All About Interwebz: Huawei MatePad Pro announced with top-end specs to rival the iPad Pro

It can sometimes seem like Apple is the only brand taking tablets seriously, but Huawei has just demonstrated that this isn’t the case, as it has announced the Huawei MatePad Pro, a tablet which looks set to live up to its ‘pro’ name.

The core specs include a 10.8-inch 1600 x 2560 LCD screen, a high-end Kirin 990 chipset (the same as you’ll find in the Huawei Mate 30 Pro), 6GB or 8GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, a 13MP f/1.8 rear camera, and a 7,250mAh battery with 40W fast charging.

Read our full Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro review
Check out the best tablets
On a budget? These are the best cheap tablets

The Huawei MatePad Pro also has an all-screen front with a 90% screen-to-body ratio, an 8MP f/2.0 punch-hole selfie camera, four speakers, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging (so you can use it to juice up other devices).

It runs Huawei’s EMUI 10, based on Android 10, but as with other recent Huawei devices it lacks Google Play and other Google apps and services, which will be a major mark against it.

The slate is 246 x 159 x 7.2mm and 460g, and comes in black, white, green and orange shades. It supports an M-Pen stylus and a keyboard case, and starts at CNY 3,299 (around $470 / £360 / AU$690) for the base version with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Upping the RAM and storage or adding LTE connectivity ups the price.

However, those prices definitely won’t be an exact conversion if and when the MatePad Pro launches elsewhere. And that’s the main question hanging over it, as while it’s hitting Chinese stores on December 12, the ongoing Huawei ban means it might not launch in the likes of the UK and Australia, and almost certainly won’t launch in the US.

Which is a shame, because even without Google services, the Huawei MatePad Pro sounds on paper like a very impressive tablet, and if those services are ever restored then it could well rival the likes of the iPad Pro 11 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6. So we’ll be sure to update you if and when we hear news of a wider launch.