The laptop you just opened came to my hands a few days before its presentation. My task was to write a review, but the next two months were too busy. As a result, I forgot about many things, and some things were postponed from October to January, from January to February, and so on. It so happened that in October, I closed my laptop, took it home – there I had it and lay there until December.
In December, I was asked: “Well, where is the review?” Honestly, I felt embarrassed, but time trouble began again there, so everything was safely forgotten. Then I was reminded of the laptop in early March 2021: “Well? Where is the review? ” I thought that I wouldn’t be able to get out of it, and I had to write. But you read this review at the end of April or even in May. With this simple example, I explained what the word “procrastination” means.
So I open the MateBook X for the first time since the beginning of March, press the power button, and it wakes up from sleep mode. At that moment, I did not pay special attention to this fact, but I woke up in about an hour: I did not charge it for two months, all this time, it was in some “smart” sleep mode, and the battery was, if not intact, then not discharged to zero.
In general, I was pleasantly surprised by this fact.
| Model | Huawei MateBook X EUL-W19P |
| Dimensions, weight | 284.4 x 206.7 x 13.6 mm, weight from 1 kg |
| Screen | 13-inch, LTPS, 400 nits, 3000 × 2000, 8-bit, 100% sRGB |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 4600H |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz |
| Built-in memory | 512 GB NVMe PCIe SSD |
| Battery | 42Wh lithium polymer, 65W PSU included |
| Physical interfaces | Two ports USB Type-C combined 3.5 mm “jack” for a headset |
Design and Equipment
The first thing that surprises me is the weight and size. This is an ultrabook. Its dimensions are 284.4 x 206.7 x 13.6 mm and weigh one kilogram! At this moment, the question arises: why do we need tablets?
It is clear that everything has its own tasks, but with the MateBook X, I really had such a question, even despite the excellent iPad Air of the last two generations. And if you connect the proprietary Magic Keyboard to the iPads, then all their beauty immediately disappears since the weight for the tablet becomes unbearable.
With the design, there is one problem: I do not really like the combination of colors. The main part of the case is made in “warm” aluminum, but the touchpad is cold – and it stands out. Why this is done is not very clear to me.
In the kit, in addition to the laptop, you will find a 65 W power supply, which, like in smartphones, is immediately plugged into an outlet and does not have to be pulled by another long wire. There is also a docking station with USB Type-C for another USB Type-C, Type-A, VGA, and HDMI port.
Screen
All in all, this is a lightweight ultrabook with a 13-inch display with a resolution of 3000 × 2000 dots and a pixel density of 278 dpi. And this screen is impressive:
First of all, this effect is achieved thanks to the narrow frames, which are 4.5 mm. There is a 10 mm chin at the bottom, but it does not knock out in any way and looks very neat. The appearance of the screen really suited me.
The screen is glossy. Opponents and defenders of this type of screen may appear here. But this will all be very subjective. Not everyone may like the 3: 2 aspect ratio screen. In my opinion, this is the best choice for a 13-inch work laptop. At least the workspace isn’t too small in browsers and office applications. And scattering several applications on such a small screen will not be very convenient even at 16: 9.
The image is also pleasing to the eye. Of course, this is a consumer screen, not a professional screen, but it provides 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Japan Display produced the screen. The brightness of 400 nits may seem underwhelming, but I confess I didn’t use it in bright sunlight. The refresh rate of the screen is 60 Hz, so you definitely won’t call this solution a gaming one.
It is also worth adding that the display is touch-sensitive. Still, you remember this only when writing text and preparing photos for a review: I did not find any sense in technology for myself unless it is convenient to scroll pages with your finger while reading text.
Camera
Small laptop frames lead to the fact that the computer camera has to be hidden somewhere. Like many of the company’s laptops, the MateBook X has it located in the button between the F6 and F7 keys:
The situation is not the most convenient, but such is the compromise in the struggle for an insignificantly small framework. It would be best to choose the right angle with such a camera not to show all your three dozen chins.
The camera resolution is 720p. Such a camera is convenient for paranoids: clicked on it – and it hid. So no one, even, in theory, can spy on you.
Keyboard, Touchpad, and Fingerprint Reader
The keys turned out to be comfortable for me. But here you have to understand that I like the “butterfly,” when using which many people have the feeling that they are tapping their fingers on the table. The MateBook X’s keyboard has a short 1.3mm travel but still slightly deeper than the butterfly. In my opinion, this is a perfect compromise between the unreliability of the “butterfly” and the usual island-type keyboard, which is not so pretentious to scraps, bits of something, to dust and sticky magic.
The touchpad is very wide, but its depth is not always enough. The finger moves along it pleasantly, and there are no thoughts about buying a mouse – an excellent surface with excellent sensitivity.
There are no buttons in the touchpad, but there is an imitation of pressing. The motor copes with its duties very well: at first, I did not even understand that there was only an imitation and not physical buttons. Then I was slightly discouraged by turning off the laptop – it did not respond to pressing in any way. Here I was visited by certain doubts …
The fingerprint scanner works as it should. Although false positives do happen, they are still scarce.
Loudspeakers
The laptop received four speakers. You can watch a movie, but it will be difficult to enjoy the sound – it is normal, but still, it is much better in my MacBook Air. And both computers are in the same ultrabook segment.
Connections
There are only three physical connectors: two USB Type-C, each of which works not only for data transmission but also for charging, and a combined 3.5-mm “jack” for a headset.
As I said above, a relatively compact adapter is included with the laptop, but third-party offers suitable for modern MacBooks also work quietly.
And then there’s Huawei Share. This theme is available to users of the company’s modern smartphones with NFC. It allows you to control your smartphone directly from your laptop. You can connect three screens at once:
To connect, bring your smartphone to the touchpad.
Turn on PC Manager, then go to the Phone section.
Why is this needed?
There are quite a few options. For example, you can download photos and videos by simply transferring them from the “Gallery” launched in this way on your smartphone. Or you can open WhatsApp on your computer without scanning QR codes and what else Facebook came up with. Or you can listen to exclusive but damn rare podcasts in our app right from your computer.
Performance
Huawei MateBook X is manufactured using Intel’s 14nm process technology and integrates Intel UHD Graphics 620.
Here it is worthwhile to understand: this is not a gaming laptop at all. This is an exclusively working machine, on which you can watch something and play some very undemanding games. For example, here are the figures from Cinebench R23:
Computer performance is sufficient to run office applications and surf in a browser.
I did not notice any problems in my work, although I calmly worked with the laptop for some time between my procrastination. And 16 GB is enough for working with Windows applications.
Noise makes a good impression. Or rather, it’s lack: there are no coolers in the MateBook X, so it is a tranquil machine.
The laptop received a 512 GB SSD. This is NVMe PCIe. Here are the speeds:
Battery
Actually, the part that started it all. It’s something magical when you open your laptop after a couple of months, and it’s not empty. Huawei MateBook X received a 42 Wh battery. It is enough for a confident working day or for 10 hours of watching videos in Full HD.
Comes with a 65W power supply. It fully charges the laptop in an hour and a half.
Therefore, the laptop battery more than adequately copes with its task and allows you to work all daylight hours fully.
Outcome
Huawei has created a fashion device that is pleasant to hold in your hands. Of course, there are cheaper laptops. But you immediately feel the difference when you pick up something of a higher class: there are no squeaks anywhere, nothing backlash, the computer easily passes the “MacBook test.” Overall, the Huawei MateBook X leaves an excellent impression.
The laptop weighs only a kilogram. It is very thin. It is pleasant to look at it. Of course, this is not the most productive solution, and I would not take it for editing. But you can lazily process multiple photos in Lightroom or Photoshop.
You can also succumb to the modern mobile world, switch to a smartphone for a couple of months, then get out the MateBook X, open it, and continue working without connecting to a charger. The sleep mode here is still some kind of crazy. In a pleasant sense of the word, of course.
Huawei MateBook X
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