Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more.
HUAWEI Mate 10 to get P20 AI features with Android 8.1
June 12, 2025
In a briefing with journalists at the launch of theHUAWEI P20, P20 Proand Porsche Design HUAWEI Mate RS, Richard Yu confirmed that theMate 10 and Mate 10 Prowill both receive the six additional AI-detected scenes the P20’s ship with. The added scene detection will arrive with the update toAndroid 8.1 Oreo, although Yu wasn’t sharing any timeline for when that will occur.
At launch, the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro were capable of recognizing 13 different scenes. This was all down to the neural processing unit (NPU) and theKirin 970, which the new P20 and P20 Pro share. Those newer devices ship with 19 supported scenes, adding fireworks, document scan, waterfall, group photo, natural colors and macro. Fortunately for Mate 10 owners, you won’t be missing out, with HUAWEI delivering AI updates to its older devices, much likeLG recently did with the LG V30in the wake of theV30S ThinQ.
Despite some manufacturers recently claiming “AI” on everything from battery charging to USB cables (that’s a joke, but you get my point), Yu believes customers will soon learn who’s doing real AI and who’s peddling “fake AI”. Yu said, “HUAWEI will focus on real things, real AI, as it will become more and more important in future…. These other companies are misleading consumers, trying to cheat them.”
Another bonus for Mate 10 owners is the ability in the P20 series to disable the AI-assisted scene recognition. In the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro you were “stuck” with the NPU modifying scenes (or not) based on what it recognized. While in my experience you always got at least one great photo, you tended to need a few to ensure success. The ability to disable the AI in the camera app when you want full control without resorting to Pro Mode is a small victory for humans not quite ready to hand over full control to the machines just yet.
Read more on the P20:
Thank you for being part of our community. Read ourComment Policybefore posting.
