Small tablet or large phone? Huawei MatePad Mini stands at the crossroads of two worlds

Do you still remember the era of so-called “phablets”? These were devices that largely contributed to the current trend of 6.5-inch and larger smartphones. In the days of 16:9 aspect ratio displays and thick bezels around them, even with a 6″ diagonal, these were smartphones that truly stood out in size from their competitors. The newly introduced Huawei MatePad Mini tablet, with its launch, reminded me a lot of the phablet era.

Huawei MatePad Mini comes with an 8.8″ display

On the one hand, the diagonal of the used 8.8″ display doesn’t even match the smallest tablets on the current market. However, thanks to the very thin bezels around the panel, a body thickness of just 5.1 mm, and a weight of only 255 grams, the Huawei MatePad Mini truly resembles an oversized smartphone in many ways. The display used has a “tablet-like” 16:10 aspect ratio and is a 10-bit OLED with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 px, a 120Hz refresh rate, and (almost incredible for tablets) a brightness of 1,800 nits.

The device’s low weight is compensated by a smaller battery capacity – specifically, 6,400 mAh. It can be charged with up to 66 W of power. If a user were to truly use the Huawei MatePad Mini instead of a smartphone, the slot for a single physical SIM would come in handy, and satellite calling support has also not been forgotten. Connectivity is further complemented by the latest Wi-Fi 7 and USB-C with a USB 3.2 controller.

As for performance, it is provided by the Kirin 9010, which already made its debut over a year ago with the Huawei Pura 70 series, and it is accompanied by 12 or 16 GB of RAM. Storage options will be 256, 512, or 1024 GB. The operating system used is, of course, HarmonyOS, specifically version 5.1. On the back, there is a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture, accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide camera. In the punch-hole on the front, there is a 32MP camera lens. The Huawei MatePad Mini is going on sale in the domestic market for approximately 9,600 CZK without VAT, and it is unlikely to leave China in the foreseeable future.

Would you welcome a similar device in our market?

Sources: GSMArena.com, AH.com