Huawei P10 in a nutshell: Specs and leaked details of Huawei’s first big 2017 phone, the Huawei P10, ahead of the flagship handset’s official launch. Here’s what we know so far about the Huawei P10, including how it might compare to the Huawei P9 and a speculative UK price and release date.
Huawei impressed us with a series of really smart mobile handsets in 2016. From the slender and feature-packed Huawei P9 flagship to the mighty 5.7-inch Huawei Mate 9 phablet, you can pretty much always rely on an enticing blend of sexy hardware and smart software.
Which is why we can’t wait for the Huawei Mate 10, Huawei’s big 2017 flagship phone, to officially launch. This premium handset should be one of the best mobiles of the year, with top-end specs, boundary-pushing camera tech and trouser-stirring design. All we have so far is rumours of course, and here’s everything we (think we) know right now about the Huawei P10.
Huawei P10 in a nutshell: Specs
| Phone | Huawei P10 |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 5.5-inch |
| Screen resolution | 2560×1440 |
| Fingerprint sensor? | Yes |
| Processor | Kirin 960 |
| Memory | 6GB |
| Storage | From 32GB |
| microSD? | Yes (up to 2TB) |
| Battery | 3200mAh |
| Rear camera | 20MP + 12MP |
| Front camera | 8MP |
Huawei P10 in a nutshell: Design
The Huawei P10 is likely to sport bigger dimensions than last year’s P9 phone, with many rumours suggesting a 5.5-inch screen will be packed into a rugged metallic frame. Well, 5.5-inches seems to be the smartphone sweet spot these days, and perhaps the Huawei P9 Plus – which also featured a mighty 5.5-inch screen – performed better than expected last year.
However, it also seems likely that Huawei will launch more than one variant of the Huawei P10, just as it did with the Huawei Mate 9 and P9. The Mate 9 had a bigger, better-specced brother known as the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design, which cost a fair whack more than the standard Mate 9 handset. Meanwhile the P9 also came in a ‘Plus’ and ‘Lite’ form. So perhaps the P10 will come in a vanilla 5.2-inch form, plus a bigger – and maybe smaller – form factor.
Reports on the fingerprint sensor contradict one another, placing it either on the front or the back of the phone. This again suggests that more than one Huawei P10 phone will be launched at the same time.
Huawei P10 in a nutshell: Features and performance
Performance will likely be provided by the super-charged Kirin 960 chipset that made the Mate 9 so silky smooth, unless Huawei decided to return to Qualcomm for its processing power. In which case, you can expect a Snapdragon 821 to be packed inside the Huawei P10, with at least 4GB of RAM to keep your apps running at pace. We reckon 6GB is more likely, to match the mighty OnePlus 3T.
As for battery tech, expect a battery size around 3200mAh that supports fast charging and wireless charging.
The Huawei P10 will also come packing Huawei’s latest version of Emotion UI, EMUI 5.0, on top of Android 7.0 Nougat. That alone gets our tech juices flowing, as EMUI 5.0 is one of the best Android overlays we’ve played with this past year, adding some great features without overcomplicating the phone’s user experience.
Check out our full EMUI 5.0 review and our tips and tricks guide for more info on why it’s so great.
Huawei P10 in a nutshell: Cameras
Huawei is in a long-term relationship with optics expert Leica, so once again you can expect the next Huawei flagship phone to sport a front and rear camera designed in collaboration.
The Huawei P10 is almost certainly going to stick with the dual-lens setup for its rear camera, as found on the P9 and Mate 9 last year. Hell, this double lens design has even crept into Huawei’s affordable Honor phones, with the Honor 8 and Honor 6X sporting the same kind of camera arrangement.
What we don’t know is how much Huawei will tinker with the rather good Mate 9 camera for this fresh new flagship. That snapper was great when lighting conditions were fine, offering particularly strong depth-of-field shots. However, it struggled compared with many rivals in low light, just as the P9’s camera did. So we’re hoping that Huawei and Leica have been hard at work, crafting a new high-aperture lens that works well when the lights go down.
Huawei P10 in a nutshell: UK price and release date
Huawei has invited us to a press launch at the MWC 2017 expo, starting at 1pm GMT on Sunday February 26. So far there’s no confirmation on what will be launched but we know we’ll be seeing at least one new phone revealed. And while the latest flagship is usually unveiled around spring time rather than so early in the year, there’s still a chance we could see the Huawei P10 launched over in Barcelona.
If that’s the case, you can expect the P10 to hit UK stores around March to April 2017. As for the price, you can count on this phone hitting the top end of the market – so around £499 to £599 SIM-free. Plenty of UK networks should be ranging the Huawei P10 too, if you’d rather pick it up on contract.
Check back soon as we’re constantly updating this Huawei P10 feature as fresh news emerges.