Huawei MediaPad M3 lets you take shockingly clear HD selfies (hands-on)
The Huawei MediaPad M3 features dual 8-megapixel front and rear cameras, a fingerprint sensor, 4GB RAM and optional LTE.
The Huawei MediaPad M3 tablet, unveiled at at IFA 2016 in Berlin, is ostensibly the more pocketable sibling of the MediaPad M2, minus the stylus. It runs Android version 6.0 Marshmallow and features an 8.4-inch, 2,560 by 1,600-pixel LCD display and 4GB of RAM, along with a fingerprint sensor on the bottom.
But where Huawei built the M2 with four speakers to surround users with immersive audio, the M3 appears to have its sights on photographers and video creatives: its dual 8-megapixel front and rear cameras are supported by 64GB of internal storage, with the ability to expand using the microSD slot that pulls out of the bottom bezel. The tray also has room for a SIM card to fire up 4G LTE data access on the go.
It's still part of the MediaPad family, so the company linked up again with sound maven Harman Kardon to build dual speakers on the top and bottom edges. It's safe to assume the company is trying to mimic stereo surround when the tablet is in landscape mode, but in my testing I wasn't impressed by the sound quality of either. To its credit, the volume was able to reach relatively loud levels.
The Kirin 950 processor kept pace while I used the tablet with several applications running at once. The touchscreen experience was fluid as well, with accurate gesture responsiveness across the board.
The MediaPad M3 also has an impressive heft to it while keeping its weight down to a manageable 0.7 pounds (318 grams), which makes it just slightly lighter than the Amazon Fire HD 7.
Only European pricing has been announced, with models ranging from Wi-Fi only with 32GB of storage for 349 euros (that converts to around $390, £295 or AU$515), to 64GB storage and 4G LTE for 449 euros ($500, £380 or AU$665). It's out in Europe on September 26, with dates and prices for the rest of the world yet to be announced.