Seifert wrote another article in May last year praising the laptop when it was released: “Fortunately, the MateBook X Pro has completely and thoroughly exceeded my expectations. While it is not a perfect laptop and it has a couple of faults that will stop some from considering it, it is still the best laptop I’ve used all year. That makes it my new recommendation as the productivity and entertainment laptop to buy right now.”
This year’s update MateBook X Pro.
The new updated version was just announced but will not be available until later this year. It still has the same basic design an number of ports. However, it has a slightly faster processor, an upgraded graphics card, as well as an upgraded Thunderbolt 3 port. There is now an option for 1 TB of storage.
Huawei also announced a cheaper lower tier model which has a lower-resolution display, weighs more, along with some other concessions. It will also be available later on in the year.
Little visual differences between new model and last year’s
The Huawei logo on the two are different. The Huawei logo on the new version is now just the word mark not the full logo as on the 2018 model. Seifert notes: “Otherwise, this is the exact same laptop, complete with a 13.9-inch, 450 nit, edge-to-edge 3000 x 2000 pixel touchscreen; full size keyboard with 1.2mm key travel; fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button; and 2.93 lb weight. The two USB-C and one USB-A ports remain, though the Thunderbolt port has been upgraded to a full four lanes of bandwidth, which Huawei says is capable of supporting external GPUs like Nvidia’s RTX2080.”
There are two processor options the Corei5-8265U or the Core i7-8565U. Huawei claims these are ten percent faster than last year’s processors. The X Pro comes with 8GB or even 16GB of RAM. Storage can be from 256 GB and now 1TB. The Core i7 version has Nvidia’s MX250 discrete graphic a bit better than the 2018 MX150 GPU.
The MateBook 14
Despite being the lower tier model, the Matebook 14 has quite a few of the same qualities as the premium MateBook X Pro — but it is heavier.
Huawei says the two models will be released on global markets first before coming to the US in late spring. The MateBox X Pro will cost 1,599 euros or about $1814 US for the Core i5 model with 8GB RAM and 512 GB storage. The Core i7 model with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB storage will cost 1,999 euros or about $2,266 US. It remains to be seen whether these laptops will find a market at such high prices.
The MateBook 14 will start at 1,199 euros for the Core i5 model or about $1,359 US dollars. The Core i7 model will cost 1,499 euros or $1,699 US. The US pricing will be revealed later.
