Huawei P10 Plus
FLOAT LEICA BUTTERFLY, STING LEICA BEE.
ON PAPER, THE latest iteration of Huawei’s plus-sized flagship doesn’t seem all that different to its 2016 predecessor, so is the 5.5-inch P10 Plus special enough to warrant an upgrade — or can it perhaps even capture the attention of Android users at large?
As with the P10, opposite, Huawei has cleverly chosen to focus its marketing on the phone’s camera capabilities, which are once again powered by renowned German company Leica Camera — that includes both the front and rear cameras this time around. The camera performance is certainly a high point for the P10 Plus, which sees the return of dual primary cameras, allowing for dedicated monochromatic shots, wonderful tricks with depth-of-field and the coveted bokeh effect. Low-light performance is likewise excellent for an Android phone, with an incredible f/1.8 aperture and dedicated night-mode helping this along, as well as a professional mode for the photo-nerds out there.
The overall aesthetic has shifted towards that of an iPhone, with slightly more rounded edges and taller top and bottom bezels to accommodate the new front-facing fingerprint scanner. While this reviewer definitely preferred the squared silhouette of the previous P9, the relocation of the fingerprint scanner to the front of the phone arguably makes it worth the compromise. This scanner doubles as a Home button and, via gestures, also provides the option of removing the on-screen navigation buttons that took up screen real estate on the previous generation. Those gestures can take you ‘back’, ‘home’ or open your recent tasks. And as on the P10, there are also some nifty knuckle gestures.
The P10 Plus comes with some other welcome upgrades from the P9 Plus too; including a 1440p display, 6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage and Gorilla Glass 5. This translates to an incredibly smooth user experience. During our time with the phone, we didn’t notice a single stutter or struggle with day-to-day use, and watching video and playing basic games ran like a dream, although our benchmarking put it somewhat behind the likes of the Galaxy S8 — the fault of a strong CPU being paired with a slightly weaker GPU. One noticeably absent feature from Huawei’s P-line is any kind of substantial waterproofing, something that’s otherwise become commonplace for phones in this price range. As the P10 Plus is only IPX3 rated — lightly splashpoof — you really won’t want to subject it to much more than a few accidental drips.
If you’re a P9 Plus owner wondering if this new model is worth the upgrade, then we’d probably wait it out another generation. If you’re a phablet fan and in the market for a new handset, however, the P10 Plus is a great point to jump onto the Huawei bandwagon. That said, if your only prerequisite is Android, then an extra $100 will get you a Samsung Galaxy S8, which shares a lot of the P10 Plus’ specs.