Last year, at the end of fall, the Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei presented a new flagship among the tablets called Huawei Mate 9. The smartphone received top-end hardware, two cameras on the rear panel, a lot of memory and a powerful battery.

The Huawei Mate 10 series is shaping up to be an excellent upgrade to a popular line of smartphone. With a refreshed design, Huawei can reach a broader audience and it is undeniable that these phones keep getting better and nicer fast.

There has been numerous leaks online surrounding Huawei's new flagship Mate 10 series. Forget the speculations, because we've got the real scoop on its global launch, which is taking place at Olympic Park in Munich, Germany right now.

So, early impressions are very promising indeed and the price looks tempting, too. With the Mate 10 coming in at €699, it undercuts most of its big-screened competition by a considerable margin. The Pro is a less-tempting €799 at launch.

The Huawei Mate 10, while impressive, isn't quite as exciting as the sleek Huawei Mate 10 Pro . This isn't exactly a bad thing, of course: both devices are catered to different consumers, and the Mate 10 continues to emphasise on the strengths of Huawei's Mate series.

The fall may as well be the season of phablets. Apple, LG and Samsung are the usual suspects but Huawei wants in too - as a front-runner, mind you, not an also-ran. Like its illustrious rivals, Huawei is also yielding to the pressure and the new Mate 10 is trying hard to please the fickle crowd.

There’s a lot to like about the Mate 10 - but it doesn’t really do enough to justify its existence, when the Mate 10 Pro is the superior phone in almost every way. The Pro has a bigger OLED screen, and underneath, the specs are almost identical. OK, the Mate 10 might find room for a microSD card, but the Pro has more storage to begin with. Beyond a lower price, the Mate 10’s only real advantage is its 3.5mm headphone socket. In the end, though, none of that matters unless you live in a place where both phones are on sale. Here in the UK, we only get the Mate 10 Pro. And a fine phone it is too. The Mate 10 is a curiosity, then. It’s sort of a middle ground between last year’s flagships and 2017’s skinnier, screen-ier smartphones, with no real drawbacks - other than the fact its bigger brother does things ever-so-slightly better.

Modern design with familiar screen size; Brilliant battery life; Plenty of power;

Camera can’t keep up with the Pixel 2; EMUI still has quirks; Mate 10 Pro actually available here in the UK;

The photos below were captured using the dual camera system of the Mate 10, which comprises a 12MP f/1.6 RGB sensor , a 20MP f/1.6 monochrome sensor, and Leica Summilux-H lenses. They were taken straight from the camera without any post-processing. Pretty impressive, isn't it?

Bright; large; and vibrant display; Stellar performance; Very impressive Leica dual camera system; Strong battery life

AI-related features not fully utilized (yet; Glass back prone to scratches and fingerprints

Modern design with familiar screen size; Brilliant battery life; Plenty of power;

Camera can’t keep up with the Pixel 2; EMUI still has quirks; Mate 10 Pro actually available here in the UK;

And while the Mate 10 has a lower price tag than the Mate 10 Pro, you'll be happy to know that the phone still has the same excellent cameras that are present in the more expensive version.