Huawei MatePad SE tablet review – Small price, small battery

Huawei still does not have an easy time in Europe, because the lack of Google services means that you have to be creative if you really want to get all the important apps to work, and sometimes it does not work at all. Nevertheless, the devices remain popular because they often offer a lot for their price. The MatePad SE is a 10.

4-inch tablet that is available for just under 200 Euros. The tablet resembles the MatePad T10S but comes with a Qualcomm processor. Let’s see how the MatePad SE performs in our tests.

For its size, the MatePad SE is a relatively light tablet at 440 grams. The design is similar to the MatePad T10S but the distribution of the ports is different and the color is only dark gray. In addition, the tablet is a bit shorter but wider.

The edges around the screen are well-sized so that you can hold the tablet in your hand without unintentionally triggering touchscreen commands and the appearance looks modern at the same time. In terms of stability, the MatePad SE is on a medium level: the back and screen can be pressed in relatively easily, which is also partly visible in the screen’s liquid crystals. Basically, the tablet appears robust, though.

The back and the edges are made of one piece of metal, and a plastic strip is inserted at the upper edge for better handling. With its 64 GB of mass storage and 4 GB of RAM, the Huawei tablet is equipped normally for the price range. A larger storage variant is currently not offered in Europe.

As is usually the case with large tablets, NFC is not available and the USB port is only connected internally according to the USB 2. 0 standard, so data transfers take longer. The microSD reader works well with our reference card Angelbird V60 and offers solid write rates in the CPDT benchmark.

However, the read rates are characterized by partly big drops. The device is on a class level in the copy test. The Huawei tablet comes with the in-house operating system HarmonyOS 3, which is based on the open-source part of Android and therefore also supports most Android apps, but it has to do without Google services due to trade restrictions.

Thus, it is somewhat cumbersome and not entirely safe to get Google software to work due to third-party software. Nevertheless, the manufacturer manages to use most apps on the tablet with the App Gallery and a comprehensive search. The assortment is good, but not perfect.

For example, it is difficult to find an app that tracks routes and exports them as . gpx files. In addition, you have to use third-party providers like Apkpure for many apps, which on the one hand do not always contain the latest version of an app, and on the other hand also already been noticed containing malicious code .

DRM certification is available, so you can watch videos from the major streaming platforms in HD. Huawei offers a dedicated environment for children with Kids Space, which parents can configure extensively to protect the offspring from harmful content. The operating system’s security patches are from December 2022 and are thus quite up-to-date at the time of testing.

Internationally, there is also a model with a cellular module. In Europe, only the AGS5-W09 variant is currently available, which only communicates via Wi-Fi. WiFi 5 is the fastest standard.

In our test with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000, the tablet shows typical speeds for the price range and very stable data rates. The reception is good close to the router as well as at a distance of 10 meters and through 3 walls. The WLAN model does not have a positioning module, so it cannot be used for navigation.

The positioning service, which would at least allow an approximate location via the Wi-Fi network, cannot be started on our device due to a strange bug. As already with the MatePad T10S , the MatePad SE only has very basic camera equipment: a 5-megapixel lens on the back and a 2-megapixel selfie camera on the front. The pictures of the main camera look quite blurry in parts even without magnification and do not show much detail.

They could also be brightened better. The surrounding image also lacks dynamics and looks washed out. The small camera also struggles in low light and high contrasts: the light source is outshined and the picture looks grainy.

Videos can be recorded with a maximum of 1080p. The slow autofocus is noticed negatively here. Selfies taken with the front-facing camera also look somewhat lacking in detail but can be used in good light and not too high magnification.

The main camera also has to prove itself in the lab. Even in very good studio light, however, sharpness problems and too little contrast are evident. Hardly anything is recognizable in the pictures at 1 lux illuminance.

The MatePad SE is clearly not intended for taking pictures. The cameras are usable, but overall more of a stopgap. Huawei ships a 10-watt charger, a USB cable, and a SIM tool with the tablet.

The manufacturer offers a matching folio cover for a fair 20 Euros on its website. Otherwise, the range of accessories looks rather meager. The manufacturer offers a 24-month Warranty for its tablets.

As usual in this price range, the tablet only has a 60 Hz screen, so inputs feel a bit slower. However, the touchscreen proves to be precise and easy to use. There is no fingerprint sensor, and the MatePad SE can only be secured biometrically via face recognition.

The learning process is quick and the recognition is fast and reliable in good lighting conditions. However, this method is not supported by additional hardware and is thus not quite as secure since it could be fooled by pictures, masks, or similar-looking people. The IPS screen with a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels and a size of 10.

4 inches offers enough space to run 2 apps side by side and also has a high enough resolution that individual pixels are hardly visible to the naked eye. The screen brightness is sufficient with an average of 368 cd/m², but the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus , for example, offers much more here. The black value is on a medium level, and together with the likewise only average brightness, this results in a moderate contrast ratio, so colors look a bit pale on the IPS display.

We measure the image representation in detail with the spectrophotometer and the CalMAN software. In fact, it proves to be relatively true to the original; a color cast is hardly visible to the naked eye. The sRGB color space coverage is also almost complete, so the tablet can display almost all color tones from this color space faithfully.

Outdoors, the tablet shows strong reflections even on winter days, so it is better to retreat into the shade. The viewing angles are good. There is a slight brightness drop on the sides, but the subject always remains recognizable.

Also the Adreno 610 also provides suitable graphics power for the price range. However, it cannot quite keep up with the comparison devices, especially older benchmarks cause problems. When browsing the web, you have to wait for images again and again, and it also takes time for large websites to load parts that you just scrolled to.

You can use the MatePad SE for surfing without problems, but should not expect top speeds. Unfortunately, Huawei only uses very slow eMMC flash for mass storage. This is common in this price range, but it would have been a nice option to make the tablet faster during loading and data transfers with relatively little effort and thus also increase the perceived system speed.

Unfortunately, you often have to wait quite a long time and the MatePad SE often feels a bit sluggish. The MatePad SE is certainly not a classic gamer device, which is already indicated by the 60 Hz screen. It can at least be used in simpler action games like Armajet with an average of 58.

3 fps. In modern games, such as Diablo: Immortal, the restriction to 30 fps and the clear, recurring frame rate drops are more of a hindrance, at least in very high settings. We measure the fps with the software from GameBench .

The controls basically work well, the touchscreen and the position sensor respond fast enough. The maximum warming is hardly noticeable on the casing even after a long high load of the SoC: we measured 30. 2 °C at maximum.

At the same time, the tablet does not show any signs of performance drop after prolonged load in the 3DMark stress tests. Thus, those looking for a tablet with stable performance and low temperatures will be well advised with the MatePad SE. Although there are four speaker grilles on the MatePad SE’s sides, only two of them actually have speakers underneath.

The stereo sound does not overdrive even at maximum volume, but it is not particularly full either. It is sufficient for the occasional pop song, but those who want higher sound quality will have to look elsewhere or connect external audio devices. This works via a 3.

5 mm jack or Bluetooth. Both work without problems, but you should not hope for too many Bluetooth codecs: there are no aptX and the selection is also rather limited. In terms of battery life, the 5,100 mAh battery, as already in the MatePad T10S , is too small.

Most smartphones now offer similarly high-capacity batteries, so other tablets sometimes manage much longer runtimes. In our Wi-Fi test, the tablet lasted just 10:38 hours, which is enough for a workday, but the reserves are tight afterward. Under load, on the other hand, the tablet runs for quite a long time over 4 hours.

If you are simply looking for a cheap tablet for home use, you cannot go wrong with the MatePad SE. However, you should not have too high expectations in terms of screen, performance, and especially camera. It is a pity that Huawei’s innovative power is so severely curbed by the trade embargo because earlier models show that the Chinese always offered a good price-performance ratio.

The MatePad SE on the other hand is rather inconspicuously on par with its rivals. In addition, the somewhat small battery, which makes the tablet light, only allows relatively short runtimes. However, if you only want to use the tablet at home where there is always a power outlet nearby, this point should not be so crucial and the tablet lasts quite long under high load.

In terms of software, you have to make friends with Huawei’s own ecosystem, which is closely related to Android but has some limitations. There were also some minor bugs during our test. We liked the metal casing, the low temperature, the stable performance, and the good Wi-Fi speed.

If you are looking for a simple tablet for home with a pretty metal casing and are aware of the software peculiarities, you will get a 10. 4-inch tablet that is suitable for everyday use with the MatePad SE. The realme Pad also comes with a light metal case.

A bit heavier is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A8 which can also support LTE if desired. At the time of testing, the MatePad SE is available for just under 200 Euros directly from the manufacturer . It is also available at this reduced price at our lender cyberport.

de , and you pay a few Euros more each at notebooksbilliger . de and amazon. de .

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