We saw the MateBook X Pro 2022 for the first time at IFA: Huawei first told us about it, and then we could see and touch it. Using it continuously in everyday life was fantastic, given the excellent conditions. Will he be able to conquer us definitively?
Aesthetics And Materials
Lightweight, thin, and super premium to the touch: the matte finish holds some fingerprints but is fabulous. The perceived quality is very high, and no detail seems to be left to chance. The surface treatment is almost rubberized and gives a decidedly very high-end feeling, which is the price range of the product, of course. It does not look bad at all compared with the most ruthless competition. It is not a Huawei discovery in the IT field, but practice relating to the medium-high range of the market is never trivial. The company seems to have succeeded in total, with a refined but sober design and quality materials. The body is, in fact, in magnesium alloy.
Battery And Connectivity
During the presentation, one of the aspects touched by Huawei concerned the Wi-Fi network. The integrated network adapter supports the Wi-Fi 6E standard, and the antennas have been upgraded compared to the previous generation (which was already very good anyway). The result is excellent: the coverage is perfect, and the performance does not decline significantly when moving away, a sign of a great effort by Huawei to offer stable and fast connectivity. Bluetooth is also good, which does its job smoothly.
The autonomy, perhaps due to the somewhat energy-intensive display and probably also due to the mighty hardware sector, is not exceptional. On average, you can work with home office use for about 4.30 / 5, something less, of course, if you decide to use more resource-intensive applications (which you will want to do given the notebook’s power reserve), such as video editing software. Charging at 90W is very fast; you can fully set it for an hour. Displays, ports, and peripherals The display is – without too many words – fabulous: first of all, the aesthetic impact is remarkable, given the exceptional screen-to-body ratio, with petite frames. The resolution, which Huawei defines as 3K, is very high, and the image quality, thanks to the panel’s contrasts and colors, satisfies every point of view. Viewing angles are also very high.
The icing on the cake is 90 Hz, which helps to restore fluidity of use at the highest level. The brightness is also good, around 500 nits, and will allow you to use the Matebook outdoors (in this sense, Huawei has also affixed a surface layer that will reduce reflections and improve readability even in direct sunlight. Sun). The numbers also play in favor of what is probably the most beautiful screen that can be found, around 2000 euros, given that we have a very accurate calibration, the double color range P3 and sRGB, the dynamic management of the color temperature (which is an excellent way to define True Tone according to Huawei) and several colors that exceeds one billion.
The display is also a touch screen, but honestly, during use, I never felt the need. Maybe the touch is more suitable for 2 in 1 or 360 ° devices. Matebook X Pro 2022 is equipped with 2 Thunderbolt 4 and 2 Type C ports, in line with expectations. Charging takes place via type C (up to 90 W). The fingerprint, precise and reliable, is not lacking, as there are infrared sensors to use Windows Hello, even if the unlocking seemed slightly slower than average. Nothing to worry about. Present a multifunction 3.5 mm jack. Speaking of the audio sector, Huawei has surpassed itself: 6 speakers of excellent quality and four microphones capable of capturing excellent audio by impeccably suppressing background noise, especially when using the webcam for Zoom, Meet, Teams, and other conference software more or less numerous.
Speaking of webcams, once again, Huawei has amazed us: the quality is excellent, and as we said, the high-level audio, but it is also and above all on the software that we have the necessary confirmations. Beyond merely animated features, such as the beauty mode, we have some valuable pluses, such as the excellent management of the background (which is cut out in a precise way, within the limits of what a webcam allows) and the tracking of the subject (both with the centering and the pursuit of the gaze, always to return a raw image).
The touchpad is also very, very good, extensive, and precise. But it would be an understatement to talk about a touchpad since it integrates gestures borrowed from the mobile world, exact and easy-to-learn gestures in a few minutes to interact with the UI at best. You can take screenshots, close a window icon, record the screen simply by knocking with two knuckles, open notifications, manage multimedia content playback, and more since the touchpad will also perfectly hear the point of origin of the gesture, thus increasing interaction with the screen. The learning curve is “delicate,” so it won’t take long to familiarize yourself.
Software And Performance
Huawei has chosen Windows 11 Home rather than a more business-oriented version. In the end, it changes very little for the use for which this product is designed. Still, honestly, if you use it in a different context (also taking into account the incredible versatility of the notebook), we would have preferred Windows 11 Pro, upgrade however possible. On the other hand, the absence of too much pre-installed software is good, next to the Huawei suite, which is not only very useful but, if you have a Huawei tablet or smartphone, practically essential to have a complete and even more enjoyable experience.
Huawei’s suite doesn’t just ape the companion pre-installed in Windows; it’s an all-around integration with the other devices in the house. A true ecosystem. You can directly manage everything: we, unfortunately, did not have the tablet available, but we tasted what the suite has to offer with the excellent Mate XS 2, the foldable according to Huawei (a fantastic device). The productivity is remarkable, and the ease of connection too. Let’s not exaggerate if we compare this kind of integration to that obtainable at Apple (substantially the best to date). It’s all easy, fast, and very stable.
You will not just see smartphone notifications, but you can interact on multiple levels. You can also – for example – continue work started on another device, transfer files quickly, and manage calls and messages. It is also possible to open up to 3 applications on your smartphone within your PC. If you use a tablet, it will be possible to use it as a second screen by extending the desktop. Performance management is very high thanks to the Core i7-1260p; there is intelligent tuning. This is valuable, mainly if you perform less energy-intensive operations to maximize the battery’s performance, which, as we have said previously, is not exceptional. In this way, something is recovered.
If you have a compatible Huawei monitor with Super Device, you can connect the screen wirelessly via a Huawei proprietary protocol (called Cast +) designed to minimize latency. Finally, the application searches for nearby devices to speed up pairing, for example, between PC and keyboard, mouse and earphones, all very quickly. Here, quick: this is what we liked about Huawei’s intuitive and stable software. You will be productive without needing who knows what technical skill, which is not apparent (especially in a Windows environment).
AI Search is a function that may have passed on the sly but on which Huawei has focused a lot, so much so that it has dedicated a specific button to advanced research. It allows the indexing of contents between all connected mobile devices (including previews of the most popular file formats), thus universalizing the search within its ecosystem. The 16 GB of RAM is adequate for most of the tasks you will perform, and the space available is immense: there is a very fast 1 TB NVME (divided by the company into two partitions).
Price And Conclusions
We talked highly of this device, a premium product that almost thrilled us during use. Everything is in the right place and does the best that is asked of it, net of easy (or difficult) comparisons with products designed for other types of users (such as the high-end Dell, Lenovo, or HP) or with different ecosystems (Macbook ). He does not look bad with any of these, even if not everything has perhaps been thought of at best (see the choice of Windows 11 Home).
Matebook X Pro 2022 costs 2199 euros on the official store: there are many, perhaps too many, especially taking into account that this time (at least for now), there are no bundles that help calm the perception of spending. Indeed on the road, the price will perhaps approach 1500 euros, a figure we consider appropriate for this little jewel from Huawei. Believe us, having to return it was painful!
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