- VERDICT
The Huawei MateBook X Pro is an excellent, attractive and lightweight laptop that still offers the speed and performance to power through your tasks and provide a stunning entertainment experience.
Huawei has a track record of producing excellent devices and we now see that expertise come to the MateBook X Pro laptop which has thin and lightweight design while still providing impressive performance.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro has a stunning 3K (3000 x 2000) FullView touch display that goes virtually edge to edge.
The ultra-narrow bezels are just 4.4mm wide. This helps maximise the 13.9-inch display area on top, left and right.
Thanks to these narrow bezels the MateBook X Pro has a screen-to-body ratio of 91 per cent.
The screen has a 1500:1 contrast ratio, 450 nits of brightness and a 100 per cent sRGB colour gamut.
We also particularly liked the shape of the screen thanks to its 3:2 aspect ratio which is the right middle ground to be able to improve your productivity while still seeing more content on each page.
Whether we were browsing files, looking at a website or editing a document, the MateBook X Pro was ideal in any situation.
The MateBook X Pro is 4.9mm thick at its thinnest point and tapers out to 14.6mm and weighs just 1.33kg.
The laptop is made from aviation grade aluminium and processed with precise CNC diamond cutting.
The result is a stylish and luxurious finish with premium build quality that looks and feels good in your hand thanks to the ceramic sandblasting process.
Users will find a full-sized backlit keyboard which offers a smooth and accurate typing experience.
Typing is responsive thanks to the minimal travel distance of each key and, even when typing low light conditions, there are two backlit brightness options so you can still get your work done anywhere.
On the connectivity side users will find a traditional USB-A port with 3.2 connectivity and, on the other side there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack along with two USB-C ports that can support data transfer at up to 40Gbps as well as supporting dual 4K monitors at 60Hz.
This is ideal if users want to connect peripherals and other accessories or expand their desktop with two extra 4K monitors.
One of the reasons why the screen’s bezels are so small is because there is no camera above the screen.
Huawei having instead place the camera within the keyboard.
When you press the small key with the camera symbol, the camera will pop up at an angle.
While this is super convenient, the angle the camera provides from keyboard level is not the most flattering for your next video call.
And unlike a camera located above the screen on the laptop’s lid, you don’t have any choice for adjustment.
As well as being seen, users can also be heard quite clearly thanks to the dual edge microphone design which can pick up voices from up to five metres away.
On the security side, the power button also doubles as a fingerprint reader to offer you instant unlock and wake from sleep in the same fast way you’d unlock your smartphone.
Below the keyboard is a generously sized touch pad which includes Huawei Free Touch which offers haptic feedback an impressive responsiveness for a more tactile experience.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro Is powered by the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics which can provide remarkable efficiency when multitasking, processing images and video and smoother gaming experiences.
In fact, this new processor offers up to 22 per cent improvement compared to the previous generation chip.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro we reviewed had 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD (solid state drive) memory.
it also has an upgraded cooling system so the MateBook X Pro will work at its limits and maintain its smooth performance while the ultra-slim vapour chamber dissipates heat.
The MateBook X Pro not only looks great but sounds great as well thanks to the powerful quad-speaker and split frequency setup.
This delivers clear treble from the tweeter and satisfyingly deep bass from the woofer to give you a realistic audio experience while you’re watching your movies, playing games or just listening to music.
And that whole experience is enhanced with virtual 5.1 and 7.1 multi-channel output support, so you can enjoy tremendous sound that appears to be coming from all directions.
Among the numerous onboard features is finger gesture screenshot which allows you to quickly capture a copy of the screen by swiping down on the touch screen with three fingers.
Similarly, you can also choose between a shot of the entire screen, a selected section or copy text directly onto a clipboard.
Users can draw a diagonal line across the screen if they want to capture a portion of the display or draw an enclosed area to capture just that part of the screen.
Sharing files has also been made easier with the new multi-screen collaboration which allows Huawei smartphone and tablet owners to enjoy direct control from the laptop’s screen.
It’s even possible, if you have a Huawei smart phone, to run multiple phone apps on your laptop screen at the same time.
This convenience also extends to being able to drag and drop files like images and documents and texts between different phone apps on the laptop or to the laptop directly.
It utilises NFC (near field communication) so it will recognise the connection between the smartphone or tablet and the laptop itself.
Unfortunately, Huawei smartphones are pretty scarce in Australia, so this is a feature only available to current users of the company’s smartphones and tablets.
If this was a feature available to all Android users, it would no doubt make the MateBook X Pro a more desirable choice for laptop customers.
One of Huawei’s strengths in all their devices has been long battery life and the MateBook X Pro is no exception.
The battery will run for up to 11 hours doing regular work, up to 10 hours while browsing and using wi-fi and 10 hours of watching videos.
For our use of the device, we easily got through a couple of days of work on a single charge.
Speaking of charge, the internal 56Wh battery can be fully charged in just 100 minutes.
Huawei.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro is available now and is priced at $2,999.
VERDICT
The Huawei MateBook X Pro is an excellent, attractive and lightweight laptop that still offers the speed and performance to power through your tasks and provide a stunning entertainment experience.
