There won’t be a new flagship smartphone from Huawei at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year (the P20, which is rumored to come with a triple-camera, will be launched on the 27th of March). However, the Chinese device maker has just launched a number of new tablets, including the MediaPad M5 Pro which looks like a potentially interesting option for image editing on the go.
The M5 Pro will be available with a 8.4″ or 10.8″ IPS display. Both screens feature a 2560 x 1600 2K resolution and a screen/body ratio of 82%. On top of that the larger version comes with the M-Pen stylus which supports tilting and shading and offers 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Huawei says the M-Pen is ideal for note-taking and image editing alike.
If that’s true will largely depend on support for the pen in third-party apps. Huawei has not provided any information on this topic yet. In addition a full-size keyboard that is connected via Pogo Pins in combination with a Desktop View mode allow for a PC-like working experience.
In any case, the MediaPad M5 Pro looks like a capable and attractively designed Android tablet all around. The 8.4″ version comes with two speakers, the larger model offers a quad-speaker setup and a surround-sound option which has been co-developed with Harman-Kardon. Hi-Res audio is supported when listening through headphones.
The Android OS and Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 UI are powered by a Kirin 960 Series processor and a 5,100 mAh battery in the smaller model and 7,500 mAh variant in the 10.8″ version – both supporting quick-charge – should provide plenty of battery life. The MediaPad M5 Pro will be available in Champagne Gold and Space Gray. Pricing ranges from 500 Euros (approximately USD 615) for the Wi-Fi version with 64GB memory to 600 Euros (approximately USD 735) for the 128GB LTE model.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)