In November I had the opportunity to test a special laptop, both in terms of nuance and functionality, HUAWEI MateBook 14s. It is an ultrabook for business, a compact but also powerful device, which approaches an atypical color and relies heavily on synergy with other HUAWEI products and collaboration functions already established, but taken to another level.
It does not skimp on features, from the 2.5K touch screen to the Intel Core i5 Gen 11 processor and I tested it for two weeks as a daily driver, put to work related tasks: writing articles, photo / video editing, social media, YouTube, emails, and the like. The conclusions I have drawn after this use can be found below.
HUAWEI MateBook 14s Review:
Price and bonuses:
First of all, find out that the version I have for testing, the green one with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage costs 6,699 lei. The variant with 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD on gray is 6299 lei, and the one with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD on gray is 6499 lei. The product also comes with 4 gifts in the package:
The offers apply on www.huaweistore.ro and to HUAWEI partner retailers.
Design and ergonomics:
We are dealing here with a laptop made of metal (aluminum alloy), the shade of which you do not see every day in the business segment. It is a light green to gray, which gives little life, in an area where laptops are generally sober, gray or black. It is well built, thin and light, at 16.7 mm in height and 1.43 kilograms in weight. I notice at first that empty space in the area of the 4 microphones, which allows you to grab the "cover" with the screen better to open the laptop.
The 14.2-inch screen has very narrow edges, and the keyboard has large, generously spaced buttons and 14.2mm travel. They are built on a base that manages not to tire you excessively even after long hours of typing. The screen has a screen to body ratio of 90%, and the touchpad is also large and has the two clicks available anywhere on its surface. I'd call it a little noisy though.
The lid with the screen has a generous opening angle, over 145 degrees and also integrates the HD webcam there, discreetly placed. Available in gray or green, this laptop can easily fit in any bag or backpack and will sit comfortably on the desk or in the lap of a traveling journalist. The keyboard is backlit by the way and has 3 degrees of illumination.
Hardware:
Connectivity
I will start the hardware with connectivity and here we get a USB-A 3.2 port on the right, while on the left is the 3.5 mm audio jack, HDMI port, two USB-C ports, both capable of data transfer , charging and with DisplayPort support. We don't have an SD card reader.
For wireless connectivity we check Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 and if we are still here we have reached 645 Mbps for Wi-Fi download with this laptop and 803 Mbps for upload. Beware, we don't have an Ethernet port , but there are adapters for that.
Screen
The screen uses a 14.2-inch LTPS LCD panel with 2.5K resolution, which is 2520 x 1680 pixels. It is a responsive touch screen and has a refresh rate of 90 Hz. You can set it to 60 to 90 Hz with the push of a button (FN + R). The 3: 2 aspect is well suited for scrolling on web pages, Facebook, Instagram and in documents.
At our brightness test it reached 300 LUX, enough for a laptop. It has wide viewing angles, nice colors and does well in the sun.
Multimedia
We also get quad speakers with a very strong bass and high volume. At our test it reached 90 decibels easily and I think it goes even higher. I was standing by a wall and I think I bothered some neighbors with dubstep. The speakers do not lose their clarity at full volume and offer a pleasant voice. The quad microphones in the middle area pick up the voice even at 5 meters and do it correctly, without exaggerated bass and without metallic sound. They seem to me the best speakers I've heard in the last year on a laptop.
The webcam above has some very accurate infrared sensors for unlocking Windows Hello. Otherwise we have the fingerprint reader in the Power button, which does a good job of recognizing you.
Performance
The Intel Core i5 Gen 11 processor we have here comes with 16 GB LPDDR4X RAM, as well as 512 GB SSD storage. The CPU is an 8-wire Intel Core i5 11300H quad core with integrated Intel XE GPU. It usually consumes 35W, but at heavier loads it reaches 45W. The two fans visible below are very quiet, even when playing or editing video.
The 60 Wh battery provides at least 11 hours of Office and 13 hours of video playback on paper. In reality, I caught about 9-10 hours of use, of course you can work a whole day at the office without the need for a charger. The one in the package is 90W and is charged via USB-C. A 15-minute charge brings 3 hours of use.
At benchmarks, we even outperformed laptops with Ryzen 7 CPUs, which isn't bad at all. Zero throttling and zero heating in the Cinebench R23 by the way.
Software, Productivity and Multi Screen Collaboration
The laptop is running Windows 10 and can be upgraded to Windows 11 without any problems. I used it for photo editing in Photoshop and video editing in Adobe Premiere, but Office remained the daily bread and knife. I switched between them very easily and rendered 4K unboxings surprisingly fast,
What sets it apart from other rival laptops is the HUAWEI Share system and the Multi Screen Collaboration functionality. The concept is simple: I touched a HUAWEI P40 Pro and HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro touchpad, which triggered the connection between the terminals. After pressing "Connect" on both, a Mirroring process begins at first sight. Everything you see on your phone and on your laptop and MateBook 14s you can take photo and video calls from your smartphone.
You can copy files from your phone to your laptop and vice versa with drag and drop and I did that in the video review with photos and videos. You can continue working on the same Office file that you started on your phone and laptop, and vice versa. Perhaps the most enjoyable feature of this set is the Multi Screen.
Some applications on your phone can be activated in separate windows, creating even more advanced multitasking. You can interact with the gallery, video player, file manager and other applications on your phone while you have access to the homescreen and use your phone normally. On the laptop you can access other parts of the phone without any problems. You can also use the keyboard, touch screen, and mouse to control your connected phone or even tablet. You can open up to 3 windows in this mode on the screen, 3 mobile applications.
You can also use applications on one device to open files stored on another. You can even edit photos from your phone to your laptop without the need to manually transfer files. You can use your computer microphone and camera to start video conversations on your phone. You can duplicate the laptop interface on a tablet by displaying the same content on both devices, but there is also Extend mode, which can be used as an external display for a PC. The tablet becomes a laptop monitor, for example, and complements it.
You can also wirelessly project the screen on your MateBook 14s to a HUAWEI MateView monitor. The PC Manager application on your laptop also allows you to connect to the Internet using your phone's cellular data, which is useful when you don't have Wi-Fi access. PC Manager also has the role of centralizing media content on devices. There is also a screen capture tool in various forms.
Conclusions:
The HUAWEI MateBook 14s is a reliable laptop with a solid body and a narrow, high-resolution, narrow-edged screen. As a journalist, content creator, student, corporate, entrepreneur, I don't think you can ask for more. I'm talking about reliability, a light body, a comfortable keyboard that doesn't tire your fingers, plus a future proof processor and plenty of RAM and storage.
It is also secured with an infrared webcam and fingerprint reader, and the phone collaboration feature sells the device on its own, especially if you own a compatible HUAWEI phone. Silence and elegance are the icing on the cake. I know, the price is quite high, but don't forget that it's the business area here, where the stakes are high and a laptop like that generates value in work projects.
HUAWEI MateBook 14s prices:
Core i5-11300H, 8GB, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 home:
Core i5-11300H, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 home: