Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Introduction

Huawei is a relatively new name within the laptop market. The company released its first laptop (the MateBook X) back in 2017 to much acclaim from critics and users alike. Four years later and Huawei has released its later MateBook iteration – the MateBook X Pro 2021. While this latest edition retains most of the classic MateBook look, behind the scenes there’s been a couple of changes. So how does the MateBook X Pro 2021 perform?

Specification Run-down

While the overall design of the MateBook X Pro 2021 is on par with previous releases, Huawei has introduced a few upgrades to this year’s model. The most noticeable is the inclusion of Intel’s 11th-generation Tiger Lake Core i5 and i7 processors. Backing this up is a 13.9″ touchscreen, 1TB SSD, and 16GB of RAM. Users of previous years models will notice that the Matebook X Pro 2021 still sports the same sleek, stylish, and lightweight look – which after four years does look a tad tired. But, looks don’t necessarily make the machine, with it ultimately being what’s underneath that counts.

When it comes to the overall build, Huawei has built a pretty solid design for the laptop. The laptops casing is made from an aluminium design that encompasses the lightweight high-end feel to the unit. Considering that Huawei is currently selling the MateBook X Pro 2021 for £1399.99 it certainly needs to look at the price – and it does.

Performance-wise this laptop is perfect for everyday use – and light gaming. Its 1TB solid-state hardrive boasts some impressive read and write speeds of 3391MB/s (read) and 3014MB/s (write).

“A Connection In Every Port”

The laptop doesn’t feature too many ports along its outer edge. What we do get is two USB-C connections (one for the unit’s charger) as well as a single USB-A port. Included within the box is a handy hub that includes, HDMI, another USB-A, and a USB-C connection. This gives you the option to at least connect the laptop to various monitors, or connect another USB-A device to it.

Screen Functionality

The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 sports a 13.9-inch 3:2 aspect screen. The screen is okay for gaming but naturally, you’d be looking at something that could display at 16:9. However, if you’re using this laptop within a work environment then it’s perfect. The LCD also utilises a 3000 x 2000 pixel resolution, this is quite a lot higher than your typical 1080p display but doesn’t quite reach the 4K mark. The screen also holds pretty well outside too. The brightness goes up high enough (488 nits) to contend with Sun, whilst not demanding too much from the laptop’s battery.

Battery

Huawei claims that the Matebook X Pro 2021 can deliver up to 10-hours of battery-powered life. Naturally, this is going to fluctuate based on usage but in a typical office environment, you’ll easily get a day’s worth of use out of a single charge. I used the laptop during one of my admin days and managed to get a solid 8.5 hours with about 35% of the battery remaining. If you do need to carry the charger with you, Huawei has adopted an almost phone charger design. The 65W supply is light and compact enough to fit into any work bag, and the USB-C connector is also detachable.

Silent Running

The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is a pretty quiet laptop. Even during stressful use, it gives off a very slight purr, which is practically unnoticeable within a normal ambient sounding room. Coming away from this is that the laptop doesn’t give off too much heat either. It very much seems that Huawei has developed this laptop for ultimate style and comfort, whilst sacrificing some of the processor’s power. Yet do you need an i7 working overtime if unnecessary?

Mouse & Keyboard

The keyboard sits within a shallow base. This gives for some responsive keystrokes which makes for a pretty quick type rate. It’s not the most robust keyboard and as such it’s not going to withstand too much heavy hand-ness. There’s also a built-in webcam that pops up from the keyboard at the press of a button. The camera displays at 720p which offers some clarity, but it’s far from perfect. The camera isn’t in the best position either and offers some unflattering viewing angles.

The touchpad features haptic feedback which isn’t a particularly new technology but is something you’d expect to find within a high-end product. You can also customise the level of feedback too which affects the sensitivity of the touchpad.

Final Thoughts

The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is a fairly competent laptop. It sits on the more high-end of the laptop spectrum and it certainly lives up to its asking price. The MateBook X Pro is a whisper-quiet laptop that offers some ultra-fast loading times and incredible battery life. While the screen isn’t the best out there for gaming, it’s fully functional and offers a strong degree of clarity. Get a spreadsheet up on this, and you’re seriously looking at that spreadsheet!

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