Huawei just announced its MateBook X
laptop with a slightly altered design and extended and upgraded touchpad. While
it keeps the same design language as the Pro version of the device, there are
some noticeable changes that bring the weight down to just 1kg compared to the
1.33kg weight of the X Pro. It's also impressively thin at 13.6mm.
The display has been reduced to exactly
13.0" from 13.9" on the Pro but retains the 3000 x 2000px resolution
for a comfortable 3:2 aspect ratio. Huawei promises 100% sRGB coverage and a
whopping 400 nits of maximum brightness. It's also a touch screen and promises
90% screen-to-body ratio. By looking at the renders, the bezels look just as
thin as on the X Pro.
The same Intel Core i5-10210U and Core
i7-10510U CPUs paired with either 8GB or 16GB of LPDDR3 memory power up the
device while storage options are limited to 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD. But due to
the smaller size, the vanilla MateBook X settles for 42Wh battery compared to
the 56Wh on the X Pro. The laptop also scrapes the standard USB-A connector and
uses just two USB-C ports, which are also used for charging.
No major changes to the keyboard, the
hidden camera and the four speakers but there's a new type of touchpad that
aims to take on Apple's Force Touch touchpad on its MacBooks. Huawei says it
can recognize different pressure levels and the haptic feedback feels like a
press of a real button. The whole area of the touchpad offers uniform clicking
experience.
The MateBook X comes in four different
colors - Emerald Green, Space Gray, Mystic Silver and some kind of Rose Gold
color. Pre-orders in China are already live and the Core i5, 8GB/512GB version
asks CNY 7.999 (US$ 1,150), the same processor paired with 16GB/512GB memory is
priced at CNY 8,999 (US$ 1,300) and the Core i7 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of
internal storage costs CNY 9,999 (US$ 1,450). Huawei will start shipping the new
laptop on August 24. There's no word on when the MateBook X will reach the
global market but we suspect it would take at least a month or two.
