There has been a lot of talk recently about Huawei’s products, most of it about their cameras disguised as phones. While the phones do deserve the coverage, their other products such as their laptops and tablets have also been making waves, albeit smaller ones. Earlier this year Huawei released the Huawei Matebook 13, which is the follow up to last year’s highly acclaimed Huawei Matebook X Pro. This Windows 10 laptop is geared towards the mainstream consumer who’s looking for the power of a high-end machine without the high-end price. These are people like my family and I. Since it’s clearly meant for us, Huawei Canada was kind enough to loan us one for a few weeks to put it through its paces.
Huawei Matebook 13
In the Huawei Matebook 13, I got a powerful laptop that I could easily use when travelling and didn’t want to lug around a heavy computer; my wife got a laptop that she used for Netflix when I’m tuned in to football; my kids got a laptop that they used for road trip movies and school assignments.
This isn’t the first time I’ve used a Huawei device. I’ve been a big fan of their phones, going back to the P10, and I recently wrote about the Huawei P30 Pro. There’s quite a bit to talk about so lets get to it.
Under The Hood
The Huawei Matebook 13 comes in two models. The first includes an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor with 256GB of storage. The second, and more expensive, has an Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA’s GeForce MX150 graphics card, and 512 GB of storage. Both versions come with 8GB of RAM. This was the first thing that had me scratching my head about this device: if you’re going to put an i7 chip in a laptop, why not bump up the RAM to 16GB?
We tested the second model and we didn’t encounter any problems at any time. Keep in mind, we didn’t do any intense gaming or use any power sucking apps. I did notice that the laptop ran a bit hot at times when I had multiple apps open. Not often, but enough to get my attention.
Body And Display
The Huawei Matebook 13 has a gorgeous matte aluminium body with rounded corners and comes in Space Grey or Mystic Silver. It has a 13-inch display, weighs a mere 1.3 kg (2.86 lbs), and is just 15mm thick when closed. I had absolutely no problems carrying this around in my backpack for an entire day.
The (almost) 14 inch, smudge free, 10-point touchscreen has a 4.4mm bezel which gave me the feeling of having an edge to edge work space. Unlike a lot of other laptops, the Matebook 13 has an aspect ratio of 3:2 as compared to the traditional 16:9 ratio. At a time when we’re spending more and more time on the web, I find this aspect ratio to be more useful as we’re able to see more on the screen. It’s not the best for watching movies but that’s something I can definitely live with.
Watching a video on the Huawei Matebook 13
Huawei incorporated the same auto brightness functionality from their phones so at times it seemed the screen was dim, but once this “feature” was turned off this wasn’t an issue anymore. I have this turned off on my P30 Pro phone also. The best way to get around this is to turn this setting off and use the brightness buttons to find your desired brightness level. As with many other laptops, using this outdoors was a bit challenging. The screen filters out 30% of blue light, which can cause eye strain, making it easier to work on for long periods of time.
Speakers
Huawei equipped the Matebook 13 with two bottom-facing Dolby Atmos speakers meaning that they’re on the bottom of the laptop. When on a table or desk these speakers are adequate but, from what I’ve been told, not as good as the Mateboox X Pro. When the laptop is on your lap, or, if you’re like me, your belly, the sound is muffled. The placement is understandable, considering everything Huawei is packing into this little laptop, but I would prefer front-facing speakers.
Connectivity
The Matebook 13 comes with just two USB Type C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Both ports can be used for data transfers and charging other devices but only the one on the left can be used for recharging the laptop itself. The upside to this laptop having a USB-C charging port is that now my laptop and my phone use the same charger! If you have a device without a USB-C connector you’d need to use the MateDock 2 docking station which, I was very happy to see, was included in the box. This small docking station supports HDMI, VGA, USB-A, and USB-C for data transmission, projection or charging. However, don’t expect to find a SD card reader on this device.
Huawei Matebook 13 Charging Port
The Huawei Matebook 13 features the company’s “One Tap To Share” technology which allows the transferring of files between Android devices and Windows. Normally when I want to upload a file from my phone to my laptop I’d save it to my Google Drive then access it from my laptop. With this technology I just tap my phone on the Matebook 13 and files are transferred. This works with photos, videos, and documents.
Keyboard
You’d think that by having a small laptop like this would make the keyboard feel cramped, but that’s not the case at all. Remember how I mentioned that the screen almost goes right to the edge for a full screen experience? Well Huawei has done the same with their keyboard by having keys that go almost to the edge of the Matebook 13. I was surprised at just how many keys are packed into this keyboard. There are six rows of keys on this laptop. Although it’s not a part of the keyboard, the power button which is located just above the top row of buttons, is also a fingerprint reader. By having the fingerprint reader embedded in the power button it eliminates the need for an extra “logging on step” and it works remarkably well.
Huawei Matebook 13 Travel
Battery Life
The Matebook 13 comes with a 41.8 Wh/3670mAh battery and Huawei claims that this would give you a 9.6-hour video battery life. I tried but I’d say I got about 7 hours of use from a full battery. While not the most ideal I was able to use the USB-C charger and get 2.5 hours of use from a 15 minute charge so this wasn’t a big problem for me.
Final Thoughts
I can’t speak for everyone, but for myself and my family Huawei has produced a compact and lightweight powerhouse that delivers exactly what we are looking for in a laptop. Recently I’ve used it extensively when I was in Virginia and Dominica and had no problems carrying it around all day in my backpack. I love the size and I wish more manufactures would adopt the 3:2 aspect ratio for their screens.
My only complaints have to do with the speaker placements and the fact that there is no SD slot. I tend to take a lot of photos so this would have made transferring photos from my camera to laptop for editing so much easier.
All in all I really enjoyed using this laptop and I would definitely consider it if you’re in the market.
Disclaimer: Huawei Canada loaned me one of their Huawei Matebook 13 laptops for this review but all opinions expressed above are my own.
I learned about the Huawei brand when I lived in Mexico for 2 months and its a top cell phone brand. I didnt know they made laptops but they seem they have great amenities.
That’s a common thing I’m hearing since I posted this article. Many people like yourself know about their phones but not many know that they’re more than just a cell phone manufacturer. Apart from the phones and laptops they also produce tablets and smart watches but I haven’t gotten the opportunity to play with those as yet.
I’m honestly considering buying this now!
That’s great, let me know if you do.
Wow.. Huawei always improves when it comes to their several amazing features. I couldn’t wait to check this out.
I didn’t know they make laptops as well. I do have their phone and I’m loving it x
Which phone do you have? They make laptops and tablets.
Wow! This laptop is really geared up! The battery last long. It’s not bad for Huawei! I really a fan of them. All my gadget belongs to them. But not my laptop. I should think to switch on this one. Thanks for this great article!
You and I are in the same boat, all of our devices were made by them.
I liked how you have honestly described the product. For me, laptops are always either Mac or HP for windows. I never put in a lot of research while investing in one! In fact, I was not aware of the existence of Huawei notebooks until now *guilty*
Nothing wrong with those two manufacturers, it all depends on your needs. This was perfect for mine.
The colors look great. Very suitable for those who travel and love PCs.
Travelling with this was a breeze!
Honestly, this is my first time to hear that Huawei have a laptop and I am sure that this is one of their great product.
You’re not the first person who has said that to me. I wish more people knew about them.
I thought Huawei is a cellphone brand only, I didn’t know they have a notebook. Looks nice, I’ll check this out in our local gadget store.
A lot of people think that. They also make laptops, tablets, smart watches and more!
Huawei seems like a sturdy brand and computers. I never have seen one, but I will be on a lookout at the electronics store to test it out!
If you do give it a test let me know your thoughts.
Oooooh, it looks nice and sleek. I just bought my ACER Swift 3 and if I hadn’t, I would definitely consider this one.
ACER is a good brand also, it all depends on your needs and budget.
I’m in the market for a laptop and the Huawei Matebook 13 is on the list! Still can’t decide on one yet!
There are many out there to choose from, but for me and my uses it was perfect. Good luck in your search and I hope my article helped.
This is a great review. I’ve been looking for a new laptop so this might be it.
That’s good to hear. Like I mentioned it’s not a big gaming laptop but I love the size and weight.
Thanks for taking the time to write this extensive review. Really helpful!
Glad you like it. Have you heard of their laptops before?
I didn’t even know they made laptops! This is great. Definitely a good option next time we’re looking for a new family laptop.
Yep, their phones have been getting the attention lately but their laptops have been gaining traction lately.