It's been coming for a long time.

 

A phone that performs just as well, if not better than the latest Samsung Galaxy or iPhone.

 

 

The Huawei P10 does not have a fancy-pants curvy screen. It isn't waterproof. And it doesn't charge wirelessly.

 

But as far as I can tell, those are the only things Huawei's latest flagship phone won't do.

 

By now, if you've read any of my other phone reviews you'll know I have quite a list of demands when it comes to top-of-the-line handsets. Some might say unreasonable demands. I prefer the term, "exacting."

 

These days, when it comes to things like storage space, charge time and battery life, it's not enough to be good - you have to be great.

 

The P10 comes with 64GB of onboard storage, with the option of adding up to 256GB via microSD - that'd provide more space than the device I'm writing this review on!

 

As with most other high-end phones, the P10 ships with a fast charger. It definitely lives up to its name - a 10 minute burst providing hours more use. The battery life from 100% is indeed great... ish. It'll get you through the day without too much trouble, just not well into the NEXT day like last year's Mate 9. (That was a bigger phone with a bigger battery. Just saying)

 

In fact the P10's size, or lack of it, was one of the first things that struck me. I've become so used to massive phones with displays over 5.5 inches, at first it seemed a little weird dropping down to a 5.1 inch display. But I soon began to appreciate the little things - like this phone. It really is extremely thin, easy to handle and noticeably light. What's more, unlike some of its more shiny competitors, Huawei have gone with what they call a "hyper diamond-cut finish" on the back casing. This provides an attractive reflective finish that is not smooth to the touch, making the phone extremely easy to hold. The theory is this means you don't end up with messy fingerprints all over the back of your phone, which is true. Although I did find after going for a run with the phone in an arm band, sweat and other gross stuff built up on that same hyper-diamond cut surface and it needed a good wipe down afterwards.

 

The handset I reviewed was "Dazzling Blue" and if not dazzling, it was certainly a very smart alternative to boring black and good old gold - which are the only other colours available in New Zealand at this time. Shame they couldn't have also brought in the green ones on sale elsewhere - that would fit in nicely with Huawei's next unique feature; you can use this phone in Te Reo.

 

Being white and middle-aged, it had never occurred to me how frustrating it must be to send a text in Maori if your phone doesn't speak it. Now all Huawei's latest models do just that, surely taking the brand one step closer to becoming a New Zealand favourite.

 

Of course, since last year's partnership with photography pioneers, Leica, the star attraction of any new Huawei phone is the camera - now cameras plural, because the selfie lens is now also a Leica. As I've admitted before, I'm no expert at clicking pics, so all this dual-lens, wide aperture talk makes my head spin a bit. What I can tell you is for the P10, Huawei has tweaked the camera interface so it's a little less daunting for know-nothing bozos like me. That monochrome lens means professional black and whites are just a screen-swipe away. Pointing and shooting is what I'm about and I'm getting much better results than the first time I encountered Leica's dual lens setup. Best of all, both those lenses are still completely flush with the rear casing of the phone, keeping Huawei's design tradition of simple, clean lines intact.

 

While we're talking design, I have to confess I was little disappointed to discover the fingerprint sensor had been moved off the back, back around to the home key at the base of the front. The good news is, it seems to work even faster and more reliably than ever. Oh yeah, that's the other thing; there's now a physical home key - although, it's not really a key at all, just a depression. This will be somewhat disorientating for regular Huawei users, as while you can still choose to use the virtual on-screen navigation keys you're used to, there's now another option. The home "key" can be operated by a series of taps and swipes which quickly become habit when you need to go back, show recent apps or, obviously, return to the home screen.

 

The latest update to Huawei's OS, EMUI 5.1 has made it less clunky than before - so much so you have to wonder why they don't just offer up the base Android 7 interface and leave it at that. Regardless, EMUI now boasts a much more searchable settings menu and you can access functions like split screen and screen shots with specific knuckle gestures... assuming you can remember them.

 

What I love most about the P10's interface is finally, FINALLY you can set the home screen to rotate from Portrait to Landscape, a feature I've only been looking for in a smart phone since... well... forever.

 

When it comes to out and out performance, you'd struggle to find another phone that works as fast and as smoothly as the P10. I don't know what magic Huawei used to create the Kirin 960 CPU that is the brain of this little beauty, but I personally haven't seen apps download and install faster than they do on the P10.

 

This feels like a small phone. But it looks amazing. The performance is outstanding. And it's $300 cheaper than those other ones. Huawei, you have well and truly arrived.

 

Did I mention the red power key? Come on, how cool is that?

 

Click here for more details on the Huawei P10