Huawei MediaPad M5 8-inch

Bright, sharp screen ; Good size for Nexus 7 lovers ; Android 8.0

Doesn’t stream HD content from Netflix, Prime Video, Google Play Movies ; No headphone jack ; Software basically thinks it’s a big phone ; Lots of pre-installed junk

There’s a 5100mAh cell tucked inside the MediaPad M5 8.4 that has impressed plenty over the past few weeks. Standby times are great – vital for a tablet that is likely to spend much of its time idle – and an hour of streaming Netflix (at SD resolution,...

Great screen ; Excellent sound ; Keyboard case adds extra functionality ; Ideally suited to video

Awkward in portrait orientation ; Questionable need to own one

Capable, classy, and cool, the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro is a great media companion for the home, but we’re not convinced anyone really needs a tablet now since smartphones are so versatile.

Premium design ; Beautifully bold displays

No 3.5mm headphone jacks ; Android still not optimized for tablets

Huawei's new MediaPad M5 devices look to be a new range of premium Android tablets that offer top-end specs, but whether they will be worth picking up depends on pricing.

Sharp, bright screen. Powerful audio. Fast LTE.

Pricier than the iPad, which is the product by which all other non-Windows tablets are measured.

Bottom Line: Huawei's Mediapad M5 could have been the product to face down the $329 iPad, but the larger model costs at least $70 more.

Attractive design ; It's portable and easy to carry around ; Sharp and colourful display ; Smooth and lag-free performance

Lots of additional bloat in software ; Android apps still not particularly well optimised for tablets ; Battery life could be better

There aren't that many great small-scale Android tablets out there. The 8.4-inch Huawei MediaPad M5, therefore, is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnating market.

high performance ; high-resolution display ; good LTE modem with phone function ; capable of smooth gaming ; good cameras ; battery life suitable for everyday life ; robust case with good workmanship

touchscreen inaccurate at the edges ; no 3.5mm audio port ; strong blue tint in the display ; a lot of bloatware ; small internal storage ; power consumption is quite high ; throttling under load

With the MediaPad M5 8.4, Huawei is offering quite an elegant tablet on the market, which is worth its slightly higher price. This is ensured by the good cameras, the high-resolution screen, the powerful speakers, and some gimmicks such as the ability...

Very good battery life ; Slim and smart-looking ; Decent performance

Nothing that new or exciting ; Screen doesn’t quite match the very best ; No headphone jack

Tablets aren't red-hot tech anymore, but the MediaPad M5 is one of the best small models around - if you don’t fancy an iPad mini, anyway