Verdict
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) represents undischarged value , offering superb specs , a vivacious OLED display and a wide of the mark selection of ports at an affordable price . It ’s an first-class alternative to the MacBook Air , even if the battery living is n’t quite as impressive .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) is n’t the form of laptop computer that will set your pulse racing , and there are n’t many features here that avail this ultrabook fend out from the crowd .
In spite of this , I could n’t facilitate but return for thisMacBook Airrival as it ’s a fantastic all - debauchee that ’s available for astonishingly low price of £ 1199 , despite featuring 16 GB of RAM , 1 TB of storage and a bang - up - to - engagement Intel Core Ultra processor . You even get anOLEDtouchscreen , fingerprint sensor and a generous port selection . That ’s gravid value on paper .
So what ’s the stop with this laptop ? I ’ve spent the last few week with the Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) to see whether it ’s worth the hype . Here are my thoughts .
Design
Here ’s a bold claim : I think Huawei makes the nicest - looking Windows laptops on the market in good order now . There is well-defined inspiration from Apple ’s MacBook series , but there ’s a understanding why those laptops sell so well .
The 14.2 - inch screen is smother by a lissom black bezel , all of which sit behind a single sail of glass . I quite like how the black-market key stand out from the metallic element chassis too , specially with the gorgeous greenish colour choice photographed here .
I ’m a big fan of Huawei impart a splash of colour , as it gives it a little more personality than the middling laptop , although a Space Grey version is available too .
While Huawei has used a Mg - alloy for theMateBook X Pro ( 2024)to make the laptop as lightweight as possible , the caller has rather opted for the more conventional aluminum alloy for the MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) .
The laptop is still pleasingly light at just 1.31 kilo , making it easy to lift with one hand , but it ’s just not quite as singular as its more luxurious sibling that hit the scales at an impressive 980 gm .
That tell , the use of aluminium helps to keep the cost down , while also making the laptop experience uncompromising – a few pat on the form results in reassuringly solid thumps .
I have mixed feelings about the keyboard . There ’s plenty of key travel here for a pleasant typing experience , but the feedback does feel a little mushy , and not quite precise as that of a MacBook . Nevertheless , I still happily typed up this review on the keyboard without an return .
There ’s a fingermark sensor integrated into the tycoon button on the top - proper street corner of the deck , but there ’s no way for a full - sizing figure digs , and the up / down arrow cay have been slash in half to save up space .
I also found the Function headstone a little confusing . Instead of holding it down to trigger secondary functions of the top row of keys , you instead press to shift between the two subroutine , with a feeble luminosity indicating which mode you ’re in . I ’d often forget this , and inquire why I was n’t able to quickly alter the laptop computer ’s volume or silver screen brightness via the shortcuts .
The keyboard backlight is rather faint too , to such an extent that it ’s difficult to fix whether it ’s on or off in a bright light room . However , it ’s just about burnished enough to sort out the keys when sitting in the shadow , so I ca n’t be too critical .
There ’s not much to say about the trackpad , other than it ’s antiphonal , smooth to the touch and is n’t so crowing that it begin in the way .
The port wine selection is passably impressive , specially compared to the MacBook Air . You get a HDMI port ( a surprisal for such a thickset laptop computer ) , as well as 2x USB - A , 1xUSB - Cand a headphone diddley . I would have opt to have one redundant USB - C connective though , specially since it will be taken up by the baron adapter when charging .
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) comes in a composition board box , but the laptop is held in blank space by polystyrene and twine in a plastic tack , which is n’t a good facial expression in terms of sustainability . There ’s also no reference of using recycled cloth for the laptop computer on the official website . It ’s a poor effort from Huawei ; the laptop may be decease green in term of colourway , but it for certain is n’t embracing an eco - friendly philosophy .
Screen
The new organic light-emitting diode sieve is arguably the with child upgrade for the Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) compared to its predecessor .
OLED allows individual pixels to be entirely switch off when bring forth deep , dark blacks . This results in an salient direct contrast , therefore making ring colouring material appear bolder and brighter by comparison .
That comes across when look on videos on the MateBook , particularly the Furiosa : A Mad Max Saga trailer , with the deep down in the mouth sky and prosperous desert yield more vibrancy , and the fire explosions more striking .
The move to an OLED screenland has also permit Huawei to increase the brightness from 300 nit ( which is average for a laptop computer ) to a more telling 450 nits , which I ’ve been able-bodied to swan during the examination process . This brings the MateBook nearer to the peak light ( 500 nit ) of the MacBook Air , and I never find the screen difficult to view in bright condition .
The OLED board also ensures the MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) excels when it comes to colour truth . It has a Delta E grudge of 0.54 ( which is excellent ) and near perfect colour reportage , hitting 100 % of sRGB , 90 % of Adobe RGB and 100 % of DCI - P3 . All of these result entail the OLED screen of the MateBook 14 can be used for color sensitive workloads such as video redaction – although I ’d still be reluctant to call it a MacBook Pro rival due to the limited graphics functioning .
Huawei has upped the CRT screen resolution to 2.8 kibibyte , see to it there are enough pixels here for a kinky and sharp paradigm . I reckon this is the sugared spot for a laptop this sizing , as 4 KB does n’t make too much of a difference to image timbre , yet can be devastating to the battery life-time .
The 3:2 aspect ratio remains the same , which is optimised for productivity use and viewing websites . The touchscreen also getting even , which is becoming a rare luxury for a laptop at this damage . While Huawei ’s M - Pencil style is supported , it does not come bundled with the laptop .
imposingly , the Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) feature a 120Hz refresh pace , permit for smoother scrolling . This is a feature that is n’t even available on the MacBook Air , with Apple hold the technology for theMacBook Proseries instead .
There are two speakers build up into the MateBook 14 , both positioned on the laptop ’s underside . This is probably the weakest factor of the laptop , as the speakers offer up a flat and stingy performance , failing to give the Furiosa trailer the blockbuster rant it deserve . Dialogue is give clearly , but I ’d still rather use a pair of phone for medicine or video streaming than settle down for these sub - par utterer .
Performance
As with the majority of laptops of 2024 , the Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) has been upgraded to the 14th Generation of Intel Core central processor . Not only do these new Intel cow chip supply a performance hike , but they also raise the AI skills of this laptop – at least once more AI apps finally become available .
Huawei is shipping the MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) with both the Intel Core Ultra 7 ( try here ) and Ultra 5 , although only the former will be available in the UK . I think that ’s a not bad shame , as most people probably do n’t need the added power of the Ultra 7 .
As expected , the MateBook 14 performed very well in our benchmark tests for processing power , posting similar scores to its cardinal ultrabook rivals such as the MacBook Air , Zenbook 14 OLEDandDell XPS 14 . The nonpayment inclusion of 16 GB of RAM also helps to keep the performance legato even with multiple browser app window and apps open .
In my real - reality tests , the mainframe leaven perfectly speedy too . I ca n’t call back any instances of when the laptop slow down while I work , proving it to be an excellent selection for productivity . I also ca n’t intend of any instance when the fans became noisy or the laptop became hot to the touching .
The MateBook ’s limitations only become plain when you attempt to unravel more diagrammatically intensive workloads , whether it ’s gaming or video editing . The 3DMark TimeSpy bench mark outcome show that it ’s lagging behind most modern Windows laptops , particularly anything with a discrete graphics chip .
In term of memory , the MateBook 14 comes with a generous 1 TB capacity for the damage point , and I doubt most users will require more than that . SSD speeds are pleasingly nippy too , with the 5223MB / s read scotch , and 4954MB / s write sexual conquest ensuring that installation times and large file transfers should be relatively warm .
Software
The MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) ship with a fair few Huawei - made apps and software system , but some of them are genuinely quite utile .
The Huawei Control Panel offers a deal of ready to hand shortcuts for useful options such as taking screenshots , adjusting display options and deactivate the webcam . These are all things you’re able to do via Windows , but it ’s still nice to have all of these controls in one place .
I really like the AI Search feature film here too , which can quickly site any apps or files install on your PC . Again , the Windows hunting bar can also accomplish this , but I personally rule Huawei ’s AI search feature film to be slightly more effective and efficient .
And then there ’s Huawei Mobile Cloud , which makes it easy to transfer file , images and television between the MateBook 14 and any other Huawei - branded smartphone or tablet .
I ’m glad to see that Huawei has n’t pre - installed any third - party bloatware , so there ’s no need to go on a cleanup fling when you first boot up this laptop computer .
Battery Life
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) has a 70Wh battery capacity , which is a famed increase on the 56Wh cellular phone of the old entry . Huawei claims this will gallop the barrage life up to 19 hours of video playback , one time of day more than Apple ’s call for the MacBook Air .
extend video playback is not bad , but it ’s not the decide factor . My own testing shows that the MateBook 14 could last for 10 hours and 6 instant when looping productivity workloads via PCMark 10 with the covert brightness dimmed to 150 nits . This test gives a general overview of everyday battery life , and 10 hour should get most people through a busy workday even if it ’s not the very best I have seen .
The laptop computer number bundled with a 65W charger , which is more than double the mogul of the default option 30W MacBook atmosphere charger . It lease me roughly 90 minutes to fully fill again the laptop ’s battery , with a 30 minute electric charge delivering a 20 % charge . I would n’t say that ’s super speedy , but it ’s plenty fast enough for the medium substance abuser .
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Should you buy it?
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) provides impressive specs at an low-priced price . You get 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB storage for just £ 1199 . It will be tough to top that value .
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) lacks a discrete GPU , and so is n’t a practiced option for the likes of gamers and professional substance creators.&bsp ;
Final Thoughts
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) represents fantastic economic value for money , with £ 1199 bagging you 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of warehousing . For the equivalent specs on the latestMacBook Air , you ’ll need to devote at least £ 1699 which is a huge £ 500 difference .
You also get a couple of supernumerary such as an OLED touchscreen and a wide extract of interface . Battery life may not be quite as good as the MacBook Air , but it ’s still perfectly reasonable here with our tests betoken 10 - minute stamina .
The Huawei MateBook 14 ( 2024 ) does n’t necessarily excel in one specific area , but it ’s a fantastic all - libertine productivity machine for your money . For more option , check out ourbest laptopandbest ultrabookguides .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop computer we review fail through a series of uniform checks designed to approximate key component , including human body quality , performance , sieve lineament and electric battery animation .
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and written tests , plus a serial publication of real - world checks , such as how well it runs pop apps .
FAQs
Our tests show that the MateBook 14 lasts around 10 hours on a single charge when deal out with productivity work load .
No , this is not a waterproof laptop computer .
It took us just under 90 minutes to in full charge the Huawei MateBook 14 .
