36 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 44
REVIEW
The 18:9 aspect ratio screen is becoming more
common, which is a good thing for the Mate 10 Pro
as more apps will be optimized to run in full-screen
mode. The phone lets you force any app to do this,
but doesn’t guarantee it’ll work properly.
Unlike the Pixel 2 XL which has two front-firing
stereo speakers, Huawei opts for an Apple-like
approach with the top one facing the front and the
bottom-firing speaker used as the second.
They’re loud enough, but not particularly well
balanced with the front speaker noticeably quieter.Cameras
The lenses may have f/1.6 apertures, but the cameras
are not the Mate 10 Pro’s strong suit. At least, certainly
not when compared to the amazing snappers on the
Pixel 2 XL (see page 25).
Put simply, the Mate 10 Pro cannot resolve the
same level of detail. When you look close up, photos
don’t look sharp and there’s evidence of noise
reduction, even in good light. This makes textures
looks a bit smeary, and it’s worse in low light.
We’ve also reason to quibble about video quality.
Everything looks a little soft at 1080p but while 4K
is decent enough, there’s no stabilisation on offer
(despite the OIS).
Annoyingly, the same restriction is imposed if you
choose to shoot at 1080p60, so you either live without
stabilisation or put with less detail and half the number
of frames per second to get smoother video.
Audio quality on videos is pretty good, with none
of the noise reduction you get on other phones that