The Huawei MateBook X falls between flagship MateBook X Pro and the MateBook 13. With a thickness of 13.6 mm and a weight of just 1kg, this is the thinnest and lightest laptop we’ve reviewed to date and it is stunning to look at.
The MateBook X weighs just 1kg. It is smaller than an A4 sheet and comes with a borderless 3K Infinite FullView Display with touch support, 10th generation Intel Core i5-10210U processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD
Specifications
| CPU | 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10210U Processor 1.8 GHz 4 cores, Turbo up to 4.9 GHz |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz |
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Storage | 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Display | 13” 3000 x 2000, 278 PPI 10-point multi-touch sensitive screen |
| Ports | USB-C x 2 (support data, charging and DisplayPort) 3.5 mm headset and microphone 2-in-1 jack x 1 |
| Connectivity | IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 2 x 2 MIMO WPA / WPA2 / WPA3 Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Camera | 720P HD |
| Audio | Speaker x 4 (2 W x 2.1 W x 2) |
| Battery | Li-Polymer 42Wh Battery 65W USB-C Power Adapter |
| Dimensions | 284.4mm x 206.7mm x 13.6mm (WxDxH) Weight: 1.00 kg |
Packaging
The packaging is very compact and comes in a rectangular Huawei branded box. The packaging includes the Huawei MateBook X, Huawei 65 W USB-C power adapter, USB-C charger cable and the quick start guide. There is also a USB-C dock included.
Design, Build Quality & Ports
The Matebook X comes in two colors (Silver Frost and Forest Green) and has a premium matte finish with a glossy Huawei logo. The unibody chassis is made of metal and has a solid build quality, it does not flex or bend when applying force. There are no visible cooling vents.
With dimensions of 284.4mm x 206.7mm x 13.6mm and an approx. weight of 1 kg, the MateBook X is extremely thin and easy to carry around.
The connections are very limited due to the size of the MateBook. One left is a USB-C port, which is DisplayPort compatible and can also be used for charging, and a 3.5 mm port for headphone and mic combo.
On the right is a single USB-C port. Unfortunately, both USB Type-C ports do not support Thunderbolt 3. There is also no SD card reader slot.
For additional connectivity, Huawei has also included a USB-C dock with the packaging. This seems to be the MateDock 2, and has ports for HDMI, VGA and USB-A along with a USB-C pass-through for charging or connecting to a display.
For wireless connectivity, the MateBook has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Display
The MateBook features an unusual 3K (3000×2000) LTPS display with 10-point multi-touch support. The bezels are extremely thin the display has a 90% screen-to-body ratio.
The display delivers colors as close to 100% sRGB standard, 1500:1 contrast ratio and a maximum brightness of 450 nits which is good enough to work both indoors and outdoors.
While the 3:2 aspect ratio is great for web-browsing, editing and other productivity tasks, it can get uncomfortable when watching movies.
The webcam is hidden inside a key on the keyboard and pops up when in use. There is a dedicated switch between the F6 and F7 keys to activate the webcam. The video quality is good enough for video calls but can sometimes get annoying because of the strange angle.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The MateBook X has a flat, full-size, backlit keyboard without the numeric keypad and stretches from edge to edge. While the typing experience is pleasant, it can take some time getting used to it because of the short key travel of 1.3mm. It’s easy to miss while typing.
The trackpad is comfortable to use and is large in size. It has a glass surface which help with very smooth movements. It easily recognises inputs and multi-finger gestures with support for haptic feedback.
On the top right is the power switch which doubles up as a fingerprint reader for logging in. It’s able to recognize fingerprints quickly and makes it convenient to unlock the laptop.
Performance
In terms of performance, our review model is equipped with a 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10210U Processor with 4 core and 8 threads, integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics, 16 GB LPDDR3 2133 MHz RAM and 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
With this configuration, the performance is suitable for general day-to-day tasks such as editing docs, spreadsheets, web browsing, photo editing, watching videos and music.
CPU, GPU & RAM
The MateBook X is equipped with a power-efficient 10th-gen Intel Core i5-10210U processor with 4 Cores / 8 threads, 6MB Cache, 4.2 GHz Max Boost and is built with 14nm fabrication processing technology.
In Cinebench R20 tests, the MateBook X scored 305 in single core benchmark and 810 in multi-core benchmark. In PCMark 10 benchmark, it recorded a score of 3,878.
| BENCHMARK | SCORE |
|---|---|
| Cinebench R20 single core | 305 |
| Cinebench R20 multi core | 810 |
| PCMark 10 Benchmark | 3,425 |
| 3DMark Night Raid | 4,441 |
The MateBook X does not come with a dedicated GPU but has an integrated Intel UHD 620 which is sufficient for the use case.
In terms of RAM, there is 16 GB LPDDR4 2133 Mhz RAM on board with no upgrade options.
Storage
Our review unit came with a 512TB NVMe SSD with no space for additional drives. However, depending on the region, there may be different storage capactities.
The SSD has read speeds of up to 3,553MB per second and write of up to 2,983MB/s.
Gaming
The UHD Graphics 620 is not meant for gaming but it can play some older titles at 30fps in 720p resolution.
Software
The MateBook X supports Huawei Share which makes file sharing, voice and video calling more seamless between Huawei notebooks and smartphones running EMUI 10. This allows you to cast your Huawei smartphone screen to your notebook’s display and can be controlled directly.
There is also a preinstalled PC Manager software for managing drivers and system monitoring.
Temperature & Noise
The MateBook X has no fans built in and relies on passive cooling with heat pipes. It ran absolutely quiet during our benchmarks and tests, but it can heat up during extended use and heavy load. However, during normal, day-to-day use, it remained cool.
Battery & Audio
The MateBook X is equipped with a 42 Whr battery. With ultraportable laptops you can’t really expect a long battery life. In practical use, based on the usage and screen brightness, the battery lasts between seven to nine hours which is great considering its battery capacity and ultra-thin chassis.
Audio is powered by quad speaker setup – 4x 2W speakers. Two are built into the keyboard and two are found on either side of the chassis. Audio quality is loud and clear with good detail for movies, music and calls.
Verdict
The Huawei MateBook X is an attractive ultrabook with a high-quality and refined metal unibody. It is extremely portable and can easily carried around which makes it a great companion for business travel.
Although it has a limited number of ports, we are happy that Huawei has included a USB dock with it.
In terms of hardware, the Matebook X is powerful enough for it’s intended use even though there are no upgrade options for the RAM and SSD – there is a more powerful Pro version with a better processor and dedicated GPU. We’d still love to see a version with the Ryzen 4000 APUs.
Some of the drawbacks are the webcam placement, the flat keyboard and some of the software features being limited to Huawei devices. Then comes the entry-level price of AED 5,499.
Apart from these, the MateBook X is a premium ultrabook designed to be a Windows competitor to the Apple Macbook Air, and has the right mix of design, features and performance.
