# So close to perfection: Huawei Mate 10 Pro with 50 hours battery life



## editor (Nov 2, 2017)

It looks great, has shitloads of onboard storage, immense battery life, Leica camera but with annoying flaws: no fucking headphone socket, microSD socket or wireless charging.









> The Mate 10 Pro is the first Huawei smartphone that proves the Chinese firm can genuinely compete at the top end with Samsung and Apple.
> 
> It’s got a great camera, a good looking screen, a premium look and feel, a powerful processor and built-in artificial intelligence that should keep things running smoothly. But the real star of the show is the two day-plus battery life.
> 
> ...



Huawei Mate 10 Pro review: say hello to two-day battery life


----------



## NoXion (Nov 2, 2017)

No SD card slot? Who the fuck thought that was a great idea?

Seriously, smartphone manufacturers are taking the absolute piss these days. If someone tried selling a PC for stupid money while it lacked say, a DVD-RW drive they would be fucking crucified, yet this behaviour is somehow acceptable in the smartphone market?


----------



## editor (Nov 2, 2017)

NoXion said:


> No SD card slot? Who the fuck thought that was a great idea?
> 
> Seriously, smartphone manufacturers are taking the absolute piss these days. If someone tried selling a PC for stupid money while it lacked say, a DVD-RW drive they would be fucking crucified, yet this behaviour is somehow acceptable in the smartphone market?


It sucks, although 64GB/128GB onboard storage would ease the pain (should anyone decide to give me one of these phones). I'm so bored with this race for the thinnest ever phone when it involves jettisoning useful everyday features (SD card, earphone socket, removable battery) and spending a fortune on something that still has a shit battery life.


----------



## keybored (Nov 2, 2017)

Bit of a hijack but what (Android) phone is worth getting that does have a headphone jack, MicroSD card bay and (user) replaceable battery? Lack of any of those is a deal breaker for me.

A decent camera would be nice too.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 2, 2017)

NoXion said:


> If someone tried selling a PC for stupid money while it lacked say, a DVD-RW drive they would be fucking crucified



Eh. USB ones cost next to nothing. I’d much rather have a slimmer PC. I don’t think I’ve used a dvd drive for over 12 months and would be even longer if I hadn’t decided to ripp some old mix CDs as one long track rather than separated tracks.


----------



## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 2, 2017)

NoXion said:


> No SD card slot? Who the fuck thought that was a great idea?
> 
> Seriously, smartphone manufacturers are taking the absolute piss these days. If someone tried selling a PC for stupid money while it lacked say, a DVD-RW drive they would be fucking crucified, yet this behaviour is somehow acceptable in the smartphone market?


A DVD drive? Are you taking the piss? Who the fuck uses them anymore 

Even USB sticks are on their way out ffs


----------



## Fez909 (Nov 2, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Eh. USB ones cost next to nothing. I’d much rather have a slimmer PC. I don’t think I’ve used a dvd drive for over 12 months and would be even longer if I hadn’t decided to ripp some old mix CDs as one long track rather than separated tracks.





beesonthewhatnow said:


> A DVD drive? Are you taking the piss? Who the fuck uses them anymore
> 
> Even USB sticks are on their way out ffs


I thought I detected sarcasm in that post....maybe not though?!


----------



## cybershot (Nov 2, 2017)

Fez909 said:


> I thought I detected sarcasm in that post....maybe not though?!



If there’s no  how are ever supposed to know.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Nov 2, 2017)

I’m relatively happy with the iPhone 7 which lacks all those things too.


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Eh. USB ones cost next to nothing. I’d much rather have a slimmer PC. I don’t think I’ve used a dvd drive for over 12 months and would be even longer if I hadn’t decided to ripp some old mix CDs as one long track rather than separated tracks.



Why do you need a slimmer PC? Do you move yours around a lot? Because I don't, so I'm not overly concerned about that. For me one of the advantages of a desktop is not having to ration out physical space too much.


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Nov 5, 2017)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> A DVD drive? Are you taking the piss? Who the fuck uses them anymore



I do.


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> A DVD drive? Are you taking the piss? Who the fuck uses them anymore
> 
> Even USB sticks are on their way out ffs



Believe it or not there are plenty of people who make use of optical disc media. I'm one of them. Maybe you ought to consider that not everyone uses technology the same way that you do.


----------



## twentythreedom (Nov 5, 2017)

keybored said:


> Bit of a hijack but what (Android) phone is worth getting that does have a headphone jack, MicroSD card bay and (user) replaceable battery? Lack of any of those is a deal breaker for me.
> 
> A decent camera would be nice too.


Samsung S8 (I've got one)


----------



## Tankus (Nov 5, 2017)

me too ...optical drives that is


----------



## twentythreedom (Nov 5, 2017)

Battery tech is developing quickly, 48hr batteries are surely not far off

Amazing how much battery life you can save by careful management of apps, networks, permissions etc though. The S8 regularly prompts about apps draining battery in the background, which is useful and surprising


----------



## cybershot (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> Why do you need a slimmer PC? Do you move yours around a lot? Because I don't, so I'm not overly concerned about that. For me one of the advantages of a desktop is not having to ration out physical space too much.



The more I can fit on my desk the better. So yeah. Size matters.


----------



## bemused (Nov 5, 2017)

I've stopped buying mobile devices that don't support SD cards - apart from my silly smart watch.


----------



## donkyboy (Nov 5, 2017)

keybored said:


> Bit of a hijack but what (Android) phone is worth getting that does have a headphone jack, MicroSD card bay and (user) replaceable battery? Lack of any of those is a deal breaker for me.
> 
> A decent camera would be nice too.



note 4


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

cybershot said:


> The more I can fit on my desk the better. So yeah. Size matters.



Is your PC located in a broom cupboard or something? Despite the name, you don't actually have to put them on your desktop. I have large speakers and a large monitor, so I've got a little TV stand to the left of my desk where the stereo amplifier and the PC case actually sit. Plenty of room on that.

I suppose I could wedge it behind the flatscreen monitor if I really wanted, but that would make accessing the case more awkward than necessary. Besides I've got the room to spare and I picked up the stand for nothing.


----------



## beesonthewhatnow (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> Believe it or not there are plenty of people who make use of optical disc media. I'm one of them. Maybe you ought to consider that not everyone uses technology the same way that you do.


Come into the 21st century grandad


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> Why do you need a slimmer PC? Do you move yours around a lot? Because I don't, so I'm not overly concerned about that. For me one of the advantages of a desktop is not having to ration out physical space too much.



Desktops are a dying breed big style. I mean I think they are great, but I know I'm in a minority.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 5, 2017)

twentythreedom said:


> Battery tech is developing quickly, 48hr batteries are surely not far off
> 
> Amazing how much battery life you can save by careful management of apps, networks, permissions etc though. The S8 regularly prompts about apps draining battery in the background, which is useful and surprising



Battery tech really isn't. We're still stuck on lithium ion. Most improved are more down to less power hungry components.


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

beesonthewhatnow said:


> Come into the 21st century grandad



Actually, even 3.5" floppy disks are still being used today: Think the floppy disk is dead? Think again! Here’s why it still stands between us and a nuclear apocalypse

This is the kind of thing that gets overlooked by faddish cloud worship and always assuming that internet access and wireless networking will be available.


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> Desktops are a dying breed big style. I mean I think they are great, but I know I'm in a minority.



People have been proclaiming the death of the desktop ever since laptops started getting decent and affordable. Hasn't happened yet, and I doubt it ever will.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> Is your PC located in a broom cupboard or something? Despite the name, you don't actually have to put them on your desktop. I have large speakers and a large monitor, so I've got a little TV stand to the left of my desk where the stereo amplifier and the PC case actually sit. Plenty of room on that.
> 
> I suppose I could wedge it behind the flatscreen monitor if I really wanted, but that would make accessing the case more awkward than necessary. Besides I've got the room to spare and I picked up the stand for nothing.



As far as I'm concerned, every desktop PC should be the size of a Mac Mini


----------



## NoXion (Nov 5, 2017)

cybershot said:


> As far as I'm concerned, every desktop PC should be the size of a Mac Mini



If size is that big of an issue for you, then why not just invest in a decent laptop?


----------



## cybershot (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> If size is that big of an issue for you, then why not just invest in a decent laptop?



I have a decent laptop, I'm waiting for Adobe Premiere to export a video while I post on here.


----------



## UnderAnOpenSky (Nov 5, 2017)

NoXion said:


> People have been proclaiming the death of the desktop ever since laptops started getting decent and affordable. Hasn't happened yet, and I doubt it ever will.



They were mostly right if you look at sales. Of course the death will never happen, if just for serious work, but for home users it's a pretty niche market.


----------



## cybershot (Nov 5, 2017)

To be fair I'm most likely to get a rather large tower 'workstation' later this month. Will be a refurb Dell Precision most likely with plenty of humph in order to set up a home lab for myself, just going to whack a hyper visor on it, and run loads of virtual machines off it.

This thread took quite the tangent!


----------



## keybored (Nov 6, 2017)

twentythreedom said:


> Samsung S8 (I've got one)


No user replaceable battery, apparently. 

And by "user replaceable" I mean quickly popping off a cover by hand and swapping the flat battery for a charged spare.

Not this palaver...


----------



## NoXion (Nov 7, 2017)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> They were mostly right if you look at sales. Of course the death will never happen, if just for serious work, but for home users it's a pretty niche market.


 That's alright, just means that us PC users are the elite once again.


----------



## editor (Nov 7, 2017)

Here's the review: 



> Huawei will tell you the Mate 10 is all about onboard artificial intelligence and everything that AI can bring to the smartphone experience.
> 
> And AI is all well and good. What makes the Mate 10 Pro a great buy _today_ is its excellence in the core smartphone experience. Things like getting to the end of the day on a single charge, no matter what you're doing. And taking excellent photos even in challenging night-time conditions.
> 
> ...



Huawei Mate 10 Pro review: Best Android flagship for battery life


----------



## cybershot (Nov 7, 2017)

What's Huawei's track record like for keeping their devices up to date software wise? 

Otherwise I really don't see the point in why Android handset makers are interesting in 'futureproofing' a handset other than using it as a marketing gimmick for those less knowledgeable on Android's fragmented update cycles.

Yes, I know it's meant to be improving with Project Treble, but has anyone actually committed to keeping the devices updated longer than the current crappy system.

Surely it's better to just ram as much as the best current tech in them, such as the 2 day battery as they have done. Shame about the reports of the crappy UI.


----------



## editor (Nov 7, 2017)

cybershot said:


> What's Huawei's track record like for keeping their devices up to date software wise?
> 
> Otherwise I really don't see the point in why Android handset makers are interesting in 'futureproofing' a handset other than using it as a marketing gimmick for those less knowledgeable on Android's fragmented update cycles.
> 
> ...


It's not hard to set up a phone to get rid of all, if not almost all, of a manufacturer's dabblings.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 7, 2017)

Nova Launcher FTW


----------



## editor (Nov 7, 2017)

Throbbing Angel said:


> Nova Launcher FTW


I've just switched to Action Launcher for a bit. It's very good indeed and worth a look.


----------



## Slo-mo (Nov 18, 2017)

NoXion said:


> Actually, even 3.5" floppy disks are still being used today: Think the floppy disk is dead? Think again! Here’s why it still stands between us and a nuclear apocalypse
> 
> This is the kind of thing that gets overlooked by faddish cloud worship and always assuming that internet access and wireless networking will be available.



Yes, in a similar vein one of my most used smartphone features is the FM radio. Of course it's much more limited content wise than online alternatives but it doesn't use a drop of data and barely touches the battery and pretty much never drops out on the local stations, even on a fast moving bus. 

Personally I could live without micro SD card expansion if a phone had at least 64 gig internal like this one seems to have, but I can certainly see why others find it useful.


----------



## NoXion (Nov 18, 2017)

Slo-mo said:


> Yes, in a similar vein one of my most used smartphone features is the FM radio. Of course it's much more limited content wise than online alternatives but it doesn't use a drop of data and barely touches the battery and pretty much never drops out on the local stations, even on a fast moving bus.
> 
> Personally I could live without micro SD card expansion if a phone had at least 64 gig internal like this one seems to have, but I can certainly see why others find it useful.



Too many people seem to have this idea that technology is better simply because it is new.


----------



## Chz (Nov 21, 2017)

cybershot said:


> As far as I'm concerned, every desktop PC should be the size of a Mac Mini


It would have to be a metal chassis for mine, or it would melt.
I've no doubt that all the technology in my desktop could fit inside a Mac Mini case. How long before it spontaneously combusted is up in the air though. Most of the space in my case is for airflow. Just the CPU and GPU _alone_ will suck down just shy of 300W flat out, never mind whatever else is in there. Doing video encoding or whatnot, the total system power draw (not including screen) hovers around 400W. And I should point out that my system is _far_ from bleeding edge. 

Granted that's an edge use case, but it does happen or I wouldn't be able to measure it. Just because *you* don't need all that power... Average power use is much more modest, but without the ability to stretch to that power budget there are things I simply couldn't do.


----------

