Huawei Mate 10 Pro Review: AI Chip Shows Promise but Lacks Full Integration

Huawei's Mate 10 Pro: A Dedicated AI Chip Squandered?

Introduction

The article reviews the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, one of the first smartphones to feature a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) integrated into its Kirin 970 chipset. The review explores the potential and current limitations of this AI-focused hardware, examining its impact on camera performance, app functionality, and overall user experience.

The Promise of AI in Smartphones

The author begins by acknowledging the pervasive hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its increasing integration into consumer electronics. While Apple opted for a marketing approach by naming its A11 processor "Bionic," Huawei took a more tangible step by embedding an NPU into its Kirin 970 chip. This NPU is designed to handle AI tasks more efficiently, promising faster processing and lower power consumption compared to traditional CPUs and GPUs.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro: First Impressions

The Mate 10 Pro is presented as the flagship device showcasing the Kirin 970's AI capabilities. The core idea is that the NPU should enable the phone to intelligently assist users by predicting their needs and optimizing performance. The author expresses a personal desire for an AI that can anticipate actions, such as automatically activating Portrait mode for selfies based on usage patterns.

AI in the Camera: Scene Recognition

A significant portion of the review focuses on the AI's role in the camera system. The Mate 10 Pro's AI can recognize various scenes (currently 13, with more planned via updates) such as food, pets, flowers, and buildings. Upon recognition, it automatically adjusts camera settings like ISO, shutter speed, and saturation to optimize the resulting photo.

Key Camera AI Features:

Scene Recognition: Identifies subjects and scenes to adjust camera parameters.
Automatic Settings Adjustment: Optimizes ISO, shutter speed, and saturation for better photos.
Limited Scene Library: Currently recognizes 13 scenes, with ongoing software updates planned.

Photo Quality: AI vs. Manual Control

Despite the AI enhancements, the author found the difference in photo quality between AI-optimized shots and those taken in manual mode to be subtle. Photos of flowers were similarly saturated, and the depth of field appeared consistent. While the AI aims to replicate human judgment in setting optimization, its impact is not dramatically noticeable in many scenarios.

NPU Performance and Applications

The primary benefit of an NPU is its ability to execute machine-learning tasks more quickly and efficiently, allowing these tasks to run concurrently with other phone functions without slowing down the device. This is crucial for applications like image recognition and language translation.

NPU Accessibility:

App developers can access the NPU via the Kirin API.
Support for popular machine learning frameworks like Google's Tensorflow and Facebook's Caffe 2 is available.

Current NPU-Utilizing Apps:

Huawei's Camera Software: For scene recognition and optimization.
Microsoft Translator: Specifically, its image-based translation tool.

Microsoft Translator Test

Testing the Microsoft Translator app, the Mate 10 Pro demonstrated impressive speed in translating text from an image. A Mandarin phrase was translated to English almost instantaneously. However, subsequent attempts with the same text yielded inconsistent results, sometimes translating to nonsensical phrases like "Hello, Drift." The review suggests this inconsistency is more likely an issue with Microsoft's translation engine rather than the phone's NPU.

Performance Comparison

When compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus in image translation tasks, the Mate 10 Pro performed comparably, often finishing slightly faster. The NPU's ability to handle these tasks efficiently without impacting overall phone performance was noted.

Habit Learning and Resource Allocation

Beyond specific applications, the Mate 10 Pro's AI is designed to learn user habits over time. This allows the phone to proactively allocate resources to apps it predicts the user will launch next, aiming for a smoother multitasking experience. While difficult to definitively assess in a short period, the phone generally felt responsive during the review, handling tasks like selfie-taking, social media browsing, and emailing without noticeable lag.

Front Camera AI and Portrait Mode

The front camera lacks dedicated AI processing, but the Mate 10 Pro's Portrait Mode utilizes face detection rather than depth-sensing (like the iPhone X). This results in a softer, sometimes less defined, depth-of-field effect but produces more flattering selfies, avoiding the hyper-sharpness that can highlight skin imperfections.

Design and Battery Life

The Mate 10 Pro is praised for its sleek design, particularly the "Signature" stripe on its rear. The battery life is highlighted as a significant advantage, easily lasting two days on a single charge and potentially up to four days with very light usage.

Display and Minor Complaints

A minor drawback mentioned is the display's resolution, which is 1080p. While functional, the author wished for a sharper display, considering the phone's premium positioning.

Conclusion: A Glimpse into the Future

While the Mate 10 Pro currently has limited AI integrations, making the benefits of its dedicated NPU not fully apparent, it represents a significant step towards AI-powered smartphones. The combination of capable hardware, good battery life, and a refined design makes it an intriguing device. The article concludes that the true potential of the NPU is yet to be unlocked by developers, but the Mate 10 Pro offers a promising preview of what's to come in the era of AI-driven mobile technology.

Overall Assessment:

Pros: Dedicated NPU for AI tasks, good camera AI (scene recognition), flattering front camera Portrait Mode, excellent battery life, sleek design.
Cons: Subtle AI impact on photo quality, limited NPU app integration, 1080p display resolution.

Future Outlook

Huawei plans to continuously improve its AI software through cloud-based analysis of non-user-generated pictures and subsequent software updates. This suggests a commitment to evolving the AI capabilities of the Mate 10 Pro and future devices.

Image Gallery

The article includes a gallery of images showcasing the Huawei Mate 10 Pro's design and camera output, demonstrating the results of its AI-enhanced photography features.