Huawei MateBook X Pro Review | Tech Orbes

To compete with competing goods in the “luxury laptop” market, including the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro and the Dell XPX 15, the Huawei MateBook X Pro was released in 2021.

The MateBook X Pro (2021) disappoints in a few crucial areas while being an impressive new offering, which unhappily seems to have left some quite large shoes to fill. One that stands out is geographical availability; at the moment, the device is only available in China and some regions of Europe, though Huawei has indicated there are plans to eventually make the product available in the USA through independent retailers like Amazon.

It’s crucial to note that our criticism of the MateBook X Pro does not imply that the device is subpar. The svelte ultrabook was a pleasure for routine chores, and its powerful technology allowed it to handle heavy workloads easily.

Other design improvements fell short of expectations, such as the webcam’s ingenious concealment behind the keyboard, which results in an unpleasant image of your chin, and some intriguing software that only works with Huawei smartphones to transfer data through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

These drawbacks make the MateBook X Pro seem excessive for what is essentially an average luxury laptop when you factor in the high price as well. Of course, if the style is more important to you than features, this is still a good choice because this laptop has a more upscale appearance than devices with more advanced features.

Huawei MateBook X Pro

Design

The Huawei MateBook X Pro shines in the way it looks, but it couldn’t help but raise a few eyebrows. Only two colors Space Grey and Emerald Green are offered, which may be confusing given that the product photographs scattered throughout this review clearly show a blue laptop. This is the Emerald Green finish, which is even bluer in person than our photos imply, possibly even teal.

Despite the color disparity, this laptop is stunning. The vibrant color shines out in a sea of products, primarily silver and black on the market, and the metallic gold Huawei logo embellishment on the back truly makes the blue shade stand out.

With dimensions of 15.51 x 8.54 x 0.57 inches and a weight of 2.9 pounds, it isn’t by any means the lightest laptop in the ultra-slim category, but it is still very portable and simple to pack into a bag. Even though we didn’t find the wonderful blue covering easily scratchable, acquiring some protective case would probably be advisable if you worry about it not getting damaged.

The bezels on the 13.9-inch, 3000 x 2000-pixel display are very thin, and the 3:2 aspect ratio produces gorgeously sharp pictures. If streaming or viewing movies on the move is a priority, this is a terrific option because it’s a real joy to watch TV on.

Although the touchscreen is incredibly responsive, even the cleanest hands left ugly fingerprints on the surface due to the screen’s gloss sheen. Though using the laptop in any bright area is a complete misery due to the glossy screen, don’t plan on working in the garden when the sun comes out. Use is impossible due to the glare.

Hardware

The keyboard is passable and has gentle underlighting to make the keys visible in low light. Although the actual keys have a little shallower feel than the notorious Apple butterfly keyboard, they nevertheless manage to have more “clicks” and are comfortable enough to text on without feeling spongey.

We were appropriately impressed by the quickness and dependability of the fingerprint scanner that can be used in conjunction with the power button. We only needed to reposition our finger once for the sensor to function; on the second attempt, it promptly detected our print.

Additionally, efforts have been taken to seamlessly include the top-firing speakers into the design by covertly incorporating the vents into the chassis on either side of the keyboard.

Even though the bass is missing, the audio is surprisingly impressive for such a thin notebook, with clear vocals and great loudness levels. Nahimic is also pre-installed on the MateBook X Pro, so you may customize it for the media you’re listening to, whether music or TV/Film.

The Matebook X Pro’s 4.5 x 3.0-inch touchpad, dubbed the “Free Touch,” might be awkward initially and seems to have taken some design cues from MacBook touchpads. Though the surface is smooth and doesn’t drag, people used to previous Windows devices may need some time to get used to the haptic feedback in place of a tactile click. 

Performance

The MateBook X Pro has a Core i7-1165G7 processor from the 11th generation and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, so it performs fairly quickly. Although it lags behind most of its competitors in the market for premium laptops, you probably wouldn’t notice it for most everyday tasks.

Product Testing

The PCMark 10 home test, which simulates common laptop operations like spreadsheets, conference calls, and web browsing and then assigns scores based on how well it executes the benchmark, is a good resource. The Dell XPS 13 is in first place with 4,816 points, followed by the HP Spectre x360 with 4,721 points and the Huawei MateBook X Pro with 4,459 points.

Although you won’t be playing the newest AAA games at 60 frames per second, the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics are a further advantage that can persuade you to choose this device over others. They are powerful enough to run independent games and shooters with modest system requirements.

If you’re rational about the graphical options in-game, you shouldn’t have trouble playing Fortnite or CS: GO at a playable framerate. This is also evident in our graphics tests; the MateBook X Pro scored a decent 1,390 on the Time Spy test from 3DMark.

The Huawei MateBook X Pro’s battery life, which managed to last for 10 hours and 13 minutes in the PC Mark battery life benchmark, is another aspect that falls below the norm for high-end laptops. With a looping video playing for eight hours and 46 minutes, the movie test came in barely under Huawei’s advertised 10-hour video playback limit.

Product Comparison

With its curved, 16.9 mm thin design, 1.56 kg lightweight, and slender, lightweight design, the HUAWEI MateBook D 15 is a master of portability. MateBook X Pro doesn’t offer a lot of ports for the price, much like many other ultra-slim laptops.

Two Thunderbolt USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack are located on the left side of the device, and one of the ports is designated for charging the MateBook X Pro. Fortunately, a USB-A connector is on the right side of the notebook, so you won’t have to use an adapter to connect a flash drive. These ports are becoming increasingly scarce on recent computers.

Conclusion

Despite our complaints that the ‘Emerald Green’ color is blue, this laptop is stunning, putting many other high-end products to shame. You may benefit from a few extra features on the Huawei MateBook X Pro if you’re already a part of the Huawei ecosystem.

There is no doubt that this is an excellent product. There are undoubtedly “better” options, but if you’re looking for a stylish laptop for the office or something for study and home use, this is a real workhorse that is sure to impress.

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