Huawei MateBook X Pro 2024
14.21", Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 16 GB, 1000 GB, DE
Matebook X Pro review: a lightweight, powerful notebook
22/10/2024
Translation: Megan Cornish
The 2024 edition of the Matebook X Pro is so light and compact that I always want to bring it along with me. The notebook impresses with plenty of power, long battery life and a beautiful display.
The Matebook X Pro is an office notebook, but its hardware has enough power to edit photos and videos. Huawei has managed to make the 2024 model lighter and thinner than its predecessors. The manufacturer’s trying to set it apart from other notebooks with details including gesture recognition on the touchpad.
A thin, lightweight model
The Matebook X Pro appears to weigh just under a kilogramme. That sounds like a small difference compared to an average 1.5 kilogramme notebook. But if – like me – you carry the notebook in your rucksack every day, you’ll quickly appreciate 50 per cent less weight. When I pick up the MateBook, I can immediately feel how light it is.
Source: Jan Johannsen
When folded, the magnesium alloy unibody casing’s only 13.5 millimetres thick. This means it can be easily carried in a bag. At 14.2 inches, the screen’s still large enough for working on the go.
The outer coating of the Matebook X Pro is supposedly robust and neither quick to wear off nor easy to scratch. Dirt should also be easy to remove. I checked the latter and am very happy. And the casing still looks fresh after a few weeks. Although, as with all devices, I was careful with it and didn’t scratch it deliberately.
Newly structured interior
Huawei’s come up with something special for the interior of the Matebook X Pro. The circuit boards – abbreviated to PCB – have three segments rather than the usual two. The advantage, according to Huawei, is 8 per cent more space. The manufacturer uses this to make the battery 17 per cent and the speakers and fans 22 per cent larger.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The Shark Fin fans – named because of their shape – are also supposed to provide more airflow (22 per cent) and more pressure (50 per cent) while still being quiet. All I can say is that I never heard the Matebook X Pro’s fan. Not even when the notebook was running at peak performance for benchmarks and everything was quiet around me.
Still, fans can’t do anything about The Matebook X Pro getting noticeably warm on the bottom. Fortunately, however, it’s not too hot to work with it on your lap.
A bright OLED display
Huawei uses a flexible OLED display for the 14.3-inch screen – although the monitor doesn’t have to flex. The manufacturer claims this’ll eliminate the moiré effect that appears when you look at classic OLEDs from the side. However, I always seem to sit centrally in front of my screens, as I haven’t noticed this so far. OLEDs generally have excellent viewing angles. But as long as the flexible display doesn’t result in a higher price than a fixed screen, this little PR move doesn’t bother me.
Source: Jan Johannsen
With 3120 × 2080 pixels, the 3:2 aspect ratio touchscreen covers 93 per cent of the notebook’s surface and the pixel density is 264 ppi, ensuring a sharp image. With up to 144 Hertz, the Matebook X Pro also achieves a very high refresh rate.
Huawei specifies the maximum full screen brightness as 600 nits, with HDR content reaching a maximum of 1,000 nits. I measured around 595 nits – without HDR – so slightly less. That’s still bright enough for outdoor use, albeit without the sun shining directly on the display. Most notebooks only offer 400 nits.
The 2024 version of the MateBook X Pro is the first notebook from Huawei that doesn’t compress the Adobe RGB colour space into another one. Using DisplayCAL and the Colorchecker Display Plus from Calibrite, I measured a colour space coverage of 82.5 per cent. That’s catastrophically low, and far from high coverage. Anyone who needs this colour space won’t be able to work on the Matebook.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Things look better – but still not perfect – for the other two widely used colour spaces. The Matebook X Pro covers 92.5 per cent of DCI-P3 and 98.1 per cent of sRGB. For comparison, in my test, the Acer Swift Go 14 with its OLED display achieved 100 per cent for both and 95.7 per cent for Adobe RGB.
Flat keyboard and a touchpad that understands gestures
The keys on the backlit keyboard are arranged close together. However, because of their size, I don’t run the risk of accidentally pressing two at the same time. The fingerprint sensor built into the power button works reliably.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The key travel is typically short for a notebook at 1.5 millimetres. The individual keys have a soft pressure point, which I’d prefer to be more perceptible.
The touchpad’s large – 33 per cent larger than its predecessor, the MateBook – and responds quickly to movements. It has a very short stroke, but a clear pressure point that extends over the entire surface – and doesn’t just allow clicks in the lower area.
Source: Jan Johannsen
One special feature that I really like is the touchpad’s gesture recognition. It complements the usual gesture controls with three or four fingers in Windows. I have to remember all the gestures first, but once I have them in my head, it becomes easier to use. Among other things, I can:
- adjust the volume by swiping up and down the left edge
- adjust the brightness by swiping up and down the right edge
- swipe along the top to fast forward or switch browser tabs
- minimise all windows by pressing the upper left corner
- close all windows by pressing the upper right corner
- take a screenshot by tapping with my knuckles
- and start a screen recording by double tapping with my knuckles
Packing in performance – still no special AI chip
Huawei offers the Matebook X Pro (2024) with either a Core Ultra 7 or a Core Ultra 9 from Intel. I’m using the more powerful version with the Core Ultra 9 185H. Its TDP is up to 40 watts and it has 32 gigabytes of RAM. To better assess the benchmark results, I’m comparing them with the following notebooks and chipsets:
- Asus Zenbook S 16: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
- Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5: AMD Ryzen 7 8840U
- Microsoft Surface Pro: Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100
The Ryzen AI in the Zenbook is the latest chip generation from AMD. The Ryzen 7 in the ThinkPad is from the previous generation, putting it virtually on par with the Core Ultra 9. I haven’t used a notebook with the new Intel Core Ultra 200V, so I don’t have any comparison values. The Surface Pro demonstrates how the Snapdragon X Elite performs in comparison.
Geekbench 6: single core lags behind, multi core is ahead
Geekbench tests the single-core and multi-core performance of the CPU using simulated everyday scenarios. The benchmark runs on Windows (x86 and Arm), MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
If only one processing core is required, the MateBook with the Core Ultra 9 performs worst. Things look better when the entire processor is used – it surpasses the Ryzen 7 and is almost equal to the newer Ryzen AI 9. The Snapdragon performs best in both cases.
All four notebooks have integrated graphics chips. The Intel Arc in the MateBook does well. Only the Radeon 890M in the Zenbook outperforms it in OpenCL. They’re level with Vulkan. The Radeon 780M in the ThinkPad performs worse, and the Snapdragon X Elite does poorly in terms of graphics. It should be noted, however, that the Snapdragon can outsource tasks such as upscaling games or rendering videos or images to the NPU.
Cinebench 2024: suitable for rendering
Cinebench 2024 tests how well the processor renders 3D models and uses the Redshift engine (Cinema 4D’s standard rendering engine). It runs on Windows (x86 and Arm) and macOS.
What I find particularly striking is that the MateBook’s Core Ultra 9 significantly outperforms the equivalent AMD processor in multi-core mode. In single-core mode, the numbers are very close, but the 19-point gap between the Core Ultra 9 and the Snapdragon X Elite equates to just over 15 per cent. The 72 points in multi-core mode between the two chipsets is only a difference of about 8 per cent.
PCMark 10: leading the way in office applications
PCMark 10 can be used to test notebooks for a wide range of tasks in a workplace, such as how fast programs open, internet browsing and text editor speeds, how well video calls work, and much more. However, the benchmark didn’t work for Snapdragon’s ARM chips at the time the test was published.
The MateBook with its Core Ultra 9 keeps up with the Zenbook’s Ryzen AI in this test. The other AMD chip follows, with a small gap.
Fast-charging battery with a long runtime
Huawei specifies a battery life of 11 hours for video playback on the Matebook X Pro’s 70 watt-hour battery.
I measured 11 hours 57 minutes. This puts the MateBook level with the aforementioned Asus Zenbook S16, which comes in at 11 hours 51 minutes with its AMD chip. However, it has a slightly larger 78-watt-hour battery. The HP Omen Transcend 14 gaming notebook comes in at 9 hours 21 minutes with a 71-watt-hour battery. It has the same processor as the MateBook, but also a graphics card rather than just an integrated graphics chip.
Source: Jan Johannsen
You can charge the notebook quickly with the 90-watt power adapter provided and SuperCharge Turbo quick charge technology. Ten minutes of charging time should be enough for two hours of use, and a full charge takes less than 1.5 hours.
Only USB-C ports
If you’ve already switched your peripherals to USB-C, the Matebook X Pro with its three USB-C ports is a good choice. The two on the left support Thunderbolt 4. If you need more ports, the only option is to use a docking station or USB hub. What I miss most is the 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Sold out until December
The Matebook X Pro sold better than Huawei expected, so it’s currently not available with the Core Ultra 9. Huawei plans to be able to offer devices again at the end of December 2024. If you don’t want to wait until then and are happy with the slightly lower performance of the Core Ultra 7 and only 16 gigabytes of RAM, that version’s still available.
In a nutshell
It doesn’t just look chic; it also has plenty to offer
With the Matebook X Pro (2024), Huawei delivers a great notebook that’s light, compact and thin. It still has enough power – and a quiet fan as well as a long battery life. The OLED touchscreen’s nice to look at and bright enough for outdoor use. There’s only one criticism if you want to protect private or business data: the viewing angle is so large that people sitting next to you on the train can read what’s on your screen.
The keyboard’s fine for a notebook and I like the gesture control on the touchpad. Whether the three USB-C ports are enough or too few depends on your individual needs. But I do miss the 3.5 mm headphone jack.
I’m finding it hard to say anything negative about the Matebook X Pro. Yes, other notebooks are cheaper and more powerful. But such a compact powerhouse is rare. You’ll only be unhappy if you’re looking to prepare for a future with AI, as there’s no NPU.
Pro
- Powerful and lightweight
- Quiet fan
- Long battery life
- Bright OLED touchscreen
- Touchpad with gesture controls
Contra
- Only USB-C ports
- CPU still doesn’t have an NPU
- Low Adobe RGB coverage
Header image: Jan Johannsen
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.