Huawei Matebook E 2-in-1 2022 Review (i7-1160G7, Iris Xe)

Huawei is one of the emerging names in the laptop market. The company has revealed many innovative notebooks in the past, and almost all of them are business notebooks. While covering the business laptop segment, we decided to review one of the business notebooks from Huawei, i.e., Matebook E 2-in-1 2022, which was launched on November 17.

From its naming, it is definite that this notebook combines the advantages of regular laptops and tablet PCs. At the same time, the portability and keyboard experience are also not compromised.

Being a business notebook, it is also essential to achieve higher performance stats. From the specifications of Matebook E, we can say that it will not disappoint us. The higher specs OLED display, Core i7-1160G7 CPU, and its slim body help the notebook to meet all the standards. The specifications and other aspects of the notebook are discussed below in detail.

Specifications

Screen 12.9-inches 2.5K (2560 x 1600) Display: 16:10 Aspect Ratio; 16.7M Color:  DCI-P3:100%; Maximum 600nits Brightness (in HBM mode); Contrast Ratio 1000000:1
Processor 11th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1160G7 Processor
Wireless Connection Wi-Fi 6 IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax; Bluetooth 5.1
Graphics card Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Memory 16 GB LPDDR4x 3733 MHz
Storage 512 GB SSD with PCIe 3.0 and NVMe 1.3 Protocols
Camera 13MP Back Camera (Record 4K@30fps) and 8MP Front Lens
Ports 1x USB Type-C Port
Battery 42 Wh Battery with 65W quick-charging support
OS Windows 11 Home Edition
Weight 709g

Huawei Matebook E 2022: Body, Design, and Appearance

Starting from the notebook’s appearance, the new Matebook E 2-in-1 comes in two color options: Navy Blue and Nebula Gray. The model we got for review has the second color option (Gray). On the front side, we have a 12.9-inch OLED Display (discussed in the Display Section). Around the display, there is a fourth-level symmetrical narrow frame (sizes around 5.6mm), maximizing the screen-to-body ratio up to 90%. We all know that the display size is not big like other notebooks, but we still had a good impact.

Image credit: Huawei

On the backside, the new Matebook E 2022 uses aluminum alloy material. The company has also applied the plastic layer as an outer layer, providing a smooth touching experience with a skin-friendly feel.

It seems that Huawei has also worked a lot on the slimness of the device, as its sides measure around 7.99 mm only, which is exceptional in the tablet PC industry. Overall, the 7.9mm side frame also ensures the comfortable handling experience of the device. The side frame also consists of two grids on all four sides of the device, consisting of built-in speakers and also playing an important role in the heat dissipation of the notebook.

Image credit: Huawei

The new Matebook E is a tablet PC with some important buttons and ports on the body. On the right side of the notebook (in a horizontal screen state), we have a power/lock button with an integrated fingerprint scanner. It is worth mentioning that this button will let you quickly lock and log in with a single tap. On the top, a 3.5mm headphone jack is also placed while the charging port is placed on the opposite side (details discussed in the battery section). We can say that the overall display experience on Matebook E 2-in-1 2022 is quite satisfying.

Huawei Matebook E 2022: Display

As mentioned earlier, the new Matebook E 2022 features a 12.6-inch OLED Display having a screen-to-body ratio of up to 90%. Some of the significant display highlights are the following: 16:10 Aspect Ratio, Quad-HD+ resolution, 16.7M Display Colors, 240PPI (Pixel per Inch), and 1000000:1 contrast ratio.

Image credit: Huawei

It is worth mentioning that this display also supports a P3 wide color gamut, which assures that the display colors will be excellent. The display can also achieve as high as 600nits of brightness (400nits in standard mode), so there is no need to worry about seeing it in the sun or outdoors. Moreover, the display also got Rheinland Global Eye Protection 2.0 certification.

In detailed display testing, we also found that it supports 100% sRGB, 96% AdobeRGB, and 100% P3 color gamut. We also did a brightness test in a solid light environment, and it was found that the lowest brightness is 8.9nits while the highest is 463nits. It is worth mentioning that the brightness can reach up to 600nits, which cannot be turned on manually. It is worth mentioning that the results mentioned above were measured in SDR mode. If the test is done in HDR mode, the overall brightness will be higher and the final result will be different.

As it is a tablet computer, it also has a back and front camera. The backside sports a 13MP lens in the upper left corner, which can also record 4K videos at 30fps. A significant advantage of a camera on a Windows notebook is that it lets the user quickly capture the image of meaningful content and then share it. On the front side, there is a single 8MP lens which performs quite decent while video conferencing.

Huawei Matebook E 2022: Magnetic Keyboard and Stylus

When buying the new Matebook E 2-in-1, there would be two options for the keyboard for the buyers. The first option is Huawei’s Smart Magnetic Keyboard, and the second is Huawei’s Yue Slide Keyboard. The variant we got for the review comes with Magnetic Keyboard and Huawei’s second-generation M-Pencil stylus.

It is worth mentioning that Huawei’s Smart Magnetic Keyboard uses Ultra-Light PU Leather to make the overall handling experience premium. It weighs only 440g, so there would be no compromise in the portability of this 2-in-1 notebook. The keyboard has a long keystroke design of around 1.3mm only, increasing the comfort of the typing experience. Under the keyboard area, the touchpad is placed, which has an area of 56mm*113mm. It also has a built-in NFC sensor that lets the user easily connect to his smartphone (NFC Supported) and share files.

Image credit: Huawei

The most important characteristic of this magnetic keyboard is that it converts the Matebook E from a tablet PC to a notebook form and ensures continuous adjustment support between 110° and 160°. Whether it is being used for office work or entertainment purposes, the screen is finely adjusted with the human body’s line of sight to ensure no problem while viewing the screen. It is worth mentioning that Huawei’s magnetic keyboard can also be used as a protective cover.

The other gadget we got along with the keyboard is Huawei’s second-generation M-Pencil (Stylus) which is now more textured (compared with the previous generation) and supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. It also features an all-new electrode-sensing design. Further, it has an ultra-low latency support of 2ms, which can accurately complete the processing accuracy requirements within 0.1mm second.

It is worth mentioning that the M-Pencil Stylus can be attached to the upper left side of Matebook E through the magnets inside the body. Also, the charging of the M-Pencil would start automatically after attaching.

For testing the functionality of M-Pencil, we used the Microsoft Office OneNote program. It has been observed that this stylus can accurately sense changes in force. As per your wish, the thickness of added lines (while writing text) can also be changed. It also got some significant highlights like the intelligent palm-pen anti-mistouch algorithm, making the writing experience like actual paper-pen writing. The user can also put the palm on the screen to quickly draw and write something without worrying about accidental touches (for more concentration while creating content).

Huawei Matebook E 2022: File Sharing

As mentioned earlier, the new Magnetic Keyboard also integrates the NFC sensor in the touchpad, from which the communication and file sharing experience between your mobile and Matebook E becomes excellent. The user can efficiently operate their smartphone on the notebook. Not only that but the files can also be shared with just simple drag and drop.

In-office programs like Microsoft Word, the working eco-system is a significant feature of this notebook. If you have any Word document for editing, all you need to do is open the file in the multi-screen window, and it will be opened automatically on the Matebook E. Moreover, it can also be stored on the phone in real time, eliminating the need for manual file copying and providing an unrivaled workplace experience, making the overall experience quite relaxing.

Image credit: Huawei

Further, the Multi-Screen collaboration also allows the user to control their smartphone through Matebook E. You can easily do simple smartphone tasks like watching the news, videos, or online shopping with zero lagging experience.

In the port section, the new Matebook E 2022 features only a single USB Type-C port, but if you are planning to purchase this notebook, there is no need to worry as you can expand the ports by connecting a Type-C dock with different ports.

Huawei Matebook E 2022: Battery and Charging

The new Huawei Matebook E 2022 features a 42Wh Lithium Polymer battery, which seems fine if the device is used as a Tablet PC. However, for solid usage, the battery wouldn’t last long. In terms of charging, Huawei has done excellent work by including a 65W charger (65W charging support) along with the notebook.

As officials claim, the 65W charger can charge the notebook from 0 to 54% in 30 minutes, and for a full 100% charge, it would take 90 minutes (when the notebook is powered off).  While usage, the charging may have slight differences due to individual usage habits and changes in environmental factors.

Huawei Matebook E 2022: RAM and Storage

The model we got for review comes with a combination of 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. The 16GB RAM is a Dual-Channel (2*8GB sticks) LPDDR4x RAM having a maximum frequency of 3733MHz. On testing the RAM through the AIDA64 memory cache test, we found that the reading speed of RAM was 57515MB/s, the writing speed was 58665MB/s, and the copy bandwidth speed was 56920MB/s while the latency was 100.3ns.

Come to the SSD, the model features a built-in 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. To check the detailed specifications of SSD, we used the CrystalDiskInfo software on which we found that this SSD supports PCIe 3.0 x4 data transmission mode and NVMe 1.3 protocol.

For testing it, we used the testing feature of the same application on which we got the following results: At sequential speed, the writing speed was 2246MB/s while the reading speed was 3378MB/s. On 4K random speed testing, the writing score was 268MB/s, and the reading score was 67MB/s. From the scores, we can say that the sequential speed is almost equivalent to a desktop-grade mid-range SSD, and the 4K score is the same as a desktop-grade high-end SSD.

Huawei Matebook E 2022: Performance

The new Matebook E 2022 features the latest 11th Generation Core i7-1160G7 CPU, featuring four cores and eight threads. The CPU is based on a 10nm SuperFin process and has a turbo frequency of up to 4.4GHz. The processor also has a 12M three-level cache, and the dynamic TDP power consumption is 7-15W. At the minimum frequency of 900MHz, the chipset can achieve the lowest power consumption, improving the notebook’s battery life and endurance. The CPU also integrates a built-in Intel Iris Xe GPU.

After doing the performance test, we also did a stress test to check the performance durability of this notebook. For testing, we used the AIDA64 Extreme application. At the beginning of the test, the power consumption of the CPU (Core i7-1160G7) was 30W, which gradually increased to 10W after a short time. After almost 10 minutes, the notebook temperature was around 60 degrees, while the full core frequency was 1.8GHz.

Final Conclusion

Generally speaking, the new Matebook E 2022 is designed for light office work, and it performs admirably on all fronts. First of all, the OLED Display and its characteristics ensure that the display will be the best in every term, whether it is color tuning, eye protection, high brightness (for working under intense light area), or any other aspect.

Secondly, the performance of Matebook E 2022 is also more than expected. With the Core i7-1160G5 CPU, the notebook can efficiently perform daily office tasks. Compared with the high-end CPUs (like Core i7-1185G7), we found a performance gap of almost 15-20%. However, it can be ignored as the thermal design power consumption of this CPU is only 15W. Further, other high-level specifications like Dual-Channel LPDDR4x memory and PCIe 3.0 SSD also help improve the CPU’s capability.

Thirdly, the Magnetic Keyboard and Stylus can quickly realize the conversion of a tablet PC into a proper notebook, maintaining lightness and portability at the same time. Not only that, but the M-Pencil Stylus also provides the actual writing or drawing experience, thanks to the 4096-level pressure sensitivity and ultra-low latency of 2ms. Also, the magnetic keyboard is improved (compared with previous generation keyboards), especially the 1.3mm long keystroke design, which increases typing comfort.

In short, in various challenging mobile circumstances, the MateBook E is fully capable of meeting the needs of work, creation, and learning. If you are looking for a 2-in-1 notebook with a lightweight body and powerful performance, Matebook E is the best option for you.