Thursday, August 5, 2021

Huawei MatePad 11 Hands-On

Just a few months ago we reviewed the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6, and honestly, it was a beast. However, it was a bit over-budget for most consumers—especially with the lack of Google Mobile Services. It did have a smaller version which is the MatePad Pro 10.8 2021, but it wasn’t officially available in the Philippines. But what you can get your hands on though, is this MatePad 11 which is more affordable than the Pro models but is already ready with Huawei’s HarmonyOS 2.0, plus, it’s compatible with the brands’ M-Pen 2 and Smart Magnetic Keyboard. Keep on reading to find out more.

The MatePad 11 looks like most of Huawei’s other tablets, most particularly the Huawei MatePad and the MatePad 10.4. Locally it’s only available in this Matte Grey color, which literally describes its design; It’s matte and it’s grey in an aluminum body.

It has some Huawei and Harmar Kardon branding at the rear, simply accompanied by the protruding vertically aligned camera module for the 13MP camera, LED flash, and a microphone.

Flipping upfront, it comes with an 11-inch 2.5K IPS LCD screen, but to be exact it’s a 10.95-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate option. The bezels look decently thick, which is still similar to Huawei’s previous non-Pro tablets. It may not have an OLED panel, but it has pretty sharp colors and contrast.

In landscape mode, we can find the 8MP front camera and LED notification at the top bezel.

And maintaining this orientation, we have the volume button up top together with three microphones.

Meanwhile, located on the left side is the power/lock button and two loudspeakers.

The other two loudspeakers are located on the right side and these are all of course backed by Harman Kardon. Also found on this side is the USB Type-C port.

At the bottom is a dedicated microSD card tray, leaving us no space for a SIM card.

Checking its accessories, the Huawei Smart Magnetic Keyboard can be really useful if you’re planning to get any work done on the MatePad 11. The keyboard itself isn’t anything super special, but will definitely be better than typing on the screen. The whole thing also acts as a protective case for your tablet and attaches with a pretty strong magnet. Plus, it also allows the MatePad Pro to be tilted at a variety of angles.

Now if you don’t really need a keyboard then the Folio Cover is a pre-order freebie, but it will be available starting September 1. It also magnetically attaches to the tablet which is neat!

The M-Pencil is also pretty cool and will be a must-have for those who want to do any sort of drawing or note-taking. The shape and weight is somewhat ergonomic and is easy to store as it can magnetically attach to the side of the tablet, just like with the Pro models.

As for internals, the MatePad 11 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, accompanied by an Adreno 650 GPU, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, and a 7,250mAh with 22.5W fast charging.

And of course, how can we forget, this is the first more budget-friendly Huawei tablet available locally that’s running on HarmonyOS 2.0. Since this operating system is still not currently widely available, having it in this tablet is a big deal.

In our previous experience with HarmonyOS 2.0, it solves a lot of user-related problems such as being able to download third-party apps easily and having Google alternatives such as Petal Maps, Petal Search, Huawei Assistant, and the AppGallery. However, I’ll say it now, that you still can’t seamlessly access native Google apps unless you use the browser for it.

Talk about its price, the MatePad 11 has an official tag of PHP 26,999 and you can now pre-order from August 6 to Aug 26. We’ll use it more in the next couple of days so stay tuned for our full review.

Huawei MatePad 11 Specs:
10.95-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS LCD, 275ppi
up to 120 Hz refresh rate
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Adreno 650 GPU
6GB RAM
128GB storage
up to 1TB via microSD card
13MP f/1.8 rear camera
8MP f/2.0 front camera
WiFi 6, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
Bluetooth 5.1
GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/GALILEO/QZSS
OTG
Huawei M-Pencil 2 support
4 x microphone
4 x speaker
USB Type-C
HarmonyOS 2
7,250mAh w/ 22.5W Fast Charging
165.3 x 253.8 x 7.25mm
485g
Matte Grey