Huawei’s MateBook 13 is solid, but it’s not the MacBook it wants to be

Huawei unveiled its latest laptop, the MateBook 13, at Mobile Earth Congress dorsum in February.

I had the take chances to test the 'Space Grey' variant of the notebook over the past few weeks. While the laptop doesn't include a pop-up photographic camera, it does characteristic an elegant blueprint and premium feel.

People ofttimes mistook the laptop for a MacBook, which is both a compliment and exactly what Huawei wants.

While the laptop, unfortunately, features bug that I'll talk over later in this story, for the about part, I enjoyed my time with the MateBook 13. That said, there isn't annihilation particularly mindblowing about the laptop, merely altogether it's a solid device.

Key Travel

At xiv.9mm thick when folded, the MateBook 13 is a thin laptop. The MateBook 13 is thinner than the MacBook 2019 MacBook Air, which measures in at 15.6mm. However, its thinness is deceptive considering once you option it up, you lot'll likely be shocked by the laptop's weight.

Weighing in a one.3kg, there's a surprising amount of heft to the laptop considering its size and thinness. And if you're wondering, aye, it is heavier than the 2018 MacBook. But that'southward not to say the laptop felt too weighty though. For example, I was easily able to take pictures of it with a camera in one manus while holding it with the other. It merely looks heavier than yous'd expect for such a thin and compact notebook.

Dimensions wise, the MateBook 13 measures in at a width of 296mm and a pinnacle of 211mm.

Even though the MateBook 13 is made of plastic, it still feels sturdy and well-built. While a weighty laptop isn't typically a good thing, I'd argue the additional heft gives the MateBook thirteen a more premium experience.

The sparse laptop too comes with a few downsides. Port-wise the MateBook xiii merely sports 2 USB Type-C ports with a single three.5mm headphone jack. This means that if you lot're interested in purchasing this device, go ready to comprehend the #donglelife.

The speakers face up downwardly, and though they are loud, I would take preferred it if Huawei placed them at the top of the laptop.

That said, the speakers do feature Dolby Atmos environs sound applied science. And as I previously mentioned, the laptop doesn't include a pop-up camera like the MateBook 10 Pro. Instead, the 1-megapixel photographic camera is located on the top bezel like about other laptops.

Huawei placed the power push button above the delete key, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner.

The MateBook xiii features black keys with a full backlit keyboard. The keys felt great — they're big and have good travel. The laptop sports a ane.2mm key altitude. As a result, when typing the keys have the right amount bounce to them. I compared the keys to the MacBook 2017 and I thought the MacBook's were far shallower.

The MateBook thirteen is available in 'Mystic Silver' and 'Space Grey.'

Keeps chugging, like Thomas

The MateBook 13 that I tested features an Intel Cadre i7 8565U Coffee Lake processor with 8GB of RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics menu. With that internal hardware in mind, the laptop runs smoothly without any lag, just as I expected.

Over a regular day, I used apps like Adobe Photoshop, Chrome, Spotify and Slack. While I didn't experience any issues most of the time, I did accept issues with Lightroom.

Sometimes loading up multiple images at one time would cause the MateBook to chug and run hotter. In those instances, when the MateBook completed importing the RAW files from my photographic camera, the experience went dorsum to shine sailing.

I too tried playingFortnitefor roughly 20 minutes. During this time the laptop got very hot with the game running at 24fps. While the MateBook 13 was able to handle Fortnite pretty well, I wouldn't suggest running it under a heavy load for an extended period because it could overheat.

This ways that graphical intensive games like Overwatch orThe Witcher 3 are probably out of the question. If you're interested in playing those types of games on a laptop, you lot're likely improve off picking up a gaming-specific laptop.

At times, the MateBook's fans also got loud. This happened when I played Fortnite, and when I was writing part of this hands-on. In the latter case, all I had running at the time was Google Chrome (with 2 tabs open), Spotify (with no music playing) and Slack. This was a rare occurrence, but it's important to note that the fans do occasionally seem to spin up for no reason.

Stealth fingerprint scanner

As I previously mentioned, the laptop's fingerprint scanner doubles as the power button. I thought this was a clever movement on Huawei's part because it easily allows you lot to wake the computer from hibernation and log in simultaneously. This works the same as information technology does with the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, so it isn't exactly unique. Withal, it's a welcome add-on.

Just similar with a smartphone, the fingerprint scanner unlocks the reckoner instantly with the assist of 'Windows Hello.' When you're booting upwardly the notebook and it's powered off, you'll still need to tap your finger against the fingerprint scanner to unlock the device.

I think this is a good implementation of a fingerprint sensor in a laptop considering information technology saves a lot of time. It sort of reminds me of LG'southward G6 smartphone, which featured a fingerprint scanner in its rear-facing power button.

As for the battery, the Huawei MateBook 13 features a 41.8 Wh power source. When I used the laptop, I often had Spotify, Slack, Photoshop and Chrome running in the groundwork. Also, I set the display to half brightness and the computer to its best battery functioning setting. With these settings, I got a little over half dozen hours of battery life. When I adjusted the display to its maximum brightness performance settings, I got at nearly three hours of usage.

Downwardly facing Dolby Atmos

Even though the Dolby Atmos speakers are down facing, they're still quite loud and tin easily fill a room. Even when placing the laptop apartment against the table, the speakers don't go deadened and well-nigh sound the same in comparison to when they're non blocked by a table.

The laptop's speakers aren't the loudest for a notebook. I compared the MateBook 13's speakers to Apple'due south 2016 MacBook. The older MacBook offered a more total sound stage and more than pronounced bass. In comparison, the MateBook 13's speakers are a little tinnier hollow sounding, which is odd because the Dolby Atmos branding.

Withal, when watchingGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. ii, I thought the device was sufficiently loud and clear. While the MateBook thirteen isn't the perfect device for listening to music, it's sufficient for 'Netflix and spooky.'

A adept keyboard a decent laptop

The MateBook 13 is a skilful laptop, and while its battery isn't the best, information technology provides decent sound, can handle my day-to-twenty-four hours tasks and information technology features a sleek design. I also really similar the placement of the power push because it doubles equally a fingerprint scanner. The laptop'south central travel is besides superb, and I appreciate the display'southward quality even though it isn't 4K.

This isn't the most impressive laptop on the market from Huawei but information technology is the well-nigh affordable. The China-based company'due south new MateBook X laptop is currently bachelor in Canada and tin can exist purchased through Amazon for $1,369.89 CAD.