Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite – cheap iPad alternative?

Despite its low price of less than 250 euros, the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite cannot assert itself as a cheap iPad alternative, because in the test it only shows at best a satisfactory performance.

 

Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite Review

Display quality and performance are mediocre, the equipment is poor, but still reasonable for the price. The battery life is at least okay. Nevertheless, significantly better alternatives can be found for a few euros more.

Specification for Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 32GB (53011CHU)

Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite in the test: good resolution, pale colors

The 10-inch IPS display of the MediaPad M5 Lite offers plenty of space for multimedia content. Thanks to the appropriately high resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels, content looks detailed.

By doing without a physical home button, the screen also has a larger area of 75 percent of the total surface. On closer inspection, however, it is a fairly average display, which is particularly disappointing in the laboratory test.

With a maximum of 487 cd/m², the brightness of the budget tablet is quite mediocre, albeit a level suitable for everyday use. The checkerboard contrast is also an acceptable 128:1, but the color reproduction could be more saturated.

We measure coverage of 97 percent of the standard RGB color space and under 74 percent of the extended DCI-P3 color space. For comparison: The iPad Air covers both areas almost completely, but costs around three times as much.

Overall, the display is okay for the price range and is also quite suitable for working or watching series, but there is no “wow factor”.

 

Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite DISPLAY

In terms of performance, the MediaPad M5 Lite’s low price is particularly noticeable. Equipped with an eight-core HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor and four GB of RAM, the budget tablet only achieves mediocre benchmark results.

For example, our extensive test PDF is only displayed here after a loading time of 13 seconds, which is much faster for a small surcharge, for example with the MatePad 10.4.

The MediaPad achieved a below-average value of 4,731 points in PCMark for Android. The integrated Mali-T830 MP2 GPU is also only partially suitable for 3D gaming. This is shown by the GFX bench, which moves at 5.1 frames per second in a very low range.

The MediaPad M5 Lite is too weak for graphically demanding games. However, if you only want to use the tablet for simple tasks such as displaying documents or streaming videos, you should be able to handle the given performance. A slightly higher investment is worthwhile for more demanding work.

 

Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite Equipment appropriate for the price

As expected, the equipment of the Mediapad M5 Lite is poor. With an internal memory of 32 GB, of which only 21.4 GB can be freely used after deducting the operating system, the tablet offers little space for data.

After all, you can expand the storage space by up to 256 GB using a microSD card. Huawei uses USB-C as the main interface for the MediaPad M5 Lite.

There is also a separate jack output for headphones. The tablet offers WLAN-ac and Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless data transmission – LTE cellular communication is not possible here.

You can unlock the device using the fingerprint sensor. Four speakers on the sides deliver a good stereo sound for internal tablet speakers.

The M-Pen Lite is not included in the scope of delivery, but is still compatible. You can use the pen to make drawings and notes. The pen also recognizes different pressure levels and is available for around 30 euros. Another interesting feature of the MediaPad is aimed particularly at younger users.

In this way, the harmful blue light component in the display can be noticeably reduced for children and a warning can also be displayed if the offspring is sitting too close to the screen with their face. There is also a separate children’s homescreen and a child-friendly interface with cartoon animals.

The cameras of the MediaPad M5 Lite serve their purpose, but are not suitable for professional recordings. While both the main and the front camera deliver useful results in daylight, the latter in particular is hardly usable in poor light conditions.

However, they are sufficient for occasional video calls or snapshots. The two 8-megapixel cameras produce video recordings in HD resolution at 720p.

 

Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite in the battery test: good endurance on the go

With a weight of 474 grams, the MediaPad M5 Lite is not exactly one of the most mobile representatives on the tablet market, especially due to its large display, but it can also be used on the go.

The battery life was convincing in our test: With a capacity of 7,500 mAh, the internal battery enables a good runtime of 11 hours with continuous video playback. In the online runtime test, it even lasted for over 12 hours. The included 18 watt power supply fully charges the tablet within 3 hours, inductive charging is not possible.

Advantages:

• Good battery life
• Good cameras in daylight
• Low price

Disadvantage:

• Mediocre performance
• Average display