If you’ve been looking for a new laptop, chances are that one from the company called “Huawei” never crossed your mind. However, it should, because, even though Huawei isn’t a very well-established brand, it now has the MateBook X Pro, which is perhaps the best laptop you can buy right now.
Yes, the Huawei’s MateBook X Pro laptop looks like an Apple’s MacBook Pro, it even ships with a color “space grey,” but that’s completely fine because the final product is a gorgeous piece of machinery that has everything right.
Huawei MateBook X Pro design
The device features an aluminum build with smooth metal finish that screams premium quality, and the display even opens using one finger.
In the MateBook X Pro, you’ll also find two USB Type-C with one that includes support for Thunderbolt 3, one USB Type-A, which you can use to connect legacy accessories without having to use a dongle. Furthermore, Huawei includes an adapter with VGA, HDMI, and an additional USB port.
And the power button has built-in fingerprint scanner that makes signing in to Windows 10 a really fast experience.
Huawei’s latest laptop is supper thin and light, it’s just under 15mm thick and weighs close to three pounds.
When you open the device, you’ll get a 13.9-inch touch-enabled display with the thinnest bezels you’ll find on any laptop in its category. Huawei says that it’s a 91 percent of screen-to-body ratio.
The display on the MateBook X Pro is also high-resolution with great color representation. In addition, the 3:2 aspect ratio will help to improve productivity when working with documents or surface the internet.
Moving down the display, you’ll find a big backlit keyboard with a low profile, and a big glass precession trackpad just as the one on the MacBook, which of course supports Windows 10 gestures.
The sound on this laptop it’s said to be the best on any device in its class. Huawei built the MateBook X Pro with four speakers using Dolby Atmos system, which will sound better and louder than most laptops.
Huawei MateBook X Pro tech specs
Alongside the great design, the Huawei MateBook X Pro doesn’t disappoint with its internals. In the United States, the device maker is offering two hardware configurations, including a model sporting an Intel 8th Generation Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, and the higher model features an Intel 8th Generation Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB or storage. Also, the more expensive model includes MX150 graphics from Nvidia, which by any means makes the laptop a gaming device. (Though, light gaming works just fine.)
| HUAWEI MateBook X Pro tech specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | Size: 13.9 inches Type: LTPS Screen-to-body ratio: 91% Resolution: 3000 x 2000, 260 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Viewing angle: 178 degrees Color: sRGB 100% color gamut Contrast: 1500:1 Maximum Brightness: 450 nits Touchscreen: 10-point, anti-fingerprint |
| Processor | 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8550U processor 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U processor |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2GB GDDR5 Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| Memory | 8GB LPDDR3 2133MHz 16GB LPDDR3 2133MHz |
| Storage | 256GB NVMe PCIe SSD 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD |
| Camera | Front camera: 1MP |
| Ports | One touch power button 3.5-mm stereo headset jack USB-C x 1 (Allow data transfer, charging and connection with MateDock 2) Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port x 1 (Allows speedy data transfer, charging and connection to MateDock 2) USB-A x 1 (USB3.0, max output 5 V / 2 A) |
| Size | Width: 304mm Height: 217mm Depth:14.6mm Weight: 1.33kg |
| Color | Mystic Silver Space Gray |
| Battery | Material: Lithium polymer 57.4Wh (TYP) |
| Power adapter | HUAWEI MateBook Charger 65 W For devices with a PD protocol: output 20V/3.25 A, 15 V/3 A, 12 V/2 A, 9 V/2 A, 5 V/2 A; Otherwise: output 5 V/2 A; Support multiple output modes, and quick charge for different devices. |
It has flaws
Although the MateBook X Pro may just be the best laptop you can get this year, it’s not a flawless device. For instance, as a result of the thin bezels, Huawei had to place the webcam in a pop-up key in middle of the keyboard. It’s a clever solution from the privacy point of view (so you don’t have to put a piece of tape on it), but it’s not an ideal place to put a camera because the viewing angles are terrible, and even more, the quality of this camera is very low.
Also, it’s not a silent device, under heavy workloads, such as browsing the web with many tabs open on Google Chrome, you’ll hear the fans going loud.
Battery life is good, but not the best. You’ll get well over eight hours under heavy usage, which is more than the other laptops, including the XPS 13.
Who should buy a MateBook X Pro
The Huawei MateBook X Pro is an amazing laptop for video editing, content creation, video watching, and web browsing. Of course, it can tackle any task you throw at it, as long as you’re not trying to play graphics intensive games.
Pricing and where to buy
Another great thing about this laptop is the price. While similar devices may cost over $2000, the MateBook X Pro starts at $1199.99 for the Core i5 model, and $1499.99 for the Core i7 with the discrete graphics.
If you’re looking for a new laptop, the Huawei MateBook X Pro should be in your short list as there’s not other device in the market right now offering this level of design and performance at this price point.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.