New iPad vs Huawei MediaPad 10 - Which Should I Buy?

Apple revealed the new iPad on Wednesday, with a Retina display and faster processor, but while Apple has so far enjoyed very little competition, the Huawei MediaPad 10 is looking to put up a fight.

Huawei announced the MediaPad 10 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and with a powerful quad-core processor, high definition 1920x1200 resolution screen and 2GB of RAM, the tablet looks to be a serious contender to Apple's new iPad.

Little is known about the A5X processor in the new iPad, but Apple was keen to point out that it has quad-core graphics - to us this sounds like it remains a dual-core processor, and Apple is wanting to keep that quiet.

The MediaPad 10 has an 8-megapixel camera on the back, comparing favourably to the iPad's 5-megapixel offering. The Huawei MediaPad 10 also features a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, while the iPad makes do with a VGA-quality unit.

The new iPad features a Retina display, boasting a HD resolution of 2048x1536 and packing in four times as many pixels as the iPad 2. The Retina resolution is slightly higher than the 1920x1200 of the Huawei tablet, but you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two.

With regard to size, the MediaPad has a 10in screen compared to the iPad's 9.7in. desite the larger screen, the MediaPad 10 manages to be thinner than the new iPad, measuring in at 8.8mm, compared to the iPad's 9.4mm.

The Huawei MediaPad 10 is expected to join the smaller 7in MediaPad sometime in the second quarter of 2012 - so between Apil and July - but the new iPad will be arriving in stores on 16 March and pre-orders can be placed now, giving Apple the upper hand.

With regard to software, the Huawei MediaPad 10 will run the shiny new Android 4.0 (better known as Ice Cream Sandwich) and may well be updated to 5.0 (Jelly Bean) when that becomes available later in the year.

The new iPad runs the newly released iOS 5.1. Alongsde this, Apple has updated the iLife and iWork suites and added iPhoto to the AppStore, bringing a wide range of powerful image editing tools to the tablet.

The two devices seem to be similarly matched, but Huawei could well have an ace up its sleeve: price. Huawei has historically priced its smartphones in the mid-range, some way below the £500 iPhone 4S.

If the Chinese company follows a similar tactic with the MediaPad 10, then we could see it undercut the new iPad and take away sales from Apple by appealing to customers who are not willing to spend at least £399 on a new iPad.

Having said that, after revealing the new iPad, Apple reduced the price of the iPad 2 to £329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and the older model will continue to be sold alongside its Retina-screened sibling.

International Business Times UK has comprehensive coverage of the new iPad, so why not check out our overview of Apple's announcement here.