Android phones are inevitably compared to iPhones.
Windows laptops are contrasted against MacBooks.
Simply put, its in a league of its own.
In that sense, the Huawei Matebook X Pro is a bit of a black swan.
I had a hunch it would be good, but I didnt think it would bethis good.
Strong words, arent they?
Trust me, I can back them up.
Meet the Huawei Matebook X Pro
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In 2018, Huawei launched the first-generational Matebook X Pro.
It comes in i5 and i7 varieties.
For the purposes of this review, were looking at the i7.
Design
The Huawei Matebook X Pro is an attractive little machine.
It comes in two colors space gray and mystic silver.
Huawei provided TNW with a unit in space gray, and Im a fan.
Obviously, this is all hugely subjective, but I think the laptop has a quietly confident aesthetic.
And confidence, as we all know, is sexy.
Instead, it just says the name of the company.
The sides of the laptop are adorned with a reasonably generous selection of ports.
On the left-hand side of the machine, there are two USB-C ports, accompanied with a headphone jack.
Sadly, only one of these ports supports the Thunderbolt 3 standard.
On the right-hand side, youll find a solitary USB-A port.
This is a welcome addition, and certainly gives it a leg-up on the MacBook Pro.
The best part is that it doesnt really add that much thickness to the laptop.
The Matebook X Pro is gorgeously svelte.
One complaint is the absence of an SD card slot.
I must admit, before I got my hands on the laptop, I had concerns about the keyboard.
In my experience, ultrabook keyboards arent that good, offering limited travel and tactile feedback.
The best example of this isthe loathed butterfly keyboardon the post-2016 MacBook Pro.
The good news is that this isnt an issue here.
Unlike other laptops in its category, the keys on this machine are well spaced out.
Presses register audibly, which helps improve typing accuracy.
Above all, its supremely comfortable.
The trackpad is banging, too.
Its large, responsive, and precise.
Accidental presses, like those from your palm as you jot down, simply dont register.
This isnt to everyones taste.
Think of it as the opposite of the MySpace angles.
Its also somewhat low resolution, and produces fairly grainy and washed out images, as youll see below.
The trade off, however, is a laptop thats got a bigger screen and virtually negligible bezels.
Id argue thats worth it.
After all, how often do most people use their webcam?
In a world with FaceTime and WhatsApp, probably not all that often.
One cool quirk of the Matebook X Pro is that the power button also doubles as a fingerprint reader.
In my experience, this works amazingly well.
Of course, one downside is that you cant really use it for anything else besides authentication.
TouchID on the MacBook Pro, however, can be used for stuff like authorizing payments with Apple Pay.
The Matebook X Pro uses a 3:2 display ratio.
On the flip side though, it feels much better for multitasking.
That being said, the display is absolutely gorgeous.
This is one of the best-sounding laptops Ive ever laid hands on.
Software
The review unit provided to TNW came with Windows 10 Pro installed.
Mercifully, Huawei exercised restraint when it came to pre-loading the machine with bloatware.
Huawei Share is arguably the most exciting.
it’s possible for you to also use it to tether your laptop to your phones cellular data connection.
I was amazed at how smoothly this worked.
Moving photos from a phone to a computer is always a fairly fiddly affair.
Usually, Ill just upload them to Slack or send them to myself in an email.
Performance
This is where the Huawei Matebook X Pro shines.
This is a professional-standard laptop, capable of pretty much anything youd care to throw at it.
Huawei has, perhaps quite deliberately, made an excellent work laptop.
In that respect, it doesnt disappoint.
Take Sid Meiers Civilization: Beyond Earth, for example.
It can run on most modern laptops.
The Huawei Matebook X Pro also runs quiet.
Meanwhile, the battery life boasts impressive endurance, especially when away from a power outlet.
Goddammit I love this laptop
The Huawei Matebook X Pro is an excellent all-purpose workstation.
The screen is bright and lush, while the keyboard is ridiculously comfortable.
Its certainly the most perfect laptop Ive ever used.
That said, none of those strike me as being particularly well-rounded, with most having pretty glaring compromises.
The Matebook X Pro, on the other hand, will tick most peoples boxes.
Of course, its not perfect.
Similarly, the aspect ratio isnt great for watching video.
The 2019 Matebook X Pro will go on sale in April.
The i5/8GB/512GB and i7/16GB/1TB variants will retail for 1,599 or 1,999 apiece.
Unfortunately, theres no word on regional pricing, but when we hear more, well let you know.
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