Software

There's no kind style of putting this: Huawei's software sucks. They use an unnecessarily overbearing skin that regresses from stock Android in several ways, and the actually useful additions Huawei makes don't justify sweeping changes to the visual style and functionality of Android.

On summit of this, Huawei has a poor record with software updates. With a phone like the Google Pixel you lot can expect monthly security patches and the fastest updates to the latest versions of Android, including a developer preview plan. With the Mate 10, you'll be lucky to run into the latest version unless you upgrade to a new device, and their security update track tape isn't great.

Ane of the almost frustrating things virtually Huawei's EMUI software is the fashion they arrange notifications to be less information dense. On my Pixel 2 40 with default font sizes, a ton of information is fit into the notification pane, merely with the Mate 10, everything is padded out and increased in size for no skilful reason. Additionally, some functions such as quick replies didn't piece of work in some situations, which is bizarre when the characteristic works so well on other Android devices.

The visual style feels dated compared to what Google provides on the Pixel with stock Android 8.0, and some stock apps experience chaotic with elements and less usable than their counterparts on Google'south default offering. Plus, I had to plough the 'view mode' downwards to pocket-size on the Mate 10 to increase information density and feel like I was making the most of the larger brandish, whereas the equivalent of this viewing manner is the default setting on the Pixel 2 XL. The Mate 10'south default density seems designed for someone with poor eyesight, rather than idea to the larger display on the handset.

The settings screen is condensed far more than other offerings, but not in a expert way: many key features like the date and fourth dimension are hidden under the non-descriptive 'system' submenu, while other areas that feel like "system" settings such as the storage carte du jour get their ain top carte. Using such generic labels can hurt navigation.

The Mate 10 also includes an egregious corporeality of applications out of the box, most of which is bloatware. The 'tools' folder is filled with things similar weather condition, wellness and backup apps, which almost people will eschew for their favorite tertiary-political party Play Store apps, making their inclusion (and development) completely unnecessary.

Pre-installed junk likewise includes a lot of duplicate apps, like a 2nd gallery, email client and music app, and so y'all will run into the dreaded 'cull what app to use' pop-up dialogs at times. Then there's just straight upward bloatware like CNN and Booking.com.

Huawei needs to completely overhaul EMUI if their software is to remain relevant up against a fast-evolving stock Android. Or they could switch to stock Android, but I can't encounter that happening.