Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Huawei ’s MatePad is one of the few series of higher - remainder tablet that still subsist . Today I ’m calculate at one of the top - end models , the MatePad Pro 11 .
It ’s a potent and fairly feature of speech - packed pill that might be considered a lower - price alternative to an iPad Pro . However , most folks are much better off buying a tablet from Apple , Samsung or Lenovo .
As in old generations , the MatePad Pro 11 does not have access to the Google toy app fund or any of Google ’s apps . When the tablet itself is not quite a world - outfox bargain , the limitation and frustrations here just are n’t worth bear for most folks .
Design and screen
Apple established the expect pattern language for tablets . Glass on the front , aluminium on the back . Huawei eliminate that thinking in the MatePad line of descent .
The MatePad Pro 11 has a shabu screen masking , of course of instruction , but the case is moldable rather than atomic number 13 or glass . Not much fuss was made about this when Huawei part cranking out expensive plastic tablets , but I do miss the tank , harder feel of aluminium .
Do n’t start picturing the Huawei MatePad Pro 11 as a jumped - up plasticAmazon Fire tablet , though . Huawei has managed to make plastic feel quite high - end here . There ’s a lovely dumbness to this tablet , as if the inside were dipped in molten plastic , leaving no air gaps . It ’s super - slim too , 5.9 millimeter according to Huawei ’s spectacles .
The Huawei MatePad Pro 11 also has splendid speakers , a six - speaker array that outclass thebase - tier iPadwith great bass punch and overall projection . As much as this critique hold complaints , this is a bang-up pill for general media munching .
Huawei has tried to make it executable for piece of work too , by making a tablet fount with a keyboard . This is a clever design , as the keyboard part grips onto the main part of the slip using magnets . It can be take out totally , to avoid unneeded bulk .
The keyboard finger is honorable too . Rigidity is excellent for an sum - on , and the Francis Scott Key have greater travel than those of some laptops . The MatePad Pro 11 keyboard is still not in the same league as the Microsoft Surface Pro ’s , lacking a touchpad and key backlight . But then this was never go to be as useful a PC - replacer as a Microsoft rival anyway , as it hightail it Android - based software .
Huawei actually piddle a Windows - based pill in that mould , theHuawei Matebook E. And it ’s middling good .
The MatePad Pro 11 has an excellent screen . It ’s an 11 - inch 2560 x 1660 pixel OLED display with a 120Hz maximum refresh rate .
I ca n’t find much to quetch about here . Huawei ’s coloring material calculate smashing in the Natural mode , and if you desire a bit more of that signature OLED saturation , there ’s a graphic mode available .
Maximum cleverness is strong at 580 nits and , unsurprisingly , demarcation is fab . The MatePad Pro 11 is also a solid illustration of what a mellow refresh rate screen looks like . Scrolling Page of app icons look A-one - smooth .
Back in the other days of tablet this would have been considered a very enceinte screen . However , today it ’s more of a mid - size one .
The slightly larger exhibit infinite is always welcome if you be after to use the Huawei M - Pencil , supported by this pad . It ’s a pressure - sensible pen , which can be used for digital drawing and painting . However , I ’d strongly recommend an iPad or , in 2nd place , a Samsung pad of paper for that task as they have access to better software system . More on that afterwards .
Performance
The MatePad Pro 11 runs HarmonyOS 3.0 , a Huawei operating system . However , the experience is much like that of Android with a duncish custom interface loaded on top . It still runs Android apps , and has an Android - corresponding layout .
Which apps you may , and ca n’t , extend is the main issue of the Huawei MatePad Pro 11 . The US backlisted the society in 2019 , and since then it has been unable to use Android prevention its open - reference kernel .
This mean the pad of paper does not have apps like Google Maps , Gmail or Chrome . The one that matters , though , is Android ’s Google Play shopfront .
In their spot are alternatives made and maintain by Huawei . The app storage is prognosticate the Huawei AppGallery . You know how app stores can find like giant mountains of rusty former trinkets in which you occasionally discover a jewel ? AppGallery has the pitcher’s mound , but very few of the gemstone .
Huawei seems to know this , because it made Petal search . This is a feature of speech that weaves in results from third - party app computer storage when you look for an app . While utilitarian , you are not going to regain the slap-up yield - for apps from Google child’s play on these site . Apps often just do n’t knead decent too , and the security risks of these unofficial app stores are much capital .
This experience just is n’t a couple for a tablet of this calibre . And there ’s no solid root for folks in the west .
As in most other Androids tablets , the Huawei MatePad Pro 11 ca n’t claim a clear operation win over even the chinchy iPad either .
The tablet uses either theQualcomm Snapdragon 870 , which I think is a fantastic chipset , or theSnapdragon 888 in the mode that has 4 G wandering internet . That ’s the edition I have today . The Snapdragon 888 was used in a bunch of 2021 flagship sound , like theOnePlus 9 ProandSamsung Galaxy S21 . This chipset just drop the 5 g-force that was used in such phones .
It ’s an affordability - driven reworking of the honest-to-goodness Snapdragon 865 flagship , and it put up fabulous functioning per hammer in phones like thePoco F4 GT .
However in the context of a tablet , it ’s slick to ignore that theApple A14 Bionicof the cheaper base iPad has both fast processor and GPU component than the non-4 G version .
Samsung no longer offers a right away like tablet . The tight is likely the Galaxy Tab S8 , which uses the newer and more powerfulSnapdragon 8 Gen 1 . It tucker both versions of the Huawei MediaPad Pro 11 .
However , in reality , you could feed the MatePad Pro 11 all the power you wish . It just does n’t mean that much when the most onerous and advanced game are either difficult or impossible to get on the tablet .
I was also unable to perform the usual trial I subject pad too , as most benchmarking apps have been block from being installed . You see this on occasion in review article sample . Still , both the Snapdragon 870 and 888 are well - establish , and fetch no additional heat genesis offspring in the MatePad Pro 11 . Fortnite campaign nicely on the 4 thou rendering , and can even use the 90fps mode Epic Games specify to mellow - oddment nomadic gimmick .
Camera and battery life
The MatePad Pro 11 has two rear cameras , a 13MP received one and an 8MP ultra - blanket . you’re able to expect simulacrum quality on par with an OK - budget phone .
We ’re not looking at great hardware here in the wider field of fluid technical school , but the photos are a clear gradation above those of a budget pad of paper .
The MatePad Pro11 has an 8300 mAh battery , which is a good size for an 11 - column inch tablet . Samsung’sGalaxy Tab S8has an 8000mAh cell , theiPad Pro 11a 7538mAh one . A streaming video test suggests this tablet can last up to around 15 hours 40 minutes when play video at temperate brightness .
It also has much faster lodge than many tablets , although the interpretation I was post does not have the fastest battery charger around . Some edition reportedly get a 67W charger . My one has a 40W one . Not sorry .
It takes the tablet from flat to 50 % charge in 39 minutes , while a full charge takes around 90 hour . These figures are n’t mind - blow compare with those of a phone , but we are dealing with almost double the battery capacity . There ’s no support for wireless charging here , which would have been one apology for the use of a plastic back .
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Should you buy it?
Highlights here admit a lovely , bold screen with that classic OLED dad and a powerful circle of speakers . They utilize six drivers , arranged in a stereo layout . That ’s a powerful jazz group for media consumption .
The same old Huawei tarradiddle plays out here . This tablet does not have access to Google apps , and while there are Huawei alternatives , the AppLibrary app store still is n’t anywhere near as good as Google Play despite on-going efforts from Huawei .
Final Thoughts
The Huawei MatePad Pro 11 is a fine pill rendered heavily to recommend to most masses thanks to the same issue that has toss off Huawei earphone in the West . It does n’t have Google apps or help , think no access code to Google Play .
This might not be a big upshot with an low-cost tablet . TheAmazon Fire rangedoes just ok without Google Play . However , the Huawei MatePad Pro 11 is not a budget tablet . You ’re either going to be regularly reminded of the lack of quality apps on Huawei ’s AppGallery , or you ’re a individual who likely should n’t be buy a tablet this high - goal in the first position .
And if we forget that software package upshot ? I do n’t love the plastic casing . Not at this price . But the major negatives all hinge on the trust on Huawei ’s alternatives to Google software package , which still do n’t heap up all that well in the Occident .
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How we test
We test every tablet we review good . We expend industry - standard test to compare features properly and we use the tablet as our main twist over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we chance and we never , ever , accept money to reexamine a merchandise .
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FAQs
This tablet does not have Google software system , so there ’s no Play storage or Gmail .
This pad of paper has no water electric resistance rating .
