The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro is a premium ultra-light laptop, targeted at the discerning business user and professional content creators.
While HUAWEI doesn’t come right out to say it, it seems squarely designed to offer a cheaper and better Windows 10 alternative to the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro.
Let’s take a close look at the new HUAWEI MateBook X Pro, and see how it bests the much-vaunted 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro!
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Specifications
First, let’s take a look at the specifications of our review sample, which is the top-of-the-line model :
| Specifications | HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (2020) |
| Display | 13.9-inch LTPS touchscreen display – 3000 x 2000 pixels, 260 ppi – 450 nits maximum brightness – 100% sRGB, 1500:1 contrast ratio – 10-point touch, anti-fingerprint coating – Corning Gorilla Glass protection |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-10510U – 4 cores, 8 threads – 1.8 GHz base clock, 4.9 GHz boost clock – 1 MB L2 cache, 8 MB L3 cache |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce MX250 (2 GB GDDR5) |
| Memory | 16 GB LPDDR3-2133 |
| Storage | 1 TB PCIe SSD (Samsung MZVVLB1T0HBLR) |
| Connectivity | Intel Wireless-AC 9560 – WiFi-AC (2×2 MIMO, 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz) – Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Camera | 1 MP front camera (720p) |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes, integrated into Power button |
| Ports | 1 x 3.5 mm stereo jack 1 x USB-A port (USB 3.0, 10 W max) 1 x USB-C port (USB 3.1, 10 W max) 1 x USB-C port (15 W max) |
| Audio | 4 x digital microphones 4 x speakers |
| Battery | 56 Whr Lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 65W HUAWEI USB-C power adaptor |
| Dimensions | 304 mm wide 217 mm deep 14.6 mm thick |
| Weight | 1.33 kg |
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Price + Deal!
HUAWEI is offering the 2020 MateBook X Pro in two colour options – Space Grey and Emerald Green.
Here in Malaysia, only one variant will be available for sale starting 16 May 2020 :
- Core i7, MX250, 16GB, 1TB : RM 7,999 / ~US$1,845 / ~£1,495 / ~A$2,843 / ~S$2,615
Every purchase will come with these free gifts :
- HUAWEI Sound X Bluetooth speaker
- HUAWEI Bluetooth Mouse
- HUAWEI Backpack
- HUAWEI Band 4
Here are online purchase options in various countries :
- Malaysia : Core i7-10510U
- Singapore : Core i5-10210U | Core i7-10510U
- United Kingdom : Core i5-10210U | Core i7-10510U
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Unboxing
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) came to us in a large brown box, but that’s just the shipping box. Inside is the actual white retail box, which is what you will find in a retail store.
Once you fully unbox it, this is what you will find inside :
- HUAWEI MateBook X Pro laptop
- HUAWEI MateDock 2 dongle
- HUAWEI MateBook X Pro documents
- HUAWEI USB-C Charger (65W) + USB-C power cable
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Hands-On Experience!
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) is a compact, premium ultra-light laptop, that packs the very best that HUAWEI has to offer.
Display
Despite its larger 13.9-inch display – the 2020 MateBook X Pro is slightly smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, thanks to its narrow bezels which gives it an incredible 91% screen-to-body ratio.
In addition, this is a 10-point touchscreen display, with a higher resolution of 3000 x 2000 pixels, and 100% sRGB colour gamut.
The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, and an anti-fingerprint coating – helping to keep it scratch-free and smudge-free.
Build Quality
Thanks to its CNC-machined metal unibody, it is only 14.6 mm thick and weighs just 1.33 kg – making it thinner and lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
HUAWEI also gave it a sandblasted finish for that premium look and feel. We are also glad to note that the finish is smear-resistant.
Keyboard + Touchpad
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) comes with a full-size keyboard with back-lit chiclet keys that are 16 mm in size.
Its multi-touch touchpad is large for a Windows 10 laptop, measuring 12 cm x 7.7 cm (4.7″ x 3″) – almost as large as the Force Touch trackpad on the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Naturally, it doesn’t have a Touch Bar and that’s just fine because it gets hot at the strip above the keyboard. Precisely where the Touch Bar is on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and precisely why that’s such a stupid idea.
Next Page > 2020 MateBook X Pro : A Closer Look!
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2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : A Closer Look!
Available Ports
Like all ultra-thin laptops, the 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) lacks ports. On the left side, you will find a 3.5 mm audio jack, and two USB Type C ports.
The USB Type C port with the charging icon is a USB 3.1 port with a maximum power output of 10 watts. The other USB Type C port has a higher power output of 15 watts.
They both support 40 Mbps transfer rates, and DisplayPort output, and double as the MateBook X Pro’s charging port.
On the right side, you will find a single USB 3.0 Type A port. It would have been nice if HUAWEI added a third USB Type C port here, but we cannot underscore how important it is to have this Type A port.
Many of us still have many USB Type A devices – thumb drives, portable drives, mouse, etc. so having even a single USB Type A port would let you use them without resorting to a dongle.
Dongle
That brings us to the next point – . The lack of ports on ultra-light laptops virtually require you to purchase a USB Type C dongle.
Fortunately, HUAWEI includes their MateDock 2 dongle with the 2020 MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK), which offers these ports :
- USB Type A : supports USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 drives
- USB Type C : supports USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 drives
- HDMI 2.0 : supports video resolution up to 3840 x 2160 (30 Hz) or 2160 x 1440 (60 Hz)
- VGA : supports WUXGA resolution up to 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Recommended : HUAWEI MateDock 2 : A Nifty Little USB-C Dongle!
Pop-Up Camera
HUAWEI was able to squeeze in the large 13.9-inch display into a form factor smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Pro because they used extremely thin bezels.
Unfortunately, this meant displacing the camera, which is usually hidden in the top bezel of the display.
They opted to hide the 720p camera and an LED light under a special camera key on the keyboard. It pops-up when you press on it, and pressing it again hides it.
This is a great security measure because the camera is physically blocked until you actually need to use it – no hacker will be able to surreptitiously use it to take your photos or videos!
There is only one problem with such a design – it takes photos and videos at an unflattering upward angle. You will also always appear to look upwards on video conferences, and videos that you record.
Fingerprint Sensor
It may not seem obvious, but the 2020 MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) comes with a Goodix fingerprint sensor built into the Power button, located on the upper right edge of the keyboard.
This is a useful feature for those on-the-go, because it lets you login without keying your password in public.
Quad Speakers + Microphones
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) comes with four speakers offering both tweeters for clear treble, and woofers for deep, resonant bass.
It also comes with quad microphones, which not only offer 360° sound reception up to 4 meters away, but also noise cancelling capabilities.
HUAWEI Share Multi-Screen Collaboration
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) supports HUAWEI Share for multi-screen collaboration.
It basically lets you connect your smartphone, and use it directly on the MateBook X Pro!
You can control the apps and files on your phone directly on the laptop, even drag and drop files!
The only downside? It is limited to HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones with NFC.
HUAWEI MeeTime
The 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) also supports HUAWEI MeeTime, which is their version of Apple FaceTime – a free, proprietary video call service.
It offers some advantages over its competitors – FaceTime, WhatsApp, etc. but can only be used by HUAWEI devices.
Recommended : MeeTime : Free Voice + Video Calls On HUAWEI Devices!
Next Page > 2020 MateBook X Pro : Performance | Verdict
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2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Performance
Our 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) came powered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10510U processor, which is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a 1.8 GHz clock speed that ramps up to 4.9 GHz during intensive tasks.
The processor has Intel UHD Graphics built-in, but can switch to the NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics (with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory) for more strenuous graphics demands.
Our unit came with 16 GB of LPDDR3 memory, and a 1 TB Samsung PCIe SSD. Keeping all that powered is a large 56 Whr lithium-ion polymer battery.
Work Performance : PCMark 10
The Intel Core i7-10510U processor was powerful, delivering high scores in PCMark 10.
It is, frankly, overkill for basic work applications, but will be very helpful in tackling compute-intensive tasks, like rendering videos.
Gaming Performance : 3DMark Time Spy
The NVIDIA GeForce MX250 is entry-level mobile graphics, and it shows – it’s slightly slower than a desktop GeForce GT 130.
That means it will be good enough for esports gaming, at the lower 1080p resolution with lower quality settings.
Battery Life : YouTube + Modern Office
HUAWEI claimed 13 hours of video playback, albeit with the display set to 150 nits (⅓ of max brightness).
YouTube Screen-On Time
We locked the brightness at 50% and streamed YouTube videos in theatre mode using WiFi.
The 2020 MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) lasted 9 hours 11 minutes before its battery dropped to 10%.
PCMark 10 : Modern Office
With the brightness locked at 50%, we then ran PCMark 10’s Modern Office benchmark until it powered off.
The 2020 MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) lasted 7 hours 40 minutes before its battery dropped to 3%.
Battery : Recharging Speed
Its recharging time was even better, especially up to the 90% point. Here are the times it takes to recharge from 10% :
- 25% : 12 minutes
- 30% : 16 minutes
- 50% : 31 minutes
- 60% : 39 minutes
- 75% : 52 minutes
- 90% : 72 minutes
- 95% : 84 minutes
- 100% : 121 minutes
Its 65W fast charger takes about 35 minutes to hit mid-point, but 2 hours 1 minute to fully recharge its battery.
That gives it a battery life : recharging time ratio of 4.6:1 for video streaming, and 3.8:1 for office work.
As a rule of thumb, you will need to recharge its battery about 16 minutes for every hour of battery life.
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Verdict + Award
Despite its innocuous looks, the 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) is truly an ultra-light beast.
It is smaller and lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and yet boasts a touchscreen display that is larger and offers a higher 3K resolution!
On top of that, it comes with a powerful quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, with NVIDIA GeForce MX250 mobile graphics, 16 GB LPDDR3 memory and a spacious 1TB PCIe SSD.
Its large 56 Whr battery lasts a phenomenal 9 hours 11 minutes in our test, and recharges in just 2 hours. That means you can really be on-the-go all-day with this ultra-light laptop.
That said, 2020 MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) is not a gaming machine. The GeForce MX250 will handle games like Civilizations VI and Dota 2 just fine, but don’t expect it to take on Red Dead Redemption 2!
And if you are expecting more ports, then it’s not for you. You have to learn to live with two USB Type C port – one of which you will need to use to recharge the laptop!
But the good news is unlike most ultra-light laptops, the MateBook X Pro comes with one USB Type A port, and a MateDock 2 dongle. That gives you great flexibility, right out of the box.
Now, the biggest impediment for many people would be its price. Like other premium ultra-light laptops, the 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) costs a pretty penny.
There are really no two ways about it. It is expensive to make super-thin, ultra-light laptop computers that are this powerful. Especially one with a large, 3K touchscreen.
The truth is – the 2020 MateBook X Pro offers great performance and features in a really light and compact form factor, and it is at least 20% cheaper than a comparable 13-inch MacBook Pro!
For those reasons, we believe the 2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro (MY|SG|UK) deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, HUAWEI!
2020 HUAWEI MateBook X Pro : Price + Deal!
HUAWEI is offering the 2020 MateBook X Pro in two colour options – Space Grey and Emerald Green.
Here in Malaysia, only one variant will be available for sale starting 16 May 2020 :
- Core i7, MX250, 16GB, 1TB : RM 7,999 / ~US$1,845 / ~£1,495 / ~A$2,843 / ~S$2,615
Every purchase will come with these free gifts :
- HUAWEI Sound X Bluetooth speaker
- HUAWEI Bluetooth Mouse
- HUAWEI Backpack
- HUAWEI Band 4
Here are online purchase options in various countries :
- Malaysia : Core i7-10510U
- Singapore : Core i5-10210U | Core i7-10510U
- United Kingdom : Core i5-10210U | Core i7-10510U
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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!