Huawei MediaPad M5: Android 9.0 Pie & EMUI 9 OTA Update Available

Huawei officially released an update to Android 9.0 Pie and EMUI 9.0 for their Huawei MediaPad M5 tablets. I got the info from two reader – and the guys at the XDA Developer Forum are talking about it too. Several users got their OTA update already. As of writing this, it seems that the MediaPad M5 10 and MediaPad M5 Pro are getting new software. If you own the MediaPad M5 8 as I do, you have to wait a bit longer.

As I am told, the update to Android 9.0 Pie and EMUI 9 is quite big with 3.59GB. Like with their phones, the UI gets adjusted a bit, but we also get new features. Among those is new gesture support. With those, you can navigate your tablet and replace those typical three Android buttons. Those gestures are very similar to those Apple introduced with the iPhone X.

If you like, you can continue to use those classic Android buttons. However, you can also use gestures with the fingerprint scanner. That’s what I like to do with my MediaPad M5 8 and other Huawei devices.

Overall, the interface got a slight overhaul. Apparently, there are 10% fewer menus so that the UI does not seem as overloaded. You can also check how much time you spend in what kind of apps now. Another small change: If you change the volume, a popup appears on the left side instead of the top. Yes, a small change.

XDA-Developer user sz.hatef published two videos on YouTube demonstrating Android 9.0 Pie on his Huawei MediaPad M5:

These kinds of OTA updates usually are rolled out in waves. So, if you don’t have it yet, don’t worry. It should arrive in the next couple of weeks. In the settings, you can check manually if you can get it already. Otherwise, you will get a notification eventually that you can download and install Android 9 and EMUI 9.

Huawei MediaPad M5 With Android 9: A Big Improvement

In the past, Huawei hasn’t been great with updates for their tablets. Because of that, it is very nice to see that it is changing. That way the MediaPad M5 tablets continue to be good tablets that I can recommend. I really enjoyed reviewing the big and small versions – and am still using the 8-inch MediaPad M5 8. I also like that they offer premium quality at an affordable price.

As of now, they’re the only one running Android 9. However, that will change fast. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 2019 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e will be released in the upcoming days.

By the way, I don’t know yet if the Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite 10 or MediaPad T5 will ever get an update.

9

Huawei MediaPad M5 10

Read now: Our Huawei MediaPad M5 10 Review

The Huawei MediaPad M5 10 is an almost perfect Android tablet. It features a great build quality, an outstanding performance, good speakers, and features like a fingerprint scanner. In addition to that, the battery life is good and we get recent Android 8.0 Oreo. However, the MediaPad M5 10 is lacking a standard headphone jack and the software customization's are too heavy for my taste.

Positive

• Great build quality
• Good display
• Outstanding performance
• Four good speakers
• Good fingerprint scanner
• Decent battery life
• Recent Android 8.0 Oreo

Negative

• No 3.5-millimeter audio jack
• Heavy software customization’s

Buy on* Amazon

Articles about this tablet

• The Best 10-Inch Tablets Of 2024 (Android, Windows, iPads)
• Comparison: Huawei MediaPad M6 vs. M5: These Are The Differences
• Huawei MediaPad M5: Android 9.0 Pie & EMUI 9 OTA Update Available
• Leak: Huawei MediaPad M5 Might Get Android 9.0 Pie Update
• Huawei MediaPad M5 10 Review: A Perfect Android Tablet In 2018?