We find it difficult to recommend Huawei phones these days since they no longer have Google apps. But the laptop? That’s a different story altogether.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 shows that Huawei has become something of a master of laptop building. It feels and looks fantastic, has all the performance you’d expect in such a small and light package, a great screen and good speakers.
It accomplishes the difficult task of making an expensive laptop worth the money. And yes, it’s a lot of money but the MateBook X Pro 2021 also has 1TB of ultra-fast SSD storage and 16GB of RAM. You’ll pay a similar amount or even more in some cases for the closest products from other manufacturers.
Design
Some notebook manufacturers overshoot the mark a bit when it comes to their top-of-the-line laptops. They try out ambitious design ideas or try to be the thinnest, lightest or slimmest.
The MateBook X Pro 2021 is what you end up with when you stick to the basics. You see the same approach with laptops like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 and the Apple MacBook Pro 13.
The aluminum chassis feels fantastic and is virtually flex-free. We’re fans of the dark green hue. It’s bold without looking like Huawei is as keen for your attention as a reality TV star. There’s also a silver/gray version if you prefer a plainer look.
If you’ve taken a look at the 2020 version of the MateBook X Pro, you’ll notice that not too much has changed for the 2021 model. It’s very similar but that does not seem an issue when surely no normal person upgrades their laptop every year and this design’s slim screen borders make it appear up-to-date anyway.
Performance
It would be too much to call the MateBook X Pro 2021 a true-performance laptop. Like almost all its rivals, it has a low-voltage Intel processor designed to generate minimal heat so it can fit into these slim and light laptop shells.
However, Huawei does not do things by halves and only offers the best components that fit this mould – at least in the UK. You get an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, 1 TB SSD and 16GB of RAM. That’s the kind of spec you only find in the very best, lightest and slimmest laptops, often after you’ve made a series of expensive upgrades. That’s why the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is so expensive.
You get tons of storage for games, apps and the data junk that accumulates after months of using a PC. Not everyone needs 16 GB of RAM but it means you can be more carefree with the Huawei MateBook X Pro by opening way too many browser tabs and it will still run fine.
The MateBook X Pro 2021 makes remarkably little noise when loading the device with a CPU-heavy application or game. Its dual-fan system simply never makes a particularly distracting sound in our experience and the fans seem to not kick in often with regular light work either.
This laptop also has pretty good speakers. They are not the loudest in its class but they have real bass, which is lacking in most cheaper laptops and even some at this level. This low-frequency substance is the secret sauce to laptop speakers that are reasonably satisfactory for movies or music.
Battery Life
Huawei claims the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 should last between 10 and 11 hours varying whether you stream video or do simple productivity jobs.
The laptop lasts almost exactly 10 hours when you write documents and fiddle around a bit in the web browser. Do you want a laptop that lasts a long time when you are doing something much more demanding? Then a MacBook Air or Pro is the best choice because the processors in these laptops use much less power under pressure.
An AMD-based Windows 10 alternative usually lasts longer as well. But with 10 hours, we are delighted with Huawei’s endurance in practice. The charger is much smaller than most, shaped like a phone adapter rather than a separate power brick and plug.
Verdict
The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is a high-quality portable notebook that offers everything we are looking for when we spend a horrendous amount of money on a laptop.
The battery lasts for a whole workday, provided you don’t do anything too strenuous. The build quality is excellent, it’s a beauty and the screen is razor-sharp.
It’s a shame there isn’t a cheaper version with less than 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM but Huawei makes other laptops if you want to spend less.
This is a solid and successful notebook that does not lose sight of craftsmanship and quality.
Let us know in the comment section your opinion on the Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021.
