Timing is everything and Huawei in the final leg of December spoke about their latest everyday laptop with personality, the Huawei Matebook D16 with Intel Core i5 processor.
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We got to see their flexible screened Matebook D16 with Intel i5 around December and toggled around with it before Huawei said enough, bring it back.
We stubbornly said NO, and then remembered we had a job to do, so our brief relationship with the MateBook D16 was short-lived.
On the flip side, we got a glimpse at the format Huawei planned to introduce when it comes to laptops and appreciated the attention to detail when delivering the everyday laptop for the student, or otherwise productive office individual.
What we liked
It’s peculiar that the MateBook D16 comes in two formats according to Huawei, the Huawei MateBook D16 with Intel i5, and the hopefully incoming Matebook D16 with Intel core i9, crossing fingers.
1. Appeal
The MateBook D16 is attractive to look at. The polished silver look lands quite comfortably without any resistance. Maybe silver is our hidden resistance cheat code, who knows?
All we know is the Matebook D16, i5 – I’ll call it – is meticulously edged with a lightweight to complement its persona. Its thin bezels allow a big display for the user thanks to a 16-inch full-view display.
Not only that it has a series of processors within the larger Intel Core family.
I’ll simplify things.
So Intel releases new generations of Core processors regularly. Each brings improvements in performance and efficiency. We understand that i5 processors often try to strike a balance between performance and affordability, and the Huawei Matebook D16, does just that, finds the balance.
Most i5s are powerful enough for most everyday tasks such as emailing, office work, or even some light gaming.
It gets tricky when it comes to video editing workloads such as video editing or massively straining gaming with 3D. These require higher-end i7 or i9 processors.
That’s beside the point. Let’s get back to why we liked the Huawei MateBook D16 at first glance.
The Matebook D16 boasts a heavy 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H processor, 16-inch near bezel-less display all inside a metallic silver exterior.
2. It’s lightweight
The Huawei MateBook D16 is light when compared to some competitors. Considering Huawei added a numeric keypad to the Matebook D16, we see it at an interesting weight of 1.68kg.
Not only is the laptop slim but it’s light in weight. It’s 17mm in thickness and has a comforting weight just above a kilo and a half.
3. Super device feature
So Huawei also added the ability to support the Huawei Super device feature. Think of quick pairing between your laptop and other devices. Drag and drop is exactly why we found the Huawei MateBook D16 a little interesting.
4. Multi-touch trackpad gestures
We love that we can use the trackpad for a number of universally familiar trackpad gestures for various functions. That’s a win. Without checking your laptop manual you quickly see the Huawei Matebook D16 respond to some of your productivity fingers on trackpad, habits.
We don’t like the fact that it’s a massive laptop, and our laptop bag padding felt the stretch. Yes, the numeric keypad is a bonus, but imagine if it was lighter and smaller.
I suppose one cannot have one without the other. A numeric keypad equals a larger screen and that translates to a slightly longer-looking laptop.
All things come with sacrifice. The sound could be a little better. A little base goes a long way when it comes to music. When thinking about it, it’s the laptop for the employee, and student who both focus on being productive with lighter demanding tasks and not base-seeking aesthetically shorter laptops.
The MateBook D16 is for the everyday user, even though it brings forward an elegantly sleekish polished design. It looks more premium at first glance, with the weight pleasantly solidifying it as a device even a cool student would choose.
