I recall viewing Huawei's first MateBook X Pro for the first time. I was at a media event in Berlin in 2018, and Huawei executives were proud to show off the company's new laptop, particularly what they thought was an innovative, ingenious idea: the webcam was hidden inside the keyboard, only popping up into view when needed, rather than being located above the screen.
Sure, the webcam was at an unusually low, upward-pointing angle, but this was pre-pandemic, work-from-home times, and most people seemed fine with sacrificing webcam framing for the benefits of slimmer bezels and the peace of mind that came with not having to cover their webcam with a piece of tape due to privacy concerns.
The epidemic has forced many of us to work from home, and we've converted our work meetings to video chats. Suddenly, the laptop webcam, which had been rarely utilized, had become a regular work requirement. The MateBook X Pro's webcam's poor position began to irritate reviewers (for the record: not me, as I was never that bothered by its location).
In 2020 and 2021, the same gushing compliments bestowed on the webcam design in 2018 turned criticism.
Huawei has heeded the criticism, and the webcam on the MateBook X Pro has been relocated to the top bezel in the latest 2021 update. The top bezel is nevertheless quite tiny thanks to some clever hardware innovation.
Those who have seen prior MateBook X Pros will recognize the remainder of the hardware. You get a well-made aluminum unibody casing, an excellent full-sized keyboard with noticeably more key travel than a MacBook keyboard, and possibly the best trackpad in Windows—a generously-sized pad with precise haptics, more gesture shortcuts than even Windows intended, and it also doubles as an NFC pad for syncing Huawei smartphones to the laptop.
You do lose the familiar USB-A port, but you gain two more USB-C ports, which will be frustrating for casual users but wonderful news for power users.
The machine is lightweight, weighing only 3 pounds and having a maximum thickness of 15.5mm (0.6-inches). It's a much lighter and slimmer than my partner's 13-inch MacBook.
Despite the fact that Huawei's laptop has a bigger screen—a stunning 14.2-inch LCD touchscreen with 90Hz refresh rate—the latter two features make it stand out from the crowd. A touchscreen allows for more direct interaction with the user interface (you can draw your digital signature with your finger, for example), and a 90Hz refresh rate produces noticeably smoother animations than 60Hz panels. Even though the display is "just" LCD (OLED is preferable), it is bright (up to 600 nits) and colorful, making it suitable for outdoor use.
There is one disappointment: the laptop still uses Intel's 11th-generation core i7 processor rather than the 12th-generation chip that will be available in 2022. Still, you're receiving a performance gain because this is the Intel Core i7 1195G7 CPU, as opposed to the 1165G7 chip in last year's MateBook X Pro.
While this processor—paired with 16GB of RAM—is enough for productivity and light creative activities, the absence of a dedicated GPU prevents it from becoming a genuine creative user's dream machine. You can use this to edit videos, but you'll have to deal with choppy timelines and lengthy rendering delays.
Despite this, the MateBook X Pro has become my favorite on-the-go writing machine at work place, thanks to its superb keyboard and trackpad.
Thanks to the stunning screen and a six-speaker configuration that blasts out top-notch sound, it also performs well as a multi-media computer. Although I believe Apple's high-end 16-inch MacBooks have superior speakers, the MateBook X Pro can come close.
The MateBook X Pro runs Windows 11, although there are certain Huawei software enhancements, such as "Super Device," which allows the laptop to connect with other Huawei devices smoothly.
Gestures have also been incorporated into the trackpad, which I find quite handy. For example, I can control the screen brightness or volume by swiping up and down the trackpad's borders. Scrub through videos by sliding horizontally on the top edge (fast forward or rewind).
Despite the laptop's tiny design, Huawei managed to squeeze a 60Wh battery inside, which should last 8 to 9 hours. The accompanying 90W charging brick, which is substantially smaller than a conventional Dell or Apple laptop connector, may be used to charge the device. The Huawei charger appears to be a smartphone charger.
Overall, the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2022 is a well-made laptop, but at 1,899 euros ($2,096), it's a bit costly. While the MateBook X Pro boasts one of the greatest displays in the laptop market—and perhaps the nicest keyboard and trackpad outside of Apple's machines—it runs on Intel CPUs from last year and doesn't have a dedicated GPU.
Those who use other Huawei devices, such as smartphones or tablets, will benefit from this laptop's improved connection, which no other PC manufacturer currently offers. You can't get much better than this keyboard and screen if you only need a computer for word processing and viewing material. You may also make video calls with the webcam in the proper position.
