At a look
Professional’s Score
Professionals
- Stunning, light-weight design
- Nice keyboard & trackpad
- Stable efficiency
- Quick charging
Cons
- No discrete GPU
- Below-par battery life
- No USB-A
Our Verdict
The MateBook X Professional’s second 2022 revision doesn’t change a lot, however a soar to Twelfth-gen Intel chips and a lighter magnesium alloy construct are sufficient to make an incredible laptop computer even higher. It’s not fairly good – we nonetheless miss the right USB port, and rivals have higher battery – nevertheless it’s fairly darn shut.
Value When Reviewed
Not accessible within the US
Huawei has already up to date its flagship MateBook X Professional as soon as for 2022, nevertheless it’s again once more with a second refresh to incorporate extra highly effective 12th-gen Intel chips together with a brand new, lighter design.
Not a lot else has modified, however for the reason that final era earned 4.5 stars and a coveted Editor’s Alternative Award from us simply six months in the past, a lighter and sooner model feels like no dangerous factor.
Design & construct
- Comfortable-touch magnesium alloy
- Slim and glossy
- Solely USB-C ports
By way of its dimensions and particulars, Huawei hasn’t modified the MateBook X Professional in any respect since its final iteration. That is nonetheless a slim, glossy laptop computer with an expansive trackpad, skinny bezel across the show, and premium design.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
It as soon as once more options 4 USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack, with no signal of USB-A, HDMI, or an SD card slot – good for minimalists, a bit annoying for these of us with peripherals and dongles to hold round.
There have been adjustments although. For one there’s the color: the earlier glorious Emerald Inexperienced has sadly been retired, however I’m virtually as massive a fan of the deep Ink Blue this time round. That’s the one color on supply within the UK, although you’ll discover White and House Gray fashions elsewhere.
There’s additionally the end. Whereas the gray model makes use of the identical aluminium alloy as earlier than, the blue and white fashions are constructed from a lighter magnesium alloy, dropping the laptop computer’s weight from 1.38kg all the way down to 1.26kg.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
That new alloy is then completed with a “micro-arc oxidation coating.” I couldn’t presumably inform you what meaning, however the finish result’s a easy, matt end that doesn’t really feel like metallic. As a substitute it’s virtually smooth and satin-y to the contact. I’m a fan, however suspect it may very well be divisive – chances are you’ll discover it feels too just like plastic to suit the invoice on a laptop computer at this premium value.
Keyboard, trackpad & webcam
- Snug, edge-to-edge keyboard
- Expansive haptic trackpad with gesture controls
- 720p webcam in show bezel
Huawei has just about all the time delivered glorious keyboards in its laptops, and that is no exception. Spanning virtually from edge to edge, this can be a full-scale board with a very comfy, responsive typing motion and a two-stage backlight choice.
The trackpad is simply as spectacular, however actually extra attention-grabbing. For one factor, it’s massive, increasing all the best way to the underside fringe of the laptop computer. That offers you loads of room to scroll, and appears sharp too.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
As is the vogue lately, this can be a haptic trackpad, which Huawei has used to allow quite a lot of new shortcuts full with vibrational suggestions. You’ll be able to swipe up and down both edge to regulate quantity or show brightness, double-tap along with your knuckles to take screenshots or display screen file, and press into the corners to attenuate or shut your home windows.
That is all stuff you are able to do elsewhere after all, largely together with with keyboard shortcuts, nevertheless it’s all the time helpful to have further choices, particularly with the welcome haptic buzz the trackpad gives for suggestions. You’ll be able to flip every of them off individually too, in case there are any you end up triggering by mistake.
Lastly, the webcam is a straightforward 720p quantity sitting within the high bezel above the show. Huawei has lengthy since moved on from secret webcams hidden underneath faux keys, and this extra conventional webcam is actually in a superior place. High quality is okay, however nothing to get enthusiastic about – it’s ok for Zoom although.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
You get one further button past the keyboard: an influence button within the top-right, which additionally doubles as a fingerprint reader. The webcam consists of IR tech for Home windows Whats up facial recognition as effectively, providing you with a few biometric choices.
Display screen & audio system
- 14.2in 90Hz LCD touchscreen
- 3:2 facet ratio
- Highly effective audio system
Huawei continues to withstand the pull in direction of OLED shows, nonetheless utilizing LTPS LCD panels as a substitute.
Don’t maintain that towards the MateBook X Professional although – this is a superb show panel, and higher than many OLEDs. You’ll be able to count on spectacular viewing angles, a wealthy 3K decision, and strong distinction – and it’s a touchscreen too.
Color vary stays nice when measured with our utilizing a Spyder X colorimeter, with 100% sRGB protection backed up by 97% DCI-P3 and 88% AdobeRGB, which ought to be sufficient to fulfill anybody besides the fussiest {of professional} color graders.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
You additionally get a pair extra uncommon advantages. One is assist for a sooner 90Hz refresh price – nice for gaming, and for easy, fluid animations the remainder of time. It’s not as massive a bonus on a laptop computer because it typically is on smartphones or gaming screens related to high-end desktops, nevertheless it’s a welcome perk.
There’s additionally the boxy, squared off 3:2 facet ratio. This nets you some further vertical display screen actual property, good for productiveness – albeit not so effectively suited to Netflix and the like.
At the least while you’re streaming your reveals you’ll get highly effective audio system. The six audio system on board listed below are crisp, clear, and might even ship a little bit of bass. Throw in 4 microphones and also you’ve acquired a reasonably potent setup for calls even with out a headset too.
Specs & efficiency
- 12th-gen Intel i7 processor
- No discrete GPU choice
- 16GB RAM and 1TB storage
The worldwide launch of the MateBook X Professional is available in a single setup, which a minimum of retains issues easy. You’ll get an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a beneficiant 1TB of storage.
The processor is the 12th-gen Core i7-1260P – chipset lovers might discover the brand new ‘P’ suffix, meant to mark chips that sit someplace between the fanatic stage H-series and the efficiency-focussed U-series. Basically, it means that is meant to be a Goldilocks chip, delivering energy whereas nonetheless squeezing into compact kind elements.
Along with the spectacular RAM and storage allocations, you get loads of energy for productiveness on the go. I’ve used the MateBook X Professional for web-based work, video calls, and light-weight picture enhancing in Photoshop and Lightroom, normally with a number of apps and an array of Chrome tabs working concurrently, with out hitting bother.
Benchmarks are strong, although curiously this lags behind its predecessor – maybe all the way down to the truth that this 12 months’s chip runs at a barely decrease wattage than the Eleventh-gen model. Nonetheless, efficiency is spectacular by any measure, broadly preserving tempo with different top-tier units.
The shortage of a discrete GPU might bottleneck the X Professional in the case of sure use instances like critical video enhancing, however in need of that there’s loads of efficiency on supply right here. Intel’s Xe graphics are additionally a lot better than they was, so this may maintain its personal in a pinch.
The shortage of GPU can also be offset just a little by the truth that two of the 4 USB-C ports assist Thunderbolt 4, providing you with the choice of working an eGPU if mandatory. Wi-fi connectivity consists of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, in order that’s high notch too.
Battery & charging
- All-day battery life
- Extraordinarily quick 90W charging
Huawei’s high-end laptops haven’t all the time delivered the great in the case of battery life, however for essentially the most half the X Professional 2022 has held up okay.
There’s sufficient energy right here to final a full day of sunshine work, although it gained’t go a lot past that. The 11 hours it lasted in our continuous video playback battery check falls just a little in need of the competitors although, so this stays one space the place you most likely can discover longer life elsewhere, although Huawei’s providing is nearly ok.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
What helps is that Huawei leads the best way in charging. The X Professional ships with a 90W USB-C charger (good on your cellphone, too) which was highly effective sufficient to revive 57% of the laptop computer’s battery in simply half-hour throughout my testing – an distinctive outcome for a laptop computer.
Even higher, Huawei has enabled charging on all 4 of the laptop computer’s USB-C ports, so it doesn’t matter what else you’ve acquired plugged in or which aspect of you the ability socket is.
Software program & options
- Home windows 11
- Further options with different Huawei units
The MateBook X Professional ships with Home windows 11 as normal. And in case you’re worrying that, like Huawei’s telephones, this can be compromised ultimately, don’t be: that is the complete, common Home windows 11 expertise with no limits. It even runs Google software program.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
It really comes with just a little further in addition to. Huawei, like each main tech firm in 2022, is bullish about its {hardware} ecosystem. With that in thoughts, its laptops are designed to work easily with different bits of Huawei package.
Which means you possibly can wi-fi connect with a Huawei monitor, seamlessly share information from a Huawei pill, and even remotely management a Huawei cellphone inside a window on the pc display screen.
How helpful all that’s clearly will depend on whether or not you personal different Huawei package – or suppose you may sooner or later. Whereas the corporate’s telephones are at the moment restricted, with out 5G or Google software program assist, Huawei tablets, wearables, and screens are largely glorious, so it’s a minimum of one thing it’s best to bear in mind.
Value & availability
The MateBook X Professional is on the market now within the UK, Europe, and choose different markets.
You should purchase it straight from Huawei, or from Amazon and another tech retailers, and it’ll price you £1,799/€2,199.
That’s actually a premium value, however this can be a premium product. It prices lower than any comparably specced MacBook (Air or Professional), and about the identical as a Dell XPS 13 Plus kitted out the identical manner. You’ll be able to’t say a lot fairer than that.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
For extra choices, ensure that to take a look at our rating of the most effective laptops round proper now.
Verdict
The MateBook X Professional has all the time been an incredible piece of package, and this late 2022 replace is not any totally different.
Huawei hasn’t messed with the components an excessive amount of, however the brand new, lighter magnesium alloy is actually a welcome addition, and I’m a fan of the smooth contact end even when I think not everybody will probably be.
The additional energy afforded by the 12th-gen Intel chips helps maintain this aggressive, and the remainder of the package deal is nearly as good because it’s ever been: glossy, easy, and an actual pleasure to make use of. We simply miss the USB-A ports.
In the event you can afford to spend this a lot in your subsequent laptop computer, the MateBook X Professional is certainly one of only a few fashions try to be severely contemplating.
Specs
- Home windows 11 Dwelling
- 14.2in 3120×2080 LTPS touchscreen, 264ppi, 90Hz
- Intel Core i7-1260P processor
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 1TB SSD storage
- 720p webcam with Home windows Whats up
- 4x USB-C (information, charging, DisplayPort, 2x Thunderbolt 4)
- Headphone jack
- Fingerprint Energy Button 2.0
- Twin-band Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Six audio system
- 4 microphones
- 60Wh battery
- 90W charger
- 310x221x15.6mm
- 1.26/1.38kg
- House Gray, White, or Ink Blue