There’s no 4K screen on the P10, nor sides that curve into nothin ness… but, says Marc Mclaren, reat phones don’t need a load of immicks

he Huawei P10 is an iphone in Android form. It looks like an iphone, behaves like an iphone, and often rivals an iphone. It’s far from a mere clone – the P10 has its own charms and foibles. But the similarities are there, from the zooming dual cameras to the way it looks. Even the so-so battery life is very Apple.

There’s certainly no denying that the P10 looks like an iphone. It has the same slim body with metal back, the same subtle curves, and in truth it resembles an Apple phone far more closely than it does a Samsung, HTC or LG.

Still, it’s really well built and, if you’re lucky enough to pick it up in one of the special colours or finishes, also quite distinctive. Two of the eight colours (greenery and dazzling blue) were designed in conjunction with colour specialists Pantone, and both stand out from the sea of black, silver and gold handsets you’ll see on your commute.

Most Android flagships these days have QHD screens, but the P10 has to make do with a 5.1in 1080p effort. A higher resolution would be nice, but otherwise the P10’s display is excellent.

Colours are superb, and while you’re given full control over the tone and colour temperature, we never needed to tweak it from the defaults. Viewing angles are also good and it can go really bright – you’ll have no problems using it in sunshine, should we ever get any. It’s sharp too – so while the P10 isn’t quite built for Netflix binges in the way that the 5.5in, Qhd-packing P10 Plus will be, this is a far from disappointing screen.

Speed is another big bonus here: the P10 is so fast it almost seems to be defying time. There’s no lag anywhere, whether you’re waking it up with the fingerprint sensor or getting in a few games of Clash Royale. You also get a whopping 64GB of storage and can add more via microsd. This phone is more powerful than you need it to be.

We wish the same could be said of its battery life, though – it’s very much an all-day rather than all-day-andall-night-and-some-of-the-nextmorning phone. But at least it charges quickly: you’ll get up to about 50% in just half an hour, which will be more than enough to get you through your next Clash Royale session.