Huawei has established itself as a laptop seller (at least outside of the United States), and its MateBook X Pro (2020) and Huawei MateBook D 15 2020 both pleased last year albeit with a few drawbacks. The MateBook D 15 refresh in 2021 doesn’t make any significant changes; it’s more of an update than a rebuild.
Anyone searching for a laptop that may be customized at the time of purchase should look elsewhere. For £749, buyers in the UK have only one option: an 11th-generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD (inc. VAT). In other countries, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage are available.The dark grey chassis color, which Huawei refers to as Space Gray (but I prefer to call slate), is rather appealing. In an office setting, it won’t look out of place.
Features of MateBook D 15
The Huawei MateBook D 15 (2020)’s marriage of a massive screen with a small weight is a prominent feature. The 15.6-inch screen is housed in a 357.8mm wide, 229.9mm deep, and 16.9mm thick chassis. These measurements are identical to those of last year’s model. It is 1.56kg in weight (up 3g from the previous year). Although the size and weight may be visible in a backpack, the vast screen may make the minor inconvenience worthwhile.
The MateBook D 15 has passed several tests, according to Huawei, including the capacity to endure temperatures of 40°C and 90% relative humidity, The USB-C port and fingerprint key were also put through their paces, as well as the keyboard, screen hinge, and touchpad. There is no formal MIL-STD certification.
Place of Pop up Camera
The 15.6-inch screen is surrounded by 5.3mm bezels on the top and sides, with a deeper bottom bezel. As a result, the screen-to-body ratio is 87 percent (we calculated 81.5 percent ). Because the upper bezel isn’t deep enough to house a camera, the pop-up camera is hidden in the keyboard, behind an Fn row key. Last year’s MateBook X Pro (2020) and MateBook D 15 have it (2020).
The camera pops up when needed, although the placement isn’t optimal. With video meetings becoming a more common occurrence for many of us, the ‘on-the-nose camera angle used here is less than ideal. It’s one of two major flaws with this laptop that could be a deal-breaker.
An IPS Display
The screen is a 15.6-inch IPS panel with a Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels, 141.2ppi). It doesn’t respond to touch and has a maximum brightness of only 250 nits, so it’s not ideal for outdoor use on bright days. On both the horizontal and vertical axes, viewing angles are limited. The screen is suitable for ordinary writing and productivity chores, whether at home or work.
The speakers, which have grilles on the underside of the chassis, are loud, although there is some distortion at the top of the spectrum, and the bass tones could be better. A stronger audio subsystem would substantially improve this laptop. Thus this is a squandered opportunity. Huawei could have pushed the speaker grilles up into the keyboard area, where there’s plenty of free space to the left and right, rather than continuing with last year’s chassis design.
The keyboard itself is a pleasure to use. The keys are broad and well-spaced, with a textured feel that adds interest to the otherwise smooth surface. The Fn row keys are relatively large, like the cursor keys (the left and right cursor keys are full sizes).
Touchpad & Fingerprint
At my typical speed, touch-typing was no problem for me.The touchpad is wide and fast, and the power button, which lies to the right of the keyboard, level with the Fn key row, has a fingerprint sensor incorporated in it.
Huawei includes its PC Manager software, which serves as a central location for monitoring driver updates, configuring power management, troubleshooting features like the fingerprint sensor and wireless connectivity (both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6), and managing a phone connection. Laptop users can also access Huawei Share from here.
Bottom Line
Huawei has revised the MateBook D 15 for 2021. However, it still has the same flaws as last year. The chassis design hasn’t been altered. Thus the speakers will still fire downwards rather than occupying the area to the left and right of the keyboard, and the webcam will still appear as a pop-up in the Fn key row. The ports and connectors are the same as in 2020, and Huawei has not included Thunderbolt capability, obviating the need for a significant upgrade.
