HUAWEI MATEBOOK D15 REVIEW: AN ALL-ROUNDER LAPTOP AT THE RIGHT PRICE
Huawei has reached unexpected qualitative heights with its first range of notebooks . The Matebooks were appreciated for the good price-performance ratio and for the build quality, superior to that of competing models. These are not products that focus on high technical specifications, but rather on a balance between the various components, thanks to which to bring to the market beautiful and functional laptops for an all-round working use. fashionglee
A few weeks ago, Huawei's notebook range has been renewed ,
among the new models we also find the Matebook D15, already available for sale.
The list price is € 649 for the version we tested, slightly higher than that of
other similar laptops in terms of features, but online it is already at € 599,
a figure that places it close to its competitors, the HP Pavilion 15 and the
Acer Swift 3, both with Ryzen 3500U processor.
Superior build quality
Huawei Matebook D is made entirely of aluminum, with a
quality unibody body that conveys a good feeling of solidity. In this case, the
experience accumulated by Huawei in the creation of smartphones is evident, the
Matebook D seems more expensive than it really is. Despite the 15.6-inch
screen, the dimensions and weight are quite contained, with its 1.53 kg and a
thickness of 16.9 mm. If you need greater portability, you can rely on the
smaller Matebook D14, which brings the weight to 1.38 kg. The design chosen by
Huawei is deliberately minimal, we are faced with a laptop designed for work,
where the most sought-after designs are not much appreciated. In the right edge
there are two USB 2.0 sockets and the 3.5 mm jack, on the left one there is a
USB 3.0 and a USB Type C 3.1, together with the HDMI port. If you turn it over,
you can see some grids that hide the dissipation system and the stereo
speakers.
Minimalism seen on the outside is also found once the lid is
lifted, where symmetry reigns supreme. The keyboard is in the center of the
body while at the bottom you can see a large touchpad without physical keys .
The surface occupied by the screen is also large, equal to 87% of the space
available on the lid, with edges of 5.3 mm, not the smallest we have seen but
still very good values.
A result achieved thanks also to the displacement of the
webcam, installed under the dedicated key between F6 and F7 , a solution that
also eliminates any privacy problem but which places some limits in the frame
during video calls. Also interesting is the solution used for the fingerprint
reader, implemented directly above the power key on the right of the keyboard.
In general, the Matebook D15 fully satisfies the eye and
maintains a weight and dimensions that make it transportable. For use on the
move, for example on a train, the 14-inch variant is probably preferable, but
even with this model the use is still comfortable.
Good hardware
The Matebook D15 is a laptop that was created for work on
the move, without reaching the performance of the most powerful mobile
workstations. This means that there are no problems with Office and the like,
or with basic photo and video editing; gaming is also possible, with many
sacrifices, both in resolution and in the level of detail. At the base of the
laptop we find the Ryzen 5 3500U processor, equipped with 4 Cores and 8 Threads
and made with a 12 nm production process. It is able to go up to 3.7 GHz and
also integrates the GPU, a Vega 8 with 8 Compute Units. The test model then has
8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD disk. The screen is a 15.6-inch IPS with Full HD
resolution, with a declared peak brightness of 250 nits and an aspect ratio in
16: 9. The battery is 42 Wh and the audio system is managed by two small stereo
speakers.
This is a hardware well aligned with the price range in
which the Matebook D15 is found today, remember that this generation of AMD CPU
competes with Intel's range of "H" processors, therefore products
optimized in a particular way to moderate consumption more than to maximize
performance.
MateBook D15 to the test
We spent a couple of week in the company of the MateBook D15
and we can be satisfied with the user experience. The use on the move is
pleasant, certainly the 14-inch model is probably more suitable if you use the
PC a lot outside the office or at home, but even this 15-inch variant is easy
to carry and guarantees a decent autonomy . This changes according to use, in
our case we managed to do about 5 hours, not many but more than enough to cover
a whole day of work on the move, provided that you do not use the laptop for 5
hours straight . The keyboard is well made and very comfortable to write, just
a pity that the backlighting of the keys is missing , instead present in the
14-inch variant.
The screen, with a matte finish, does well on the outside
despite not having a very high brightness, but given the price of the laptop we
are in line with other models in the same category. The display does not shine
particularly in the representation of color, the images tend to be lackluster,
but even here the containment of the price has won over the overall quality, a
choice that we feel we can share to propose a product with a competitive cost.
The feedback on the audio is definitely positive , it is not easy to insert
speakers with adequate power in notebooks of this size but Huawei has done a
good job. The bass is hiding, but it is predictable given the size of the
speakers, which nevertheless manage to offer a high volume and without
distortion.
The 256 GB of internal memory is divided into two
partitions, a choice that allows you to preserve the data saved on the second
partition in case of problems with Windows 10, but which on a 256 GB drive
provides only 80 GB in the partition principal. However, the performance in
reading and writing is good, with a sequential transfer rate of 3501 MB / s in
reading and 1533 MB / s in writing.
The overall performance of the laptop meets the needs of
classic office work, from Office to web browsing, all tasks that the MateBook
D15 performs without the slightest problem or jam.. Even video editing, at
least at a basic level and with Full HD resolution, is possible, as long as you
don't weigh everything down too much with effects that put the CPU and GPU in
difficulty. This is not a machine that can replace the most powerful, and even
heavy laptops, but a good travel companion for daily work, with which to
indulge, a little, even for gaming. Like all integrated, the Vega 8 GPU is not
a power champion but for indie titles or for lighter games it may be enough,
even if with minimal details and often lowering the resolution to 720p.
