It was two years ago at Mobile World Congress that Huawei unveiled its entry into the Windows 10 PC market with the MateBook. Last year, the company expanded its efforts from a single tablet to three models, which included two laptops: the MateBook X and MateBook D.
At Mobile World Congress this year, the firm added another member to the family, the MateBook X Pro. It adds to the thin and light design of last year"s MateBook X (which we loved, and you can find out more about that in our review), with improvements across the board.
One big change is that there"s a camera hidden between the F6 and F7 keys. Once the user presses the button, the webcam pops up. This allows for narrow bezels all the way around the screen, and a 91% screen-to-body ratio.
The screen is a bit larger at 13.9 inches, and the resolution is 3,000x2,000, adopting the aspect ratio that"s found on modern Surface devices. The display also supports touch, something that wasn"t included in the original X.
Most notably though, the MateBook X Pro includes Intel"s eighth-generation "Kaby Lake R" processors. Offered in Core i5 and i7 flavors, these new chips are quad-core, as opposed to the last generation"s dual-core, offering a significant boost in performance. Unfortunately, it"s not fanless like the MateBook X was, as it includes a dedicated GPU in the form of an Nvidia GeForce MX150.
Last year, Huawei boasted having the first 13-inch laptop to include Dolby Atmos, so this year, the MateBook X Pro includes Dolby Atmos Gen 2. As far as battery life goes, the company says that it can get up to 15 hours, with a 57.4Wh battery.
Huawei says that the MateBook X Pro is a new addition to the lineup, and won"t replace the MateBook X. Unfortunately, it seems like it will in the United States, at least for the time being. The company updated the MateBook D in December with 8th-gen processors, and will so the same for the X, but it says that it doesn"t make sense to keep the X and the X Pro on shelves in the United States.
The firm hasn"t announced pricing or availability just yet, but don"t expect U.S. pricing right away. Typically, Huawei holds a separate launch event for that.