disadvantage for users who heavily rely on Google apps and services. However, Huawei has its own app store, which provides access to a variety of applications.

In terms of design, the MatePad T8 has a compact and lightweight body, making it highly portable. It features an 8-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels, providing decent clarity and color reproduction. The tablet also includes a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera, which are suitable for basic photography and video calls.

When comparing the MatePad T8's pricing strategy, it becomes clear that Huawei is targeting the budget segment of the tablet market. With a price point of around 100 EUR, it offers good value for money considering its features and performance. This competitive pricing allows the MatePad T8 to stand out against other tablets in the market.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad T8 competes well in the budget tablet segment, offering a balance of performance, features, and affordability. While it may not have the same level of power and functionality as high-end tablets, it provides a cost-effective option for users who prioritize basic tablet tasks without breaking the bank.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Huawei MatePad T8 offers an affordable and decent tablet experience. With its compact size and lightweight design, it is highly portable and easy to carry around. The 8-inch IPS LCD display provides satisfactory visuals, although the resolution could be sharper. The tablet's performance is powered by the Mediatek MT8768 chipset, which offers smooth multitasking and basic gaming capabilities. The battery life is impressive, ensuring hours of usage without the need for frequent charging. However, the absence of Google Play Services might limit access to certain apps and services. Overall, the Huawei MatePad T8 is a suitable option for those seeking an entry-level tablet without breaking the bank.