Overview
The Huawei MateBook 14 is a lightweight laptop that comes with a slim screen bezel and offers a solid-feeling, all-metal chassis. This laptop is equipped with the same CPU, GPU, memory, and touchscreen as the top-spec MateBook X Pro, which is €500 more expensive. This makes the MateBook 14 a good alternative for those who want to save some money without compromising on performance. The MateBook 14 is also up against the new Dell XPS 13, but the MateBook 14 is expected to be cheaper than the XPS 13, even if Huawei gets a bit cheeky with UK pricing.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: Design
The MateBook 14 is not as sleek as the MateBook X Pro, nor as compact as the MateBook 13, but it is still a lightweight laptop that weighs 1.5kg and comes with slim screen bezels. The laptop is well-crafted with minimal screen flex and a solid-feeling, all-metal chassis. It is the only one of the three new MateBooks to have two full-size USB ports, in addition to a single USB-C port, full-size HDMI output, and 3.5mm headphone jack. This makes it the best-equipped if you want to use multiple USB peripherals and devices without adapters. The MateBook 14’s USB-C port can handle data transfers and DisplayPort video output, but will likely most often be filled by the charging cable.
The speakers are situated on the underside of the chassis, with small grilles on the left and right sides and a longer grille at the rear. These are Dolby Atmos-branded, and do sound slightly better than the average laptop speakers but not transcendently so. The webcam is hidden inside what would typically be a function key, popping up when you press it. This is a clever idea in theory, but in practice, it makes for a very unflattering shooting angle.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: OneHop
Along with its other two new laptops, there’s support for OneHop, which lets you transfer files between the laptop and a compatible smartphone (basically any Huawei or Honor handset running EMUI 9.0 or later). The MateBook 14 also has a set of rather sophisticated screen capture tools. That includes video as well as still images. You can record your laptop screen directly to a connected smartphone, which is ideal for capturing candid moments on a video call or if you want to recall how to perform a tricky IT task.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard is great: even with a short travel depth, each keypress has a positive, crisp action, and the keycaps are nicely spaced. The touchpad is good, too. Besides being smooth and responsive, it’s pretty big for a laptop this size.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: Display
The MateBook 14’s touchscreen is the largest in Huawei’s 2019 lineup. It’s a 2,160 x 1,440, IPS panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio, which proves handy for reading web pages or editing long documents. The MateBook 14’s 85.5% sRGB coverage and average Delta E of 2.02 both fall behind the XPS 13’s 95.2% and 1.6, making the latter better for photo and video editing. The MateBook 14’s 384.6cd/m² peak brightness and 1,577:1 contrast ratio are also lower than the XPS 13’s 413cd/m² and outstanding 1,643:1, and Dell’s choice of a matte finish helps keep reflections at bay much more effectively than the MateBook 14’s glossy screen.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: Performance and battery life
The MateBook 14 matches both the MateBook X Pro and the XPS 13 with its quad-core Intel Core i7-8565U, so it’s just as fast. In fact, it came out slightly ahead in single-core performance in our benchmarks. It also has a dedicated Nvidia MX250 graphics card, which is a step up from the integrated graphics found in most ultrabooks. The battery life is also impressive, lasting 9 hours and 22 minutes in our video playback test.
Huawei MateBook 14 review: Verdict
The Huawei MateBook 14 is a lightweight laptop that comes equipped with the same CPU, GPU, memory, and touchscreen as the top-spec MateBook X Pro, which is €500 more expensive. It is a good alternative for those who want to save some money without compromising on performance. The MateBook 14 is also up against the new Dell XPS 13, but the MateBook 14 is expected to be cheaper than the XPS 13. The MateBook
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