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Huawei MateBook 13 review: More than just a MacBook clone

By Kenny Yeo - 21 Jun 2020
Launch SRP: S$1598

Performance & conclusion

Performance analysis

To evaluate the performance of the Huawei MateBook 13, we will be comparing its performance against the current crop of ultraportable notebooks like the ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434, Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, and HP Spectre x360. Here are the configurations of the tested notebooks and how they stack up.

Specifications comparison
Model Huawei MateBook 13 Acer Swift 5 ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 HP Spectre x360 Lenovo Yoga S940
Display 13-inch, 2K 13-inch, Full-HD 13-inch, Full-HD 13-inch, Full-HD 13-inch, Full-HD 14-inch, 4K
Processor Intel Core i5-10210U Intel Core i7-1065G7 Intel Core i7-10510U Intel Core i7-1065G7 Intel Core i7-1065G7 Intel Core i7-1065G7
Memory 16GB 16GB 16GB 16GB 16GB 16GB
Storage 512GB 1TB SSD 1TB SSD 512GB SSD 1TB SSD 1TB SSD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce MX250 NVIDIA GeForce MX250 NVIDIA GeForce MX250 Intel Iris Plus Graphics Intel Iris Plus Graphics Intel Iris Plus Graphics
Price S$1,598 S$2,398 S$2,098 S$2,898 S$2,899 S$3,099


General computing performance was within expectation and nothing to shout about. Its PCMark 10, Cinebench, and WebXPRT scores were at the tail end of the spectrum but that's to be expected since the other notebooks have more powerful Core i7 processors. It is in the graphics benchmarks that the MateBook 13 really shone. On 3DMark and Tomb Raider, it racked up the highest scores thanks to its discrete NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics. It was even considerably quicker than the Acer Swift 5 and ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434, both of which have the same GPU.

But it must be noted that it there’s some thermal throttling happening after a couple of runs. After about half an hour on Tomb Raider, I noticed that frame rates on Normal settings dipped from 85.7fps to around 72fps. That’s a drop of about 15%.  However, this is a pretty common occurrence in notebooks of this class. Also, the notebook does get really hot. With a temperature gun, I measure the palm rest to be a toasty 35 degrees Celsius, while the area under the notebook near the top was a scorching 46 degrees Celsius. Don't play games with it on your lap.

 

Battery life

Note: Battery tests were conducted using PCMark 10's battery benchmark with display set to 100% brightness.

The MateBook 13’s battery life is quite impressive when you consider it has the smallest battery at just 41.7Wh and its 13-inch display is of a slightly higher resolution than its peers. Even so, it managed 400 minutes or 6 hours and 40 minutes in the Modern Office workload, a time that’s only bested by the HP Spectre x360. Looking at the power consumption figures, we can see that the MateBook 13 must be well optimised because it consumes considerably less energy than its rivals. Gaming battery life is quite dismal at just a smidge over an hour, but that’s to be expected given its below-average battery capacity and more power-hungry discrete graphics solution. 

 

Conclusion

The MateBook 13 combines performance and value in a compact and well-built package. As the benchmark results clearly show, it be might cheaper than the competition but its performance is more than comparable. Its graphics performance, in particular, is very strong and should be commended even if it does run very hot. And even though the battery is small, actual battery life is laudable. And then there’s the display. For readers who want a notebook mainly for work, the 3:2 aspect ratio is great. Finally, there’s the price. You’d have to look very hard to find another notebook with comparable specs and build quality for the same money. In short, it offers MacBook Pro performance for MacBook Air prices.

Some minor shortcomings aside, the MateBook 13 is a gem of a notebook that offers good specs and performance at an attractive price.

Of course, it is by no means perfect. Two USB-C ports is a little stingy and the fact that it doesn’t support Thunderbolt 3 and only one of them supports power charging compounds the problem. There’s also no microSD card reader so a USB-C adapter is likely going to be the first accessory every MateBook 13 owner buys. The lack of Wi-Fi 6 support isn’t a big deal especially if you don’t have a Wi-Fi 6 router at home, but it is puzzling especially since nearly every other Windows notebook released this year supports it. It also gets quite hot when you are gaming.

But even with its flaws, the MateBook 13 is, for me, one of the standout notebooks of 2020 so far. If I only had $2,000 to spend, I don’t think there’s another notebook that I would rather have.

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8.5
  • Design 8
  • Features 8.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 9
  • Mobility 8.5
The Good
Brilliant and sharp display
3:2 aspect ratio
Great specs
Large trackpad
Great performance
Attractive price
Good battery life
The Bad
Only two USB-C ports
No support for Thunderbolt 3
No Wi-Fi 6 support
Gets hot when gaming
Derivative design
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