Huawei MateBook 13 review: A genuine MacBook Air rival that runs Windows

In June 2022, Huawei'south MateBook — a tablet PC with a floppy keyboard — convinced me that the company had a few great ideas for Windows ten devices. Since then, the Chinese house released the footing-breaking MateBook X and the pop MateBook Ten Pro.

In 2022, the MateBook thirteen fits neatly in between the "X" and the "X Pro" and in many ways, it brings the best of both for a few hundred dollars less than an Apple MacBook Air. Of course, like any laptop, there are a few things that go along it from existence perfect, just overall, Huawei continues its winning streak of killer traditional Ultrabooks with the new MateBook 13.

Move over MacBook Air

Huawei MateBook 13

From $999

Bottom line: Huawei's MateBook 13 finds a sweet spot between its ultra-low-cal MateBook X and bigger MateBook X Pro, delivering outstanding functioning and solid value.

Pros:

• Excellent 3:ii "2K" brandish.
• Exceptional operation.
• Better value than MacBook Air.
• Stylish merely muted.
• Optional GPU.

Cons:

• No Thunderbolt 3.
• No USB Blazon-A port.
• Huawei proper name is controversial.
• Mediocre battery life.

Huawei MateBook 13: What you need to know

The MateBook 13 is a mid- to upper-tier Ultrabook with a touchscreen. Pricing begins at $999 for the Core i5 version without a discrete graphics menu and jumps to $1,299 for the Core i7 model with a 25W NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics solution.

Compared to the MateBook Ten, the chassis is nearly identical, only the MateBook 13 is about a half pound heavier and significantly thicker. The MateBook thirteen also gets a touchscreen, merely the Dolby-tuned speakers are on the bottom due to the added fans, which profoundly improves system performance over the MateBook 10.

The MateBook X Pro costs around $200 more the MateBook 13. That extra money gets you a slightly larger display, pop-up web camera, top-firing speakers, a USB Type-A port, and Thunderbolt three.

While in that location is no Type-A port, Huawei includes its MateDock2 in the box (~$50 value), which adds USB-A, USB-C, HDMI and VGA ports to the MateBook 13.

Category	Spec
Display	thirteen-inch 2160 10 1440, 200 PPI, touch-enabled
Attribute ratio	3:ii
CPU	8th Gen Intel Core i5 8265U 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8565U
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 620 NVIDIA MX 150 with 2GB GDDR5
Storage	256GB NVMe PCIe SSD 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD
Retention	8GB LPDDR3 2133MHz
Windows Hello	Yep (fingerprint)
Ports	3.v mm jack, two USB-C
Camera	Front photographic camera: 1MP
Sound	Dolby Atmos (No support for audio mixing feature)
Bombardment	41.7 Wh MateBook Charger 65W (included)
Accessories	HUAWEI MateDock 2 (included)
Size	viii.31 in × 11.26 in × 0.59 in
Weight	Approx. 2.84 lbs (i.27 kg)
Colors	Mystic Silver or Space Grayness

Finally, compared to the virtually contempo Apple MacBook Air, the MateBook 13 brings a touch screen and a significantly more powerful U-series processor (versus the Y-series Apple is using) forth with an option for detached NVIDIA graphics with the GeForce MX150, just it lacks Thunderbolt 3.

Huawei MateBook thirteen display and build quality

The MateBook thirteen borrows heavily from Huawei'due south existing laptop designs, which is expert and bad. The all-metal chassis has little flex to it, doesn't scratch easy, and is better-than-average in resisting fingerprints.

At 2.8 lbs (one.27 kg), the MateBook 13 is not heavy, merely it'south not the lightest laptop either. Office of that weight is the decent 42 WHr battery and that metal body, which make the MateBook xiii experience solid and dense.

The bad side is more of a subjective observation; Huawei's design is generic at best, and it borrows heavily from Apple tree at worst. In a earth where HP, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI are at present carving out unique designs, Huawei's comes across as functional merely a tad boring.

Typically, a 13-inch display would be deadline besides small for a laptop, merely Huawei once more uses a three:2 aspect ratio versus the typical 16:nine used by everyone else except for Microsoft Surface PCs. That aspect makes the screen taller on the MateBook xiii and gives information technology plenty of space for work.

Huawei claims a 100 percent sRGB color accuracy rating and our tests confirm that along with 78 pct Adobe RGB. Screen brightness is decent at effectually 300 nits, only Huawei still has a hyper-aggressive automobile-brightness characteristic, which makes things dimmer than most people will similar. The uptick is improve battery life, merely about users will likely want to untick the auto-suit screen brightness feature in Windows settings. It has a total touchscreen, though inking and pen back up do not appear to be present.

Huawei also continues to encompass thin bezels, but this design is merely a copy of the MateBook 10'due south from mid-2017 and is less impressive today. But because the top display bezel is not likewise sparse, engineers were able to keep the decent 1MP web photographic camera on summit of the screen versus the weird pop-up camera that the MateBook 10 Pro invokes.

Huawei MateBook 13 typing and trackpad

Huawei makes good keyboards and decent trackpads, and that carries over to the MateBook 13. Key travel is modest, merely satisfactory with a two-stage backlight. The keys easily pick up grease and then they volition need an occasional wipe. The edge-to-edge keyboard layout is comfortable to apply, and this laptop is overall better-than-average for heavy typing.

Compared to the MateBook X, Huawei has enlarged the trackpad on the MateBook thirteen. The trackpad is one of the largest you'll find in a PC of this class merely bested by Apple's. Clicking is soft and responsive with polish gesture back up thanks to the Microsoft Precision drivers.

The MateBook xiii has a fingerprint reader built into the power push button.

I accept some concerns well-nigh the MateBook 13's trackpad for reliability. A popular complaint about the MateBook X Pro is a loose or rattling trackpad. While I have not had this problem on any of my Huawei devices, enough people take complained about it to arrive worth your attention if y'all're planning to become one.

Huawei MateBook 13 audio takes a hit

Huawei does some of the best sound in laptops, specially at this toll range. Both the MateBook X and MateBook 10 Pro leverage top-firing speakers combined with Dolby-tuned Atmos speakers and software, delivering outstanding audio.

The MateBook thirteen has two excellent speakers that are make clean, relatively rich, and quite loud. The problem is they are down-firing. When the MateBook 13 is placed on a table, the sound is infrequent, but using the laptop on your thighs will easily block the speakers, resulting in a deadened soundscape.

The reason why the teeny MateBook X could have top firing speakers behind the keyboard is considering that system is fanless. Without fans in that surface area, Huawei'due south engineers put in the speaker system. The MateBook 13 has fans, which is skillful because this auto is much more than powerful and won't thermal-throttle (plus that GPU). Just as a consequence, the audio takes a striking.

For those who really want great sound all the fourth dimension the larger (and slightly more expensive) MateBook 10 Pro is a better option.

Huawei MateBook 13 operation

The MateBook xiii is easily one of the most powerful 13-inch laptops around, with just the Surface Volume 2 beating information technology for graphics. That's perhaps an unfair comparison, too, equally the Surface Book ii is a dissimilar course of laptop that'due south larger, more than expensive, and it's a two-in-1.

Huawei uses the latest Intel 8th Generation "Whiskey Lake" processors, which provide a slight clock boost over the previous Kaby Lake 8th Gen processors. The results are obvious, with the quad-core Cadre i7-8565U chirapsia everything from Surface Volume 2, to the XPS 13 (9370), Surface Laptop, and Core i7 Surface Pro half dozen. The numbers are specially impressive for multi-core, which hitting 17,062 on Geekbench 4.0.

CPU GPU SSD

CPU

Geekbench 4.0 benchmarks (higher is meliorate)

Device	CPU	Unmarried core	Multi core
Huawei MateBook 13	i7-8565U	5,336	17,062
Huawei MateBook X Pro	i7-8550U	4,706	14,342
Surface Book 2 13	i7-8650U	four,862	14,694
Surface Laptop 2	i5-8250U	4,203	13,233
Surface Laptop	i7-7660U	4,714	9,535
Surface Pro 6	i7-8650U	5,048	13,869
Surface Pro v	i7-7660U	4,513	nine,346
Dell XPS 13	i7-8550U	iv,681	14,816

GPU

Geekbench 4.0 CUDA (higher is ameliorate)

Device	GPU	Compute score
Huawei MateBook 13	MX150	48,430
Huawei MateBook X Pro	MX150	41,730
Samsung Notebook 9 xv	MX150	48,536

SSD

CrystalDiskMark (higher is better)

Device	Read	Write
Huawei MateBook 13	3,436 MB/s	two,553 MB/s
Samsung Notebook ix 15	2,952 MB/s	i,948 MB/due south
Surface Laptop 2	ane,509 MB/southward	811 MB/s
Surface Laptop	486 MB/s	244 MB/due south
Surface Pro half-dozen	1,632 MB/s	814 MB/s

The NVIDIA GeForce MX150 is a fine substitute for Intel Iris Plus graphics, which are non available with Intel's eighth Gen platform. While a far cry from the GeForce GTX 1050 — 76,948 on Geekbench versus 48,430 from the MX150 — Huawei at least used the more powerful 25W version of the chip, giving information technology a little extra dial. The MX150 has a graphics boost that will let you practise some light gaming just is a stretch for hardcore adventures or intense video editing.

Oestrus and fan noise were well within normal ranges. The fans are audible, merely Huawei managed the thermal well and the laptop, despite beingness metal, never became uncomfortable.

Finally, for storage, Huawei uses a premium Western Digital solid-land drive (SSD) with exceptional performance, akin to what Samsung delivers. Sequential read speed was iii,500 MB/south with writes a respectable two,500 MB/s, making this ane of the fastest storage solutions in a laptop without doing an upgrade.

MateBook 13 is easy to recommend (with a caveat)

Huawei has created still some other highly-desirable laptop that packs some serious performance.

The MateBook thirteen is chock total of premium hardware, including that splendid i7 processor, Western Digital SSD, Intel Ac-9560 Wi-Fi bill of fare, outstanding touch display, and a very skilful typing experience.

Bombardment life for real-world usage is betwixt 7 and 8 hours, which is not crazy loftier only is right in that sweetness spot for almost users. Battery life, though, is rewarded with first-class organization performance from the quad-core processor, and that NVIDIA GPU, which gives an extra heave for calorie-free photograph or video editing.

There aren't many downsides to the MateBook 13. Audio is only OK when the laptop is in your lap, due to speaker placement, simply information technology is otherwise fantabulous when on a desk.

The lack of Thunderbolt 3 is a letdown, but it'southward worth pointing out 2 things. Huawei sells Thunderbolt 3 with the higher-end MateBook X Pro laptop, acting as a differentiator and partially justifying that actress $200. Second, this is likely the last generation of laptops where Thunderbolt 3 is optional, equally Intel is building the technology into the chipset directly with no licensing costs starting with the tenth generation Intel Core processors, which are due at the end of 2022.

While the overall look of the MateBook thirteen is mediocre, the build quality makes it feel more substantial, specially for the reasonable $1,299 asking toll. I'd nevertheless like to run into Huawei innovate more effectually the look of its laptops, only at the very least, futurity Apple-converts have something familiar when shopping for Windows PCs.

The other caveat is Huawei's reputation — or rather the declared transgressions, according to the United states of america government. There accept never been any nefarious apps or software found on Huawei's laptops (this one ships only with its PC Manager software for driver updates), nor has anyone institute anything suspicious with its hardware (which are all standard PC parts). Nonetheless, there are still concerns for those worried virtually privacy, which is a bit ironic in the earth of Facebook and Google. Personally, information technology's a not-result for me, since I don't work in regime or with sensitive data.

Overall, the MateBook xiii is an impressive traditional Ultrabook that delivers an aesthetic like combining the Surface Laptop with a MacBook Air, but information technology comes at a much lower price. For those who desire a not-convertible laptop, it would exist difficult to find something that checks all these boxes and does information technology for beneath $1,300 making this piece of cake to recommend.

The MateBook 13 is at present available from Amazon and Newegg starting at $999 and at Microsoft online and in-store within the side by side few weeks.

Genuine MacBook Air rival

Huawei MateBook 13

One of the best MacBook Air rivals comes from Huawei and runs Windows x with a gorgeous 13-inch 3:ii touch display.

Despite Huawei's recent woes in the U.South., its latest MateBook 13 laptop is a solid eye-of-the-road Ultrabook that delivers fantabulous functioning and outstanding value.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/huawei-matebook-13-review

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