Huawei MateBook 14 hands-on: Familiar style, bigger screen
Huawei's MateBook 13 distilled some of the charm of the MateBook X Pro into a more affordable model last year, and now Huawei aims to do the same with the MateBook 14. Making its debut at Mobile World Congress 2019, the 14-inch notebook slots in-between Huawei's X and D series, with a handsome – if, ahem, MacBook reminiscent – sandblast-finish metal body with diamond-cut chamfers.
Lift the lid and you'll find Huawei's 14-inch 2K Full View display, a 2,160 x 1,440 LCD with a 90-percent screen to body ratio. It's a 3:2 aspect display – Huawei says that's more useful for office applications – with 300 nits brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and 100-percent sRGB color gamut.
It's also a touchscreen, protected with a sheet of Gorilla Glass. There's an eye-comfort mode that filters out blue light, and Huawei has put the 1-megapixel webcam in a pop-up housing on the keyboard so as to keep the bezels clean and add an extra sense of privacy.
Huawei MateBook 14 performance
Inside, there's a choice of an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor or a Core i5-8265U processor. Either way, you can have up to 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of SSD storage. The Core i7 model comes with NVIDIA GeForce MX 250 (25W) graphics with its own 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
The WiFi has been upgraded, now supporting up to 1,733 Mbps, and there's Bluetooth 5.0 as well. Ports include USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 on the right side of the notebook, and USB Type-C along with a full-sized HDMI port and a combo audio jack on the left side.
The power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, working with an independent security chip. You can store up to ten fingerprints. As for audio, there are dual speakers, but plug in compatible headphones and you get Dolby Atmos.
Battery and Dimensions
Like the MateBook X Pro (2019), Huawei has used a 57.4 Wh battery in the MateBook 14. That's rated for up to 15 hours of video or 14 hour of office apps, or indeed 10.5 hours of web browsing.
When it comes to charging, the 65W USB-C is super-compact. It can add up to 3 hours of use from 15 minutes plugged in; alternatively, it can deliver up to 9V, 2A for smartphone quick-charging. Non-PD devices get 5V, 2A.
The MateBook 14 measures in at 307.5 mm x 223.8 mm x 15.9 mm, and tips the scales at approximately 1.49 kg. It'll be offered in Space Gray, Mystic Silver, and Pink Gold.
Software and availability
Huawei isn't saving its new synchronization software just for the new MateBook X Pro. The MateBook 14 will also get the Huawei Share 3.0 app, allowing for your Huawei phone to quickly sync photos, videos, and documents simply by tapping it against the notebook's palm rest. OneHop file transfers and screen recordings are also supported, and the three-finger screenshot shortcut is included.
The MateBook 14 should go on sale in the US in late May or early June, Huawei says. Pricing is yet to be decided, though the fact that the MateBook 13 starts out at $999 should give some idea of the ballpark this newer, slightly larger model will likely fall into.
