Huawei_MateBook_13-Profile
Huawei sent us the Mate 13 Notebook which was launched in Mobile World Congress (MWC) that took place in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei officially announced the launch of the first product under the new series of flagship ultra-books, the all-new HUAWEI MateBook 13.
Huawei PR sent us the Huawei MateBook 13 for review and honestly for the price, I am really amazed by the performance of the notebook.
As per Huawei, the new HUAWEI MateBook 13 is targeted for a young audience that looks for that perfect balance between style and innovation, such as graduates and young professionals who are always on the run and are looking for that device that is sure to let them stand out.
Body and Specifications
With dimensions (H × W × D): 286mm × 211mm × 14.9mm and weighing only 1.3kg, it has a sleek, thin body, 13” size with screen-to-body ratio: 88% and resolution 2160 x 1440, 200 PPI.
The body has a slimline 14.9 mm metallic frame is meticulously crafted with a diamond cut finish on each corner, giving it an ultra-modern premium look and feel
The product which we received for review comes with 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8565U processor with NVIDIA® GeForce® MX 150 (TDP 25 Watt) with 2GB GDDR5. It has got 8GB LPDDR3 2133MHz memory with 512GB PCIe SSD for storage.
Thanks to the SSD, the notebook came to life in a few seconds. It comes with two USB TYPE- C Port. The left-hand side port is supporting data transfer and charging and a right-hand side port for supporting data transfer and DisplayPort.
It has the one-touch power button and doubles as a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello login. It has 3.5mm jack input which also functions for mic input. It comes with multi-touch screen display but cannot be used as in tablet mode as it turns only to 178 degrees. The Huawei MateBook 13 comes with backlight display buttons, so even in low light or darkness, you can continue your work. It has Lithium polymer battery which can play 9.6 hours of video play in FHD.
Huawei MateBook 13 comes with 65W charger and around 90 minutes the notebook was fully charged from 10% battery.
I also received the MateDock 2 along the notebook for review which comes as optional accessories. The MateDock 2 has 1 – USB-C, 1- USB-A 3.0, 1- VGA and 1- HDMI port. This would very handy for people on the move or need to connect for presentation or transfer of data.
You can also use Bluetooth 5 for transfer or connecting to other Bluetooth devices. Another interesting transfer option for images and videos is the OneHop. It is an NFC feature whereas one tap on the laptop from NFC smartphone you can easily transfer around 500 images in 1 minute and 1GB video in 35 secs.
Please note: This OneHop feature is only supported on select NFC-enabled Huawei smartphones running EMUI 9.0 or later, or Honor smartphones running EMUI 9.0 (or Magic UI 2.0) or later. Transfer of Images of roughly 3MB in size each. And the data is tested between HUAWEI Mate 20 pro and HUAWEI MateBook 13.
The Huawei MateBook 13 comes with Dolby Atmos® which can be experienced with headphones and it has dual speakers which have reasonably good sound compared to the compact size.
Actually, I presumed the notebook was fanless design looking at the sleek thin design but it has two dual fans which Huawei calls them Shark Fin 2.0 design helps to keep the notebook cooler and functions quietly.
My Review
The review unit sent by Huawei is the Grey colour unit. On opening the box, my first impression was the simplicities design with only Huawei Logo on the back cover on the display.
Thanks to the 512GB SSD, the notebook came to life in a few seconds. It already came preloaded with Windows 10 and some programs like HUAWEI PC Manager, Microsoft Translator, Monitor Manager, Factory Reset and Eye Comfort Mode.
With 13 inch size and weighing only 1.3kg, it is easy to carry in bag pack or side sling bag. It has got around 8-9hrs usage with Full charged battery but may vary depending on the usage like heavy graphics game or designing may reduce the battery to 5-6 hours on single full charge.
As part of my review, I decided to take the help of my friend Revon Pereira (Graphic Artist) to use the Huawei MateBook 13 for a whole day for designing. He used the software like Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Draw (Demo versions). 512 SSD made a difference from the bootup time to the installation of software files and running of the software.
My friend was thrilled by the performance and compact size of the Huawei MateBook 13. He used his Bluetooth mouse with the notebook and he had to charge the notebook only twice in the whole day. Also with multi-touch screen also helped with movement across the design and corrections. Asking about his opinion, he wanted to keep the MateBook 13 but of course, that can’t happen as the product had come to me for review.
Huawei MateBook 13 has a large trackpad below the keyboard and it uses Windows Precision drivers for both single finger tracking and multi-finger gestures.
Via using Steam I loaded 3D Second World War game on the notebook and this could be possible as the Huawei MateBook 13 which I got for review has got NVIDIA® GeForce® MX 150 (TDP 25 Watt) with 2GB GDDR5 and 8GB LPDDR3 2133MHz RAM.
The MateBook 13 performed without any gitch or buffering and I could play the game for continuous 3hours of non-stop play. But the MateBook base became quite hot and I could not keep it on my lap to continue my play and had to use the table to avoid the heat burn but with two dual fans which Huawei calls them Shark Fin 2.0 design helps to keep the notebook going and functioning quietly.
On the benchmark test PC Mark 10, the Huawei MateBook 13 overall scored with the result of 3460 and with affordable price, it is a good product for consumers on the go.
The only thing which did not appeal to me was the lack of ports on the Huawei MateBook 13. It has only two USB Type C inputs and one is for charging and data transfer and the other is for data transfer, display port and connecting with Adaptor. The PR team provided me with the MateDock 2 which actually need to be bought as an optional accessory.
The MateDock 2 would be required to be purchased along with the notebook if you are looking to connect with HDMI, VGA ports or using USB Type A. MateDock 2 would be quite helpful for the consumers who would be using a wired mouse or need to connect with other devices with VGA or HDMI ports.
Also if the screen could have turned 360 degrees into tablet format then with the multi-touch screen could have been used as a tablet and even helped in designing or editing.
The latest OneHop or Huawei share is an interesting way to share or transfer photos and videos from your smartphone to the Huawei MateBook 13. Now all the new Huawei Flagship smartphones have these features. But this transfer of files and images only works with Huawei products so far maybe in future, we hope this transfer service works with other brands of smartphones or devices too.
Some of the good things in the Huawei MateBook 13, It has 3.5mm Headphone jack which can also double as a mic. The Huawei MateBook 13 comes with Dolby Atmos® which you can actually experience it with right pair of Headphones.
It has got a backlit keyboard, so even in the low light condition or in the dark, you can continue with your work.
Who is should be buying Huawei MateBook 13?
Huawei MateBook 13 would perfect product for the people who are always on the move and require light, a compact notebook with good battery life. Businessman, college students, Engineers, architects, financial wizards, designers, editors, photographers, videographers, music makers and others. With a separate graphics card built in the MateBook 13, it can work wonders for many types of users.
Price and where can you buy?
Huawei MateBook 13 has 3 variates of notebooks
- Huawei MateBook 13 with 8+256 GB/i5/Integrated Graphics Card/non-touchscreen priced AED2999
- Huawei MateBook 13 with 8+512 GB/i7/Integrated Graphics Card/non-touchscreen priced AED 3999
- Huawei MateBook 13 with 8+512 GB/i7/2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 Graphics Card with priced AED 4499
- Huawei MateDock 2.0 Adaptor optional accessories priced AED199
Huawei MateBook 13 is available is most of the retail outlets and E-commerce site and you can also buy it from Huawei online shop
Please Note: The price mentioned above may vary as per the offer from the brand and retailers
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