Verdict
This is probably the best Android tablet for illustration and digital art on the market today . The paper - comparable display and low - latent period style make for a sketching experience like no other . However , as a ecumenical - purpose pill , the slow central processor and deficiency of Google services mean that it fall short .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
When I reviewed theHuawei MatePad Pro 13.2 in January , I was exceedingly impressed with the radical - crushed - rotational latency stylus . At the time , I say it was probably the best Android tablet for draw . With the instauration of the MatePad 11.5S PaperMatte , though , that changes .
Huawei ’s latest tablet has a lustrelessness - textured newspaper - like display . Not only does it depend great and decoct reflections , but it provides some rubbing to the stylus , reach sketching experience more natural than ever . Combine this with a new Huawei - exclusive draught app , designed to compete with the Apple - exclusive Procreate , and you have a serious digital art puppet on your hand .
The tablet retails for a reasonable £ 349 / € 399 , but being a Huawei product , it comes with some baggage . US sanctions intend that it ’s not packing the latest and greatest chipset , and access Google apps will require some tinkering , too . I ’ve been using it for the past few workweek to figure out if it ’s deserving the fuss .
Design
As you may have estimate from the name , the MatePad 11.5S has an 11.5 - inch exhibit . This imply it ’s slenderly larger than aniPad , but humble than aniPad Pro . Its weight also fall between these two equipment , at 510 gm . It ’s a nice size of it , and I found it much easy to use than the super - sized MatePad Pro 13.2 .
The tablet has an Al unibody construction , and it ’s available in two unlike colourways in the UK : Purple and Grey . Outwardly , it does n’t calculate too different to last year’sMatePad 11.5and the 13MP rear camera unit of measurement seems to be superposable , too .
The optional keyboard cover comes in white or dismal gray . The UK site bundles the white keyboard cover with the purplish MatePad , but curiously my revue software package arrive with the darker keyboard rather . The M Pencil , meanwhile , is only available in whitened .
All the accessories link up to the lozenge magnetically , there ’s a rear screen that doubles up as a kickstand , and the keyboard cover is a disjoined piece that attaches with magnetized tab and can be used wirelessly over its NearLink connection . The M Pencil can be stowed on the top side with strong magnets , and both the keyboard and stylus cathexis while they ’re attached .
The keyboard covert has a relatively compendious layout with no trackpad . I did n’t find the trackpad very useful on the MatePad Pro 13.2 , it ’s easier just to swipe around on the showing , so I ’m not too pitiful about the deprivation . The keys feel heavy , there ’s plenty of cardinal travel and the pack of cards is exceedingly rigid , despite the svelte flesh .
The keys have a lifelike - flavor space and I was able to touch case without issue , which made typewrite a lot quicker than using the on - screen door keyboard . There ’s no built - in palm residue , so using the keyboard on your lap take aim some getting used to , but it feel great on a desk or tabletop .
Huawei ’s NearLink engineering provides a stable depressed - response time connection between the pad and its accessories . I like the fact that you could prop the tablet up on a desk and type wirelessly , but without a trackpad , you ’re quite limited in what you could do when the tablet is out of reach .
One thing I receive quite galling , though , is that you ca n’t turn the accessories off individually . you may toggle NearLink on and off in the OS , but that affects both the stylus and the keyboard . So if , for object lesson , you want to use the stylus without worrying about unintentionally touching the keyboard , you ’re out of fortune .
Screen
The Huawei MatePad 11.5S has an OLED display with a 3:2 ratio , a 2.8 K resoluteness and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 144Hz . The veridical principal of the show is the PaperMatte covering , though . Huawei state this coating quash reflectivity and glare by up to 98 % , and it ’s effectively resistant to fingerprint smudges .
The spec sheet list the yield as 500 nit , which does n’t go like that much , but it look plenty brilliant in use . It ’s excellent indoors , and it does a not bad job outside too , as long as you stick to the tint . It can get a little difficult to see in bright verbatim sunlight .
That said , the PaperMatte covering does make a big difference in bright environment . Reflections are almost non - actual , and it makes for a marvellous viewing experience spare from distractions .
The downside to most lusterlessness - finish displays is that they miss clearness and bite compared to their glossy counterparts , and I ’m pleased to say that ’s not the pillow slip here . Sure , there ’s bound to be some sharpness lose , but it ’s so borderline that it ’s heavy to tell . Even small school text looks crisp and clear on this panel .
Of naturally , with creative tribe being the target consultation , colour truth is of the utmost importance , and the MatePad 11.5S delivers on that front , too . The dialog box can exhibit 16.7 million colours and covers the totality of the P3 wide gamut . There ’s also a decent amount of customisation if the colour are n’t to your liking as standard .
Huawei reckons its PaperMatte display is easier on the eyes than a distinctive tablet display , boasting a 34 % reduction in optic tiredness , to be exact . You do n’t have to take Huawei ’s word for it , though , as it has also receive a low-toned Visual Fatigue certification from SGS along with Low Blue Light , Flicker - free and reflexion - free certificate from TUV Rheinland .
in person , my preferent affair about the showing is the way that it feels . It ’s luxurious and velvety on your fingertips , and the texture of the panel adds some much - needed pull when you ’re using it with the M Pencil . It sounds like a minor thing , but when a video display feels this gracious , it just makes you desire to use it more – and as a result I found myself reaching for this tablet more often than normal .
Cameras
The Huawei MatePad 11.5S has two camera , a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP selfie camera . As is the sheath with most tablet , they ’re not the most exciting lenses and are likely to encounter themselves bar to video call duty and QR code scanning rather than any serious picture taking .
The 13MP rear camera is the better of the two , but it ’s still woefully unimpressive . The dynamic range is limited and there does n’t appear to be any image stabilisation , so it ’s pretty useless when the light gets low . It does , at least have autofocus .
The selfie camera is adequate for the periodic video call , but I think it would profit from a wider FOV , as the frame feel very cramped when the tablet is handheld . Again , the clarity is a lilliputian lacking , the dynamic range is quite miserable and it struggle in low - light conditions .
moderately much any modern phone you could find has more telling cameras , so for any situations that require high - calibre trope , just welt your telephone set out instead .
Performance
As we ’ve seen with other Huawei products , US sanctions mean that the trade name is passably limited with what french fries it can apply . There ’s no Qualcomm or MediaTek here , instead , it uses Huawei ’s own Kirin 9000WL processor , along with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage .
So what does that intend in pattern ? Well , benchmarks show that its graphical performance is closer to the Snapdragon 865 of past times than any New flagship chips . It ’s not likely to be the top choice for gamers , but that said , it feel enough fast in use .
Swiping around the OS is smooth and stutter - free , apps open cursorily , and for casual use of goods and services , you ’d have a punishing time telling the difference of opinion between this and a flagship chip . Whatever Huawei has done to optimise its software is very effective .
It ’s perfectly capable of gaming too , you just have to temper your expectations . I had a great time wreak CarX Highway Racing on high mount , but if I judge to operate something more graphically demanding , like Genshin Impact , then I had to stick to Medium scope to achieve smooth framerates , and it still got pretty toasty in the process .
The Huawei MatePad 11.5S has quadrangle stereo system speakers that are optimised with Huawei ’s proprietary Histen 9.0 software . These speakers are truly impressive , they can kick out very eminent volumes and there ’s more bass than you ’ll get from most tablet . So whether you ’re listening to some tunes while doing the dish aerial or catching up with your favourite Netflix show , you ’re in for a serious time .
Software
The MatePad 11.5S runs HarmonyOS 4.2 , Huawei ’s custom skin that ’s based on Android , and it ’s undoubtedly the heavy pain point of this machine . That ’s not because it ’s a unsound operating arrangement , on the reverse , it ’s ready and reliable , has plenty of customisation and looks nice , but there ’s no support for Google services .
This have in mind if you want to use things like Gmail , Google Drive and Maps , then you ’ll need to habituate a workaround . It ’s not the most challenging thing , you could well typeset up Gbox , and with the MicroG labor you could get apps lead almost natively , but it ’s a hassle that you do n’t get with competing devices .
These workarounds are never gross , either . As I found when I reviewed theHuawei Pura 70 Ultra , you ’re almost guaranteed to be missing notifications , and updates can introduce other bugs . However , while that was a real pain on a smartphone , it ’s much less annoying on a tab .
On the other hand , Harmony OS 4.2 does total with some clear-cut advantages . The master one being GoPaint , a new illustration app that Huawei has develop entirely for its product .
GoPaint is essentially a 1:1 clone of the popular Procreate app that ’s only uncommitted iOS , so no incentive point for innovation , but I consider it ’s a good thing overall . Procreate is so well - liked that it ’s the lonesome reason a wad of creatives take to habituate an iPad for digital painting , offering the same thing means that it ’s much easier for existing users to pick up , and it means the wealth of online Procreate tutorials are likely to employ to GoPaint , too .
Battery life
The Huawei MatePad 11.5S houses an 8800mAh battery gang , which is an 1100mAh increase over the MatePad 11.5 . The battery life is decent , but even with that gain in content it ’s not the longest - lasting tablet around and it ’s quite obtrusive if you ’re gaming or drawing for long periods .
Still , for the mode that I use a tablet , this battery is more than enough , and I only had to charge it once every few daytime . That ’s with a couple of hour of doodle , playing game and watching YouTube each dark . I was n’t using it for workplace , and I ’m sure I ’d be excite much more ofttimes if I did .
There ’s a nice thick bulwark charger include in the box , but it ’s a little slow . The tablet shoot down at up to 22.5W , and that means a full thrill from prostrate will take just under 2 hours . It ’s not awful , but compared to the rapid charging of the MatePad Pro 13.2 , it ’s a little disappointing .
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Should you buy it?
With an almost zero - response time stylus connection , 10,000 grade of insistence sensitivity , a great - feeling matte display and the excellent GoPaint app , I think it ’s good to say this is the best Android lozenge for illustration .
Most Android users trust on at least one Google service for their twenty-four hours - to - day activities , and they ’ll ask to do a bit of tinkering to get this tablet mold with them . If you want a hassle - free experience out of the boxwood , you ’re best seem elsewhere .
Final Thoughts
If you ’re looking for a pad that will primarily be used for illustration , and Apple ’s iPads do n’t appeal , then the Huawei MatePad 11.5S PaperMatte variation is promiscuous to urge .
The combination of an ultra - low - latency stylus , a gorgeous paper - like display and the first-class GoPaint app makes for an unrivalled Android sketching experience . At just £ 349 , it ’s pretty great value , too .
If you ’re looking for a general - purpose pad of paper for amusement and productivity , it becomes less appealing . On one hand , the display and speakers are great , but the processor is n’t the good for play , and you ’ll need to use workarounds to utilise Gmail and get your YouTube muddle .
Whether this tablet is veracious for you all depends on what you ’re doing with it . artist are in for an excellent time , but everyone else is likely to run into defeat .
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FAQs
The MatePad 11.5S PaperMatte edition is IP65 rated , which means it ca n’t be submerged , but it can withstand broken - pressure jets of water from all directions .
No , there ’s no headphone socket on the MatePad 11.5S PaperMatte edition . You ’ll either require to use Bluetooth earbuds or a USB - C to 3.5 mm headphone arranger .
Test Data
Full Specs
