[Review] Huawei Mediapad M3 8.4" goodness with phone features [Full hands-on]

My review of the Mediapad M3, released Sept. 2016. Topics covered: design, quality, software, making calls, software.

[@oOoDRAGOONoOo]

Good review man, no one does the pocket test, thx so much for that :D

[@SeifEddineB]

Thank you for the review, you've done a great job

[@cameraz99]

Great review! Thanks for the tip about the Huawei keyboard! Switching to Google right now ...

[@susieteske-keiser1862]

das Monty vielen Dank für den ausführlichen Test vom Huawei M3. Klasse gemacht und sehr informativ

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

I watch many many reviews and, man, I loved yours. Thank you. Btw, today I just ordered my own M3 :-)

[@SamsMediaCenter]

Hi , Can you tell me where you ordered from and how much did it cost ? I am looking to purchase BTV-DL09 32GB version. Thanks. in advance

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

Sam Avb I bought it in Switzerland, at steg.ch. Taxes are quite low here if compared to other countries, so I had it (with a discount) at ~$275. Btw, apart from very minor issues, I really recommend this amazing little giant.

[@SamsMediaCenter]

Francesco Varrato HI, thank you so much for the reply. I ordered it on Amazon.de luckily they have international shipping to US at a decent price. Did you buy the lte version?

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

Sam Avb I wanted the LTE at first, but then I checked out costs and benefits and decided that my 2-days lasting 5.5" Moto X Play still serves me well for many things. LTE depletes battery faster, costs more and, for many uses, just overlaps with a smartphone. But then it depends on your personal use case.

[@falcoroy]

Great job! I WILL BE GETTING ONE SOON TOO!

[@jrgilbert]

Great review. I love, LOVE EMUI!! Why? Because it is so similar to iOS, but still has enough Android to be different. Anyway, thank you for the honest review. You didn't try to be something your not. You just gave an honest from the cuff review. My M3 comes in a couple days and I'm so EXCITED!! I used Apple for nearly 9 years, but now I'm Huawei nut!! I have the Y6II, Honor 8, Honor 6X and soon this! Thank you mate for the review. Thank you Huawei for the awesome products for the fair prices!!

[@hollingbourne]

Hello. Lovely review ..thank u very much! The phone feature is so very pleasing! Are headphones included with assessories in the box? If no..is possible to buy suitable ones? Babs

[@TSOL_in_LOS]

nice job. would like to know how the sound through headphones is,and what all came in the box.thanks

[@FlavioBos]

nice review, thank you

[@netridernave]

What's the SAR value of this tablet? Searched everywhere but couldn't find it.

[@Decat50]

Good Review. I just have one question. Some users on amazon.com were complaining about this tablet not supporting Chromecast. They were saying it crashes when installed. Don't know if you have one, but could you let me know if it's compatible or not with that device? I must have that feature, because I own a Chromecast device.

[@joeblowjohnny2297]

I like the phone features . Could you give me the right model # that is design to run on AT&T phone sevice here in the United States . Thanks

[@sin9479]

Hello, do you know if this supports MHL?

[@kimwong1838]

I really want to get one, but not sure can I put my T-Mobile sim card in and use? Can somebody tell me? Thanks!

[@wannurizzati00]

did we can setting loud speaker to medium or small speaker if someone call?

[@fc3s1]

hello I am trying decide which tablet to get between the Huawei m3 or the pixel C, which do you recommend?

[@kaleidoscopeon]

great review my friend.

[@Frdzed]

Was looking for a tablet that I can make phones to and from also, does this work on t mobile USA LTE?

[@DigitalIndependent]

Frederickdawg I used it during a recent visit. worked fine.

[@lou3492]

Good video!

[@bmike2521]

does it multitask like the galaxy tabs?

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

I Was looking for a tablet that I can make phones to and from too. But now I dont think Huawei Mediapad M3 will be any good for me, Thanks you sir for the info, Robert UK London. Realy good honest review.

[@DigitalIndependent]

Robert thanks! most problems are sorted by now. quite happy, but you do need a headset to make this work....

[@mobeasley8577]

I hear the 4G LTE version works with AT & T & you can make phone calls.

[@DigitalIndependent]

it worked for me when i was visiting Florida

[@adrianalleyne5962]

hey wasup oliver. adrian here from philly pa.im going to purchase the huawei mediapad m3 lite 8 inch, it says i can recieve and make calls on this device. is it as simple as swopping sim cards? it say

[@DigitalIndependent]

Adrian Alleyne yes. Pop in a SIM card and off you go!

[@abdullamomani5975]

Will they ever update it to Android 7/EMUI 5? and will it improve the screen performance and smoothness when it comes to scrolling? and would it fix the touchscreen skipping some clicks? I hear that's an annoying problem with the M3. please answer I'm really considering getting one.

[@DigitalIndependent]

Abdulla Momani scrolling speed ist mostly ok. sometimes it's slow, don't know when this happens. I think it's linked to touch sensitivity. I haven't noticed any skipped taps/clicks. sometimes a scrolling swipe is interpreted as a tap, but rarely and only in a few specific apps. haven't heard about any updates, none available atm. I remember clearly how Huawei ignored the mediapad x2 and never released any update (stuck on android 5 if you don't hack around). still love this device here (m3) though...

[@kimwong1838]

Can it use in T-Mobile?

[@zudabenhur]

good review for a first timer....what's the SoT that you are getting? and how long does it take for full charge?

[@DigitalIndependent]

Amardeep Singh about 4 hrs for a full charge. standard heavy use is about 2-3 days. if I play with it and watch KZbin all day, it lasts a day. not that I do that regularly :)

[@zudabenhur]

Oliver Overwood thanks for the revert ...4 hours is a mighty long time ..has the KZbin issue being fixed? I have seen that a lot on the internet.

[@DigitalIndependent]

Amardeep Singh it only happens if you switch the display size in settings to small. don't need that really so I am living with it. there was a first tiny update for EMUI lately, haven't tried it yet because I don't know if I will loose root. will try it soon. still recommending this, using it right now.

[@zudabenhur]

Oliver Overwood thanks man..you should do more of the reviews

[@DigitalIndependent]

Amardeep Singh thanks! more will be coming. Want to put out 1-2 higher quality reviews per month. Subscribe to not miss them...

[@PaceyPimp]

If you make a call can you hold it to your head or only in speaker mode?

[@DigitalIndependent]

TechPimp you can hold it to your head as much as you like. But the speaker mode will stay on and everybody will be able to hear :)

[@PaceyPimp]

@@DigitalIndependent lol that's what i wanted to know. I'm better off with the X2

[@PaceyPimp]

@@DigitalIndependent Lol then the X2 is better for me then

[@mutatakoko3539]

what about the performance

It's comparable to the Tab S 8.4. But up to how many fingerprints can it recognize? And does it have USB host or OTG support? I would like to have a hands on. However, it's not (widely) available in the PH yet. Thanks! G'day!

[@barbaevettelyriel.6594]

Armand Félj I am also from PH. And I am currently finding great tablet for schooling. 'Cause our school requires to have a tablet to install some sort of ebook as our book. Would you suggest this M3? Does it have keyboard?

Not really sure if I could suggest this to you as there are no demo units available in the country. It has an on-screen keyboard but you could use either a bluetooth keyboard or plug in one via USB OTG.

[@barbaevettelyriel.6594]

Really? Could I find this Tablet in Manila? You said, it is not widely available? D'you mean there is a certain place?

Apologies for the late response. I usually go shopping online and so far, I only saw this tablet at Lazada. The malls nearby (my area) don't have this particular model available.

[@papason5153]

up to 5 prints and otg is a go👍👍

[@estrellitas34]

I LOVE IT I HAVE THE 7 INCH AND I WANT TO BUY THE 8 INCHES 3G SPEED IN USA NOT 4G LTE/ I AM WONDER IF THIS NEW PHONE 8 INCHES IS 4G LTE... IN USA.?

[@deantoombs1455]

Hi will this still work as a phone now the same with 4g etc thanks

[@DigitalIndependent]

Yes. It's a huge phone

[@gibba2737]

Touchscreen is good?

[@MubashirAR]

Bezelless tablets could definitely be a thing

[@mihkeltt]

Can anyone who owns this tablet, please confirm that it has a touch input lag issue? Check out the two demo vides on my channel to see what I'm talking about. This lag issue makes the tablet feel like one of those super low-end ones that've got the least poweful SOC. Also the scrolling feels very molasses like as if it doesn't have any inertia.

[@merdanzeqiri4505]

I can confirm everthing! The touch input lag issue is more than annoying and the scrolling is terrible compared to the galaxy tab s2.

[@vic8695]

is this for european Market? Asking because the one i ordered was for malaysian market and i cannot get any updates on Android

[@DigitalIndependent]

Victor Ciulea its global. But I didn't receive updates either. Had to manually update to android 7. Check out XDA forums

[@vic8695]

found out why: my I;;m in romania and the tablet they sent me was for the Malaysian market (check the IMEI code via HiCare). It cannot connect to the servers. If i recieved one for the Western Europe Marker, i'd had the updates (with some delay). i returned it and will demand for one specific for western europe

[@DigitalIndependent]

Good luck! Don't you just hate that regional BS :)? Terrible for the consumer. And bad update policy by Huawei

[@vic8695]

Worst part: Huawei Romania told me this version was not intende for Eastern Europe >:( I have to call quickmobile and tell them to send me one destined for Western Europe

[@DigitalIndependent]

Victor Ciulea that sucks. I always check out multiple shops across Europe and China to find the right version...

[@kingbobadin4732]

if you ask me not worth getting the phone version id get the wifi 128gb version instead

[@newhorizons9295]

Does it support whatsup and IMO calling ?

[@DigitalIndependent]

New Horizons if you mean the app IMO then yes. WhatsApp too.

[@truckingandtraveling]

Where can I buy this? Can't find it on Amazon or any other site.

[@yassinsmaamoun]

Blaq By Design it's not available in the US

[@truckingandtraveling]

yassin sherif OK. Is there a way to import it?

[@yassinsmaamoun]

Blaq By Design you can try opening amazon.de and see if it can do international shipping

[@truckingandtraveling]

yassin sherif thx

[@eliavedri7876]

Blaq By Design aliexpress.com

[@Browngeezer]

So I can put my SIM card in this and make calls ?

[@DigitalIndependent]

Yes! (Five years later 😂)

[@Browngeezer]

@@DigitalIndependent 🤣🤣🤣

[@Browngeezer]

Better late than never

[@conan1341]

thx

[@MoonJunChen]

I own m2. Never receive any software updates, neither marshmallow nor emui updates. Some notifications are unreadable in the notification panel due to text/background color. Don't think I'll buy huawei again.

[@DigitalIndependent]

Jun Chen Software update policy is very very bad

[@estrellitas34]

THE WANT I HAVE HUAWEI HONOR 7 INCH WORK WITH ATT AND T MOBILE ONLY 3G WORK FOR ME. ALL APPS ARE COMPATIBLE I JUST LOVE IT. IS NOT TO FAST LIKE SAMSUNG.... BUT WORK NORMAL...

[@chaosfury2016]

I know which phablet I'm buying on my next pay :D

[@user-eb5vl2mo6x]

ลาคาเท่าไร

[@AssAss2000AssAss]

Nice Review ..Thank you. what is the aspect ratio?

[@everenjohn]

SpIdEr 2007 Looks like a 3:4

[@AssAss2000AssAss]

This sad... i don't like 4:3 screens :( thank you for your reply.

[@everenjohn]

SpIdEr 2007 EDIT: Sorry, it's 16:10. haha

[@kritanshrestha9252]

whats the ram?

[@DigitalIndependent]

Kritan Shrestha 4gb. It took me 3 seconds to google it. Why don't you?

[@krasimirkrastev6375]

ok now... I buy an M3 8.4", but.... Im playing only games on the device and in one of the games that i play most of the time it cant run more than 25-30% of load on the cortex 52... and Its not switching on the 72's the game lags like crazy....

[@DigitalIndependent]

Krasimir Krastev for hardcore gaming this isn’t quite the device...

[@krasimirkrastev6375]

Oliver Overwood wich is

[@krasimirkrastev6375]

Oliver Overwood the problem is that the cortex stays at 15-20% with low frequency... My smartphone is with the same cpu and there is no promblem... CPU low cores are at 100% the game runs perfectly.... But in the tablet didnt switch to the powerfull cores... Even the low cores not workint at full capacity... Its like it cant recognize the game like a heavy app

[@DigitalIndependent]

Sounds like a software issue. Switched off battery saving for the games? EMUI has aggressive throttling of apps. Check that out thoroughly

[@RightToSelfDefense]

Phone calls? Then should Huawei really call it a Phablet instead of just a tablet? That makes this just about the largest dang smartphone out there.

[@Freedom-Free]

you kidding me.... that tablet 8.4" really fit into your jeans pocket....??? than i will by that kind of jeans first... before i will purchase a brand new tablet huawei M3 for sure.. what is brand of your jeans anyway...???🤔🤔🤔

[@DigitalIndependent]

sinchanpoyo Any of my European size 34/34 is ok for this ;)

[@allidsarebusy]

Seriously? My size is also 34/34 and i would also want to know what EU jeans have no issues with this kind of size lol... I'm also from EU.

[@Krisler12]

He just wanna sell it.

[@chayasullivan2573]

Just bought for 359.99 dollars couponsgearbest.wordpress.com/2017/06/26/huawei-m3-4128gb-gold-tablet-active-coupon-price-gearbest/ I hope this will help you kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4qxYp-ndql9jdU

[@shanabailey1565]

It's for 349.99 - 399.99 dollars. I'm updating coupons on this site: couponsgearbest.com/2017/06/26/huawei-m3-4128gb-gold-tablet-active-coupon-price-gearbest/ Sweet kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4qxYp-ndql9jdU

[@susieteske-keiser1862]

das Monty vielen Dank für den ausführlichen Test vom Huawei M3. Klasse gemacht und sehr informativ