Kicking things off first at Mobile World Congress we get a shiny new entry from Huawei. The new Huawei MateBook 2 in 1
is adding to the growing laptop and tablet hybrid devices we’ve been seeing lately. Huawei’s new device is up against the
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and the iPad Pro. It will do so by offering a range of features that has productivity in mind and style.
With
a 12-inch IPC LCD display and 2160 x 1440 resolution it offers an
incredible looking screen. The screen has plenty of real estate,
bezels are only 10mm around the screen, with Huawei claiming the screen takes
up 84% of space. It’s not only what’s on-screen that catches the eye, the body is
only 6.9mm thick making it as thick as an iPhone 6.
Huawei really has productivity in mind, squeezing a lot of useful features into
the MateBook. One of the biggest applauses came from the announcement
that the MateBook will last 9 hours of video playback or 13 hours of light use
(average standard for laptops). Powering the MateBook is an Intel Core M3,
M5 or M7 processor with the ability to run Windows 10 Home and Pro. The
standout feature of the MateBook is hidden in the volume keys. There you will
find the fingerprint sensor from the Mate 8, giving you the ability to access
the new “laplet” instantly and adding security.
Staying on the productivity line, Huawei also
announced the MatePen. It has 2048 levels
of pressure and can be used to create some
imaginative works of art (depending on your art
skills of course). Weirdly there is no convenient way to store the
MatePen which the Surface Pen and Apple Pencil are able to do. But it does
have a laser pointer for presentations and will last you 100 hours from only 1 hour of
charging.
A release date has not been disclosed but prices will range from $699 (£500) to $1599 (£1150) for
the tablet. The keyboard and pen will be $129 (£92) and $59 (£42) respectively, and both will be sold
separately or as bundles with the MateBook.