With its MateBook E, Huawei partially falls into the trap of having put all its marbles in the quality of the screen, at the risk of neglecting certain very important elements on a Windows tablet that claims to be able to replace a laptop PC. The slate of the Chinese manufacturer, which is increasingly concentrating its forces on the PC market, at least in Europe, therefore suffers from a disappointing autonomy that will not allow to reach the full working day on battery power. While the fast charging offered by the brand partially compensates for this shortcoming, gambling on betting (too much) on the efficiency of a power adapter is still a risky bet in a primarily mobility-oriented product.
This limited autonomy is all the more regrettable since it is not balanced by good CPU firepower, as in the case of the Surface Pro 8. Here you have to be satisfied with Intel chips with very low consumption… which inevitably develop modest performances. Fortunately, the MateBook E remains fluid and agile in everyday use, but it will not allow for really extensive use. The connectivity we’re offered here is also disconcertingly poor for a Windows tablet.
However, the display quality made possible by OLED technology makes the Huawei tablet attractive, although more careful calibration would have been desirable. We also appreciate the quality of assembly and finishes offered by the Chinese giant for a product that remains (relatively) accessible in the basic version. The tablet is otherwise at the level of the competition on the “sides”, with a convincing front video camera, good speakers and a detachable keyboard of good quality. Whether these few arguments are enough to get rid of the pill of reduced autonomy and muscle weakness at the CPU level remains to be seen.