Huawei MateBook X Pro Review | Design & Performance

Huawei MateBook X Pro is one of the most premium laptops you will presently come across. It is lightweight, has an amazingly sleek design, and packs a whole lot of performance on the inside. You get all the necessary ports, a stunning 14 inches 3K display and a dedicated GPU as well. Of course, all this comes at a price, the i5 variant of it is around 900 bucks and the other one which comes with an Intel i7 is a little above 1200 bucks. This might be a huge price for many but it is worth the bucks. It goes straight on in competition with popular laptops from well-known manufacturers like the Dell XPS 13.

Huawei MateBook X Pro Review & Specifications

CPU	Intel Core i7-8550U
RAM	16GB (upgradable to 32)
Display	13.9 inches (3000×2000)
Storage	512GB NVMe SSD
GPU	Nvidia MX150
Battery	10 Hours
Size	12 x 8.5 x 0.6 (inches)
Weight	2.9 (lbs)
Numpad	No
Ports	USB-C, Thunderbolt-3, USB-A, Audio jack

Design & Chassis

Huawei MateBook X Pro 2022 will remind you of a MacBook because it resembles a lot. It is slim and has the same color as a MacBook. You can get it in two colors which are silver and space grey. And from the inside, it resembles a Mac as well. Black backlit keys on the silver chassis is what makes it look more cool.

OK, the design is stunningly simple, on the back of lid all you see is Huawei’s logo but unlike a MacBook it is not backlit. Apart from the logo you won’t be seeing any unnecessary things on it. From the inside, it is rather simple as well. All you will see is very good looking simple keypad, a power button on the left which embeds a fingerprint scanner in it and a nicely huge touchpad. Plus, on either side of the keypad lies Dolby Quad speakers. Speaking of the dimensions, the size of this Huawei Laptop MateBook X Pro is 12 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches and it weighs around 2.9 lbs. These numbers make it an amazing one to carry around, you can literally pack it in any bag and take it anywhere. Besides, from the looks it doesn’t seem that one can lift the lid with single hand but when you try it amazes you because the lid can be opened with single hand without any lift of the bottom body at all.

Another good thing is the rubber stoppers on the bottom of laptop. 2 stoppers at the back are a little bigger compared to those on the front, this tilts the laptop towards the user which makes it easy to use and gets enough space for airflow too.

Performance

This laptop truly is a performance beast. This MateBook X Pro i7 packs in an Intel Core i7-8550U processor alongside 16GB of RAM which is upgradable to 32 and you get a 512GB NVMe SSD as well. You can also go for the i5 variant if you think it will be suitable for the tasks you will be performing, it obviously will cost you a lower amount. Now, it’s not a gaming laptop but still houses an Nvidia MX150 which is a good addition. You can play some games at good fps. But this is more of a nice addition for those who want to do things like video editing on it. So, it can be a good video editing or photo editing laptop.

The configuration mentioned above makes it fast enough to boot within 5 seconds, as soon as you press the power button, you will be at your Windows home screen in next 5 seconds. Besides, the power button which rests at the top right of the keypad has an embedded fingerprint scanner in it. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to press and hold the button until you are logged in. You just have to press it, this powers on the laptop and also reads your fingerprint, then it matches the fingerprint when the login screen is reached and logs you in.

Display & Speakers

MateBook X Pro has one of the finest display among 14 inch laptops. Having some of the thinnest bezels, it is able to provide you a 91% screen-to-body ratio. This is a nice view to watch, the screen seems as there are no bezels at all. And of course, this alters the positioning for the webcam which is now found in the form of a key between Function-6 and Function-7 Keys.

Speaking of the display, it comes with a resolution 3000×2000 which makes the view for both work and play really cool. Apart from the resolution, it comes with a nice level of details and brightness. It goes up to 450 nits of brightness which is pretty bright. You can easily use it in the brightest light of sun. Not to forget, it is a touch enabled display which makes it a good competitor of a MacBook. And the touch of it is pretty responsive.

Audio performance of the MateBook X Pro is pretty good. It is power by Dolby Sound System and the speakers lie on either side of the keypad. The sound of them is good enough to fill-up your normal living room but it won’t make you happy if you use these speakers for a conference room. Besides, the sound is crisp throughout, no matter what the volume level.

Ports

For connectivity to the external world, you get pretty much everything but not directly. You might need to use a MateDock for getting all other ports. Specifically, the MateDock 2, which will allow you to further connect an additional USB-A and USB-C alongside HDMI and VGA.

Now straight to the ports, what you get is a USB-C, Thunderbolt 3, an audio jack on the left and a USB-A on the right. Rest, you will be using the dock we talked about above. And the thing to know here is that you will be charging your laptop using the USB-C for which you will get a cable with the package. This also means that you can charge your laptop using a portable powerbank anywhere you go.

Keyboard & Touchpad

Keyboard of the MateBook X Pro is one of the most interesting things on it. It’s a pretty basic keyboard and is backlit too. As a matter of fact you get to choose between two different levels of brightness on the keys, you can change them easily using one of the function keys. The keys are tactile, with a required actuation force of 69 grams and 1.1 mm vertical key travel. Rest assured, it is fun to type upon and really can be one best laptop for writers.

The touchpad you get on this laptop is a pretty big one at 4.7 x 3.0 inches. It supports all the gestures and scrolls of the Windows 10 Home which comes as the default OS in this laptop.

Battery

It packs all-day battery power in it. On continuous use for things like web surfing or short video time, it will last a little below 10 hours. This is an all-day battery backup which is pretty amazing. Plus you can also charge it from any portable power bank which will further increase the battery juice.

Camera

Webcam on the MateBook X Pro is placed between the F6 & F7 keys as a button. It pops up when you press it. It’s a good place to put it considering the fact that thin bezels leave no space for it. But when you open your cam, the angle it views you is weird. You will be seeing your fingers when you type and your face is displayed from the lower angle, being specific you would be able to see you nostrils which you would agree is not a good view to see. And the quality of it is average in case you need to use it for an urgent video call.

Heat

Heat level on this laptop does not rise to a level where it may affect the performance of it. But if you use it on your lap, you may feel the heat a bit. Although it is not annoying, but it is higher compared to some of its competitors like the XPS 13. The keypad and under side of it rises to 101° F and 103° F respectively which is a little higher compared to optimal temperature.

Bottom Line
Huawei laptops were not mainstream a few years ago. But with the release of the MateBook X Pro and some other models, it gained people’s attention. Now, it is one of the most praised laptop by critics this year. Starting from the design which is elegant and going towards the performance and display, it is one complete package. It is a best laptop for using as your daily routine buddy. Yes, Huawei’s MateBook X price is something which not everyone will appreciate, it is expensive but it will be a future-proof thing for many years to come.