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Unboxing the Huawei MateBook

In June 2016, Huawei released its first stylus based Windows tablet called the Huawei MateBook (check pricing on Amazon).  The Huawei MateBook is a tablet first but like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Apple iPad Pro, has keyboard accessories and features that also allows it to also be used as a notebook.  Unlike the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Apple iPad Pro, the Huawei MateBook supports USB Type-C together with USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode.

Huawei is looking to extend its success in smartphones to the tablet and PC space with the Intel x86 based Huawei MateBook.  

The Huawei MateBook's package is quite simply designed and shows only the Huawei logo and theme.  Unlike the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Apple iPad Pro where you need to purchase the keyboard separately, the Huawei MateBook is packed together with its own keyboard.  

When you open the box, we can see the accessories of the Huawei MateBook conveniently printed inside the packaging shell.

Taking out the Huawei MateBook, we see the accessories are all well arranged in the box. There’s a USB Type-C power cord and adapter (supporting 5 volts, 9 volts, and 12 volts all @ 2 amps), a short USB Type-C to Micro-B USB cable, a Micro-B USB to USB-A adapter, and operational guide.

To power on the Huawei MateBook at first time, you must attached the power adapter to charge the battery as indicated in its operations menu. That’s quite different from other tablets or notebooks which typically have enough charge where you could be power it on without fully charging first.

The power adapter uses USB Power Delivery to support 5 volts, 9 volts, and 12 volts all @ 2 amps.

The Huawei MateBook supports 1 and only 1 USB Type-C port for power delivery, data transport, and video.

This means you will probably need a multiport adapter accessory like the Huawei MateDock.

The speaker is on the top side where the power button located.  The 3.5mm headphone connector is on the opposite side of the USB Type-C port.

The keyboard interface is quite slim and magnetic. Unfortunately, the MateBook was not quite stable when propped up against it.

The Keyboard accessory is designed to prop up the Huawei MateBook at 2 different angles. That’s a quite useful design to accommodate different settings.  

What’s more, the Keyboard accessory provides a small carrier for the Huawei MateBook's stylus. The stylus is magnetic and could be easily attached on to the case. Unfortunately we didn’t get the stylus since it was out of stock as well.