Huawei MatePad Air Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Huawei MatePad Air is an impressive tablet that promises to take your digital experience to new heights. With its sleek design and stunning 11.5-inch IPS LCD display, featuring a remarkable 144Hz refresh rate, you'll be captivated by the vibrant visuals and smooth scrolling. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, this tablet delivers exceptional performance, whether you're multitasking or gaming. The MatePad Air also boasts a generous 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage, ensuring you have ample space for all your files and apps. The tablet features a 13MP main camera and an 8MP selfie camera, perfect for capturing moments on the go. With a massive 8300mAh battery and support for 40W wired charging, you'll never have to worry about running out of power. The Huawei MatePad Air is available in Graphite Black and White, and with its attractive price point of around 500 EUR, it offers great value for money.

Design and Build Quality

The Huawei MatePad Air boasts an impressive design and build that exudes a sleek and premium look and feel. With its slim form factor and lightweight design, it offers excellent portability without compromising on durability. The tablet measures 261.9 x 178.2 x 6.4 mm and weighs just 508g, making it easy to hold and carry with one hand.

The MatePad Air features a visually appealing physical appearance, with thin bezels surrounding its 11.5-inch IPS LCD display. The display itself offers a high refresh rate of 144Hz, ensuring smooth and fluid visuals. The 2800 x 1840 pixel resolution and 3:2 aspect ratio contribute to a vibrant and immersive viewing experience.

In terms of materials used, the tablet is constructed using high-quality components, which contribute to its robustness and sturdiness. The back panel has a sleek texture that enhances grip and prevents accidental slips. The finishing touches on the device are well-executed, showcasing Huawei's attention to detail.

The ergonomics of the MatePad Air are well-considered, with conveniently placed buttons and controls that are easy to reach and operate. The magnetic accessory connector allows for seamless attachment of a stylus, enhancing productivity and creativity.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air excels in its design and build, combining aesthetics with functionality. Its premium look and feel, along with its durable construction, make it an appealing choice for those seeking a high-quality tablet. Whether for work or entertainment, the MatePad Air offers a satisfying user experience in terms of design, build quality, and usability.

Display

The Huawei MatePad Air features an impressive display that offers a captivating visual experience. With a screen size of 11.5 inches and a resolution of 2800 x 1840 pixels, it provides sharp and vibrant visuals with a pixel density of approximately 291 ppi. The display utilizes IPS LCD technology, ensuring accurate color reproduction and wide viewing angles.

One notable feature of the MatePad Air's display is its 144Hz refresh rate, which results in smooth and fluid scrolling and animations. This high refresh rate enhances the overall user experience, particularly when navigating through apps and gaming. Additionally, the tablet supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) vivid certification, allowing for richer colors and enhanced contrast in supported content.

The MatePad Air's display also boasts a wide color gamut, delivering vivid and lifelike colors. Its brightness levels ensure clear visibility even in well-lit environments, and the tablet incorporates an anti-reflective coating to minimize glare and improve outdoor visibility.

With its slim bezels, the MatePad Air achieves an impressive screen-to-body ratio, maximizing the display area and providing an immersive viewing experience. The tablet also supports touch responsiveness, allowing for precise and accurate input.

To protect the display, Huawei has not disclosed the specific type of glass used, but it likely incorporates some form of durable glass, possibly Gorilla Glass, to resist scratches and accidental damage. Additionally, the MatePad Air offers features such as adaptive brightness and a blue light filter for comfortable viewing in various lighting conditions.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air's display offers a high-quality visual experience with its vibrant colors, smooth scrolling, and immersive design.

Performance

The Huawei MatePad Air boasts impressive performance capabilities thanks to its powerful chipset and GPU. Equipped with the Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 4G chipset, this tablet delivers exceptional CPU and GPU performance. The octa-core processor, consisting of a high-performing Cortex-X1 core, three Cortex-A78 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores, ensures smooth multitasking and app loading speeds. The Adreno 660 GPU enhances the gaming experience and provides stunning graphics.

In terms of gaming performance, the Huawei MatePad Air excels. The tablet's powerful GPU and fast refresh rate of 144Hz contribute to a smooth and lag-free gaming experience. Gaming enthusiasts will appreciate the tablet's ability to handle graphically demanding games with ease. The MatePad Air's GPU efficiency ensures that games run smoothly without compromising battery life.

To assess the tablet's performance, benchmark tests were conducted. Synthetic benchmarks such as CPU and GPU benchmarks were used to evaluate the MatePad Air's performance metrics. The tablet showcased impressive scores in these benchmarks, indicating its superior processor efficiency and GPU capabilities. These results further affirm the MatePad Air's ability to handle demanding tasks and deliver a smooth user experience.

The MatePad Air also excels in system optimization and thermal management. The tablet's HarmonyOS 3.1 operating system ensures efficient resource allocation and enhances overall performance. Additionally, the tablet's thermal management system prevents overheating, allowing for sustained performance during extended gaming sessions or multitasking.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air offers an exceptional performance package. Its powerful chipset, efficient GPU, and system optimization contribute to its outstanding performance in various tasks, including gaming. Whether it's multitasking, gaming, or app loading speeds, this tablet delivers a smooth and lag-free experience. The MatePad Air's performance, as demonstrated by benchmark scores and real-world usage, makes it a compelling choice for users seeking a high-performance tablet.

Software and User Interface

The Huawei MatePad Air runs on HarmonyOS 3.1, the latest operating system developed by Huawei. HarmonyOS is known for its smooth and user-friendly interface, providing a seamless experience for users. The operating system offers a range of customization options, allowing users to personalize their device according to their preferences. It also comes with a variety of pre-installed apps, ensuring that users have essential tools and features readily available. One notable aspect of the MatePad Air's software is the absence of bloatware, which often plagues other devices. This means that users won't have to deal with unnecessary apps and can enjoy a clutter-free experience. The MatePad Air's software is optimized to make the most of its hardware capabilities, ensuring efficient performance and responsiveness. With its intuitive interface and well-designed software, the Huawei MatePad Air offers a user-friendly experience that is both enjoyable and efficient.

Camera

The Huawei MatePad Air is equipped with a 13 MP main camera with an f/1.8 aperture, offering a decent level of detail and clarity in photos. The camera also supports PDAF for fast and accurate focusing. Whether you're capturing moments in daylight or low-light conditions, the MatePad Air's camera performs well in various scenarios. It delivers sharp images with natural colors and good dynamic range, ensuring that your photos look vibrant and true to life. The camera's image stabilization feature helps reduce motion blur, resulting in clearer and sharper shots, especially when capturing moving subjects or shooting handheld. In terms of video recording, the MatePad Air supports 4K video capture, allowing you to create high-resolution videos with rich details. The camera also offers video stabilization for smoother footage and slow-motion video capabilities for capturing those exciting moments in a more dramatic way. Additionally, the MatePad Air has various camera features such as portrait mode, HDR, panorama mode, pro mode, and AI scene recognition, giving you the flexibility to unleash your creativity and enhance your photography skills. With its capable camera system, the Huawei MatePad Air is a great choice for capturing memorable moments and recording high-quality videos.

Battery Life

The Huawei MatePad Air is equipped with a powerful Li-Po 8300 mAh battery that offers long-lasting battery life. With its non-removable design, users can rely on this battery to keep their device running for extended periods of time. The tablet also supports fast charging technology, allowing users to quickly recharge their device when needed. The 40W wired charging capability ensures a speedy charging experience. Additionally, the MatePad Air features a 10W reverse wired charging option, providing the convenience of charging other devices using the tablet itself. The battery optimization features of the MatePad Air contribute to its power efficiency, prolonging the battery life and ensuring an optimal user experience. With its impressive battery capacity and efficient charging capabilities, the Huawei MatePad Air offers a reliable and long-lasting battery performance.

Connectivity and Networking

The Huawei MatePad Air offers a range of connectivity options to ensure seamless communication and data transfer. It supports various network compatibilities, including GSM, HSPA, and LTE, allowing users to access high-speed data speeds. When it comes to wireless connectivity, the tablet is equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, enabling fast and stable internet connections. Additionally, Bluetooth 5.2 ensures efficient wireless data transfer and device pairing. The tablet also features a USB Type-C 3.2 port, offering versatile connectivity and the convenience of charging and data transfer through a single cable. While it lacks NFC functionality, the MatePad Air compensates with GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, and QZSS positioning systems, providing accurate navigation capabilities. It also supports mobile hotspot functionality, allowing users to share their internet connection with other devices. Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air provides a comprehensive array of connectivity features, ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience.

Additional Features

- Standout features: The Huawei MatePad Air comes with several standout features that set it apart from other tablets in the market. Its most notable feature is its 144Hz display, which offers a smooth and immersive visual experience. This display is also HDR Vivid certified, ensuring vibrant and lifelike colors. Additionally, the MatePad Air is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, which provides excellent performance and power efficiency.

- Additional sensors: The MatePad Air is equipped with advanced sensors, including an accelerometer and gyroscope. These sensors enable precise motion tracking, allowing users to enjoy a more immersive gaming and AR/VR experience. In addition to these motion sensors, the tablet also includes a sensor suite that includes environmental sensors. These sensors can provide data on temperature, humidity, and air quality, enhancing the overall user experience.

- Stylus support: The MatePad Air supports a stylus, which can be magnetically attached to the tablet for easy storage and accessibility. This feature is especially useful for note-taking, drawing, and other creative tasks.

- Long-lasting battery: The MatePad Air is equipped with a large 8300mAh battery, ensuring long-lasting usage. It also supports 40W wired charging and 10W reverse wired charging, providing convenient and fast charging options.

- Connectivity options: The MatePad Air offers a range of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and USB Type-C 3.2. It also features a magnetic accessory connector, allowing for easy connection of compatible accessories.

- Design: With its slim and lightweight design, the MatePad Air is highly portable and comfortable to hold. It is available in Graphite Black and White colors, offering a sleek and stylish aesthetic.

Comparison with Other Related Phones

The Huawei MatePad Air enters the tablet market with some noteworthy features that set it apart from its competitors. One of its standout features is the 144Hz display, which offers an incredibly smooth and immersive viewing experience. This is a unique feature that is not commonly found in other tablets in the market. In comparison, the Apple iPad Air 5 (2022) offers a standard 60Hz display, which pales in comparison to the MatePad Air's high refresh rate.

In terms of performance, the MatePad Air is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, which is a flagship processor known for its powerful performance and efficient energy consumption. This puts the MatePad Air on par with top-tier smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 and the OnePlus 9 Pro. In contrast, the iPad Air 5 (2022) utilizes Apple's own A15 Bionic chip, which is also a powerful processor but may not match the Snapdragon 888 in terms of raw performance.

When it comes to storage, the MatePad Air offers two options: 128GB and 256GB, both paired with 8GB of RAM. This provides ample storage space for users to store their files, apps, and media. In comparison, the iPad Air 5 (2022) offers similar storage options, with 64GB and 256GB variants available.

In terms of cameras, the MatePad Air features a 13MP main camera and an 8MP front-facing camera. While tablet cameras are not typically a key selling point, these specifications allow for decent photo and video capture. The iPad Air 5 (2022), on the other hand, offers a 12MP main camera and a 7MP front-facing camera, which are also capable of capturing good quality images.

In terms of pricing, the MatePad Air is priced at around 500 EUR, which positions it as a mid-range tablet. This pricing strategy allows it to compete with tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro, which offer similar specifications and features at a similar price point.

Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air offers a compelling package with its high refresh rate display, powerful processor, ample storage options, and competitive pricing. Its unique features and performance put it in a strong position in the tablet market, allowing it to stand out among its competitors and provide good value for money.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Huawei MatePad Air offers a compelling package for potential buyers in the tablet market. With its stunning 11.5-inch IPS LCD display featuring a 144Hz refresh rate and HDR Vivid certification, users can expect a visually immersive experience. The tablet's powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 4G chipset and 8GB of RAM ensure smooth performance and multitasking capabilities. Additionally, the inclusion of a stylus support adds versatility for creative professionals. However, it's important to note that the absence of expandable storage may limit some users. Overall, the Huawei MatePad Air stands out as a premium tablet option, offering impressive features and excellent value for its price point.