Huawei was holding a conference this afternoon as part of MWC 2022. The opportunity for the Chinese manufacturer to unveil two new laptops: the MateBook X Pro and MateBook E. The first is a 14.2-inch ultraportable, the second a convertible Windows 11 tablet… which could walk on the flowerbeds of Microsoft and its Surface Pro 8
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After a canceled 2020 edition and a 2021 edition postponed for a few months, the MWC 2022 is finally taking place normally, in Barcelona, and on its usual slot. This Sunday, ahead of the opening of the show scheduled for tomorrow, Huawei held a conference entitled “Smart Office”, very focused on announcements for the most studious users. Smoothly conducted, the event notably allowed us to get to know two new laptops. Here’s what to remember.
MateBook X Pro: a MateBook 14S… thinner?
First, Huawei took care to unveil a new version of its MateBook X Pro. The device grows slightly to pass on a touch screen of 14.2 inches occupying 92.5% of the available space, thanks to very thin borders. The MateBook X Pro relies primarily on high-end display quality, with a 3K LCD panel (3120 by 2080 pixels for 264 dpi), capable of covering the sRGB and DCI-P3 colorimetric spectra with a DeltaE of less than 1 for great color fidelity… at least on paper. This DisplayHDR 400 certified screen is also capable of going up to 90 Hz and benefits from a maximum luminance announced at 500 nits. The contrast should reach 1500:1 according to Huawei.
On the performance side, the Chinese giant does not yet give all the details that we would like to have. The brand explains that it is betting on 11th generation Intel processors for a thermal envelope of 30 W. These are probably Tiger Lake-H35 chips, which were already found on the MateBook 14S in October. Too bad: given the launch window of the product, we would have liked to find Alder Lake processors (12th generation). Anyway, this chip is coupled with 16 GB of RAM in LPDDR4x. It is also kept cool by two (new) Huawei Shark Fin fans, which are supposed to allow better dissipation. Storage is based on an M.2 NVMe SSD of up to 1 TB capacity.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro is also equipped with 6 speakers which should provide a good audio experience. There are also 4 microphones supported by an algorithmic system intended to reduce parasitic noise during video exchanges, for example. Finally, on the weight side, we will not exceed 1.38 kg.
In the 16 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD version, the MateBook X Pro will be offered at a price of 1899 euros in Europe.
MateBook E: a clone of the Surface Pro 8… with OLED as a bonus
During its conference at MWC, Huawei also wanted to unveil its MateBook E. This Windows 11 tablet more or less takes up the concept and design of Microsoft’s Surface pro 8, but with a thinner chassis (7.99 mm thick). thickness only for 709 grams) and above all a 12.6-inch OLED screen (2560 by 1600 pixels) in 16:10 format, capable of going up to 600 nits of luminance, while limiting itself to a response time of 2 ms. For this panel too, Huawei announces coverage of the DCI-P3 color spectrum and a DeltaE of less than 1. The display quality should therefore be of a very good level.
On the connector side, Huawei announces a USB-C port, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, while the tablet has two photo sensors (13 Mpx on the back, and 8 Mpx on the front) and four speakers.
For this product too, there are 11th generation Intel processors, with 8 or 16 GB of RAM (LPDDR4x) and 128 to 512 GB of SSD storage. Note, however, that this MateBook E tablet may not be as efficient as Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8: in its most high-end version, Huawei’s slate is in fact content with a Core i7-1160G7, against a Core i7-1185G7 at the competition. The MateBook E will be offered from 649 euros and will go up to a price of 1399 euros in its high-end version. A priori competitive price placement.
We will probably have the opportunity to test these two products on Clubic soon…
Source: Huawei Conference / Huawei Press Releases
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