Huawei MateBook X review

Performance and benchmarks

The spec for the MateBook X is largely the same as other flagship Ultrabooks on the market right now, but we didn't get sent the top version of the MateBook X as there's also an Intel Core i7 version of the laptop up for sale.

In our usage, we didn't find there to be much use for the extra processing power but you may want to opt for it if you're planning to use this for intensive tasks such as gaming.

With everyday tasks such as word processing, internet browsing and watching video we found the MateBook X to have excellent performance.

Programs load quickly without any further input after you've opened them up and we found it to work as quickly as most other best laptops on the market right now. 

In our benchmarking tests for the MateBook X, we found it to get a single core score of 3741 within Geekbench 4. In our battery test we found the MateBook X to last for 10.5 hours at 50% screen brightness while playing video.

Features

Huawei has partnered with Dolby to include the best audio experience possible on the MateBook X and it makes a major difference compared to other laptops on the market.

It's called Dolby Atmos Sound System and you will notice the difference here. Dolby have been allowed to fiddle with the placement of the speaker drivers
 and include software that makes audio stunning when watching video on the MateBook X.

This is a go-to laptop if you want to use it for listening to music or watching movies, but considering how you may be using headphones with your laptop at most points it may not affect you much.

There's also a fingerprint scanner built-in to the MateBook X. It's part of the power button at the top right of the keyboard and is simple to setup and easy to log-in with. 

It should mean your details will be more secure than just using a password, and it works at a light touch so you won't find yourself accidentally turning off the laptop either.

We liked

The design of the MateBook X is a particular highlight and rivals anything else on the market right now. The lightweight and thin design looks gorgeous while being one of the most portable options on the market right now.

We have similar feelings on the screen as well. In a market that's trying to increase the resolution on your screen, we prefer the QHD option here that is bright and great for consuming media.

Plus watching films without headphones on this laptop is a great experience thanks to the input from Dolby. It changes the way everything sounds on your laptop and means you may not have to listen to it as loud as on your current computing option.

We disliked

Not everything is perfect on the MateBook X. If you're looking for a laptop with great battery life, this isn't going to suit you perfectly.

Running at 50% brightness, we found the laptop to last for around eight hours but if you want to have the screen up a little higher you're going to be looking at around four hours from a single charge, which isn't particularly great and is the price you pay for having such a slimline laptop choice.

The price of the MateBook X is also particularly high and we had hoped Huawei would opt for a slightly lower price to try and entice users who wouldn't have heard of the Chinese company before.

Final verdict

You may be nervous to buy the MateBook X considering the manufacturer hasn't dabbled in the computing space much before, but Huawei has succeeded in its first attempt. This device is sleek, offers everything you'd expect for an enjoyable experience and has a similar price to competitors on the market.

In some ways this seems to be one of the best laptops on the market right now.

Whether it will suit you perfectly is still up for debate though as it's not built for everyone right now and there's a hefty price tag here too. If you don't mind spending quite a bit of money on the MateBook X, you will like this Huawei device and it should be able to handle all of your computing needs.