Huawei MediaPad (front)
| |

Huawei MediaPad 7-inch Tablet Phone Review

Huawei MediaPad (front)
Huawei MediaPad (front)

Huawei MediaPad is a 7-inch tablet phone (3G) with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update. It is powered by 1.2 GHz dual core CPU and 1GB RAM. With the release of Google Nexus 7 7-inch WiFi only tablet, is Huawei MediaPad still worth to buy? Read on for my Huawei MediaPad review to lear about it’s features and performance.

Table of Contents

First impression and Design

Huawei MediaPad (front)
Huawei MediaPad (front)

First impression, Huawei MediaPad looks like a mini iPad. It has thick bezel for gripping. Silver colour unibody metal case.

The loan unit I received comes with a micro USB data cable and a charging adapter. I was quite surprised that Huawei MediaPad needs a separate charging adapter, instead of using common micro USB charging method. The need of unique charging adapter make the tablet less convenient.

No button on the front panel. In vertical mode, 1.3 MP front camera is at the top right corner.

Huawei MediaPad (side) showing power button, volume button and front camera
Huawei MediaPad (side) showing power button, volume button and front camera

At the top, there’s stereo speakers and 3.5mm headset interface. The power button and volume button are at the right side.

The volume control is a bit confusing. In vertical mode, you press down for higher volume level instead of lower volume level. That’s opposite to what we have been trained so far.

Huawei MediaPad ports (power, HDMI, USB)
Huawei MediaPad ports (power, HDMI, USB)

At the bottom you found the charger port, mini HDMI port, and micro USB port. HDMI port allows you to stream video/audio to your TV (HTMI cable not included). USB port is for data transfer, not charging.

Huawei MediaPad - SIM slot and microSD slot
Huawei MediaPad – SIM slot and microSD slot

Flip to back, the 5MP auto focus rear camera is at the top center. Underneath it is the closure for SIM slot and microSD card slot (support up to 32GB).

Huawei MediaPad weight 390 gram, slightly heavier than Nexus 7’s 340 gram. 390g is not heavy if compared to iPad’s 613g.

However, consider that you only hold Huawei MediaPad with one hand, 390g becomes quite heavy.

Performance

Benchmark

Huawei MediaPad is powered by Dual-core 1.2 GHz Scorpion processor and 1GB RAM. Playing 3D racing game like Asphalt 6 is smooth. No lacking in scrolling pages and switching apps.

Screenshot: Antutu Benchmark result for Huawei MediaPad
Screenshot: Antutu Benchmark result for Huawei MediaPad

In my AnTuTu Benchmark test, Huawei MediaPad scored 5255. Better than Amazon Kindle Fire, slower than Samsung Galaxy S2. (refer AnTuTu Benchmark bar chart screenshot)

Display

Huawei MediaPad displaying sharp text on screen
Huawei MediaPad displaying sharp text on screen

The display is bright and clear, viewing angle is good. But the glass is high flare that you can use it as a mirror, and easily leave smudge on it.

The screen resolution is 1280×800 pixels at 217 PPI, higher screen resolution than iPad2 (non-retina). Text is crisp and sharp, though not up to retina-level.

Phone & Messaging

Screenshot: Phone call interface
Screenshot: Phone call interface

One thing I must highlight about Huawei MediaPad is that it a tablet phone. It can make phone calls and send SMS, as well as 3G(HSPA+) data connection.

Screenshot: Messaging interface
Screenshot: Messaging interface

The call and messaging interfaces are just like your smartphone but much bigger.

Frankly, I never like to use tablet phone. I think it is too big as a phone. I dislike to wear a bluetooth headset all the time (who still wear it nowadays?).

The primary benefit would be the 3G data connection allows you to access Internet without WiFi connection.

Speaker

Huawei MediaPad has a pair of stereo speakers with SRS sound enhancement. The speaker sound is better than most smartphones I tried. For boombox lover, it is very loud at maximum volume but the sound became burst.

Battery

Screenshot: Huawei MediaPad battery life
Screenshot: Huawei MediaPad battery life

My requirement for a tablet battery life is that it needs to last for whole day without charging. Huawei MediaPad with 4100 mAh build-in battery has passed my test, no problem for 6 hours continuous video playback. That’s without turn on the “Power Saving” feature.

Camera

Screenshot: Camera app with time lapse video shooting feature
Screenshot: Camera app with time lapse video shooting feature

The camera app user interface is simple and easy. It has a wheel for zoom in/out. 3 shooting modes: photo, video and panorama. You can also shoot time lapse video with it.

The photos taken by Huawei MediaPad has correct colour tone but high noise and not sharp.

Check out the following camera test photos and video. (Click on the photo for non-edited-full-size version)

Huawei MediaPad rear camera test (close-up)
Huawei MediaPad rear camera test (close-up)
Huawei MediaPad rear camera test (outdoor)
Huawei MediaPad rear camera test (outdoor)
Huawei MediaPad front camera test (close-up)
Huawei MediaPad front camera test (close-up)
Huawei MediaPad camera test (panorama)
Huawei MediaPad camera test (panorama)

 

Apps

 

Free apps for Huawei MediaPad
Free apps for Huawei MediaPad

Huawei MediaPad comes with free office apps and games. You can start working or gaming as soon as you unbox it.

Two Gameloft 3D games are included: Asphalt 6 and Let’s Golf. Both are popular games with great graphic.

Yozo Office, an office suite allows you to open and edit Microsoft Office files: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Foxit Reader, a lightweight PDF reader allows you to write notes and share PDF file.

Another default app I found interesting is the “Clock”. It is a full screen clock app that’s suitable as a night clock on bedside (tap to change brightness). I think 7-inch is a perfect size for a night clock.

Specs and Price

  • Operating System: Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual Core
  • Display: 7-inch LCD WXGA (1280×800 pixels)
  • Camera: 5 Megapixel auto focus rear camera, 1.3 Megapixel front camera.
  • Connectivity: WiFi (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1, 3G(HSPA+), GPS
  • Battery: 4100 mAh Li-Polymer
  • Dimension: 190 x 124 x 10.5 mm
  • Weight: 390 gram

The retail price for Huawei MediaPad is RM1199 (~USD$378)

Verdict

Huawei MediaPad does not have the top-end specs but it is a usable 7-inch tablet phone with ICS update.

If you are looking for a small tablet with phone feature (or 3G data connection), Huawei MediaPad is worth to consider.

If you are not looking for a tablet phone, you should look for others, such as Google Nexus 7.

[box]SEE ALSO: Google Nexus 7 (Android 4.2.1) Tablet Review[/box]

Gallery

➤ Huawei Tablets

I would like to thank HUAWEI for the opportunity to review Huawei MediaPad. This is a free product review with honest write-up. Interesting to submit your products for review? Get in touch with me.

Share this:

Similar Posts