Huawei is making headlines once again with two significant developments that promise to reshape its future trajectory. From securing a cross-licensing agreement with Ericsson to the exciting resurrection of Kirin chips, Huawei is demonstrating its commitment to collaboration and innovation.
Cross-Licensing Agreement with Ericsson
Huawei partners up with Ericcson via cross-licensing. Image source: GSMArena
Huawei, a global technology giant, recently inked a cross-licensing agreement with Ericsson, a leading telecommunications equipment provider. This move is poised to have far-reaching implications in the realm of essential telecommunication standards. But what exactly does this agreement entail?
Simply put, a cross-licensing agreement allows both Huawei and Ericsson to access each other’s patents and technologies, fostering a spirit of cooperation rather than competition. The agreement covers the sharing of technologies between the two giants that covers standards such as 3GPP, ITU, IEEE, and IETF for 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular technologies.
One of the primary benefits of this agreement is the potential to reduce patent-related disputes and legal battles, which have plagued the tech industry in recent years. By sharing their intellectual property, Huawei and Ericsson aim to accelerate the pace of innovation and ensure that consumers worldwide benefit from cutting-edge technologies without unnecessary hindrances.
The Resurrection of Kirin Chips
In another intriguing twist, Huawei is reportedly reviving its Kirin chipset series. The Kirin chips were highly regarded for their impressive performance and power efficiency until they faced disruptions due to U.S. sanctions. Now, Huawei is making strides to reintroduce these chips into the market.
The resurrection of Kirin chips marks Huawei’s determination to regain its foothold in the smartphone industry. These chips are known for their exceptional AI capabilities, which contribute to improved device performance and energy efficiency. Huawei’s decision to revive Kirin reflects its commitment to providing consumers with top-tier, in-house developed hardware.
Huawei strategic moves to become an industry leader
In conclusion, Huawei’s recent moves demonstrate its strategic vision and commitment to advancing technology in collaboration with industry peers. The cross-licensing agreement with Ericsson paves the way for smoother cooperation in essential telecommunication standards. This fosters innovation between both companies while reducing potential patent disputes. Simultaneously, the revival of Kirin chips signifies Huawei’s determination to remain a significant player in the smartphone industry, promising exciting possibilities for tech enthusiasts and consumers alike.
Looking for earbuds with good value for money and quality? You’re just in luck! Huawei has announced its HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2 that is now up for pre-order at a special deal. From 1 to 8 September, you can pre-order the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2 for as low as RM149 (RRP: RM199) via Huawei official stores on Shopee and Lazada.
Just like its predecessor, the FreeBuds SE 2 retains premium features like lightweight build and smart functions. These buds boast a 40-hour battery life and IP54 dust-and-splash resistance, all in a small compact case. You also have the option of picking between Isle Blue and Ceramic White colours to match your style.
If you’re hungry for more sales, don’t forget to watch out for the 9.9 Mega Sales campaign from 1 to 9 September! All you’ll need to do is log on to Huawei’s official website for up to 52% discounts and complimentary gifts on selected products.
Want more savings? Don’t forget to also check out our article about their latest Merdeka offers!
It’s almost time to celebrate Merdeka, and Huawei is joining in on the celebration this year with an array of exciting offers on their smartphones!
From now until 30 September, 2023, you can enjoy savings on select Huawei smartphones at the HUAWEI Merdeka Carnival. Whether you’re in the market for flagships like the P60 Pro or the affordable Nova 11 Pro, Huawei’s got you covered with an assortment of discounts.
You can head over to your nearest Huawei Experience Store to enjoy these special deals before it ends. Here’s a glimpse of the promotions that await you:
HUAWEI Mate50 Pro Kunlun Edition
Special Promotion: RM1,000 off
Trade In Program: RM500
HUAWEI Mate50 Pro bundle with HUAWEI MatePad 10.4
Special Promotion: RM1,399 off
HUAWEI P60 Pro
Special Promotion: RM500 off
Trade In Program: RM500 instant rebate
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your very own Huawei devices at a special discounted rate! For more information or to stay updated on the latest promotions, you can visit HuaweiI’s Official Facebook or Instagram.
Huawei’s MatePad SE is an affordable, everyday use table that has surprising bang-for-buck, even a year on after its release. With marketing focused on its 10.4-inch display and a “family theatre in your palm”, we found more reasons for it to be…your Mate of choice!
Design
Sporting a matte black finish with clean aesthetics, the Huawei MatePad SE 10.4 has a metal chassis surrounded with a brushed metal coating. While it is a magnet for fingerprints, the device feels really comfortable to hold in hand, even for long periods. This is helped by the ergonomic design with rounded edges. For a 10-inch tablet, the build is rather compact, with minimal bezels surrounding its 83% screen-to-body ratio display. Even with its light weight of 450g, the build quality of this tablet feels surprisingly good and robust.
Performance
The MatePad SE 10.4 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset with an Adreno 610 GPU. Surprising for Huawei to forgo their Kirin chipset but the inclusion of Snapdragon is a smart addition to the MatePad line. While being of an older generation, the Snapdragon 680 is a fairly powerful chipset with an emphasis on energy efficiency thanks to its 6nm process. This coupled with a 5100 mAh battery results in impressive battery life for a tablet of its price bracket. With regular day-to-day use of web surfing, watching videos and the occasional navigation, I found myself only needing to charge the tablet every two to three days.
Great performance from an older but power efficient Snapdragon 680
The powerful processor is also supplemented by 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. With this combination, general use of the tablet is very snappy and switching between apps is a breeze. The performance during multitasking is pretty decent too with some interesting productivity features. Using Huawei’s Multi-Window mode, I regularly opened several tabs in the Browser and the Email app in split screen while having the Notepad app float as a bubble to intermittently take notes. And never once did I experience an app crash, lag or stutter. In fact, large swathes of this review were written on the MatePad SE 10.4 itself!
Good multitasking and productivity with Multi-Window mode
Gaming
Gaming performance has its limitations, however. The display size is comfortable enough to access the on-screen controls while also being large enough for visual clarity. Mobile Legends handled well at medium settings with no stuttering or lag. I did notice some sluggishness and dropped frames in PUBG Mobile at Balanced settings, but it was intermittent enough to not be a bother. In both cases, after hours of gaming, there was no drop in performance and there was no significant overheating either, so that is a plus for gaming comfort and reliability. That being said, the battery life does drop rather quickly when gaming. So overall, the MatePad SE 10.4 is suitable for some light gaming.
Good but not great gaming performance
Display and Audio
Huawei’s postured the MatePad SE 10.4 as family-friendly entertainment tablet, with its centerpiece being its 10.4-inch IPS display. The display has an FHD+ resolution of 2000 x 1220 pixels, at 225 pixels per inch (ppi). It has passed both TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker Free certifications, making it easy on your eyes for long-term viewing. We spent hours on Netflix and YouTube (for display performance testing of course) and were impressed. The brightness and image fidelity were good, despite the non-flagship grade pixel density. Visibility was great in dark environments however, it suffers in direct sunlight or brightly lit environments. The color reproduction and contrast were not the greatest but did not put us off.
Furthermore, the audio quality on this device is a pleasant surprise. Thanks to its dual speaker system tuned with Histen 8.0 technology, the tablet emulates surround sound well enough for immersive viewing. The display also comes with specialized modes such as Eye Comfort to filter out blue light, eBook mode to replicate paper-like texture and my personal go-to, Dark Mode; making viewing on this a tablet very easy on the eye. Overall, the display performs really well for a tablet of this price range and brings a great viewing experience at home or indoors.
Camera
The camera is probably the weakest element of the Huawei MatePad SE 10.4. It sports a 5MP main rear shooter and a 2MP front shooter. Image quality is rather poor, with fuzzy edges and poor contrast being the biggest issues. When zoomed in, there is obvious increasing pixelation starting at 2.0x and becoming unbearable even at 5.0x for the main shooter. Images also suffer from overbrightness when taking snaps outdoors. Huawei seems to have prioritized economical options in this aspect and I can’t fault them for that, being one that doesn’t use tablets for photos anyway.
Image by main camera at 1.0xImage by main camera at 2.0xImage by main camera at 2.0x
Software
User Experience
The MatePad SE 10.4 ships with HarmonyOS 3 out of the box, which should feel familiar to long time Huawei users. As a first-time user of HarmonyOS, I truly appreciate the “clean” and minimalistic aesthetic of this OS.
Drop down control panelOS interface in Settings
All non-Google affiliated apps can be downloaded through Huawei’s own AppGallery. The tablet comes preinstalled with Petal Search as its default search engine service and Petal Maps, analogous to Google’s own proprietary services. The apps themselves work well in their own right, with Petal Search offering both Voice typing and Image search functionality. The interfaces are also very intuitive for those familiar with their Google counterparts. All-in-all, there is very little lost from the lack of Google apps, with perhaps the most significant being the lack of Google Assistant.
LightHouse app
For those put off by the lack of a Google Play Store, fear not as the LightHouse app will satisfy those needs. This app provides a gateway to access Google Play Store apps via Huawei’s AppGallery. To do so, you simply need to install two apps from the AppGallery first; LightHouse and LightHouse Ex. Once done, you will be able to download your favorite Google apps directly from the AppGallery. We tested out Google Maps, GMail and YouTube and all apps installed fairly easily. When trying them out, they worked as you would expect on any other Android-based device.
Google Maps installed through LightHouseYouTube installed through LightHouse
The Verdict: A daily Mate for you and your wallet
The Huawei MatePad SE 10.4 shines in terms of multitasking performance, battery life and build quality. With its attractive price tag, it will serve well as a daily use tablet for the light to heavy user, with focus on web surfing and entertainment. It is also great as a family tablet with kid-friendly features. The MatePad SE 10.4 currently retails starting at RM799 for the 6GB RAM+64GB with WiFi variant and RM999 for the 4GB RAM+128GB storage with WiFi variant. All purchases from the Huawei Malaysia site now will come with a Flip Cover as a free gift.
HUAWEI launched the P60 series of devices not too long ago this year. Of course, being HUAWEI’s biggest market outside of China, you would expect them to launch the P60 series sometime soon in Malaysia. They did just that.
They launched the P60 Pro last week alongside a few new shiny devices, including a rather interesting foldable smartphone that we thought looked rather slick. No matter though, the star of the show was supposed to be the HUAWEI P60 Pro, their latest photography flagship smartphone.
To recap, the HUAWEI P60 Pro was launched in China sometime in March 2023. Within the device is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ gen1 4G platform. No 5G technology here, no thanks to the trade ban. You get up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512G of on-board storage with the powerful System on a Chip (SoC).
It is not Android that powers the device either, as we all have come to expect it. Instead, you get an in-house developed EMUI 13.1. While the main architecture and design of EMUI 13.1 is based mostly on Android, HUAWEI’s P60 Pro will not be coming with Google Play Store on-board.
Source: HUAWEI
EMUI 13.1 is displayed in all its glory on a 6.67-inch LTPO OLED display that offers up to 120Hz in refresh rate. It is not a Full HD display; you get 1,220 by 2,700 pixels, not quite QHD either. Still, the display offers brilliant OLED vividness and saturation at P3 wide colour gamut.
Out the back is a powerful 48-Megapixel main shooter that can also capture 4K videos. There is also a 13-Megapixel ultra-wide shooter alongside a 48-Megapixel telephoto camera to support the main camera and offer users more variety in their photos. Out the front is a 13-Megapixel selfie camera that also offers 4K video recording capabilities.
Keeping the device running and charged up the entire day is a 4,815mAh internal battery that should last for more than a day even with constant usage. If that is not enough, you can charge the device at up to 88W with a compatible charger and cable combination. If you prefer to keep your device unplugged, the device can still be charged at up to 50W using Wireless HUAWEI SuperCharge technology.
The HUAWEi P60 Pro is now available for pre-orders at MYR 4,699 until 19th of May 2023 at select HUAWEI Experience Stores. You can select between Rococo Pearl and Black colour options. Device collection can be done the day after the pre-order period ends. Each pre-order entitles you to a selection of gift vouchers for various services and products. If you collect your device on the 20th of May 2023, you are also entitled to an MYR 200 Touch n Go voucher and a chance at winning a HUAWEI Vision S television worth MYR 3,499. You can learn more about the HUAWEI P60 Pro on their website.
Pre-orders will also get access to an enticing selection of vouchers from renowned brands including:
HUAWEI was, at some point, one of the most popular Android smartphone maker in the world. At that point as well, we would recommend one in a heartbeat. Why would we not? They offer some of the best value for your money, feature some of the most interesting innovation in smartphones, and they were great to daily drive. That is until the Trump administration in the United States (US) decided to paint some unpleasant light on HUAWEI and banned the Chinese giant from doing business with American entities. That means HUAWEI loses direct access to Google’s Android and Play Store.
It does not mean that they are out of the game though. They innovated once more for their own survival. They launched HarmonyOS for their smartphones and their tablet products. They still had Microsoft’s Windows to work with for their PC products, so there is that. But not having Google’s Play Store has crippled them plenty in their global appeal.
They just launched the HUAWEI P60 series, their smartphone photography flagship. The P series, since the P9, has always offered some of the best camera experience on any smartphone. They were also the first smartphone maker to rope in a camera maker, Leica at the time, to help develop the camera system. That opened the floodgates for plenty more collaborations for other manufacturers.
On top of a whole world of collaboration opportunities, HUAWEI’s collaboration with Leica breathes new life in smartphone photography. You get better photos than ever, better portraits, better image quality, and even more flexibility in terms of the photos and videos you capture. The P60 still embodies all of that in their DNA.
HUAWEI P60 Pro
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Their top-of-the-line P series for 2023 is the P60 Pro. For the first time ever, HUAWEI’s P series flagship features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 system on a chip (SoC). Due to trade restrictions, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is not 5G enabled, which means you are stuck to 4G LTE connectivity with the HUAWEI P60 Pro. While it is also a slightly older processor compared to what you get today with other modern flagships, it is still a powerful processor at its core.
Alongside up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the SoC drives HUAWEI’s HarmonyOS 3.1/EMUI 13.1 along on its 6.67-inch OLED display. The OLED panel offers 2,700 by 1,220 pixels, which is not exactly QHD, yet more than Full HD. It refreshes at up to 120Hz though, which is always a nice thing to have.
The highlight of the device, or rather, the thing that stands out the most on the device is its main camera at the back. It is a 48-Megapixel sensor that lies behind a wide-angle lens. It sits in between a 48-Megapixel telephoto camera and a 13-Megapixel Ultra-wide shooter. It is still the same RYYB sensor that HUAWEI claims to offer more natural and accurate colour reproduction and even more light than the regular RGB sensor. There is also a 13-Megapixel front-facing camera up front for decent selfies or video calls with MeeTime.
Within the IP68 rated construction is a large 4,815mAh battery to keep the HUAWEI P60 Pro running all day and probably even more. If you ever need to charge, the battery is capable of up to 88W in HUAWEI SuperCharge speeds, just so that you can get going again in an hour. If you prefer to wirelessly charge your smartphone, it still charges at up to 50W speeds.
HUAWEI P60
Moving down the scale, the regular HUAWEI P60 should be the more accessible option in the P60 series. That does not mean that they are compromised.
The HUAWEI P60 still comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen1. It offers less in terms of memory and storage though, at 8GB and 256GB respectively. That is still enough to keep the HarmonyOS 3.1/EMUI 13.1 smoothly though. You also get the same 6.67-inch LTPO OLED display offering the same 120Hz refresh rate and even the same resolution.
Out the back, you still get a 48-Megapixel main shooter with RYYB sensor behind a 24mm wide angle lens. Instead of a 48-Megapixel telephoto shooter, you get a 12-Megapixel telephoto camera alongside a 13-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. Up front, you also get a 13-Megapixel selfie camera.
You even get the same battery. The only difference between this one and the Pro variant is in its charging speeds. You get up to 66W in HUAWEI SuperCharge speeds, which is still plenty fast to keep your device charged before you leave. You still can wirelessly charge your P60 at 50W speeds.
HUAWEI P60 Art
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Then launched a very interesting ‘special edition’ P60 Art. It offers a slightly different design language too, some extra angles there and here. They are also offered in different special colour options – Azure Blue, and Seashore Gold.
Hardware wise, everything is similar to the HUAWEI P60 Pro. The difference can be found in the back. No, it is not a higher resolution main camera. It is still a 48-Megapixel RYYB main camera. What is different is tat you get a high-resolution 40-Megapixel ultra-wide camera over the 13-Megapixel you get on the Pro variant. You get to choose to get a larger storage for your device too, at up to 1TB. The battery is also larger at 5,100mAh with up to 88W in charging speeds.
Should You Pay Attention to the HUAWEI P60 Series?
This is a more complex question than it seems. On the one hand, we want to say that the HUAWEI P60 series could be an important smartphone for the industry as a whole. On the other, we still would not recommend it to anyone who are looking for a smartphone at this time because it still does not feature Google Play Store out of the box. We do not doubt that the HUAWEI P60 series smartphones will be brilliant smartphones on their own, even without Google Play Store, we just do not think that it is quite relevant in the world dominated by Google’s apps.
Alongside the HUAWEI Mate 50 series, this features an international spec Qualcomm SoC in the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. While the caveat is that you do not get 5G to go along with it, it marks an important stage in HUAWEI’s development journey. They have dialed back on HiSilicon, their own in-house silicon manufacturers. While the Kirin has lived on and been found on HUAWEI’s lower end devices, they have transitioned to Qualcomm for their higher profile devices.
It is an indication that HUAWEI still wants to keep its global smartphone appeal and wants to continue selling their smartphones in the larger global market. Either that, or they are dialing back on their silicon manufacturing and development, which would also reduce their expenses. It could also be a small indication that HUAWEI is finding back its footing into the international marketplace. While there is no guarantee that HUAWEI might adopt Google Play Store in the near future, the transition to Qualcomm’s chips is a good indication that there is a small chance that HUAWEI might still bounce back into the Google ecosystem and become one of the most appealing devices in the Android marketplace.
In that sense, HUAWEI’s upcoming P60 series flagship is something you might want to pay attention to. No, we are not asking you to buy one, far from that. While the device is a marginal improvement over the P50 series in terms of hardware, it could be an important turning point for HUAWEI moving forward. We would be looking forward to the day that HUAWEI earns its place back among the best of Android manufacturers. It is not only about having another option, it is because we thought their devices were genuinely great.
Price and Availability
The HUAWEI P60 series is said to be coming to Malaysia. There is no confirmed date on that currently though. The P60 and P60 Pro will be available in China at the end of March 2023 onward for CN¥ 4,488 (MYR 2,889*) onward and CN¥ 6,988 (MYR 4,498*) onward respectively. They will be available in Rococo Pearl, Violet, Black and Green colour options. The HUAWEI P60 Art will be available in China 7th of April 2023 onward for CN¥ 8,988 (MYR 5,786*) onward. You can choose between The Azure Blue and Seashore Gold colour options for the ‘Art’ variant. More information on the HUAWEI P60 series can be found on their global website.
*approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 10 = MYR 6.44 as of 27/03/2023 on xe.com
The mid-range smartphone market is a thriving market segment. There should be no surprises there, since smartphones priced between the MYR 1,500 to MYR 2,500 range are not just affordable today. Today, mid-range smartphones perform nearly just as good if not as good as most flagship smartphones out there. Sure, you get less powerful System on a Chip (SoC) most of the time. That is just about the most compromise you get from mid-rangers though.
While it looks as though you are paying less because you are getting more compromises, in some cases, a mid-range smartphone can have its advantages over flagships. For one, mid-range smartphones sometimes offer extended battery life that most flagships with powerful chips in the world cannot offer. They are also rather good looking most of the time, better looking that some flagships sometimes.
Enter the HUAWEI nova line-up. The HUAWEI nova line-up is the Chinese giant’s most successful mid-range smartphones that sits not too far off from the HUAWEI P series flagships. The nova series usually packs a more powerful camera and large enough battery to keep the device running for days at a time. That is what you also get in the latest HUAWEI nova device, the nova 9 SE.
HUAWEI nova 9 SE
Source: HUAWEI
First up, is the compromise on the HUAWEI nova 9 SE. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC. The SoC packs eight ARM architecture cores; four powerful Cortex-A73 cores clocking 2.4GHz and four efficiency Cortex-A53 clocking 1.8GHz.
Everything else after that compromise is a match to most flagships. It packs 8GB of RAM alongside the SoC. The combination should allow you to game smoothly while allowing smooth sailing multitasking all-around. With 128GB of storage, all your personal data can be stored away safely in one place.
Then there is the ultra-powerful camera. Instead of a measly 50-Megapixel, or even a 64-Megapixel shooter, HUAWEI decided on pushing a large 108-Megapixel sensor as its main shooter, more megapixels than any HUAWEI device ever had. The powerful camera is flanked by an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide camera, 2-Megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-Megapixel macro camera. Out front is a 16-Megapixel shooter with up to Full HD video recording capabilities.
Speaking of front, the Super Device capable devices offers EMUI 12 beauty on a Full HD+ 6.78-inch IPS panel. The panel also offers 90Hz in refresh rate for the smooth feel. For the snappy instant response feel is the panel offering 270Hz in touch sampling rate.
Keeping the device running all day and more is a large 4,000mAh built in battery. It is charged by USB Type-C when it runs out. At that, it charges at HUAWEI SuperCharge speeds (66W) to get it charged from empty to full in less than 40 minutes.
Price and Availability
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI nova 9 SE is now available for pre-order until the 18th of March 2022. You can get your pre-orders in via HUAWEI’s official web store, Experience Stores, and official online stores on Shopee and Lazada. As mentioned in the title, the device will set you back MYR 1,099. Every pre-order of the device will come with a HUAWEI FreeLace and a bunch of HMS (HUAWEI Mobile Services) packages worth up to MYR 560 while stocks last. For more information on the HUAWEI nova 9 SE you can visit HUAWEI’s website.
HUAWEI’s MateBook series, introduced back in 2019, marks a new age for HUAWEI. Not just HUAWEI though, it marks a new age for smartphone makers that are not Apple. To be fair to other manufacturers though, HUAWEI is not the first smartphone-first manufacturer that makes PCs. Its biggest competitor in the Android smartphone market used to make notebook PCs as well.
Still, while other smartphone manufacturers have either left the smartphone market or abandoning the PC market, HUAWEI gladly embraces the market, shifting focus from making productivity focused Android tablets and upping the game in terms of a complete ecosystem that works seamlessly together for work and play. It does seem like they are learning from the biggest ecosystem outside of the Android world, Apple. Let us be honest though, it is not such a bad thing, this total coverage of the ecosystem thing.
HUAWEI’s most premium notebook for the discerning users is the HUAWEI MateBook X Pro. There is a new one for 2022. On paper at least, it looks quite special.
HUAWEI MateBook X pro
Source: HUAWEI
It shares pretty much the same design from the old MateBook X Pro, or almost every other MateBook bred to existence. It is also the thinnest MateBook device in its range. At 15.5mm though, it is a little thicker than its predecessor. It gained some weight too at 1.38 kg over 1.33 kg of the 2021 variant. The minor heft gain for the MateBook X Pro 2022 comes with some extra power to make the MateBook X Pro the ultimate thin-and-light though.
You get a slightly bigger display now at 14.2-inch. With bigger display too, HUAWEI can squeeze a little bit more display out of it at 3,120 by 2,080 pixels to achieve an impressive 264 pixels per inch, higher than the predecessor. It covers 92.5% of the laptop body, which is even more than before too, leaving us to wonder how they made the bezels even thinner.
It is a stunning display too. The 3.1K LTPS panel produces up to 500nits of light at DisplayHDR 400 standards. It boasts 1,500:1 contrast ratio on its 1.07-billion colours on tap. It also offers an average △E<1 in P3 and sRGB standards. It is not a gaming display, but the 3:2 aspect ratio display still offers up to 90Hz in refresh rate. Did we mention that it is a touch sensitive display too? What we are saying is that you are really going to enjoy this display, no matter what you do.
Source: HUAWEISource: HUAWEISource: HUAWEI
The 2022 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro flagships come with class leading six-speaker set up with HUUAWEI SOUND. There are two tweeters for brilliant and detailed higher-end frequencies from the top firing speaker grilles. The other two are mashed to create a woofer sandwich which, in theory, should produce even more powerful low frequencies for deeper, more immersive bass notes, more boom. The speaker array should also benefit users when it comes to video calls alongside four far-field mics with AI Noise Cancellation algorithm.
Powered by an 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU, the MateBook X Pro might sound a little old fashioned, but the processor is still quite a powerful one. It also packs Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics to ensure that the display gets enough juice to run on full chat. Of course, we would like to see what the HUAWEI MateBook X Pro could do with 12th Generation Intel processors.
HUAWEI Super Device Ecrosystem
It is not a new device that HUAWEI released here. It is more of introduction of a complete ecosystem for HUAWEI’s many devices. A sort of unifying piece to puts all of HUAWEI’s devices together.
The HUAWEI Super Device centers itself on HUAWEI’s PC experience. It starts from HUAWEI’s MateBook devices with the latest version of the HUAWEI PC Manager. The new ecosystem does not just allow HUAWEI’s devices to share screens and quickly share files across the connected devices. It now allows each device to be individual device modules to form a larger collaboration tool. You can take up a video call from your smartphone for example and later transfer it to a HUAWEI MateBook when you get yourself in front of one.
Super Device also introduces HUAWEI’s Mobile App Engine for their PC devices. Mobile App Engine gives HUAWEI MateBook devices access to the HUAWEI AppGallery. That also means that the Windows 11 device can now work with mobile apps reserved for the smartphone ecosystem that HUAWEI has built over the years, allowing users to be even more productive than ever with their HUAWEI MateBook devices.
Availability
HUAWEI’s Super Device function will be shipped with the HUAWEI MateBook X Pro, MateStation X, MateBook E, MatePad Paper, and MatePad. All of the devices that are launched in their MWC 2022 announcement. While HUAWEI mentions that existing HUAWEI MateBook devices will be able to take advantage of the new Super Device feature, there are no mentions on whether existing smartphone and tablet devices will get the function. At this point, judging by HUAWEI’s update history, older devices might not be getting the new Super Device feature.
There are also no mentions on when the HUAWEI MateBook X Pro will hit the markets. It will be priced at EU 1,899 (MYR 8,923*) when it is available. There are also no colour options for the new flagship MateBook as well, just a plain Grey.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of EU€ 1 = MYR 4.70 as of 01/03/2021 on xe.com
HUAWEI, in the past, was making some of the best smartphones in the world alongside the likes of Samsung. While the idea of comparing a HUAWEI device today to a Samsung device seems a little on the funny side, you cannot deny that HUAWEI still makes some very interesting, very compelling smartphones that, on paper at least, could be one of the best smartphones in the world. The only undoing for HUAWEI is Western politics.
Funnily enough though, the political issues did not hinder HUAWEI’s PC development. They introduced notebook after notebook, and most of them comes with Intel processors, and Microsoft Windows operating system. Weird? Yes. Do we care? Not one bit. In fact, we are happy about that. HUAWEI genuinely makes great notebooks at relatively reasonable prices compared to more established players in the field.
Now there is this new thing. They introduced the HUAWEI MateBook 14S, a sort of thin-and-light notebook based on Intel’s 11th Generation processors. Amid the latest 12th Generation Intel though, is it still relevant? Is it worth the MYR 4,999 asking price? Should you even consider getting one if you do not have a HUAWEI device? We find out.
Design
It comes in two distinct colours, and the unit they passed to us is Green in colour. We have to say that we quite like the light shade of green that HUAWEI shipped this with. It stands out while remaining conspicuous and understated, if that makes sense.
The shell of the HUAWEI MateBook is clean. It only features the enlarged ‘HUAWEI’ wording on the cover. You find no sign of HUAWEI’s usual petal logo anywhere on the notebook. We assume that that the exclusion is to make the HUAWEI MateBook 14S cleaner and more professional.
The entire MateBook 14S is made from aluminium. The extensive use of metal means two things. It is very solid, but also quite hefty. It weighs 1.43kg, which is not exactly heavy, but it is still heavier than most thin-and-light notebooks out there. We appreciate the solid build and premium feel of metal, though.
Hardware
Our test unit is not the most expensive variant available in the market. It packs an Intel Core i5-11300H made for efficiency and long battery life. It also packs less RAM than the more premium Core i7 variant at 8GB. Everything else is the same, so it is not like you are shorthanded with the lesser model.
Specification
HUAWEI MateBook 14S (2021)
As Tested
Processor (clock)
Intel Core i5-11300H
GPU
Intel Iris Xe Integrated Graphics
Display(s)
14.2-inch LTPS (2520 x 1680 2.5K 3:2) 60Hz 400nits 100% sRGB 1500:1 contrast ratio 10-point multi-touch sensitive Narrow Bezel
Memory
512GB NVMe PCIe SSD 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
Networking and Connections (I/O)
2 x USB 3.1 Type-C (Charging, Data, DisplayPort) 1 x USB 3.2 Type-A 1 x 3.5mm AUX 1 x HDMI 2.0 WiFi 6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.1
Operating System
Windows 10 Home (64-bit) upgradeable to Windows 11
Battery
60Wh
Miscellaneous
1.43kg HUAWEI Share Fingerprint Power Button Windows Hello Facial Recognition Quad Speakers Quad Microphone All-metal body
Features
MYR 4,999 is still a lot of money to ask for a thin-and-light though. That is entry-level gaming laptop money. Then again, you should not compare it to gaming purpose devices.
Form With Function
Usually, a thin-and-light requires sacrifice in terms of port practicality. Because most thin-and-light comes with USB Type-C Ports exclusively, you need to obtain an extra dongle so that it’ll take your USB drives, your external hard drives and whatever peripherals you want to work with.
For the HUAWEI MateBook 14S though, you can leave your dongle at home if you want. HUAWEI managed to fit one full USB 3.0 Type-A port on the right side. On the left side are two USB Type-C ports, both can be used for charging, or data, or display. There is also a full-sized HDMI port at the same side. On top of that, a 3.5mm audio jack will always come in handy.
3:2 Aspect Ratio Goodness
Most notebooks today are moving to the 16:10 aspect ratio. That is because with a taller display you can see more, and that bodes well for productivity. A 3:2 aspect ratio is not that different from the 16:10 option but with more height than usual. We admit that it is a little weird at first, a near square display is strange.
The taller display allows us to fit more information on the display, which also means putting two windows beside one another does not make the display feel cramped. Reading articles off websites also requires a lot less scrolling than before, so web browsing feels a lot less cumbersome.
That is not to say that 3:2 aspect ratio should be the standard in mobile computing though. It works with web browsing, article reading, and even essay writing. It makes less sense for most gaming conditions and movies.
While certain games might benefit the taller aspect ratio, most tend to look a little odd. When you watch movies, you get large amounts of dead space at the top and bottom of the display. It makes the movies look small and takes a little bit away from the immersion.
The Correct Place for a Webcam
We want to say that early MateBooks were odd. Not because they looked like nothing you can find in the market. It was because the MateBooks featured super thin bezels that would not fit a webcam. They chose to relocate the webcam to be tucked within the keyboard itself with a pop-up mechanism which met hilarious results.
Thankfully, at the age where webcam is a big part of our lives, no thanks to the pandemic, HUAWEI’s MateBook 14S has it in the right place. It does mean that HUAWEI have to compromise with bezel thickness a little bit. From the looks of it though, it does not look like HUAWEI had to sacrifice all that much too.
Use Your Finger, or Your Face
Of course, most modern thin-and-light notebooks come with biometric security in the form of a basic fingerprint sensor. This one does too, but it has another thing up its sleeve, or rather, in its bezel. The webcam also comes with a slew of sensors that works with Windows Hello to scan your face.
That also means that you can walk away from the notebook, and it will lock itself to ensure that whatever you are working on is safe. When you come back, it sees your face and unlocks. In the case that it does not unlock, the fingerprint sensor is quick enough also that it unlocks the moment you touch the fingerprint sensor that doubles as the power button. Just do not mistakenly press it down to power down the notebook and you will be fine.
HUAWEI Share
This has been one of the biggest selling features for HUAWEI’s devices, or at least HUAWEI notebooks if you have a HUAWEI device. Of course, most of the current features of the program can only work with HUAWEI’s latest OS on its mobile devices. Unfortunately, we did not have a HUAWEI device that is running on Harmony OS 2 at the time of review, so we could not test the feature.
Unlike the previous HUAWEI Share functionality too, there is no NFC tag to be found on the notebook, which also means that transferring data through HUAWEI share has to be done manually instead of just touching both devices together like before. While it just feels like you are going back to the conventional data sharing method, transfer speeds over HUAWEI Share are faster than Bluetooth.
Performance
The HUAWEI MateBook 14S is not a gaming notebook. The unit we are reviewing does not even come with Intel’s Core i7 processor. It also only features 8GB of RAM. It also lacks a dedicated GPU to work with.
Multitasking & Productivity
Where the HUAWEI MateBook 14S shines is when you take it out for a day of work. 8GB is ample enough for you to entertain multiple tabs on Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox browsers; both have been our browsers of choice these days. Google Chrome can be a RAM hog, but five tabs on the browser still did not hurt the HUAWEI MateBook 14S.
While you might want to spend a little more for the Intel Core i7 variant, the Intel Core i5 variant never felt sluggish in most cases. If you only need it to complete mundane tasks like filling up Word documents, create Powerpoint slides, or even work with Excel sheets, you will have enough push from the Core i5 to complete all of them with ease.
When it comes to content creation though, you might want to adjust your expectations a little bit. You can technically edit 4K videos thanks to improved optimisation of Intel’s 11th Generation CPUs. It may not be entirely smooth, but it is useable with Adobe Premiere Pro. Rendering videos will take some time still. But that is just about the most it can handle though.
Typing an Essay
The keyboard on the MateBook 14S is not the best you can find out there. It is not the worst thing to come on a laptop though. It works, and well enough at that to ensure that you do not throw it against a wall whenever you need to reply to an email with a long essay, or when you need to type out long documents with it.
The key travel is shallow, which makes it a little odd to type with. Strangely, typing on the keyboard does not wear us out as much as we thought it would though. We could attribute that to the mushiness of the keyboard. The combination of the short travel and mushiness makes the keyboard feels odd to work with. It is not quite unpleasant, just odd.
At the same time though, the keyboard is very much silent. You can bring it to the library, type out an essay and get out without anyone noticing that you have been working on it. You can even sneak in an email reply or two in the meeting room.
Gaming
You can still game on the HUAWEI MateBook 14S. You do have to adjust your expectations, though. You can still play games like Two Point Hospital, Cities: Skylines, or even Counter Strike: Global Offensive on the MateBook 14S. If you really want, you can even play Dota 2 at the screen’s 2.5K resolution. You might want to set your graphics to medium or even low if you want to take full advantage of the 2.5K display.
Battery Life
In our typical use, we usually have a few apps open on the notebook. Our browsers have about 10 tabs open at any given time. We kept our screen brightness to the maximum in most use cases. Our speakers are usually turned down to about 20% or less on the HUAWEI MateBook 14S, it can get quite loud. That said, we usually will play music via Tidal, which also means we have Tidal installed and opened. We also will have a couple of Microsoft Word instances open.
In that use case, we get about 8 hours of use from a full battery before we need to think about plugging the device to our charger. The Charger provided is a little bit of an overkill at 90W, but that means you can use it to charge other devices and other laptops that charges via USB Type-C also, which is always welcome since you just need to carry one charger for all your devices now.
Display & Audio
As mentioned, the HUAWEI MateBook 14S packs an odd 3:2 display. True to its name, it has a 14-inch display too; 14.2-inch specifically. The 14.2-inch display covers up to 90% of the body. This points to a massive display experience from a small notebook.
It is a very beautiful 2.5K (2,520 x 1,680) high-resolution display. It is a higher resolution display than regular notebooks of its class making it really stand out. It covers 100% of the sRGB colour gamut, which should mean that you get highly accurate and vibrant colours on the display. 400nits also means that it should be bright enough to work with in any indoor situation.
Its 1500:1 contrast ratio comes to play when you are watching movies with the HUAWEI MateBook 14S too. Movies look amazing on the 14-incher with vibrant and rich colours. The only issue with it is the two big black bars at the top and bottom of the video itself.
Did we mention that it is also a touch sensitive display? While we do not think that Windows 10 is very much optimised for touch experience, we think Windows 11 will change that once you get it to update. But still, having a touch display when you scroll through the web makes a lot of sense. Even going through long word documents is a much better experience with touch sensitive display.
Then there is the audio, which is not actually half bad. It does not have a subwoofer installed to it, so you cannot expect it to produce the best audio experience from a notebook. But for a notebook its size, the audio experience is respectable enough that you can enjoy good music from the HUAWEI MateBook 145S. The high-frequencies and mid-frequencies are detailed enough that vocals tend to stand out a little bit more in most music. It tends to be quite loud too, which is surprising coming from speakers its size. Then again, there are 4 speakers on this thing.
The HUAWEI MateBook 14S – Green Lit
The HUAWEI MateBook 14S is pretty in its Spruce Green guise. While there is not much in terms of design cues, its green colour helps it stand out. It is also one of the only thin-and-light notebooks you can find in the market that comes with a full-sized USB port and a full-sized HDMI port.
At MYR 4,999, it is more expensive than a lot of thin-and-light notebooks out there. Most of them does not come with a display quite like the one you can find on the HUAWEI MateBook 14S. It is not just a touch display, it is a 2.5K display that is stretched out to 3:2 aspect ratio, which is unique. On top of that you get facial recognition, also a premium feature you do not normally get in a regular thin-and-light notebook. It is a feature you mostly find on enterprise class device, or at much higher price point.
If you are a HUAWEI device owner that works with Harmony OS 2, this should be a no brainer to boost your productivity even more. With a HUAWEI MatePad 12.6, you are effectively carrying an extra storage, notepad, drawing pad, and display in your bag. HUAWEI Share is also wireless, which also means you do not need to tangle your bag with cables.
So, is this HUAWEI MateBook 14S worth MYR 4,999? We would say so, in some ways. We are not saying that it is not expensive, because it is. But at the same time this is one of the most practical thin-and-light notebook out there with a unique and beautiful display. It packs features that most thin-and-light notebooks in its price range does not too. Of course, if you have a HUAWEI Harmony OS 2 device, the HUAWEI MateBook 14S makes more sense than any other notebook in its class.
We live in a weird time. We live in a time where buying a laptop from a smartphone manufacturer is normal. If you think about it, it was not so long ago too that HUAWEI decided that they want a slice of the mobile computing market.
Meet the HUAWEI MateBook series, premium notebook PCs made with the HUAWEI ecosystem in mind. They were designed to be the perfect companion for HUAWEI’s range of smartphone and tablet products. They were made to be the best type of laptop to work with if you own a HUAWEI device. They were the only products that did not get the axe from American companies in the dram that was the United States trade ban debacle.
Fast forward to 2021, nothing much has changed. There are some changes in the world around HUAWEI though. There is a brand-new Intel processor, an 11th generation wonder of a mobile chip. It also seems like there is going to be a new Microsoft Windows version just around the corner, and the new hardware is primed to take up the new Operating System (OS). HUAWEI needed to get modern to be in the world of workplace laptops. They did with the new HUAWEI MateBook 14s.
The HUAWEI MateBook 14s follows the philosophy of HUAWEI’s premium line-up of laptops. It is an ultra-thin, and ultra-light notebook PC for the working professionals. It is an ultrabook for the road warrior, or the person who has been working from home for the past two years and is continuing to work from home now.
Source: HUAWEI
The new MateBook 14s is powered by Intel’s latest 11th Generation Core processor. You get to spec it up with up to the Core i7-11370H processor. The latest processors are considered to be Intel’s most efficient one yet.
Intel did not certify the HUAWEI MateBook 14s as an Intel EVO laptop, but it has everything that you could want from an Intel EVO platform, if you are looking for that sort of thing. It has Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics to handle a high-resolution display and any of its requirements. It also has up to 16GB of RAM, ample amount for a work laptop. You even get up to 1TB in SSD storage, if you wish for it. With WiFi 6 in tow, you really wonder with the HUAWEI MateBook 14s does not come packing Intel EVO’s sticker.
You get all sorts of I/O with this Matebook 14s as well to make it the perfect work mate. There are two USB type-C ports that supports charging and Thunderbolt 4 capabilities (only Core i7 version, 2nd USB Type-C port). You also get a full HDMI port alongside a USB 3.2 Gen1 type-A port on the HUAWEI MateBook 14s. It is as versatile as it looks. It even has a fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello for protection. Thankfully as well, the webcam has been shifted up to the top of the display instead of being hidden in one of the keycaps.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
The 14-inch display is a stunning one too at 90Hz. It is a 2.5K display instead of a Full HD unit though. That also means that you get vibrant and beautiful looking images on the laptop. You can easily enjoy movies and YouTube videos in high-resolution goodness on this thing. Its 60Wh battery is also large enough that it should carry your laptop the entire day. If that is not enough the HUAWEI MateBook 14s comes with 90W charging capabilities and a charger to match for a quick plug and dash.
Price and Availability
The HUAWEI MateBook 14s is available for pre-order from the 28th of October 2021 onward. Before the 6th of November 2021, you can pre-order your unit from HUAWEI Store Online, HUAWEI’s official stores on Shopee, and Lazada, or even on HUAWEI’s official app, My HUAWEI App. As per the title, the HUAWEI MateBook 14s starts at MYR 4,999. More information on the HUAWEI MateBook 14s can be found on their website.
