https://www.lowyat.net/2018/165975/huawei-m...ed-from-rm1499/

The M5 is officially launched in Malaysia.

The review seems good. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Huawei-MediaP...w.303042.0.html

But software wise, the known issues include:
Widewine Level 1 for DRM streaming contents - cannot play HD content, including Netflix
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/mediapad-m5/help/question-widewine-level-drm-streaming-t3766287)

Hardware wise, known issues include:
Bluetooth antenna shared with WiFi antenna - if Bluetooth devices are connected to M5, the 2.4 GHz WiFi speed will become almost 0 kbps.
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R361XT8P606GFZ/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07BD4FQGJ)

Since there is no audio jack, if u were to stream Netflix content via WiFi and try to listen through your Bluetooth earpieces, it is impossible.

What is your take?


Added on 5 Aug:

Here is my Day 1 review on the M5 8.4.

General: like everyone who has pointed out earlier, the OS is configured to treat M5 8.4 as "8.4 inch phone", not "8.4 inch tablet". The UI is not optimized well, and some in-app control buttons become out-of-alignment, or out-of-proportion. This applies to both 3rd party apps as well as Huawei own sys apps.

Sound: basically it is loud, but no fidelity. There is no adjustment available for the speaker - other than volume. The reproduction of sound via in-built speaker is definitely very bad, feels like a cheapo RM 10 speaker.

Screen: screen is quite sharp and crisp. Color is quite true, but a bit too vibrant, even if i have selected the profile to "cool". The "vivid" would become too unnatural for average eyes.

Pre-installed app: Plenty sponsored apps installed, including MS Office apps and CN games. Huawei own system app, eg Messages, Contacts, etc, can be disabled, but cannot be replaced by Google version's. Further, even if u disable and force stop those Huawei app, when the system needs to launch Messages, it will still launch the disabled "Messages" instead of Google's Messages. Anyway, other than Calendar, imo, all the Huawei apps are quite crappy.

Fingerprint sensor: Fast and responsive.

Side buttons: the location of the buttons (volume, power) are on the cursive side (45 degree facing downwards) of the edge. if ur back cover has a flat edge (instead of contour edge), there is a good chance it will obstruct the access to these buttons.

Camera: mediocre performance. Not sharp, not focusing well.

Theme: The Theme app from Huawei only has 4 themes available. There is no option to download more.

Navigation buttons: the fingerprint sensor acts as home button, but u can also choose to display the conventional navigation bar as virtual buttons on screen. However, the size of the buttons is too small to be used comfortably - this may be subjective.

Charging time: tried QC 3 port using 2.4A cable, took 6 hrs to fully charged. Will try other charging variations, for experimental purpose.

Battery: received the unit at 64%, done some setup and app download, the battery dropped to 20% in 4 hrs.

Keyboard: the unit comes pre-installed with SwiftKey.

This post has been edited by shurato77: Aug 5 2018, 04:53 PM

Huh no audio jack? Rm 1499 sumore. I think I'll go with Mi Pad 4.

Will get the 8.4 version. Since I use it mainly for light browsing and maybe light gaming, it is more than enough. It has headphone adapter included, so it's not too bad

I m interested with the 10 incher. Already using iPad Mini 4 now. Want bigger screen.

Yes, headphone adapter included.
But I dun think you can charge and plug in audio cable at the same time.
Using a headphone adapter while on the move... meh.

Use bluetooth headphone lor.

Well I guess I am lucky that bluetooth and headphone doesn't affect me much

may i know if u are using any tablet currently?

see below.

Nope, not in a long time

We can we buy the m5 8.4 with free gamepad? seem not all shop stock come with the gamepad.
Where is the huawei official shop in klang valley?

Not sure about shop, but Huawei official store in Lazada is offering it

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/huawei-m...MVHZsS&search=1

android tablet manufacturer will find it harder to cope with tablet market nowadays, since apple reduced its ipad price to 1.3k with no compromise in spec and quality.. seriously looking at rm1499 and not so top notch spec, i would not think twice to buy ipad 2018

1.3 will.be WiFi only. This is cellular model ..so won't be same range .if u go for iPad WiFi cellular than u won't get this price

Netflix issue has been solved with latest software update.

cellular 1.8k, not that much different, and same price as M5 pro?.. but for me cellular on tablet is optional bcoz my main number have 40gb internet already more than enough for me..

This post has been edited by un_id: Jul 12 2018, 10:00 PM

u referring to the Netflix app, or the stock rom from Huawei?

Where to get?

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23939
here mention it can support HD

Mobile2go SS2 store got. But unofficial stock la. The salesperson say it's global rom.

Gotten it from Huawei store Mid Valley. There's no gamepad as gift which i wonder why?

Anyway, i'm not a gamer but it's always good to have gift. Anyone can confirm if the gift is part of Huawei bundle or distributor/shop bundles?

Still setting up my very first Android tablet.

Default factory version: SHT-AL09 8.0.0.153(C636), no update available.

This post has been edited by thankyou: Jul 13 2018, 11:46 AM

Wow phone in lazada having quite a good deal.
Bluetooth headset from huawei, a not so sure Huawei Bluetooth speaker and a huawei quick charge powerbank.

I presume u bought the 8.4 version as 10 inch version next week....
Share ur review! Thanks....

Great! Share ur view. Thanks.
Going for the 10 pro.

Overall the tablet is smooth. Nice screen but the main issue is the OS itself. It's not optimized for Tablet for sure unlike iPad. I feel like using a gigantic phone screen at the moment.

Watching video is perfect... love it... sound quality is great as well!

what do u mean?

Should be all applications are phone app. Not like ipad got seperate applications layout

Yeah, this morning i also bought 1 gold color from Huawei Queensbay.. no gamepad, no free gift as well...
I believe the free gift gamepad only for huawei online store - Lazada

Yes, the applications are not optimized for Tablet screen.

Have you gotten any accessories? Need to get a cover at least. I'll be traveling tonight so have to use naked tablet for 1 week at least...

Quite a lot of resellers on Lazada is now selling M5, with a variety of free gifts to choose from.

i sent a Q&A to Huawei to ask if they still selling the M5 batch with shared Bluetooth and WiFi antenna, and they chose not to respond.
I suppose the no-response is tell-tale.
Guess I should wait for Samsung Tab S4 coming next month bah.

I will perform a test when i get back home.


Connect BT Keyboard + 2.4GHz Wifi - So I assume my download will go very slow right?

Connect BT Keyboard + 5GHz Wifi - Re-Test with 1GB file.

Thanks!!
If u have a BT earpiece, the simplest way would be to stream YouTube/Netflix on 2.4GHz WiFi and listen to the audio via the BT earpieces.
Cuz BT keyboard, the signal is not continuous, may not observe the issue due to buffering.

I have one... Will test it and report

I just asked at huawei one utama, got many kind of huawei store in malaysia.

Zitron warranty huawei store, official, will give game pad, however stock arrive est. 21st july.

No problem with WiFi and BT together.

Watch 1080p YouTube with BT earphone. No buffering neither sound issue.

Speedtest download upload with Spotify streaming to BT Earphone. No issue.

Tested 2.4 m 5ghz WiFi




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Wow, that is nice to know!
I wonder how huawei manage to solve the problem of shared antenna? Technically possible by software tweak?

No idea, I've even tried to hold it with different position but it didn't affect the performance.

position should not affect this issue.
but the bitrate of your streaming (over WiFi and over BT), will affect.
Some users mention that low bitrate YouTube will not feel anything, but high resolution setting in NetFlix over 2.4 GHz, will be affected by the BT.
Prob u need to test for 10 mins?

To all buyer and potential buyer:- what's the reason to get this over ipad 2018? Kirin 960 with android vs A10 chip with IOs

seriously??

hardware wise, prob Huawei cannot match ipad - huawei even refuse to acknowledge its flawed design which cause massive return in USA and EU (pls google in amazon)
price wise, huawei is cheaper becuz of outdated hardware.
software, i presume iOS has better stability (i have not used iOS for long - someone pls help me vet this point)
service, i suppose apple also better.

however, ipad:
1. dun have expansion slot for microSD
2. dun have file explorer
3. very troublesome to transfer files - most of the time, u need to install iTunes on ur pc to facilitate the transfer.
4. after the antenna gate, battery gate, xxx gates... u still need to ask?

Cost, customisable, great speakers.
I owned an ipad Mini 4, but nothing much can be done when want to have 3rd party app and customisation natively.

Nope, I checked with Huawei store in 1U they told me at the moment stock for free game pad that come with M5 not in yet but will indicate the free game pad in the receipt for next week redeem/collection! How come other store without stating the free stuff in the receipt?

I won't be able to test anymore as I'm currently overseas for 3 weeks. I'm using hotel WiFi and there's no issue at the moment.

Not too sure how can I simulate this issue. I wonder if it only affect the Wifi model but not the cellular model?


-------------------------

May I know where can I get a case? feeling insecure holding it without a case.

read from XDA, many people unhappy with glass SP because of the tablet screen edge...

This post has been edited by thankyou: Jul 15 2018, 08:37 AM

WiFi - BT issue is affecting both WiFi and LTE model bah.
Case, u try aliexpress? Shopee and Lazada all same resellers from China de.
Glass SP issue, I kinda feel it's just poor quality, not all SP like that.

No audio jack but got 4 speakers right?

What's your justification of choosing the Huawei over the Mipad 4?

2k screen.
Lte (mipad4 lte version too limited)
Local officials warranty support.

This post has been edited by evanttc: Jul 15 2018, 01:03 PM

I am testing speedtest with bluetooth off and on, see the different in below:
I simply on the bluetooth without connect to any bluetooth device, the 3rd speed test after off bluetooth the speed still slow, not sure why this happen.
I run a test early if connect to bluetooth speaker, the speedtest will not run at all, ended said network error (something like that)
I not sure is the bluetooth effect the wifi or not, will test further when i free.

https://youtu.be/TYygo80pINs



This post has been edited by Assholer: Jul 15 2018, 02:47 PM

MiPad 4: no QC (only support 5V/2A, M5 is 9V/2A), no Gorilla glass - screen very prone to shatter, slightly smaller screen (MiPad 4 is 8.0; M5 is 8.4), screen is 1920x1200 (M5 is 2560x1600), weight 342g (M5 is 316g), average speaker (M5 use Harman Kardon speaker)
but if MiPad 4 has no BT-WiFi issue, prob it is a better option, especially consider its pricing.

u must be running 2.4 GHz WiFi - a known issue ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/...ASIN=B07BD4FQGJ ).
The cause is Huawei using same antenna for both BT and WiFi 2.4 GHz, in order to cut cost.
They justifying this by claiming that

I dunno why, but @thankyou doesn't seem to have this BT-WiFi problem - and he had confirmed he used 2.4 GHz WiFi and active streaming to his BT earpieces.
If you dun intend to stream from internet onto your BT earpieces, then prob u wun be bothered.
Otherwise, you might wanna return it within 15 days of grace period?

FYI, i have sent a Q&A to Huawei at their Lazada product page few days ago.
You can see that they have responded selectively, and their attitude not to respond on such matter, is tell-tale.

I connecting 5ghz Wifi from Huawei B618 4G Router

So far I'm not really using BT earpiece so I'm not facing any issue as mentioned.

And also, i'm using 5GHz WiFi whenever it's possible + LTE, so again it didn't really affect me much...

Let's see if anyone able to find out if MY unit actually having this issue.

Run another test via speedsmart on chrome. Both 2.4 and 5 WiFi were slower as I listen Spotify via Bluetooth speaker.

This post has been edited by Assholer: Jul 15 2018, 06:22 PM


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eh? your previous review was based on 2.4 GHz WiFi or 5 GHz WiFi?

hmm... the 2.4 GHz speed was reduced to only 5% when BT is on.. quite bad.
I'm surprised the 5 GHz speed was affected by BT too... down to 16% performance!
I guess Huawei really put the 2 antenna in close proximity with the case...

I was using 2.4GHz when i was still at home. The screenshot shown previously was taken with 2.4GHz WiFi.

Does it effect too if we use 3G or 4G with bluetooth enabled?

How can we use the equalizer? connect to speaker or headphone via converter, can't access the equalizer


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From ur image, it says "when 3d audio is enabled, equalizer will not be available".
And geez, the translation of the huawei UI is so badly done!

Im really blind not seeing that.

Pretty much these
And also something not miui since I am using 1 now

Since the Mediapad M5 is priced at RM1.5k (vs RM1.1k for Mi Pad 4GB non-LTE version) so it is a plus point

I cancelled my Mipad4 order from aliexpress after saw M5 launched in Malaysia, the mipad 4 seller take forever the process the order, i think the lte version stock is very limited.
and the price different is around 1250 (299usd) vs RM1499

Yup, price wise not much different. Maybe Mi Pad 4 official price will be lower, but that I think will be next year already

Been using it frequently for a few days and I would say it's really not bad at all.

I needed a cover badly. Will definitely get the official brown case when I'm back to Malaysia.

Any of you know if the case arrived at Huawei store?

what is ur like/dislike so far? any other observations?
btw, do u charge using original charger, or 3rd party charger? if 3rd party, how long it takes?

The screen touch abit weird for mine.
Need to press more "firm" as compared to my Mate10pro screen.
But after 3rd days usage, getting used.

So fast all good, battery still extremely good.

Harmon Kardon sound superb.

that means: u need to press the screen harder to register a response?
u using any screen protector?

Yes, I think not press harder, but like let ur finger on the screen by 0.1s more then u normally did on phone... But once get use to, perfectly fine.

No screen protector on.

replace me original mipad with M5. mi pad after 4 years is sluggish and no update (ironic, my mi3 phone get update. latest 3 days ago). some apps no longer work due to Android version.

so far this M5 is excellent. the screen and speaker is really good. this is Kirin 960, last year flagship chip from Huawei. its still very use-able 12 months later. no complain so far with lag. the 4GB RAM helps a lot. i've got a 6" phone but at home, when consuming media, i prefer something bigger. 10" would be too large, 8" is perfect. couple with the good speaker and screen, this is excellent. Even thru earphone, the sound is pretty good. The closest competition is Samsung tab S3 but tat is almost double the price. i still think there is a market for tablet, not cheap low end tablet but higher spec tablet. i got a Asus tablet using Atom processor at home too. hardly a year, start to stutter and as all thing Asus, no update. this is my 2nd Asus table with NO UPDATE.

i don;t play graphic intensive game. the most i play is angry bird stuff. can;t say much about gaming experience but for youtube/movie, i recommend this anytime.

one thing i am looking for is update from Huawei. the Mi Pad do not get any update at all. same android version since i unbox. decide to skip mi pad 4 and get this. also.... got it from Mobile corner in Sunway. i got a Huawei Scale, a bluetooth tripod selfie stick, a car air purifier and a water bottle. The scale and selfie stick are Huawei branded and that alone retail to about RM200. Really good deal. Plenty of good deal, so if you looking to get this M5, look for what free gift you want.

@demio121, evanttc has reported that he needs to press the screen longer to register a response - even though he uses naked screen. Do u have same issue with your M5?

i didnt notice that. so far i use it like normal touch screen.

i have a question: is the SIM card slot separated from the microSD slot? ie. 2 cards can be inserted at the same time?

upgraded from the mediapad M3 and no regrets after using a two days. this model is noticeably faster than the M3 (which is already fast enough, no lag etc .. ) still think this the best value tablet considering i paid 2k for the M3 more than a year ago!

Screen is awesome as the M3 but I find somehow the sound quality was a little bit better from the M3. This is the tablet to get if you're searching for one; especially for media consumption and some light productivity work (eg MS Excel, Powerpoint, Word).

u have issue with the longer press time needed, reported by @evanttc?
and the BT-WiFi (2.4 GHz) issue, reported by @Assholer?
or any other issue u have encountered?

Actually after few days of using, I conclude that it's personal preference issue. I personally press my phone screen very light.
So that's why the 1st feeling on this tablet quite rare..

However as of today, all good. Type as fast as my p20pro and Mate10pro.

Suggest to play at actual huawei store if u doubt as my previous claim.

depends on what you intend to use the tablet for. As i consume media more, i prefer the M5 (upgraded from the Mediapad M3!) due the screen size/ format, higher display quality and better sound.

uhm didn't notice anything from my end so far. Will take note!

not doubting on u.
in fact, i am more of concern if this is an epidemic issue that affect all M5, or it is an incidental issue.

there's no local huawei store in my town, and thus i'm relying heavily on other users' feedback, including u.

Can the M3 casing / cover use on M5 as well?

Can insert 1 nano sim and 1 microsd card at the same time. No dual sim.

now using it very carefully with no case..
Ordered case from Lazada but look like it will take 1~2 weeks to deliver since it will ship from oversea...

unfortunately not, totally different dimension.

both same slot

I see thanks, M5 case is limited here at the moment, have to order from china is need it urgently.

ya no local seller for now. I quickly ordered one when news came out the M5 will be launched.. hahaha

if you wan fast and dun mind paying, there is one on lazada selling original flip case for RM119. that is 8% of the tablet price.

Or get 1 as free gift

https://www.lazada.com.my/products/ready-st...9ROJ55&search=1

There's limited variety on Shopee though
https://shopee.com.my/Huawei-M3-8.4-Inches-...5158.1206039777

https://shopee.com.my/Huawei-Mediapad-M5-(8...3675.1238114880


Mediapad M5 Pro listed on Shopee
https://shopee.com.my/Huawei-MediaPad-M5-Pr...2154.1317401020

still waiting for m5 pro I think official shop got bundle with flip cover . need to wait till end of july

This post has been edited by milksoda: Jul 17 2018, 05:44 PM

That's the M5 pro from Huawei Official though. Perhaps Lazada's free gift will be different

Huawei set a very competitive price on their new products, i remember the m3 was selling 1999 then 1699. Now the pro version is RM1899 compare to samsung tab s3 RM28xx.

Next week lor. Very soon coming.
I also waiting patiently. 😂

good good hehe. I already bought tempered glass from taobao liao . Hope this m5 pro can last longer than my 4 years old ipad air 2

Will the glass fit nicely to the edge?
Got curve wor.

i think okay one ba . i got see the taobao ppl got say can fit then only i decided to buy . i got see the original flip cover keyboard rmb429 i might get too

Can share link plz? For original keyboard.

Mediapad m5 in sold in China come with face recognition unlock?


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this is the link from taobao https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=568088029205

i thought all m5 8.4, 10.8 and pro will come with face recognition

M5 supports QC or SuperCharge?
Official specs says "Quick Charge 9 V / 2 A", but this is using Kirin 960, not Qualcomm...