Huawei is one of the biggest brands in the world when it comes to phones and tablets. And like the other Chinese powerhouses Lenovo and Xiaomi, they tend to provide pretty good value for money in their products.
And though recently the UK has said that they intend to ban UK carriers from utilizing Huawei devices on the 5G network in 2021, with a complete removal of the brand by 2027. It’s likely that pressure from the United States that’s causing this mass exodus of Huawei.
We can determine this by the US’s relationship with Lenovo. Lenovo has a transparent partnership with IBM in the US, and they produce many of their laptops in American factories. Huawei manufacture everything in China, and only really use the operating system from America, whether it’s Android or Windows.
It’s worth mentioning because if you’re thinking about buying a tablet, phone or laptop from Huawei, you should probably be aware of the current circumstances. It shouldn’t have an effect on your tablet’s ability to connect to wifi.
Anyway, let’s talk about the device itself. The Mediapad T3 is one of their budget offerings, and it’s sold fairly well internationally (though obviously a lot better in China than it has in the West). So, we’ll be looking at how it holds up against the competition.
Huawei Mediapad T3 10 review
I’ll be completely honest and say that there’s no way that the Mediapad T3 manages to compare to the likes of the iPad or the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S7, which are both featured in our list of the best tablets for students.
But, it’s not really intended to be a competitor to those premium tablets. It can be bought for less than a quarter of the price, so it’s really unfair to expect the Mediapad to compete with them.
Though it does definitely have its place in the market. It’s a good alternative to the Amazon Fire series, which have become a popular choice for those looking for a casual tablet for browsing their social media.
Sure, you’re not going to be able to run a whole lot of intensive programs with the T3. But for day to day activities, light gaming and controlling your in-home smart appliances, it’s a pretty good choice. Here’s why.
Overview
Though the tablet is still pretty popular now, it was first released back in 2017. It was released around 2 years before the more powerful bigger brother the T5 was launched, which came in 2019. The T5 is on our list of the best budget tablets.
But the T3 does manage to do most of what the Mediapad T5 can do, even though it’s much more cost effective. You can usually find it for around 30% less than the T5, which is slightly larger and comes with a little more power too.
It weighs approximately 460 grams, which is around the same amount as the standard iPad or the new Samsung Galaxy tab. If you’re using to using a lightweight tablet, this may seem like quite a lot.
Many cheaper tablets can be even bigger and bulkier, so it does well to maintain a lower weight. It’s also similar to both devices in terms of depth too, as it’s around 75mm thick.
Power & Storage
The tablet itself comes with 2GB of RAM, which may seem fairly underpowered, especially when you consider that the new iPad Pro is coming with 6GB of RAM.
However, the standard variation of the iPad only has 3GB of RAM, so this isn’t too far off. It’s not going to be powerful enough to use as a backup laptop, as many people choose to opt for a tablet they can also use to complete fairly memory-intensive tasks.
It will be a little bit slow when it comes to running multiple programs at the same time. But most people won’t want a tablet for much more than using your web browser to search for things and playing the occasional game.
It’s best to think of this sort of tablet as similar to a phone – great for social media and casual use, not great for much more than this. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor is quad-core though, which means that it’s good for general multi-tasking.
In terms of storage, it doesn’t come with a whole lot of space. The base model comes with only 16GB of storage space, which isn’t going to be enough for many people.
You do have the option of upgrading to 32GB of storage for just a little extra – they probably should have just released it as a 32GB tablet in the first place. For additional storage, it does have a MicroSD slot, so that will allow you to store a little more than the storage the tablet has in-built.
It has a pretty solid build quality, with an aluminium back chassis that’s fairly durable too. But as with other tablets, the most important part of the design is the display.
Display
This tablet uses a typical IPS LCD screen that’s pretty common amongst tablets nowadays. The IPS technology used helps to ensure that the colours on your screen are vibrant, as well as maintaining clarity when looking at the display from an angle.
It has a 1280×800 resolution, which is standard for any cheap tablet. It can’t cope with the iPad and other premium models in this regard, but to be honest, having a tablet with a high resolution is not really necessary for most.
It’s finished with a glossy shine, which can mean that it’s reflective in certain lightings. Though because of the design, the touchscreen works as it should and is very responsive.
Features
If you’ve used an Android tablet before, you probably know exactly what to expect with one of their devices. They’re more user friendly than Windows, though they don’t have the same capabilities when downloading programs and apps.
Saying this, it does come with all of the Android version of Microsoft Office installed. So whilst it might not be able to handle massive Excel spreadsheets, it should be good enough for spell checking and editing documents.
Something that’s also important is the camera quality of the tablet too. The camera on the rear is 5 megapixel, whilst the facing camera is 2 megapixel. This is not particularly great, but more than enough for making video calls, although it can be spotty in places.
Pros and Cons
As with any device, there are a few key points to focus on before purchase. Here’s the main good and bad things about the Mediapad T3 10.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
To be fair to this tablet, it’s as good as you’re going to get for this sort of price range. It’s definitely comparable to the Amazon Fire range, which it’s a similar sort of price too.
It’s a pretty good tablet, and definitely more than enough for the average person. Just make sure that you aren’t expecting iPad level performance, because otherwise, you’re going to be a little bit disappointed.
