Early on in the pandemic, working from home may have been foreign and unfamiliar to many. Fast forward six months later, and the term “work from home” has seemingly just become “work” as we have consequently grown accustomed to the daily situations we find ourselves in during this new normal. As someone who uses my laptop for various different purposes such as work, entertainment, social media and gaming, it’s imperative for such device to not only support and withstand these activities but to also make my life easier through efficiency and ease-of-use. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on Huawei’s latest MateBook 14 which, more or less, ticked all those boxes for me.
Arguably the most vital cog in the MateBook 14’s specs is its 7nm AMD Ryzen 4000 H-Series mobile processor which powers the device. Impressively, this processor is even further partnered with the integrated AMD Radeon Graphics for great all-around performance from content creation to gaming. One specific feature that caught my eye is the Performance Mode. For those whose tasks might be a bit more demanding on the laptop such as coding or bulk image editing, enabling this mode would push the processor up to 40W to give the laptop that extra kick of power. Some people drink Red Bull for that extra boost when needed, the Huawei MateBook 14 meanwhile has its Performance Mode.
At 56Wh capacity, the battery is good enough to last you for long, continuous hours. Multitasking on multiple apps, watching videos on YouTube and playing games don’t consume an alarming amount of battery, allowing you to stay focused on the tasks at hand without having to worry about heading to the nearest power outlet.
In terms of memory, the Huawei MateBook 14 has a 16GB DDR4 and a 512GB SSD storage which, at least personally, is sufficient for school and/or work purposes.
Design
As an everyday laptop with a plethora of functions, the Huawei MateBook 14 comes in a convenient size and weight. Just 1.49kg and 15.9mm thick, the laptop is light while still retaining a sleek and smooth metal design for durability and stability.
Its keyboard design features long key travels and a new, wider keypad for better daily productivity. Its keys have a simple yet elegant feel, while its keypad is responsive and has a smooth surface, but I feel that it can be a bit stiff when trying to click down on it. Another feature that I like is its recessed camera hidden in the keyboard that easily pops in and out when pressed, which allows a lot more space for its screen.
The MateBook 14’s power button located on the upper right of the keyboard has embedded fingerprint scanning which is fairly reliable and quick, except for those whose hands are moist which unfortunately mine often are. The laptop has a total of 5 ports: a USB-C port for charging, a 3.5mm audio jack and an HDMI port all on the left side, while 2 USB-A ports are located on the right side.
Display
Another main component of the MateBook 14 is its impressive 3:2 display with a 90% screen-to-body ratio that provides an expansive display area both vertically and horizontally. As a multitasker, I keep multiple windows open at a time such as applications, internet browser tabs, documents and other information. As such, a screen large enough to accommodate lots of text and graphics while still looking neat and tidy is definitely a big plus.
In regard to its visual quality, the MateBook 14 has FullView Display which supports up to 2000 resolution for a cinematic experience with accurate colors, stunning details and great picture quality. A display of this size and quality is not only ideal for multitasking only, but for watching videos or playing games as well.
A major bonus for those users with other Huawei devices is the cross-platform connectivity features that the MateBook 14 can facilitate through its very own screen. With Huawei Share, you can control multiple connected devices on your laptop’s display through multi-screen collaboration, which includes drag-and-drop file transfer, peripheral sharing and a shared clipboard. You can even directly and efficiently open and edit files from the smartphone through the laptop. Moreover, answering phone and video calls is possible through the laptop’s camera and microphone.
The Huawei MateBook 14 is versatile enough to fulfill various purposes essential to our day-to-day lives. However, if there was a general purpose that this laptop can fulfill, it would be to make our lives a lot easier through efficiency, productivity and ease-of-use. A task that may regularly be an A to D process would otherwise simply be A to B with the features the MateBook 14 possesses. In a time where most of our daily work activities are done online and on our laptops, a device that could not only help us work faster but assist us to work better is a worthy purchase to make.
