Huawei launched its latest tablet, HUAWEI MediaPad M5 lite. This model aims to bring users immersive entertainment experience, with the new M-Pen lite stylus to further strengthen the tablet performance. The MediaPad M5 Lite comes with a similar design to the pricier MediaPad M5 but is a trimmed down version just as the name suggests. It features a full metal body and feels very high-end. While it is not super thin, at 7.7mm the weight of 475 grams is alright.
What’s inside the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite box?
The box is rather simple with the familiar white box with Huawei and Harman Kardon logos. Inside the box contains the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite, charger, USB Type-C power cable, SIM ejector pin and the M-Pen lite stylus.
Design and Construction
It is a portable tablet equipped with 10.1 inch FHD screen and a quad-speaker setup by Harman Kardon. Aside from being a multimedia-centric tablet, the MediaPad M5 Lite is an excellent choice for people on the go.
Design-wise, Huawei MediaPad M5 lite comes with a 2.5D curved glass edge wrapped by a thin slab of aluminum alloy unibody. This device is an elegantly designed tablet with minimalist curves and offering a more sleek-looking overall profile. The bezels are thick though but considered decent for a mid-range tablet. The tablet measures at 243.4 x 162.2 mm. It is quite slim at 7.7 mm even if it has a big 7,500mAh of battery.
For audio, the Huawei MediaPad M5 lite pairs with quad speakers on this 10.1-inch model. Co-engineers with the world-renowned Harman Kardon brand to deliver professional theater quality sound. Furthermore, The M5 Lite has four speakers combined with Huawei Histen 5.0 audio enhancement technology, reducing the external noise power as well as improving the low-frequency sound effect.
Display and Multimedia
It looks and feels premium which is a great thing. The Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite’s 10.1-inch IPS display offers vibrant color, sharp detail and plenty of brightness. The MediaPad M5 Lite is equipped with Harman Kardon quad speakers positioned in each corner on top and bottom of the device, so it wouldn’t be blocked by your hands when watching or playing games in landscape orientation.
The speakers are probably my favorite feature of the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite. The well-positioned speakers provides an immersive and 3D-like experience. Perfect device for binge-watching on Netflix or going in the rabbit hole on your favorite YouTube channel.
Stylus
Another important feature of the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite is the stylus (stylus pen). The specially designed HUAWEI M-Pen lite Stylus is an extension of your imagination. Equipped with advanced 2048-layer pressure sensitivity, the HUAWEI M-Pen lite Stylus enables you to naturally jot down notes and write memos with full responsiveness.
The M Pen Lite is a trimmed down version of the M Pen for the MediaPad M5 Pro. While the design of both pens looks very similar, the M Pen Lite does not have any buttons and is powered by a removable battery. The M Pen Lite is not as pressure sensitive as the higher-end competitors but honestly I didn’t notice any differences. Unless maybe if you use these kinds of pens a lot.
The only issue I have about this pen is that there’s nowhere on the tablet to put it when not in use unlike most competitors such as the Galaxy Note 9’s dedicated S-pen slot, or the Apple iPad Pro’s magnetic side for holding the Apple Pencil. When you’re done using the M-Pen, the only reasonable place to put it is in your pocket that can easily be misplaced. Also it would be nice if the pen has a rechargeable battery instead of an AAAA battery because those things aren’t easy to come by.
Camera
The camera on the front and back offers a resolution of 8 megapixels each. Unfortunately the image quality is a bit disappointing. However they are usable for video chats but kinda bad for taking photos. But for me personally I think its ok since it’s quite awkward to use a tablet to take photos or selfies. You can always make use of your smartphone if you need a better quality images.
Battery Life
Huawei did an awesome job in making this tablet survive the day by squeezing a huge 7,500 mAh battery into the MediaPad M5 Lite! The battery should have enough juice to power long multimedia and gaming sessions. We tried testing MediaPad M5 Lite with continuous binge-watching on Netflix, and gave us around 10 hours play time without the need to recharge. Plus it also supports quick charge, meaning you don’t have to worry about waiting for long hours to charge your device. I actually made use of this time to make a quick snack before going back to watching my favorite netflix series with the MediaPad M5 Lite.
Conclusion
I started this review with a question—are tablets still useful? In my personal opinion MediaPad M5 Lite will definitely not answer that question entirely, but can provide some insight. The device may not be able to compete with the top tablet market but personally I really like this device especially for my media consumption like watching my favorite movies and series on netflix. The device’s sound quality is amazing plus the screen quality would surely make your binge watching experience more enjoyable and convenient. The device has a good screen, even better speakers, solid battery life, and an accessible software experience. The Huawei MediaPad M5 lite is priced at Php 18,990 available at Huawei concept stores nationwide.
Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite specs:
- 10.1-inch IPS display, 1920 x 1200, 224ppi
- HiSilicon Kirin 659 2.36GHz octa-core processor
- 4 x 2.36GHz ARM Cortex A53 + 4 x 1.7GHz ARM Cortex A53
- Mali-T830 GPU
- 3GB/4GB RAM
- 32GB/64GB internal storage
- expandable via microSD up to 256GB (dedicated slot)
- 8MP rear camera with AF
- 8MP front camera
- 4G LTE (for LTE/Wi-Fi version only)
- NanoSIM (for LTE/Wi-Fi version only)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth 4.2
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
- USB 2.0 Type-C
- Fingerprint scanner
- 7,500mAh non-removable li-po battery w/ 9V 2A fast charging
- EMUI 8.0 (Android 8.0 Oreo)
- Colors: Space Gray, Champagne Gold
- Dimensions: 243.4 x 162.2 x 7.7mm
- Weight: 475g
The Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 10″ is priced at Php 18,990 and is available at all Huawei Concept Stores nationwide.
Let us know your thoughts on Huawei MediaPad M5 lite on the comments below.
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Editor in Chief at Iconic MNL He finished Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Information System at Centro Escolar University in Manila. During his academic years, He has been an epitome of what a servant leader is. He was very active engaging into various extracurricular activities and served as an officer in different organizations.
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