Really needed tablet: Huawei MatePad 11 review

This summer, Huawei presented three tablets at once: Huawei MatePad Pro, Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 and Huawei MatePad 11. We liked the latest model, which combines accessibility for the mass user and flagship capabilities.

If smartphones continue to gain weight every year, then everything is in order with tablets. Manufacturers strive to make the cases as thin as possible for their devices, and the Huawei MatePad 11 is no exception. Its thickness is only 7.25mm and it weighs 485g. 

The appearance of the tablet is no less pleasing. First of all, when you take a device out of the box, pay attention to its back. There is no glass or metal here. Huawei went even further and used a leather (!) Coating in its device – it not only looks cool and makes the MatePad 11 stand out from others, but is also very pleasant to the touch.

On the front side there is a frameless display that occupies as much as 86% of the front panel area. The novelty is available in gray and olive colors. We are testing the second option, and it looks very impressive.

Huawei MatePad 11 received a 10.95-inch IPS-display with a resolution of 2K. Its main feature is the 120 Hz refresh rate, which makes the picture very smooth. 

The display is bright with rich colors. Those who work with photos and videos will love the 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, which means the most correct display of colors on the screen. 

It is important to note that the display of Huawei MatePad 11 has received certification from the TUV Rheinland laboratory, which means that the screen cuts off the blue spectrum light harmful to the human eye, making it comfortable to work with such a tablet, in addition, after a while the user will not have dry eye syndrome. 

I would also like to say about the speakers. Here Huawei MatePad 11 will surprise even the most sophisticated music lover. The tablet is equipped with four Harman / Kardon emitters. The company does not provide data on the power of the audio system, but it will definitely be enough to use the tablet as a music player at home parties or while outdoors. Checked.

However, the Huawei MatePad 11 produces not only loud, but also high-quality sound. The speakers have deep bass, with very clear highs, due to which the voices do not lose depth, and the sound itself is well detailed.

And now for the most interesting thing – performance. The Huawei MatePad 11 is powered by last year’s flagship Snapdragon 865 processor, has 6GB of RAM and 64/128/256 GB of storage. 

Using the Snapdragon 865 allowed Huawei to kill several birds with one stone. Firstly, last year’s chip has fallen in price, which led to a decrease in the price of the tablet itself. Second, it still retains the flagship power that keeps it performing at peak performance even on the most demanding tasks. And thirdly, Snapdragon 865, unlike this year’s flagship Snapdragon 888, simply does not heat up: even under heavy load, the tablet remains cold. 

In the AnTuTu benchmark, the MatePad 11 scores 629,548 points, which is a very decent result. But of course, the benchmark is just synthetics, you need to look at the real operation of the device. And here everything is in order for the novelty. 

Huawei MatePad 11 works as fast as possible, during testing we did not find a single glitch or freeze interface. The absence of bugs in work could still be affected by the Harmony OS operating system, which Huawei optimized as much as possible for its devices. By the way, the interface of the new OS practically does not differ from the usual Android, so an ordinary user may not even notice that his device is running on a different system.

When using resource-intensive applications, the Huawei MatePad 11 also has everything at the highest level. Snapdragon 865 handles absolutely all games at maximum graphics settings. For example, in Wild Rift, the tablet always delivers a stable 60 FPS. The above value does not rise only because the game itself blocks it at the software level.

I really liked the speed with which the Huawei AppGallery branded store is developing: now you can find almost any necessary application there. At least all popular products from Russian developers are there. 

In addition to AppGallery, the Petal Search search engine is installed, which allows you to download absolutely any application that is on the Web. By the way, HarmonyOS supports all Android applications, so there definitely won’t be any problems here.

You can connect an external keyboard, stylus and mouse to the Huawei MatePad 11. This allows in some scenarios to completely replace the laptop. This solution will be appreciated not only by students, but also by office workers. And due to the minimal weight, this device will be much more convenient when traveling. This is facilitated by the multi-window mode, which allows you to simultaneously open several programs on the screen at once. 

The stylus support will definitely delight artists, designers and anyone who works with graphics. By the way, the proprietary stylus Huawei M-Pencil of the second generation determines up to 4096 levels of pressure, which allows it to imitate the artist’s brush as accurately as possible. The pen lag is only 2ms – instantaneous speed. The stylus will not only help you to work with your tablet, but also turn the Huawei MatePad 11 into a true professional tool for the artist.

It is also important to mention that the Huawei MatePad 11 is combined with Huawei laptops or smartphones into a single workspace. So, for example, you can take a photo on a smartphone connected to the tablet, and edit it already on the large display of the Huawei MatePad 11. In addition, the stylus will help turn the image into a work of art. And when working with a Huawei laptop, the tablet can become an additional screen that you can use for sketching or expand your desktop. 

And the HarmonyOS shell itself has been seriously transformed. There are new smooth animations that make the interface aesthetically pleasing. The updated widgets are more informative, and the bottom bar now also displays recently closed applications for quicker access to them. All this, as well as the ability to connect a mouse and a keyboard cover, makes the Huawei MatePad 11 not just a tablet, but a full-fledged laptop.

In Russia, Huawei MatePad 11 is priced at only 34,990 rubles for the basic version (6 + 64 GB) – this is the most profitable tablet on the market. What is noteworthy: at an affordable price, the device has flagship performance, a high-quality screen, a powerful speaker system and a stylish design.