Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 is even better than Huawei MateBook X Pro 2018. Huawei is a company that is usually associated with phones. That has changed with the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019, which produced quite a bit of noise in the crowded PC market. The webcam is hidden in the keyboard; we have never seen anything like it on laptops before. But Huawei does not end there.

MateBook X Pro saw the light again in 2019, with new Intel Whiskey Lake processors, a familiar 3: 2 aspect ratio and premium all-metal design. Along with a completely new, unprecedented MX250 video card, the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 has everything you need to become the best version of yourself. Before the Mobile World Congress exhibition, we spent a little time to sort through all the new Huawei flagship PCs.

Pros:

Comfortable keyboard and trackpad

One of the first laptops with MX250 graphics

Plenty of screen space without an ugly frame

Huawei Matebook X Pro 2019: Display

MacBook Pro comes with a 16:10 screen, scaling an image from side to side, while Surface Book 2 uses 3: 2 dimensions to increase the total screen area. Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 continues the trend.

And while this is not a significant novelty relative to the previous model, this is exactly what we liked about the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019. Opening multiple Microsoft Edge browsers on Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 allows you to get a complete picture of the network’s capabilities. Combined with a 13.9-inch screen and a resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels, you can be sure that the text on web pages will be clear and sharp, right down to the bottom of the screen.

According to Huawei, the amazing brightness can reach 450 nits. We didn’t even have to twist the brightness below 20 percent while browsing the web. This is the same display panel as last year, which is great, since the screen was the strongest side of the 2018 MateBook X Pro. For example, its impressive contrast ratio of 1240: 1, even close to the MacBook Pro, the leader in this field.

Huawei also promises a 91% screen to body ratio, which means the faceplates will be incredibly thin.

Opening the pages of the web browser, as well as some standard Windows 10 applications, we caught ourselves thinking that the screen was larger than its size.

Accurate measurements are not available, but visually, the effect is similar to what Dell is doing with the XPS 13.

The screen also supports touch input, which has not yet reached the MacBook Pro line.

It is firmly held by the hinge and does not swing much during insertion.

This model has a handy little function for recording screenshots.

Just swipe with three fingers at the top of the screen to take a screenshot, edit or record information from the screen.

We tried the function several times, each time it was performed correctly and without delay.

All this combined with Huawei Share 3.0, an application that makes your Android smartphone the best friend of a laptop.

And while we could not test it in our practical review of the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019, we saw a demonstration of the software. And everything looked perfect, but we were told that this function only works with Huawei phones. With one touch of the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 screen, photos are transferred between the MateBook and the phone. There is also a shared clipboard. The laptop supports NFC and looks like a synergy of MacOS and iOS, which you can see from your MacBook and iPhone.

Huawei Matebook X Pro 2019: Design

Drawing inspiration from the Apple MacBook line, the MateBook X Pro has a unique all-metal design. It comes in two colors, namely Space Gray and Mystic Silver. Huawei does not offer gold color, but the options available are very good. Laptops performed by “Space Gray” correspond to the name of the Apple color, but compared to the MateBook 13, the color is slightly darker. The metal is generally cool to the touch and appears smooth under the palm of a hand. Huawei even changed the signature on the cover; now the name of the company is reflected there, and not the logo.

Continuing to adopt parts of the MacBook Pro in the design of the MateBook X Pro – Huawei implements the keyboard and touchpad.

In comparison with the MateBook 13, the key caps protrude from the case, the upper part leaves a rather pleasant sensation and facilitates typing speed.

We opened the Microsoft Sticky notes to check the keyboard, and the 1.2 mm spacing between the keys means that there were almost no typos.

Fingers easily move from key to key, without sharp blows, a single and smooth experience.

The trackpad offers similar features and is quite spacious.

It is much larger than on other laptops with Windows, whereas its size is about the same as that of the MacBook touchpad.

Clicks help provide reliable feedback.

We should also mention the built-in fingerprint scanner above the keyboard in the power button, which allows you to quickly and easily log in to Windows Hello. Fortunately, even with a sleek all-metal design, Huawei did not have to compromise with the choice of ports. There is also support for Thunderbolt 3, so you can connect a 4K monitor, as well as an external graphics processor. It’s nice to see the presence of USB-A since with it you can use older peripheral devices.

Another important application Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 – the difference in performance with the transition to Whiskey Lake processors.

So far, we have seen them on many laptops, including the Dell XPS 13, which got about 8 percent performance in GeekBench 4 compared to the latest generation Intel chipset. If so, the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 can get a little faster than last year’s model with an Intel Core i7-8550U processor.

Despite the need to conduct additional tests in the full review of the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019, we expect some positive results from the new Intel Core i7-8565U. As part of a practical review, we opened 20 tabs in the Microsoft Edge, not marking any delays. YouTube and other media sites load just as fast. But Huawei has a trump card up its sleeve.

The manufacturer threw an unexpected surprise and updated the graphics processor to the Nvidia MX250 with 2 GB of video memory, against last year’s MX150.

We have not yet seen this Nvidia graphics chip on other laptops, so we did not have the opportunity to test graphics performance in games.

Huawei claims that the video card can be “3.5 times better” than integrated graphics, and about 5-10 percent faster than the MX150.

However, the MX150 is known for its rather modest gaming performance.

When we tested the card on MateBook 13, it squeezed 60 frames in Fortnite.

We will appreciate any improvements, as they will allow to consider the MateBook X Pro 2019 as an alternative to gaming laptops with more powerful video cards, such as the GTX 1050.

Along with the transition to Whiskey Lake, Huawei also reviewed the connectivity of MateBook X Pro 2019.

Compared to the nominal Wi-Fi speed of the MacBook Pro (867 MB / s), Huawei claims that the Wi-Fi of the laptop reaches a peak speed of 1733 MB / s.

It was difficult for us to estimate the speed during the practical review, but the numbers sound promising in a world where we are always connected to the Internet.

Huawei Matebook X Pro 2019: Web Camera

Finally, we cannot discuss Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 without mentioning a webcam. This is still the same camera as in the last generation, still hidden under the key in the function row. The way it is revealed is certainly new and helps to ensure confidentiality, but the camera loses in quality with the competing solutions of most notebooks. The camera angle is unsuccessful; it looks awkwardly at the fingers while typing. It’s even worse than the “nasal” camera that older XPS 13 laptops used.

Huawei has not yet disclosed the price tag of Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 but plans to release a laptop in May in the United States, therefore, in Russia, the laptop may come out a month earlier. Last year’s models in the Microsoft Store were estimated at $ 1,200 ($ 78,000 + VAT), so we expect the new model in 2019 at the same price.