Last week Huawei announced a new tablet called simply MatePad, which is actually a less powerful version of its flagship tablet MatePad Pro. MatePad is intended for students and contains some pretty interesting specs.
Huawei is not the only manufacturer to announce a lite version of its flagship tablet. About two weeks ago Samsung announced the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, a cheaper version of its flagship tablet - Galaxy Tab S6.
In this post, two new tablets will be compared, which in fact have more similarities than differences.
Design
Samsung and Huawei used slightly different designs, but with the same materials. Thus, you get a glass display, an aluminum frame and an aluminum cover on both devices.
Two tablets have moderate-sized frames, although not the thinnest we've seen. On the back, Huawei adopted a tablet-shaped camera body for the MatePad, while Samsung opted for a square camera body.
In terms of size, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and Huawei MatePad aren't too far apart. The Samsung tablet measures 244,5 x 154,3 x 7 mm, while the MatePad measures 245,2 x 155 x 7,4 mm. The Galaxy Tab S6 is slightly smaller and thinner, but surprisingly weighs 467 grams more than the MatePad, which weighs 450 grams.
Display
Both tablets have 10,4-inch displays with the same 1200x2000 resolution. Both of them are also LCD panels, so there is no difference in quality.
Performance
Huawei MatePad is equipped with a Kirin 810 processor, and the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is equipped with an Exynos 9611 processor. In terms of performance, the Kirin 810 is an excellent chipset. He has 2x Cortex-A76 cores и 6x Cortex-A55 cores compared to Exynos 9611, which has 4x Cortex-A73 cores и 4x Cortex-A53.
Based on the foregoing, applications and games should launch and load on MatePad faster. You should also have the best multitasking experience on your Huawei tablet.
MatePad is available in 4 GB of RAM and 6 GB of RAM with a memory capacity of 64 and 128 GB, respectively. Samsung's own tablet is available in a single 4 GB RAM, but you can choose between 64 GB or 128 GB of memory. Two tablets support memory expansion. The Huawei tablet will allow you to add an additional 512 GB, while the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite doubles it to 1 TB (512 GB is written on the American site).
Камеры
Another area where the two tablets are identical is the camera, or rather the rear camera. Both have an 8 megapixel camera, but Huawei adds an LED flash, which Samsung misses.
For selfie and video calls, Huawei again uses an 8-megapixel sensor, but Samsung agrees to a 5-megapixel camera.
Comparison of cameras is not yet available, so we can’t say which tablet shoots better.
Battery and fast charge
Huawei supplies the MatePad with a 7250 mAh battery with support for 18 W fast charging (full charge in 2,8 hours) and can provide up to 12 hours of video playback.
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite has a smaller 7040 mAh battery with support for 15 W fast charging and claims that it will last up to 13 hours without recharging when playing video.
Other Features
Both tablets have an active stylus - M-Pencil for MatePad and S-Pen for Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. However, Huawei does not include the stylus in the box, so you should buy it separately.
Another area the Samsung tablet wins is the audio jack. We are quite surprised why Huawei decided to skip it on a mid-range tablet. Huawei compensates for the lack of an audio jack by adding four speakers (Tuned by Harman Kardon) compared to two speakers (Tuned by AKG) on the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. The MatePad also comes with a C-3,5mm audio cable per box.
Both tablets are available in versions with support for LTE and Wi-Fi. However, according to the UK official page, Samsung is choosing an e-SIM connection for its own version of LTE.
Two tablets also come with Android 10 out of the box with EMUI 10.1 on the MatePad and One UI 2 on the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.
Price
The Huawei MatePad sells for $ 269 for the Wi-Fi version for only 4 + 64 GB compared to the price of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite for $ 350 / $ 349 for the same configuration. However, if you add the price of the M-Pencil stylus, which is $ 70, the price tag is likely to rise.
The cost of MatePad only for Wi-Fi with a capacity of 6 + 128 GB is 311 US dollars), and for the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with the same configuration - 420 US dollars.
If you want the LTE version of the MatePad with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the price is $ 353. Samsung is selling the 64GB UK version for £ 399 in the UK, along with a free book cover (worth £ 59,99) for those who pre-order (Wi-Fi versions are also eligible). There is no information on the price of the 128GB version of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.
Conclusion
Both tablets are designed for students as an affordable version of their more powerful brothers and sisters, focused on professionals. However, each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Although MatePad is definitely the best tablet in terms of performance and even price, the lack of Google Apps will not make it the best choice for several buyers outside of China.
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite has the advantage of supporting Google Apps and Services, although it comes with an average chipset. It also includes the S Pen, and if you make a reservation, you will also receive a free case.
If you do not mind the weak processor Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, it is better to buy it. However, if you don’t need the S Pen, the Galaxy Tab S5e, which now sells cheaper (US $ 330 for Best Buy), is the best choice.
Galaxy Tab S5e has a more powerful chipset, OLED screen, improved cameras, four speakers, a fingerprint scanner and faster charging (18 W). It is also quite thin, only 5,5 mm, but does not have an audio jack.
