The Huawei Matebook X Pro in the test

Huawei has already shaken up the smartphone market. The Chinese did not score as quickly with the laptops. Can the new MateBook Pro X convince?

Berlin (dpa / tmn) - This notebook is an eye-catcher: the sandblasted metal case of the Huawei Matebook X Pro in the shimmering color Emerald Green cannot be easily confused with devices from other manufacturers.

As a buyer, the Chinese high-tech group has an eye on people who want to work with the mobile computer above all.

The almost borderless 3K display of the Matebook X Pro therefore has an aspect ratio of 3: 2 with a diagonal of 13.9 inches - ideal for working with a text editor, a spreadsheet or a presentation program.

The new mobile computer is also well suited for photo editing: The display covers 100 percent of the RGB color space and offers a native resolution of 3000 by 2000 pixels. The screen is touch-sensitive and offers ten-point multi-touch. The display's brightness was also convincing in the test. Huawei mentions a value of 450 nits, we were able to measure over 500 nits.

Easy cross-country skier

Huawei relies on the latest products from Intel and Nvidia for the interior: Customers can choose between an Intel Core i5 or the Intel Core i7-10510U as a processor. It is supported by 16 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and - if required - a dedicated graphics card Nvidia GeForce MX250 with 2 GB of its own VRAM. With the SSD drive you choose between 512 GB and one terabyte of storage.

Huawei promises an average battery life of up to 15 hours. This also coincides with the experience from the test. Also positive: the 65 watt power supply weighs only 156 grams. Together with the 14.6 mm thin MateBook X Pro with its 1.33 kg, the entire equipment does not even weigh 1.5 kg.

The Matebook X Pro offers three equally interesting innovations. First, an on-off switch that is also a fingerprint sensor. Second: The retractable webcam placed in the top row between function keys F6 and F7. The pop-up camera can be extended and retracted at the touch of a finger.

Webcam films diagonally from below

It is designed to protect privacy because the camera can never transmit images when it is submerged. However, the low position also means that in a video conference you are optically somewhat unfavorably filmed not at eye level, but from diagonally below. And if you type on the keyboard with the Matebook Pro X during the video chat, you cover your face with your fingers.

The third innovation was about Huawei to counter the extremely convenient Airdrop file transfer method from the Apple universe. With Huawei Share, a connection between smartphone and notebook can be established at lightning speed thanks to NFC.

At Huawei, however, the function goes beyond the simple transfer of files - for example, the transfer of photos from the smartphone to the laptop: With Huawei Share, you can view the smartphone yourself live on the screen of the Matebook and also control it from there.

Just don't remove the NFC sticker

In order for Huawei Share to run on the basis of NFC, however, you have to accept a small optical shortcoming: a sticker with the inscription "Huawei Share", which also contains the NFC chip itself. It is better not to remove this sticker.

Although Huawei is now on the "black list" of its latest smartphones in the US trade war with China and is no longer being supplied with Google services for Android, for example, the Matebook has so far had no disadvantageous consequences. Windows 10 Home from Microsoft runs on the computer.

The most important chips on the computer also come from US companies. However, the company has not yet made a formal "promise of the future" as Huawei made for the future security of its Android smartphones for the Matebook family. This leaves a small question mark in the room.

The Huawei MateBook X Pro with the Intel CPU i7-10510U (16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD) and the GPU from Nvidia (GeForce MX250) are available in the colors Space Gray and Emerald Green for 1899 euros. The variant with an Intel i5-10210U, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and the Nvidia GeForce MX250 is only available in space gray for 1599 euros.