Design & Build Quality
The MateBook X Pro comes in two different models. A white model is available in addition to the dark blue colour option. The standard Space Gray model has conventional, smooth surfaces, an aluminium body, and is slightly heavier. Although the device’s case is entirely redesigned and does not have the polished edge found on the top of the base unit as it did with the previous versions, it still has a higher premium appearance. The laptop also appears quite contemporary because of the screen’s tiny screen edges.
Of course, the dark blue colour is evocative of the slightly darker new Apple Macbook Air colour version. Fortunately, the surfaces, which feel silky soft in comparison to the MacBook, are far less sensitive to fingerprints, and you can notice any marks even after a few days. The entire case also gives off a really solid and high-quality vibe. In the upper centre of the keyboard region, the base unit only slightly flexes, but this does not interfere with daily use. Additionally, the display cover is steady and makes no creaking sounds. The lid can be opened with one hand with no issues, and the screen hinge is basically well-adjusted.
Display
Huawei has extended the screen diagonal of the Matebook X Pro from 13.9 to 14.2 inches while maintaining the 3:2 IPS display from the previous versions. Additionally, the 3120×2080 pixel resolution results in a high pixel density of 264 DPI. The text is incredibly sharp, and the colours look to be quite rich, giving the capacitive touchscreen an outstanding subjective visual experience.
The display also boasts a greater refresh rate of 90 Hz, allowing for a significantly smoother picture impression during the playback of visual media. By using a sensor, it is possible to automatically control the brightness and change the colour temperature to the available lighting.
As opposed to many OLED screens from other brands, which typically only achieve 400 cd/m2 in standard SDR mode, this gives the panel an advantage. Although the IPS panel’s black value of 0.39 and contrast of less than 1,500:1 are obviously inferior to OLEDs, the performance is still excellent.
Response times are excellent for an IPS panel, and there was no PWM flickering found. HDR content is also supported by the panel, although it must first be enabled in Windows settings. The accompanying HDR information can be played back without issue, although OLED or mini-LED displays, mostly because of their higher contrast ratio, appear to display HDR images more appealingly.
Performance
The Core i7-1260P features a hybrid architecture made up of 4 quick performance cores and 8 efficiency cores, making it the second fastest processor in Intel’s Alder Lake P line behind the Core i7-1280P. The highest short-term consumption is 64 watts, which is also the maximum limit of Intel’s Alder-Lake-P CPUs. This is not sufficient to enable all cores to operate at their maximum clock, though.
Depending on the power mode chosen, the consumption levels out at 30 or 25 watts after a short period of time and then stays stable at this level. As a result, the MateBook X Pro is not among the quickest devices when under steady load, but in normal use and during brief benchmarks, it naturally gains from the high power restrictions and strong single-core performance of the new performance cores.
The Tiger Lake Core i7-1165G7 in the predecessor immediately throttles to 18 watts and provides noticeably worse multi-core performance. The processor can use up to 40 watts in battery mode before stabilising at 25 watts, which equates to the level of balanced mode when used with a power source.
Connectivity & Communication
The redesigned Matebook X Pro model now has two USB-C ports on the left side that support Thunderbolt 4. Two extra USB-C ports that can be utilised for charging are located on the right side. A brief USB-A adapter cable is also included in the delivery’s scope. The Super Device capability is useful for people who also use other Huawei products, such as tablets, smartphones, and monitors.
Like Apple, this allows users to quickly share or transfer material between synchronised devices or expand the screen to the tablet. It’s also feasible to run up to three smartphone apps on a laptop. It also comes with an updated Intel WLAN module (AX211E) that supports Bluetooth 5.2 and 6 GHz networks (Wi-Fi 6E). Without any issues, users can connect to their respective modems with an average transfer speed as high as about 1.7 GBit/s.
Storage
One TB of storage is provided on the Huawei PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD, of which 885 GB are still accessible after the initial startup. As with all other Huawei laptops, the system disc is only about 120 GB, and the SSD comes from the factory partitioned. Just about 70 GB are left after removing the space used by Windows, which might quickly cause capacity issues. The D drive has the 814 GB that is left. The drive’s transfer rates of about 3 GB/s are more than adequate. However, performance occasionally degrades due to the drive’s temperature issues under sustained load. The drive is immediately on the CPU heat sink, as can be seen from the cooling.
Battery Life
The high consumption rates and the 60 Wh battery do not allow for very long battery runtimes. Simply put, the display is a power hog. Even at maximum display brightness, the WLAN terminates in less than five hours. Using the MateBook X Pro without a power source for the entire day is quite improbable. Because a complete charge takes about 80 minutes, 50% of the charge is accessible after 34 minutes and 80% after 52 minutes; at least, the device recharges rather quickly.
Is It Worth It?
The Huawei Matebook X Pro is priced at $2390 and is available in all the Huawei flagship stores and on the official website of Huawei. With its brand-new MateBook X Pro, Huawei hopes to dominate the ultrabook market. For a hefty price, users receive a well-rounded package with very few flaws. Every aspect of the MateBook X Pro laptop makes it unique.
It boasts a display that is very bright, clear, and flawless, a terrific keyboard, an outstanding touchpad, great specs and ports, and a decent battery life. You will currently have the greatest Windows ultrabook and the best alternative to Apple’s MacBook Air in your hands, and owning one will undoubtedly make you happy.
