[Huawei Mate 10  Guides, News, & Discussion] gonzo99:
I could live without huge updates if what was there was working. But at the very least a company that wants to claim it is interested in long term support for it's customers should be able to roll out monthly security updates to Android - (I'm still on March). If I'm using banking apps and password managers etc on a phone I want to know that it is at least vaguely secure.

The last update I got, about 2 months ago, borked OK Google voice match which I still haven't got working properly. There are still regular bluetooth audio rooting oddities.

What's more frustrating is that certain models (C432) seem to have had much more frequent updates, including face unlock, while my C782 which as far as I can tell is the same hardware and same language, hasn't.

I can live with EMUI oddities with another launcher and I even like some of the smart assistance they've added, but if I buy a flagship I'd like to know that in 3 years time I can still use it as a daily driver. One of the reasons for me choosing a phone with unlockable bootloader was so that if/when their support cycle ends I can go to Lineage and at least have a fairly secure android experience.

Of course Huawei and other suppliers want us to buy a new phone in 2 years, so the poor long term support may be a commercial decision, but without being dramatic, I won't be buying Huawei again. I'd rather spend less on a no-name phone that can either be upgraded, or swapped more cheaply if it does become obselete.

I came from a Oneplus One and have done the full modding/custom ROM and wanted to poke my toe back into 'normal' Android to avoid problems running my banking app and the minor issues that custom ROMS usually bring, but I'm finding more issues with a stock ROM out of the box and practically no benefits.

The only thing my Mate 10 Pro has going for it at the moment is the battery and that is good enough that I am probably not going to trade it in for a OP6 or similar. I am apparently a heavy user and need consistent 5-6 hours SOT. Even there, Huawei seem to have made the strange decision to make their power management so aggressive that it's hard to keep anything like Tasker or more simple notifications reliable without turning everything off (after which I get similar if not better SOT - go figure).

Once I am confident of a decent camera performance I may well jump to Lineage and at least at the moment that is an option because I have a bootloader unlock code - assuming they don't trash that with a future update....

I am not a Huawei hater, just a person who likes to choose phones carefully that I feel are user friendly. I switched from multiple HTC phones in the past because of their change in attitude to bootloaders ( and the appalling battery life on the One X) and I will switch from Huawei to find an alternative that meets my needs more - If Huawei can continue their rise by going more mainstream and locking out the small but vocal tinkerers, then good luck to them.

I didn't go Pixel this time because of the expense compared to my Mate 10 Pro (and the lower battery, plus potential other issues) - so I may well look at an Android One phone next time. Or one of the smaller name phones who tend not to mess much with stock and put in a larger battery.

It seems that my needs for a large battery are in the minority because the suppliers think we want a 0.5mm thinner phone. At least Huawei bucked that trend and for that reason I think the Mate 10 Pro is a nice phone. It is not a great phone though and will not be considered one in 2-3 years still. It will be interesting to see how much the P20 Pro is supported once they bring out the Mate 20 Pro later this year - If removing the bootloader meant they actually bring timely updates and bug fixes, then maybe I'll reconsider, but I'm not holding my breath.