If you’re not familiar with Huawei, the Chinese company is the third-largest smartphone maker in the world, behind Samsung and Apple. When it came time to develop the MateBook, Huawei didn’t make any compromises. It features a strong, metal chassis that gives the tablet a luxurious feel. Its 12-inch touchscreen display is equally impressive with a 2160 x 1440 resolution and deep, vivid colors. Powering the super-sized tablet is a 2.2-GHz Intel Core m3 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. There’s also a built-in fingerprint sensor that works brilliantly with Microsoft Windows Hello biometric sign in and a 5-megapixel front camera that takes impressive, smartphone-like photos. However, keep in mind that the MateBook can’t spend a long time away from an outlet. Its battery life is disappointing — it lasted just under 4 hours on our test — so you’ll need to pack a charger wherever you go. Also, the MateBook Portfolio Keyboard (opens in new tab), MatePen (opens in new tab), and Mate Dock (opens in new tab) are additional options. Nevertheless, at $399, the 12-inch MateBook (opens in new tab) has finally reached a price point where it’s a decent budget alternative to the Surface Pros of the world.
