Huawei MediaPad M3 Review: The Ideal Tablet? Well.. Almost

Tablets are devices that somehow sit in between a laptop and a smartphone, giving you a larger screen for consuming content, while still being relatively powerful and travel-friendly. As most OEMs have been focusing more on their smartphones, there are still companies like Huawei who believes that there is still a big market for these devices.

Fast forward to today, and we have the Huawei MediaPad M3, the company’s latest tablet in the high-end segment. With a price tag of PhP18,990, it offers top of the line specs combined with premium looks and build quality. So the question: is it worth buying? Let’s find out in this full review.

Looks and Feels Like its Price

Huawei smartphones are known for sporting their elegant and classy design, and that same concept can be seen on the M3 with its metal and glass construction. In fact, the back somehow reminds me of the P series phones like the P9 and P10, minus the two lenses.

The right side hosts the power button and volume rocker, which compliment the overall design and exhibit good feedback.

The back houses the camera module, along with some branding. It smooth finish feels a bit slippery, so take extra care when holding this device without a cover, or better yet, invest in one. Should be worth it.

The bottom houses a speaker, microphone, the SIM card slot and surprisingly, a standard microUSB port. I guess they’re just sticking to what’s more commonly available.

Up top is another speaker along with the headphone jack.

A Vibrant Display

The 8.4-inch Quad HD IPS Display on the M3 is one of the most vibrant that i’ve seen, it sports a sense of liveliness with more than ample brightness, sharp text, and rich colors.

Watching a movie, playing games, or simply just browsing the web, the display makes just about any type of content look eye-candy.

Handles Anything You Throw at it

There’s no question that the Kirin 950 CPU in the M3 is very capable of handling anything you throw at it. Whether it be your daily tasks such as editing documents, watching videos, listening to music, web browsing, social media updates, this thing handles them like a boss.

Gaming on this device is also a joy. NBA 2K17 ran very well on the highest settings. It’s not the smoothest experience, but it’s more than enough that you’re bound to get immersed on the game. The device does get a bit warm after a period of time, but not to the point that it’s already uncomfortable.

Surprisingly Good Camera For a Tablet

The M3 sports an 8MP rear camera which, surpsingly takes better photos than some smartphones that i’ve tested before. Colors were oozing with richness and vibrancy, and the amount of detail is just more than what you’d expect from a tablet.

The 8MP front camera also does a good job, as selfies came out clear and well-detailed. Focusing speed was fast well.

The camera app offers some filters, and a lot of modes at your disposal. It even has a Pro mode for setting White Balance, Shutter Speed, ISO, and other individual elements for your shot.

Superb Sound Quality

The M3’s stereo speakers is a treat to the ears. It can get quite loud with minimal distortion, and the clarity is just so good, making it ideal for vocal tracks.

With headphones, the experience is even better. You get a really nice soundstage that feels like the vocalist is just right in front of you. Instrument separation is also good.

A Simple Yet Functional Take on Android

The M3 runs on Huawei’s EMUI 4.1 on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Navigating the menus was generally smooth, and there were no stutters when switching between apps.

I also love the amount the extra settings that you can adjust. Little things like being able to enable or disbable the on-screen buttons which can somehow get in the way when playing games, and being able to adjust the color mode and color temperature to your liking.

Overall, Huawei’s take on Android, while not the prettiest, is probably one of the more optimized ones, while at the same time, gives the user some nifty settings that they can adjust.

Average Battery Life

Though it won’t last you a full day, the M3 should be up from the time you go to work until the time you get home. But with a 5,100mAh battery, I did expect a bit more up time. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed with a software update.

Verdict

Except for the average battery life, there’s really a lot to like about the Huawei MediaPad M3. The build quality is excellent, the display looks gorgeous, the performance is top notch, the audio quality is superb, and the camera exceeded my expectations in terms of quality.

Perhaps the price may seem steep for some, but for what it offers, I do think that this device is great value for money. Seriously, try it out when you have a chance, and you’ll know what I mean.

The Good:

• Premium design and build quality
• Eye-candy display
• General and Gaming Performance
• Sound Quality (Speakers and Headphones)
• Optimized Software
• Price

The Not So Good

• Average battery life

Huawei MediaPad M3 Specs:

• 2.3GHz HiSilicon Kirin 950 Octa-Core Processor
• 4GB of RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD Card (Up to 128GB)
• 8.4-inch WQXGA IPS Display (2560 x 1600 pixels)
• 8MP Autofocus Rear Camera
• 8MP Fixed Focus Front Camera
• 5,100mAh battery
• EMUI 4.1 on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• LTE
• Dual Speakers
• Nano SIM Card Slot
• Sensors: Ambient Light, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Compass, Hall Effect, Fingerprint
• Colors: Gold, Silver

Emman Tortoza

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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.