Huawei MateBook D16 (2024) review: a powerful and durable ultrabook to take anywhere

Power with the arrival of a 13th generation Core i9, a large 16-inch screen and the promise of good battery life. Here is the back cover of this MateBook D16 (2024). Is Huawei keeping its word or will the Chinese manufacturer’s nose lengthen? Here is our response after a month of testing. Like the reed…

amerbekic

16. Feb 2024.

8 minutes

Huawei MateBook D16

Like the reed in La Fontaine’s fable, Huawei bends, but does not break. At the end of 2023, Liang Hua, the CEO of the Chinese company, announced an increase in Huawei’s overall turnover of almost 9% over one year . Thus ensuring, in his words, that Huawei had “weathered the storm”.

To achieve this, the company based in the metropolis of Shenzhen had to review its priorities, particularly in Europe. From now on, the Chinese giant concentrates its activity around PCs, connected objects and audio.

In the field of laptops, Huawei is not left out. MateBook X for ultra premium, MateBook Series for high end, MateBook E for hybrid PCs and MateBook D for larger screens. A complete catalog capable of meeting the needs of a wide audience.

So what about this new MateBook D16? Considering its price and its capabilities, which audience is it trying to attract? And above all, will he succeed? The answer in our complete test.

Matebook D16 (2024) price and availability

Available only in gray, the MateBook D16 2024 comes in two configurations and three products.

A Core i5 model (8/512 GB) at 649 euros
A Core i5 model at 799 euros (16/512 GB).
Finally, our test model (Core i9 and 16 GB/1TB) costs a higher price, 1399 euros.

A large disparity in prices, which everyone will have to gauge according to their needs.

Design and ergonomics: little news, good news?

The years go by and the appearance of Huawei computers remains tirelessly similar. As usual, the Huawei shows sobriety with the only distinctive sign being a large logo on the back.

For the rest, in the East, almost nothing new. The device retains its lightly brushed aluminum chassis, its solid hinge, which still tilts 180°, and its numerous ventilation spaces. The whole thing is well designed and seems robust enough to see the country.

So much the better, because in terms of size, Huawei is still doing great things. With its 17 mm thickness and its 1.72 kg weight, the MateBook D16 is rather easy to transport for a 16-inch format. It’s really appreciable. For comparison, the weight of the 16-inch MacBook Pro exceeds 2 kg.

In terms of ergonomics, the keyboard is still as pleasant under the fingers, in particular thanks to its beautiful stroke depth of 1.5 mm, while the touchpad is still just as small. This disproportion between its size and that of the overall work space is surprising during the first uses. After a week or two, we got used to it, but we would have liked a larger trackpad. It’s not like there’s a shortage of space.

Finally, a strange choice took place in terms of connectivity. This MateBook D16 version 2024 sheds a USB-C port compared to its predecessors. Therefore, it consists of a USB 3.2 type A port, a USB 2.0 type A port, an HDMI port with a 3.5 mm jack input and therefore a single USB 3.2 type C port.

Screen, a large, well-calibrated panel

The Matebook D16 has a 16-inch IPS LCD screen (1920 x 1200 pixels) with a 16:10 ratio, with a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz. In this little game, Huawei pales in comparison to Asus which is democratizing OLED on its models around 1000 euros.

For leisure use, for series and films, it’s almost frustrating. Indeed, the panel is wide, therefore pleasant, the borders rather thin, which optimizes immersion, but mechanically the contrast ratio is just correct. Even for an LCD panel. It’s not prohibitive, but the most cinephiles will notice it.

It’s all the more a shame, because otherwise, this screen is pretty good. Color fidelity is well respected, brightness is correct and reflections are practically absent.

As for the interface, Huawei’s software suite is still pleasant to use. Without overwhelming us with parameters, the D16 knows how to offer the essentials. Namely: an update manager, easy-to-learn performance settings and a responsive shortcut bar.

Performance, silent firepower

The most powerful version of the MateBook D16, our test model features a Core i9-13900H, a 14-core SoC that can turbo up to 5.4 GHz. A fast processor that is usually found on ultra premium models, like the Dell XPS 17 (2023), or on models intended for gaming. And to show its muscles even more, Huawei’s latest offspring comes with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.

Unsurprisingly, the MateBook D16 was quick and fluid during all our office issues. It turns on quickly, it executes several tasks at the same time without humming and above all the latency time for opening software is microscopic. However, although it is much more powerful than its predecessor, equipped with a Core i7-12700H, it has not been able to rise to the level of the best laptop PCs.

Indeed, according to our various benchmarks, we noticed that the Core i9 still had some under its belt. Indeed, Huawei seems to have somewhat restricted this powerful processor. A comprehensive choice, for more control, but with a double edge.

On the one hand, this is a good thing, because thermal management is controlled, even during intensive sessions, and the ventilation remains inaudible in most cases.

On the other hand, the MateBook D16 seems to have the chassis between two chairs. It is powerful enough to support us with basic creative tasks (graphics, photo editing), but will be too tight for the most demanding. We are thinking in particular of heavy video editing or 3D modeling.

Finally, the absence of a dedicated graphics card could cool down the most demanding users. Indeed, the MateBook D16 makes do with the GPU included as standard in its CPU, in other words the Intel Iris XE. A chip that allows you to relax from time to time on games that are not too demanding on graphics resources. No more.

Impressive battery life for a 16-inch format!

Despite a battery with a rather average capacity, 70 Wh, the MateBook D16 proved to be a real little marathon runner.

For basic office use (Word, PowerPoint, Google Drive and web search), with brightness at 60%, the computer lasts almost two days in professional use, or almost 14 hours. By adding video streaming at lunchtime and in the evening, the MateBook D16 turns off around 11 hours of use. For a 16-inch format and a Core i9, even restricted, this is an excellent score.

For charging, Huawei does as usual. Fast over medium distances and more nonchalant over long distances. So, equipped with the 65W USB-C block, we took on average 50 minutes to go from 0 to 50%. And almost 2 hours for a full charge.

Who is the Huawei MateBook D16 2024 aimed at?

In its most powerful version (Core i9, 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD), the one we tested, the MateBook D16 offers good value for money. To achieve this, Huawei is making a few choices that resemble barter. LCD, instead of OLED, in return for a powerful chip.

However, between this restricted processor, connectivity that is too limited for the most demanding tasks and the absence of a graphics card, we have a hard time fully recommending it to the most creative workers. And for simple office use, it seems almost too powerful.

A paradox which ultimately pushes us to consider its two more modest configurations (core i5) as the most interesting. Especially since apart from the processor, RAM and storage, the three devices are identical.

Said like this, the MateBook D16 2024 then becomes a portable PC to be recommended for family use, for a student or for a worker, often on the move, who does not need high-powered resources. And above all, its price then goes from 1399 euros to 649 or 799 euros. Which makes it a great deal for a 16-inch laptop.

Our opinion on the MateBook D16 2024

Huawei did not refocus in Europe on laptop PCs out of simple opportunism. The Chinese manufacturer has real know-how in this area. He proves it again with this MateBook D16 vintage 2024.

Serious construction, a well-calibrated panel and astonishing autonomy make this laptop an excellent choice for leisure and office use. Thin, rather light, despite its large screen, the MateBook D16 turns out to be even more attractive if we look at its Core i5 configurations

In its Core i9 version, it is a little less so. He has no shortage of assets, but his positioning is too shaky. In any case, to fully meet the most demanding uses (powerful games, video editing, 3D modeling, etc.). It doesn’t matter, the next MateBook X Pro will certainly be there for that.