Today is a big day for Huawei! The Chinese company officially announced a trio of new MatePad tablets, running its in-house developed operating system Harmony OS. There are two MatePad Pro models – a 12.8-inch version and a smaller, 10.8-inch one, alongside a non-pro MatePad 11.
Huawei announced its next flagship wearable today as well. The new Huawei Watch 3 series is now official and it’s also running Harmony OS. But back to the tablets. The MatePad Pro 12.6 is the interesting one, as it can be a true iPad Pro competitor, judging by the specs.
Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 and 10.8
Even though both tablets employ the “Pro” moniker, they’re actually quite different. The bigger 12.6-inch model sports an OLED display with 2560×1600 resolution and an aspect ratio of 16:10. Huawei calls it a FullView display due to its narrow bezels and the 90 percent screen-to-body ratio.
Huawei’s own Kirin 9000E chipset is the beating heart of the MatePad Pro 12.6, and the tablet comes with 8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of onboard storage. There are a total of eight speakers and four microphones around the frame, and on the back, you’ll find a triple-camera system. The speaker system is tuned by harman/kardon.
The huge 10,050mAh battery inside the MatePad Pro 12.6 should last 14 hours of mixed usage on a single charge. There’s fast charging on board too – you get 40W wired, and 27W wireless fast charging, and you can also top-up other gadgets thanks to the 10W reverse wireless charging tech.
The smaller MatePad Pro 10.8 uses an IPS LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate (the 12.6-inch OLED model can only do 60Hz). There’s a Qualcomm surprise inside, as this model comes equipped with a Snapdragon 870 chipset. The MatePad Pro 10.8 features the same memory configuration – 8GB of RAM and either 128/256GB of internal storage.
Huawei MatePad 11
The non-pro model is again very different from the other two. It sports a 10.95-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and a fast 120Hz refresh rate. This one uses a Snapdragon 865 chipset, which is starting to age a bit now.
The MatePad 11 comes with a 6GB/128GB memory configuration, and a quad-speaker setup. There’s a 7,250 mAh battery inside this model, supporting 22.5W fast charging. All the aforementioned tablets support Huawei’s new M-Pencil stylus, and the Smart Magnetic Keyboard.
Harmony OS 2.0
Harmony OS 2.0 offers some cool features such as Mirror Mode, Extend Mode and Collaborate Mode. These modes allow the MatePad tablets to connect seamlessly to a Windows PC and either act as a second display (Extend Mode) or mirror your PC screen on the MatePad tablet (Mirror Mode) and use the M-Pencil to draw or scribe.
The Collaborate Mode is even more interesting – it enables cross-platform actions between Harmony OS and Windows. You can simply drag images, documents or files between the two connected devices.
There’s also enhanced mouse support baked in the Harmony OS, alongside live app previews for a true desktop-like experience.
Accessories
During the launch, Huawei also announced two accessories for its new tablet range. The M-Pencil has been upgraded and now features a platinum-coated pen nib, supports 4,096 levels of pressure, and has a 9ms latency.
The Smart Magnetic Keyboard made its debut today – it’s a full-size keyboard with some nice tactile features such as a 1.3 mm key travel. This accessory supports wireless charging and can be easily paired with the new MatePad tablets via Bluetooth.
Price and availability
The prices and availability of the new MatePad tablets may vary depending on the market. We have the European pricing and it’s as follows:
Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 – € 799
Huawei MatePad 11 – €399
There’s no information about availability in the US at this time.
