Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Slender, lightweight design
- Great keyboard & haptic trackpad
- Strong performance
- Fast charging
Cons
- No discrete GPU
- Sub-par battery life
- Only USB-C ports
Our Verdict
The 2023 MateBook X Pro is almost identical to its last iteration, but an upgrade to a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 unlocks superior performance – if only we could say the same for the battery life.
Huawei’s premium MateBook X Pro laptops have long been among the best high-end Windows machines on the market, and the 2023 edition – while a minor revamp – does little to change that.
The slender, lightweight design and beautiful 90Hz display of last year’s laptop return, this time bolstered by an upgrade to more powerful 13th-gen Intel chips.
With no discrete GPU option and only USB-C ports, this won’t work for creative power users, and battery life remains a sticking point – but if you need a sleek machine for general productivity and can afford the steep asking price, this is one of the few machines out there to really rival Apple’s options.
Design & build
- Magnesium alloy or aluminium build
- Sleek and lightweight
- Only USB-C ports
Huawei hasn’t updated the physical design of the MateBook X Pro for this iteration, which remains identical to its late 2022 counterpart.
The 2023 model is available in three colours and finishes, though availability varies by market. I reviewed the White model, which along with the Ink Blue version has a soft, smooth, almost velvety finish. Both of these are built from magnesium alloy, which helps keep the laptop light at 1.26kg.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
There’s also a cheaper ‘Core’ edition of the laptop in some regions, which is available in Space Grey and built from an aluminium alloy, making it a little heavier at 1.38kg.
The White model has a soft, smooth, almost velvet-y finish
Either way, the laptop is slim and sleek, with a narrow, angled chassis, rounded edges, and a thin bezel around the display when you open it up – easy to do one-handed thanks to a slight lip on the front edge.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Ports are, slightly frustratingly, also unchanged. There are lots of them at least: a headphone jack and four USB-C ports, with the two on the left also supporting Thunderbolt 4. That means if you still use USB-A accessories or SD cards then you’ll be living that dongle life.
Keyboard, trackpad & webcam
- Excellent, spacious keyboard
- Large haptic trackpad
- 720p webcam
Also unaltered, the MateBook X Pro’s keyboard and trackpad are excellent.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The keyboard is a joy to type on, with a spacious, edge-to-edge design, responsive action, and adjustable backlighting. It really is among the best around.
The trackpad is also impeccable. It’s huge for one, spanning all the way to the very bottom edge of the chassis.
It supports multi-touch, but more impressively it’s among the modern wave of haptic trackpads, which Huawei uses to implement a range of additional shortcuts.
The trackpad is also impeccable
You can take screenshots, adjust brightness and volume, fast-forward or rewind video, and more, all with a series of quick trackpad interactions. None of these are game-changers, but the extra convenience is certainly welcome.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
As for the webcam, the 720p camera found on the top bezel here is fine, but nothing special. Other manufacturers are working to improve webcam quality and resolution, and this feels a little below par for 2023.
You can also use the webcam for facial recognition to log in, along with the fingerprint reader built into the power button. Both have worked well for me.
Screen & speakers
- 14.2in display
- 3K resolution
- 90Hz refresh rate
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Huawei hasn’t changed the display from the last model.
That’s definitely not a problem here though, where the screen remains one of the laptop’s key strengths. It’s not OLED, but with a 90Hz refresh rate and 3K resolution the tech is top tier in every other respect.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Deep colours and inky blacks make this a great screen for everything from work to watching movies, and it impresses on colour accuracy too – covering 98% of the DCI-P3 colour range in my testing – and it’s bright enough to use in most lighting too.
It’s a touchscreen too, so there’s an extra level of convenience if you want to tap around the OS as you use the laptop.
The keyboard is flanked by the laptop’s six up-firing speakers, which are punchy enough for a Netflix session, though you wouldn’t want to rely on them too much for your music.
Specs & performance
- 13th-gen Intel Core i7
- No dedicated GPU option
- 16GB RAM and 1TB storage
Huawei has kept things simple with the MateBook X Pro this year, which comes in just one main version, but the processor jump here is also the main reason to buy the 2023 model over an older one.
This is powered by Intel’s 13th-gen Core i7-1360P processor, delivering a respectable generational jump in performance – especially as last year’s X Pro scored oddly low in Geekbench. It’s a match for Apple’s standard M2 chip in its latest MacBooks, and on a par with similar compact Windows devices like the Dell XPS 13 Plus, though that is running 12th-gen Intel.
Together with 16GB of RAM there’s enough power to drive web browsing and Excel sheets with ease, and this will also be a great machine for light creative work including Photoshop or a little video editing.
If you’re a more demanding user – whether that’s editing 4K footage, creating 3D assets, or just playing the latest games – you’ll likely be limited by the power-efficient P-series chip and the lack of a discrete GPU, but for the rest of us there’s more than enough oomph here.
The processor jump is the main reason to buy the 2023 model over an older one
Storage is a generous 1TB as standard, and Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6E cover the wireless networking options.
Battery & charging
- Below-average battery life
- Fast USB-C charging
I’ve reviewed quite a few of Huawei’s MateBook laptops in the last few years, and one of the common threads has been disappointing battery life.
Despite efficiency gains from the 13th-gen processor, that’s true again here. Battery life isn’t bad per se – the laptop lasted a little over ten hours in our constant HD video playback test – but it’s definitely below par, and an area where rivals are unequivocally better.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
There’s enough power to just about last a full workday so long as you aren’t doing anything too demanding, but I admit I’d be hesitant to leave the house without a charger in tow just in case.
At least that side of things is easy: charging is via USB-C, and any of the laptop’s four ports will work. It’s fast, too: the included compact 90W charger delivered 53% of the battery capacity in just half an hour in my test, among the fastest on the market.
Software & features
- Runs Windows 11
- Huawei PC Manager with a few extra features
The MateBook X Pro ships with Windows 11 as standard, and the core Windows experience is pretty unadulterated.
To its credit, Huawei adds very little extra software to its laptop, so you won’t have to fend off unwanted anti-virus or pre-installed games.
The only extra is the Huawei PC Manager, a relatively unobtrusive program that handles driver updates along with connectivity features if you also own other Huawei hardware.
You can share your screen or files with Huawei phones or tablets, or wireless connect to a supported monitor. It’s all surprisingly slick, but of course you can only get the benefit if own other Huawei kit.
Price & availability
The 2023 MateBook X Pro is out now in the UK and Europe from Huawei’s official store or Amazon, but it’ll set you back £1799/€2,199.
The laptop is not available at all in the US.
It can’t be denied that this is an expensive laptop, though that’s partly thanks to Huawei’s choice to start from generous 16GB RAM and 1TB storage allocations.
The likes of the Dell XPS 15 and MacBook Air 15in both have lower starting prices (despite slightly larger screens), but spec them out similarly and the Huawei actually comes out more affordable.
Still, other manufacturers give you more flexibility to build a machine to your tastes, so make sure you need all that RAM and storage before you commit.
Check out our full ranking of the best laptops for more options.
Verdict
The MateBook X Pro is another excellent high-end laptop from Huawei, albeit essentially unchanged from the late 2022 model other than a bump up to the latest Intel chip.
That brings with it a modest performance improvement, but no real gains to battery life, which remains the hardware’s main weak point.
If you can live with keeping your charger close at hand and don’t mind paying a premium for plenty of storage then this is as premium as lightweight laptops get, a slick device that looks as good as anything out there and packs the performance to match.
Specs
- Windows 11 Home
- 14.2in 3120×2080 LTPS touchscreen, 264ppi, 90Hz
- Intel Core i7-1360P processor
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 1TB SSD storage
- 720p webcam with Windows Hello
- 4x USB-C (data, charging, DisplayPort, 2x Thunderbolt 4)
- Headphone jack
- Fingerprint Power Button 2.0
- Dual-band Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Six speakers
- Four microphones
- 60Wh battery
- 90W charger
- 310x221x15.6mm
- 1.26/1.38kg
- Space Grey, White, or Ink Blue