Huawei Mate 10 Pro Best Buy 5-Star Reviews Are Cheats

Given how Huawei was left in a terribly embarrassing situation at CES last month, it might be too easy to identify the Chinese OEM as the underdog. If it had played its cards right, it could have uses that to its advantage. Unfortunately, desperation might have gotten a hold of its senses instead and it was caught red-handed padding its Mate 10 Pro Best Buy product page with 5-star reviews from over a hundred exuberant owners, when the phone hasn't even shipped yet.

To be fair, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro might indeed be something worth getting excited about. Based on hands-on experiences and specs, it's definitely one of the more commendable phones. Of late 2017, that is. And there might indeed be a few who have gotten their hands on a review unit or something similar. But what are the statistical odds that there'd be even close to a hundred of them, and all of them leaving glowing reviews?

So how did this normally impossible feat happen? In the most dirty-handed way possible. Huawei apparently solicited "reviews" from prospective Mate 10 Pro "Beta" Testers on a private group on Facebook. The now deleted post explicitly instructed contestants to post "why you WANT to own the Mate 10 Pro" on the Best Buy's review section for the phone. Of course, some of those have resulted in some rather hilarious and obviously contrived "reviews".

Huawei may have thought it could game Best Buy, who curiously hasn't reacted yet to the exposé, but that's harder to do in this day and age. Especially when you've just been put under a microscope. Unfortunately for Huawei, its little scheme might have cost it its credibility, with customer reviews now being held suspect. It might have also given its critics more ammo and proof of its shady business practices.