Review: Huawei MateBook D15 (2021)

Huawei’s new MateBook D15 features a lightweight and portable design. It weighs 1.53-kgs and measures 16.9mm in thickness. The MateBook D15 has been built using aluminium alloy, which has been tempered by anodic oxidation that includes 40 processes to make the metallic body tougher and stronger. Our review unit variant with a Space Grey chassis has also been sandblasted to make it look even cooler.

The Huawei MateBook D15 comes packed with a 15.6-inch FullView display. It features 5.3mm narrow bezels at the top and on the sides, thus giving you a high screen-to-body ratio of 87%. The IPS display with the anti-glare feature also offers a Full HD resolution of 1920-by-1080 pixels. You also get an aspect ratio of 16:9.

The FullView display on the MateBook D15 has also passed the TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker-Free certifications. Thus, you can rest assured that you can comfortably work or watch all sorts of content on the notebook for hours on end, without any worry.

In terms of connectivity, you get lots of options. On the right edge of the device, you get two USB Type-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the left edge, you get one USB Type-A port, one USB Type C port, and an HDMI port. The Type-C port, however, does not offer DisplayPort or Thunderbolt video output.

Under the hood, the MateBook D15 is powered by an 11th gen Intel Core i5 processor, 512GB of SSD storage, and 8GB of RAM. The Intel AX201 Wi-Fi module supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 wireless connectivity. There’s also an NFC chip to facilitate Huawei’s handy Share phone-linking system – however, at the moment, it only works with Huawei’s own Android/EMUI 11 devices.

Huawei also includes its very own software called PC Manager in the MateBook D15. This software helps you keep all your drivers up to date. In addition, you also get the “Performance” mode, which runs the cooling fans faster, while throttling up the processing power.

The MateBook D15 also uses the distributed capabilities of the Super Device to boost your productivity and creativity. You can wirelessly project the Huawei MatePad Pro to the MateBook D15 via Huawei Share to get new features of the Tablet-PC Multi-Screen Collaboration. There are three modes under this connection – Mirror, Extend, and Collaborate.

In Mirror Mode, you can mirror the MateBook D15’s screen to the tablet display, allowing you to directly work on files and annotate documents, or draw/sketch with the Huawei MPencil of the tablet. Then there’s an Extend Mode, which transforms the MatePad Pro into a second screen, providing extra screen space to display more content – this can be great for online shopping or when you are browsing the Internet and there are so many items to explore. The Collaborate Mode, meanwhile, allows for cross-platform interactions – such as transferring content like text, images, and documents between connected devices with a simple drag and drop.

For added security, Huawei also offers a fingerprint sensor, which has been integrated into the MateBook D15’s Power Button. It automatically authenticates your identity when you power on your device, saving you the hassle of keying in a password to access the Windows operating system. And you also get a pop-up camera located on the keyboard, under an Fn row key.

Having said that, the keyboard is comfortable to work with. The keys are large and well-spaced, with a slightly textured finish that makes a nice change from smoother keys. The Fn row keys are relatively big, as are the cursor keys. Both, the left and right cursor keys are full-sized and I had no trouble touch-typing at my normal speed. The touchpad is also large and responsive.

Overall performance of the Huawei MateBook D15 is very good. It was able to handle all sorts of tasks we threw at it, with ease, thanks to the Intel Core i5 processor coupled with 8GB of RAM. In terms of battery life, we clocked 7 hours and 25 minutes on a single charge. However, since Huawei supplies a 65W USB-C charger, you will be able to get around two hours of battery life from just a 15-minute charge.

In addition, you also get reverse charging capabilities, which remain active even when the Huawei MateBook D15 is powered down. For a price starting at AED 2199, the Huawei MateBook D15 features on our recommended list of affordable laptops. The Huawei MateBook D15 is a very affordable, able, and solid laptop that does its job.

Price: AED 2199 onwards