Long before they could charge whatever they liked for DSLR-bothering smartphones, Huawei had to earn their reputation in the West. The Chinese telecoms behemoth earned that reputation by delivering increasingly high-quality devices at agreeable prices. Their latest device, the mid-range Windows 10 notebook Huawei Matebook D14, aims to show they still have the ‘affordable quality’ magic.
Light Metal, Heavy Duty
The design and build quality are spectacular even with a slightly derivative look. The bold, squared chassis and minimal branding lend the device a premium aesthetic, even before switching it on. With the screen lit up, the tiny 4.8mm bezels only add to the luxury.
The brushed aluminium casing of our display model helps keeps the weight down to 1.38kg or 3 lbs. It’s quite tactile and gives the impression of sturdiness. A final side effect of the abundance of aluminium is that it helps Huawei Matebook D14 keeps its cool. Even during long, grueling sessions on the device, there was a notable lack of heat in the palm-rest area around the huge touchpad.
Considered Design
The keyboard is of a Macbook style – large square keys with a small curve on each corner. Huawei Matebook D14’s full-size keyboard was obviously big enough for my dainty hands. There isn’t much flex and there is a firm and precise feedback to each stroke – it’s very easy to type on. The truncated ‘Return’ key will be a small annoyance to touch-typers who are used to a full-sized version.
Matebook D14 features a large 9cm x 6cm (4.1″x2.5″) touchpad. It’s multi-point and supports the full range of gestures for Windows 10. The touchpad has a lightly matted texture to help with accurate pointing but I found it to be little too sensitive by default.
Huawei Matebook D14 features a fingerprint scanner on top of the power button. It’s an elegant solution, helped by the handy placement of the power button near the ‘Backspace’ key. The scanner is small but is accurate in use once you register your fingerprint correctly.
One feature that gives much more than it takes away is the hidden camera. Nestled amongst the F-keys is the unassuming camera button. A quick click and up the camera pops. It’s not the most flattering of angles but it’s not the big deal that the set-up is made out to be.
In exchange of an extra chin or the exhausting task of adjusting your seating position you get that super-slim bezel and the security of a webcam that tucks away when you don’t need it.
Pleasant Visage and Voice
The PureView display’s aforementioned minimal bezel makes the 1920×1080 pixel IPS panel pop. The panel has a vibrant but still natural colour that pleases the eye.
The panel tops out at 250 nits – not particularly bright. This lack of brightness coupled with the average contrast make the Matebook D14 less than ideal for outdoor use on sunny days.
The stereo speakers are of good quality and capable of relatively high volumes. There is a little bass in there – certainly better than you would expect from a device this size. However, the speakers are placed on the underside of Matebook D14 – on the wrong surface that decent din can easily be stifled.
Performance-to-Price Ratio is Right
8GB of RAM and the AMD Ryzen chipset make light work of everyday tasks. Anything that isn’t video editing or gaming is easy work for the Ryzen 5 3500U and integrated Vega 8 graphics.
Integrated graphics have come a long way in the last few years but Huawei Matebook D14 will only manage complex 3D gaming on the lowest settings at low frame-rates.
It’s worth noting that the RAM is fixed to the motherboard so additional or replacement memory is out.
Huawei Matebook D14 has impressive stamina. The manufacturer’s claim is up to 9.5 hours and I am sure that’s possible with a light workload. I found it lasted 7-8 hours depending on the day’s agenda. The 65W Supercharger will charge the battery from 0-46% in just 30 minutes while a complete charge takes less than 90 minutes.
Needs More Ports
The provision of I/O options covers most modern bases but a bit thinly. One full-size USB ports is placed on either side of Huawei Matebook D14. Only one of these is USB 3.0.
The device charges via USB 3.1 (Type-C), the common charging port used on most Huawei and Android phones. This means you can carry just the one for both devices – a small but meaningful benefit.
A full-sized HDMI port is a great inclusion on a device less than 16mm thick. Hooking Huawei Matebook D14 up to any TV or monitor is a doddle.
Sharing is Caring
For users of Hauwei smartphones, there is one more major feature that adds to an already capable notebook. Huawei Share allows users to temporarily graft their smartphone to their PC. By using NFC to open a connection, your entire phone is available on your Matebook D14 – contacts, files and even your apps will appear on your desktop, ready to collaborate seamlessly.
Specifications
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 5 3500U |
| RAM: | 8GB DDR4 RAM |
| Storage: | 512GB SSD |
| Display: | 14 inch; 1920 x 1080 IPS; 60Hz; 16:9, Contrast 800:1 |
| Camera: | 0.9 MP, 720p |
| OS: | Windows 10 Home |
| Connectivity: | Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO Bluetooth 5.0, compatible with Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR |
| Battery: | 56Wh |
| Dimensions: | 322.5mm x 214.8mm x 15.9mm (approx. 30″ x 10″ x 6.5″) |
| Weight: | 1.38kg |
| Colours: | Cosmic Grey, Space Silver |
Value in a Quality Shell
Proving they can still offer something special at an ordinary price, Huawei Matebook D14 covers the basics admirably at €799.
It’s light and comes with adequate stamina, it’s powerful enough to get some work and some play done. But it also looks and feels cool thanks to the aluminium casing. Excuse the pun.
