Coming off the heels of its most popular and gorgeous laptop the MateBook X Pro, Huawei is looking to continue that winning formula of simplicity and elegance with this year’s follow up merely dubbed the MateBook 13. Last year’s X Pro got a ton of looks as it was viewed as a MacBook clone with its aluminum clean build but more, so its best feature was its 3K Display pushing 450nits. With the MateBook 13, Huawei is still going for that aluminum look and feel but also managed to shrink the body to put it right under 3lbs. Holding it hand in hand with the X Pro you can feel the difference in weight and but also it seems it a bit more rounded.
It will be equipped with Intel’s latest 8th Gen Whiskey Lake processors in two configurations of an i5 with Intel UHD graphics, 256GB storage and a beefier i7 with NVIDIA GeForce MX graphics and 512GB storage.
Huawei has slated the MateBook 13 as being wedged in between the MateBook D and X Pro. Compared to the X Pro, Huawei has pulled the front cam out the keyboard and put it back above the display which still has a 3:2 aspect ratio but this time has a resolution of 2160×1440 with 200ppi and 300nits. Huawei is utilizing eye comfort tech you would find in their tablets and smartphones. Speakers aren’t firing upwards at you but on the sides but still feature Dolby Atmos.
This leaves a smaller typing profile and makes the average laptop feel more compact. I’m a fan of smaller laptops hence my love for the X Pro but will this be too small for my day to day use? Fingerprint sensoring is still in the power button and it does feature two Type C USB ports with one on each side.
With the MateBook X Pro being one of my favorite devices to use of 2018 because of its usability and design I’m interested to see how the MateBook 13 holds up on day to day and if that 88% screen ratio will feel different compared to the 97% on the MateBook X Pro.
The pricing of the MateBook 13 could attract more consumers with it being at least $200 less starting then the MateBook X Pro which typically has their base model retailing at $1,199.
MateBook 13 by Huawei is set for release on January 29th with pricing of $999 and $1,299 for i5 and i7 models. It will be available at Amazon and Newegg with additional retailers coming afterwards in February. MateBook 13 also comes with 1yr of Microsoft 365 and a Huawei MateDock 2.
We look to get a full-on review of the MateBook 13 in the upcoming weeks so keep an eye out for that and I’ll see if it will replace or take up more time than my MateBook X Pro usage.
On the tablet side of things Huawei also has made a kids friendly update to their MediaPad M5 series with the MediaPad M5 Lite. Its prices for a reasonable $299 and features some sensors sorely needed for kids. Distance sensor will let you know when you are too close to the screen and a Posture Sensor to advise not to lay at an optimal angle. M5 Lite also assist with eye fatigue and strain with Blue Light filters and Ambient light sensor. MediaPad M5 Lite is packed with a Kirin 659 processor, runs on Android 8.0, has 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage with expandable memory options.
Huawei QuickCharge is available to charge the 7,500mAh battery back up in under three hours. There are Quad speakers for great sound and it will come with a stylus pen. M5 Lite is set to release in late January on Amazon and Newegg.
