Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using the Mate SE for the past few days and thought I'd leave a review to help others decide when considering this phone. I've been a Google Nexus (5, 5X, 6P) user for the past several years, so leaving Google devices was a leap of faith for me, but my 6P was experiencing the cold battery shutoff at 40+% issue so it was time to try something new. I want to add a disclaimer that I am including the price point as a major part of my decision to give the phone 4 (really 4.5) stars. I mean, THIS PHONE IS $229!!! A second disclaimer is that I am by no means a power user. My typical uses for my phone are texting, web browsing, watching youtube videos, navigation, some social media, and taking photos. I do not game on my phones, so my review is not evaluating gaming performance. The Pros: -Smooth operation. For my everyday use, the speed of opening apps and switching between apps is great and I have no major complaints. There are occasional times when scrolling isn't quite as smooth as on my 6P or my girlfriends S8+, but this is also being nit picky. Again, 95% of the time its great. -Great screen. The screen is big, the bezels are small, the picture is clear and sharp and the colors are accurate to my eyes. The auto brightness feature also works quickly and seems to adjust to a comfortable level based on the surrounding lighting. -Premium feel. I've been using the phone without a case since I got it and I like how the aluminum body feels in my hand, although it is a little slippery. The buttons feel nice and solid -Fast fingerprint scanner. The finger print scanner is at least as fast as the 6P if not faster, and is quite accurate. I've only had it miss my finger print a handful of times and it was likely my fault for bad placement -Slim design. Because of the small bezels and the thinness of the phone, the mate SE is easier to carry in my pocket than the 6P. -Headphone jack! It has a damn headphone jack for those of us that haven't cut the cord on our headphones yet. -Availability of themes. Having used stock android for the last few years, I didn't particularly like the stock EMUI theme that ships with the phone, but there are theme packs available for download on the play store that allow you to change the theme to pixel, oreo, etc. -Battery performance. Again I'm not a power user, but I have been consistently making it through the day with 60% battery remaining when I plug my phone in before going to sleep. -VALUE!!! During my research for a new phone, this phone offered the best features for the price. Hands down. -Camera IN GOOD LIGHT. In daylight or bright light the camera is actually pretty good if you have a steady hand. The pro mode on the camera allows for pretty decent picture taking if you are willing to adjust some settings. I also like the bokeh/low aperature mode for taking macro shots. Its not as good as the pixel camera, s8/s9 or iphone but its pretty decent IN GOOD LIGHTING. The Mehs: -Bloatware. There isn't a ton of bloatware, but it is a bit annoying that you can't uninstall most of the apps that ship with the phone. I prefer to use the google apps, and I can't delete the stock email app, calendar app, etc. Not a huge deal, but meh. -Nougat. the Mate SE ships with nougat, although a google search will show that Huawei is beta testing Oreo for the 7X and an updated EMUI. Hopefully the stable version is released this spring or summer. -Typing mistakes. I seem to make more mistakes typing on this phone than my 6P for some reason. Perhaps it is the screen protector I have on it which isn't the best. just something to note, not a huge deal. The Bads: -Camera in low light. I'm just going to be honest here, the camera is terrible in low light compared to my 6P. Google is king of image processing and the Mate SE is no where close to any google device in low light camera performance. Keep in mind though, that this phone is also 1/3rd the price of the Pixel 2 and almost a 1/4 the price of the Pixel 2 XL, so a worse camera in some situations is expected at this price point. Overall, if you are in the market for a new phone, and don't want to spend close to $1000 for a new flagship, the Mate SE is definitely a phone to consider if you don't mind the poor low light camera performance. Everything else with the phone feels on par with other big name phones, for a fraction of the price!