To say that Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is a work of art is almost an understatement. From the narrow bezel on the 13.9-inch 3:2, 3K, 450nits/1500:1 contrast LTPS monitor to the beveled edge, space gray, CNC aluminum body with four speakers, it is pleasing to the eye.

This is a good thing, because Huawei has always been loyal to the MateBook X Pro formula, and it attracted me deeply in 2019 and 2020-it is an almost perfect laptop.

Huawei may have participated in the 5G war between the United States and Australia, but the device is not one of them. It is Windows 10 Pro (upgradeable to Windows 11), mainly based on the Intel i7-1165G7 of the Intel reference design.

However, due to certain restrictions, it cannot be called Intel Evo (in any case), nor can it claim to be Thunderbolt 4 (ibid.).

Huawei has a PC Butler App, which can automatically update the device. If you allow it, it will collect PII. This is not worse than many brands that want to establish a direct relationship with users.

Although it is worth a lot of sales, the lack of physical retail stores and Sydney-centric support may limit its appeal.

It is a further evolution of MateBook X Pro 2019 and 2020, which is not a bad thing at all. Because Huawei got it right the first time, the annual update is mainly focused on processors, memory and storage.

The key factor here is the 3:2 format, a very beautiful bright screen, which is perfect for productivity. For shopping, compare it with Dell XPS 13, Asus ZenBook 13, Lenovo 82FG. All great laptops, but in a leading position in certain areas.

It is a 13.9-inch 3:2, 3K, 3000 x 2000, 260ppi, 450nits/1500:1 contrast ratio, 16.7m color, 10-point touch, 100% sRGB, 60Hz IPS display. The lid opens to 150°. It has a slight luster to the screen, but the reflectivity is not high.

This is a Tianma model TLX1388​​, which is different from the Japan Display Inc model used in the 2019 and 2020 models. Nevertheless, its performance is quite good, the color and brightness are very good and uniform.

The test confirmed the specifications to a large extent, but the color gamut has declined

In short it is an excellent screen.

On the main power supply with 100% load, you can hear the fan whine slightly, but the CPU temperature remains at about 65°. When using the battery, it will immediately throttle to 80% under load, and the battery life will be shortened to about 2 hours with the screen turned on.

Compared with other i7-1165G7 devices, Huawei seems to have lowered the overall throttle threshold in terms of thermal management. This does not apply to long-term 100% loads.

We tested it with a pluggable Thunderbolt 3 with 60W mainframe charging function and a USB-C dual display docking station, but any docking station based on Intel Titan Ridge can be used. It supports 2 x 4K@60Hz displays and multiple USB-A and C ports. This still leaves a TB4 port, and you can connect another pluggable cradle or USB-C cradle.

Huawei said it can upgrade to Windows 11, but it has not yet shown an upgrade message. We ran a Windows 11 PC health check, which is compatible with the hardware.

It supports Windows Hello fingerprint (Goodix) on the power button, but does not support infrared face detection.

It has a 56Wh Desay AP16L5J battery. Huawei claims (150nits) 11 hours of network, 10 hours of video and 11 hours of office work. Fast charging can be used for 4 hours in 30 minutes.

The charger is PD 2.0 9V/2A/18W, 12V/2A/24W, 12V/3A/36W, 20V/3.25A/65W. It uses 60-65W about 35% of the power for fast charging, and then gradually reduces the wattage to prevent thermal problems. Except for the initial fast charging, its average power is 40-50W.

For typical use, our best estimate is 10 hours.

The two-pin charger provided with the evaluation unit is not certified by RCM C-Tick, so it is illegal to use it in Australia. Make sure you get the correct certified AU charger. Since the notebook is a DC device, it does not require certification.

It is backlit, automatic on/off (level 1). Unlike the 2020 model with 1.2mm travel and 60g activation, it is closer to <1mm and 30g-typing is not pleasant. Designers need to pay more attention to throwing, driving, tactile and auditory feedback, because this is the key to inputting information into the PC.

The Fasttouch trackpad is 12 x 78 mm, smooth and accurate. But a lighter touch may mean an accidental click. You can make adjustments in the app.

It is the same pop-up 720p@30fps camera between F6-7. The video is very "noisy". Great for privacy, but murder on double chin, aka nose cam. Good idea, but the implementation is flawed.

There are two far-field (5m) front deck microphones with certain noise reduction capabilities-reduced from four (4m) in 2020.

It is Stereo 2.0, using four speakers and a simple frequency conversion to handle the bass/midrange in one pair and the treble in the other pair. Its maximum volume is 80dB (good), and the left/right separation is good.

But the sound, because I want a better word, is messy. We use a white noise generator to find the original sound characteristics. On what this means, here is a good read.

There are no low, medium (<100Hz) and few high and low sounds (<200Hz). This means there is no "charm". The sound starts at 200Hz (medium-low), but is uncontrolled in the peak and strong tone of 10kHz, and then drops to 20kHz.

In short, it lacks any important definable "features"—sound characteristics between midrange and bright vocals to achieve clear dialogue.

The messy character extends to wired and BT headsets.

The 2019 version has Dolby audio, which sounds great. Due to the US entity list, the 2020 version loses this, and it has medium characteristics (although you can sideload the DynamicIQ app to enhance bass).

As far as we know, the standard Realtek (Intel) SST sound system will be used in 2021, and the Nahimic Senary driver and application will be superimposed. There are presets for music, movies, communications, and games, and frankly, we don’t like it.

It cannot add local features, but it will produce a false psychoacoustic surround sound. Please note that this is currently not compatible with Windows 11. It is better for Huawei to only use Intel Realtek drivers.

304 x 217 x 14.6mm x 1.33g plus charger. It has a metal sandblasted "touch" finish and diamond cut edges-well made.

You can easily replace the SSD. The price of the battery NHWHB4593R1ECW22A56WHB4 on the merchant's website is about $100.

Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 is a very "Apple style" space gray design, which has attracted its main market. Since the original version in 2019, I have been salivating-call me Shallow Hal.

Therefore, in terms of hardware, it is an excellent Windows 10 Pro ultra-light laptop equipped with Thunderbolt 4 (sorry not to call it that).

This is a Windows device, so we will not compare it with Apple MacBook M1 and macOS.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 with faster i7-1185G7 and 16/512GB is the closest competitor, and the price is about $2,000. However, it lacks the Thunderbolt port. Microsoft Surface Pro 8 i7-1185G7 16/512GB is priced at US$2649, plus a keyboard. It has dual Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Then it must compete with other Intel Evo-branded laptops starting at $2,000.

If Huawei has the support and shelf space of major retailers, it will do a good job in appearance.

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