Last year’s Huawei’s MateBook X Pro was a stunner of a laptop. Not only was it incredibly competent in all the major categories that matter — power, portability, design, build quality, keyboard, trackpad, even battery life — it was also incredibly cheap, offering that package for hundreds of dollars less than competing Windows laptops or even MacBooks. The MateBook X Pro easily became my recommendation for the best laptop of the year, and even now, more than six months later, it remains at the top of many shortlists.
So the bar for Huawei’s next laptop — the new MateBook 13, which was announced at CES earlier this month and is hitting Amazon and Newegg around the time this review is published — is unsurprisingly high. The MateBook 13 has dropped the “Pro” moniker, and it starts at an even lower price: $999 for the entry model and $1,299 for the upgraded version, both of which offer a considerable value. But it’s also lost some of the features of the MateBook X Pro, and it isn’t quite the slam dunk winner last year’s model was.
Design-wise, the MateBook 13 is very similar to the MateBook X Pro, which means that it’s very similar to Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro: its full metal chassis comes in dark gray or silver, it weighs about 2.87 pounds, and it’s 0.59 inches thick. Even more impressive is the MateBook 13’s width. While it’s roughly the same depth as a MacBook Air, it’s three-quarters of an inch narrower, thanks to extremely trim side bezels and no speakers on the top deck. (Instead, they are on the underside of the computer.) As a result, the sound output from the MateBook 13 is not as impressive as the MateBook X Pro or a MacBook Air or Pro, but the sound quality and volume are adequate.
That design makes the MateBook 13 surprisingly compact; it feels more like I’m carrying around a Surface Pro with a keyboard attached than a clamshell laptop with a 13-inch display, full-size keyboard, and enormous trackpad.
The 13-inch touchscreen is noticeably smaller than the MateBook X Pro’s 13.9-inch panel, and it has a 2k (2160 x 1440) panel instead of the 3k (3000 x 2000) one found on last year’s computer. I don’t have much issue with the resolution or color accuracy of the MateBook 13’s screen, and I love the 3:2 aspect ratio, but the automatic brightness adjustment is annoyingly aggressive and dims the screen to nearly unusable levels. I eventually turned off the automatic adjustment and just used the brightness keys on the keyboard to manually tweak it as necessary. Once the automatic adjustment is disabled, the screen behaves much more like other premium laptops, with a maximum brightness of 300 nits that matches the MacBook Air but falls behind the MacBook Pro and other class-leading laptop screens.
The best change Huawei made to the MateBook 13 is moving the webcam from being hidden inside a pop-up key in the keyboard’s function row to the proper place above the display. It’s far less novel than the MateBook X Pro’s webcam, but it’s far more usable because it doesn’t get blocked by my fingers on the keyboard or provide a view of my chest to other parties of a video call.
Otherwise, the MateBook 13 has a very similar keyboard to the MateBook X Pro, with excellent key feel and travel, backlighting, and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello login. The trackpad below the keyboard is large and excellent (yes, it uses Windows Precision drivers) for both single finger tracking and multifinger gestures, though it did stop responding a few times during my testing, forcing a reboot of the computer.
Like the MacBook Air, the MateBook 13 has two USB-C ports. But unlike the MacBook Air, neither of them support Thunderbolt 3. Further, the left port supports data transfer and charging, but not video out, while the port on the right side supports data transfer and video out, but not charging. That means it’s not possible to connect the MateBook 13 to an external display and charger with just one cable, which is something every other laptop with USB-C I’ve tested is capable of. It’s a strange and frustrating limitation. The MateBook 13 also lacks any USB-A ports, but Huawei does include a small hub with USB-A, HDMI, and VGA ports in the box. Too bad you can’t use that hub to charge the laptop and connect it to an external display at the same time.
Under the hood, the MateBook 13 has either a quad-core Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. The $1,299 i7 model I’ve been testing also includes an Nvidia MX150 discrete graphics card (rated at 25W TDP), which is capable of handling some light gaming or aiding with photo and video editing. Those components are considerably more powerful than what Apple offers in the MacBook Air, and the MateBook 13’s performance for day-to-day productivity work is impressive. I can switch between Chrome with dozens of tabs open, Slack, email, Word, Twitter, and more without skipping a beat or ever feel like I’m really stressing the computer. My only gripe is that I wish there was an option for 16GB of RAM, which the MateBook X Pro offered, for even better multitasking performance and an option for integrated LTE connectivity.
The MateBook 13 is not fanless, but its fans rarely come alive. Most of the time, it operates coolly and quietly. The only time the fans really do spin up to audible levels is when I play a demanding AAA game like Star Wars Battlefront II or import or export large batches of photos from Adobe Lightroom.
Sadly, while I’m very pleased with the MateBook 13’s performance, I’m less than thrilled with its battery life. While the MateBook X Pro had average, but passable battery life of between seven and eight hours, the MateBook 13’s stamina is below average, frequently conking out before the six-hour mark and averaging just five hours between charges. That’s far less than a full workday for me, and it’s less than I expect from a premium, ultraportable computer.
The biggest problem Huawei has with the MateBook 13 is that it’s just not as good of a computer as the MateBook X Pro. Without that comparison, the MateBook 13 is quite impressive, especially when you consider that it offers more specs for your buck than virtually anything else on the market. It has outstanding performance, an excellent display, a fantastic keyboard and trackpad, and surprisingly compact dimensions. The biggest issues it has are subpar battery life and weirdly limited USB-C ports.
At the time this review is published, I can get the MateBook X Pro for just $80 more and get a similar processor and GPU; the same amount of storage; more RAM; better battery life; better port selection; and a larger, higher-resolution display. The only real advantage the MateBook 13 offers is a (much) better webcam and a slightly smaller footprint.
If you are looking for the most compact premium Windows laptop with a 3:2 display, discrete graphics, and a great price, the MateBook 13 is it. But most people should just go with the MateBook X Pro instead.
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Comments
Why don’t you include things like processor model numbers? Is it the 8550u? Or the new 8565u, which offers more performance than MateBook X Pro or any 13" MacBook Pro on the market?
These things are important. They position the MateBook as a competitor with other 2019 laptops.
Also you forgot to mention that the MateBook X Pro has the smaller MX150 GPU, the 15W one with only 2GB VRAM.
By jY2v8CsvS6TV00g9 on 01.29.19 9:30am
The MateBook 13 i7 model has the 8565u processor, but it’s not significantly different from the 8550u in the X Pro. Processor performance-wise, they are going to be nearly identical, but the X Pro has twice the RAM, which will provide a bigger impact in day to day use.
I didn’t see a significant difference in the GPU performance either — it’s still an MX150, better than integrated graphics, but not a super powerful GPU for gaming. (The MX150 in the MateBook 13 also has just 2GB of RAM, the only difference is the TDP.)
Hence why I didn’t get into in the article — the differences are not meaningful. The greater RAM and better battery life of the X Pro are more important.
By Dan Seifert on 01.29.19 9:58am
The info still needs to be in the article. I know The Verge discourages spec peeping but the processor model is a significant stat.
By NoUseForMonkeys on 01.30.19 7:31am
I think if you deem this info important, there are other websites who better cater to that.
By Marv89 on 01.29.19 10:25am
Yup, this is about the experience of using a product, not the actual raw technical benchmarks.
I think the best way to describe it is that some sites really care if you’re getting 89 or 96 frames per second, but The Verge doesn’t unless that difference feels impactful while using the product.
By MosquitoControl on 01.29.19 3:40pm
You’re looking in the wrong place.
By I'll take the blue pill. Cheers. on 01.29.19 2:11pm
A 25W MX150 in a 13". Gosh I wish I could get that in the rMBP. Even the OpenCL compute score, which Nvidia traditionally hasn’t cared much for in favor of CUDA, is up there with the 555X in the 15" rMBP.
I feel like I’d be betraying Canada a bit to get this though lol…
By tipoo on 01.29.19 9:33am
Other manufacturers will be offering the MX150 in 13" laptops. The upcoming Asus Zenbook S13 is one of them.
By citizencoyote on 01.29.19 10:14am
I think the MateBook 13’s biggest problem is not the MateBook X Pro, but the fact that it’s made by Huawei, a company that’s rapidly becoming persona non grata in the US, Canada, and other large markets.
By citizencoyote on 01.29.19 10:16am
Paranoid politicians and citizens are definetely a problem for Huaweis business, but not for the laptop itself.
By Marv89 on 01.29.19 10:27am
Yea, going by the latest news I don’t think buying anything Huawei is a good idea.
By 20131202account on 01.29.19 11:35am
Yes. The news said so. Must be true.
By I'll take the blue pill. Cheers. on 01.29.19 2:12pm
Option A: trust that news institutions, while fallible and human, work to present their readers with the truth and valuable information.
Option B: don’t trust the news, trust no one, believe nothing and live your life in a paranoid stupor knowing that you can only trust what you observe and what you observe is an infinitesimally small portion of the world around you, grope blindly in the dark.
Not saying you’re going full truther here or anything, but I find this general attitude of "gah you can’t trust the news " to be a pretty unworkable way to live your life and not particularly realistic as it basically requires a pretty grand conspiracy of a massive media apparatus working against you despite it being made up of hundreds of different outlets with conflicting world views that make such an idea a little preposterous.
By Velvet_Spaceman on 01.29.19 10:59pm
Those problematic news are when they are scaremongering without any proof but motivated by sinophobia and realisation that if Huawei dominates 5g. They will beat the us as a superpower.
It’s the classic thucydides trap.
By Unicornkiller on 02.09.19 12:31am
Remember unit 731. They parroted usa government official voice that the Russians were lying communist propaganda when they tried to expose Americans role in covering up Japanese war crimes. Many decades later. Those news accusing Russians of lying is now debunked as false. And the Americans were lying.
When they accuse iraq of wmds using very reliable intel. People wholly believed the news until proved otherwise.
So nationalists and free press is blinding combination that needs a pinch of salt as you only get one side of the story from "patriotic" journalists.
By Unicornkiller on 02.09.19 12:38am
Dan,
you say Huawei’s biggest issue is comparing the MB13 to the MB X Pro with only an $80 difference but that’s comparing the upgraded version. Most consumers will be looking at the base model?
I don’t see it as an issue for Huawei, they’re great laptops at different price points.
Yes battery life could be better but not a priority for everyone. Some people will mainly use their PC plugged in and so prefer the compactness and power over battery life. Great to see 3:2 screens, seems like only Huawei and Surface are using them so far?
By NofanBoy on 01.29.19 10:22am
So the Matebook 13 is the new Matebook X Pro and there’ll be no update to the Matebook X Pro?
Between the Matebook X, Matebook, Matebook 13 and Matebook X Pro I’m confused which model is the successor to which.
By S T Y L I S H B O Y E on 01.29.19 10:58am
Not that Huawei is consistent – but arent the Matebook X and Matebook X Pro – two different product lines? This is an upgrade to the Matebook X – not the Matebook X Pro.
By makhay on 01.29.19 11:19am
For additional hilarity, they should add a USB-C port that supports charging and video, but no data. (or more likely, only USB 2.0 data and not 3.1).
By eat_lead_slackers on 01.29.19 11:56am
Why do you support Huawei by constantly giving their products reviews and free publicity?
By pjhayton on 01.29.19 12:06pm
Maybe because this is a tech website with visitors from all over the world?
By Gatanui on 01.29.19 12:14pm
Moronic comment. And that’s saying something coming from me.
By I'll take the blue pill. Cheers. on 01.29.19 2:16pm
I don’t think Huawei needs the Verge to give them free publicity given the front page coverage every other day, and it’s reflected in their global sales. My tech challenged relatives literally think Huawei is 5G these days, took me a few minutes to figure out when he asked me about the "that Huawei tech" he’s talking about 5G. Wouldn’t be surprised there are people out there who literally buys Huawei phones thinking it’s automatically a 5G phone.
By macularmocha on 01.29.19 2:36pm
Ha my relatives have no idea who Huawei is or what they make. They just think "Huawei bad" cause the gubberment said so.
By train _wreck on 01.29.19 6:02pm
Huawei is getting inspired by Apple to the point where they offer multiple 13" laptops at the same price point with different compromises.
By kyjaotkb on 01.29.19 2:31pm