Huawei MateBook D15 laptop review – the best Windows laptop?

We all know about Huawei smartphones and don’t pay much attention to the company’s computers. Huawei MateBook D15 is between the range of top-end devices and inexpensive laptops, having good technical characteristics and capabilities that are sometimes missing from other models.

Definitely, the MateBook line will be more popular among users than, for example, Xiaomi laptops, having equal cost and performance.

Ergonomics

The clear position of the engineers is minimalism and convenience. Preference for certain parts or additional ports is not significant here - a balance is maintained. The relatively small size of 358x239x17 mm allows the ultrabook to easily fit into a briefcase, and the weight of 1.9 kg is almost invisible.

The entire body is aluminum. It is dark blue in color. The island-style keyboard is small in size and easily fits in the center, allowing for a huge amount of space for the touchpad. There is no key backlight. The touchpad is quite large and can easily accommodate four fingers at once, and in some cases the entire palm.

On the top right is the power button, which is also a fingerprint sensor when entering the desktop after turning on.

The display frame is minimal and takes up 90% of the lid space. The surface engraved with Huawei's signature is made of metal material.

New owners of the MateBook D15 may be under the impression that the ultrabook does not have a webcam. But it's not that simple. The camera is retractable and is launched by pressing the keyboard button between F6 and F7. This allows the user not to worry that scammers or other third parties will be able to quietly connect to the video camera and look at the face of the computer owner without his permission.

But in practice, the decision to place the camera in the keyboard is not entirely correct: in Skype or Zoom, the interlocutor will be seen from below, focusing on his chin, not his face.

⇡#Conclusions

Well, you know - for anyone who wants an easy-to-use and convenient laptop, but cannot afford a MacBook, I usually recommend buying a MacBook. However, we must admit that the Huawei MateBook D 14 makes us reconsider this opinion. Since the web browser has become the main and most frequently used application, it is not so important which operating system you have: Chrome - it is also Chrome in Africa. Well, if we talk about the impressions of use, then the new Huawei product has a very good screen with a matte finish and an extremely comfortable keyboard - writing large texts on it is a pleasure. Students who are used to writing term papers on their own and are forced to type dozens of pages should definitely like it. And office workers and all kinds of freelance writers too.

Additionally, it is worth noting the convenient Huawei Share function (we will talk about it in a separate article), as well as a fast and reliable 512 GB SSD drive. As for future wishes, I would ask for at least three free USB ports, or a couple of additional USB-C ports, as well as more expressive key backlighting. Otherwise, no questions asked: this is a very worthy choice for your money.

Advantages:

• metal case;
• comfortable keyboard and touchpad;
• good autonomy;
• Huawei Share.

Flaws:

• lack of card reader;
• insufficiently large set of ports;
• weak keyboard backlight.

Specifications

The MateBook D15 has an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U mobile processor with integrated Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000) graphics. The base clock speed starts at 2300 MHz, but it can be increased to 4000 MHz in Turbo mode.

The processor has six cores by six threads, codenamed (Hexa) Zen 2 of the Renoir family, running on FinFET technology. The clock frequency is 2.3 GHz, and the maximum is 4.0 GHz. Power consumption is low - up to only 25 W, which allows you to use only one fan to cool the motherboard.

The integrated fifth-generation RX Vega 6 video core has a clock speed of up to 1500 MHz. It contains six clusters of 64 cores, 6 computing units and 384 shaders.

Two SO-DIMM DDR4-2662 MHz RAM sticks are installed, without an expansion slot. Nominal memory bus frequency: 1331 MHz, maximum 2662 MHz.

Permanent memory is represented by a Lite-On CL1-8D512 solid-state drive with a capacity of 512 GB. It works in the M.2 form factor with a connection to the PCI Express x2 connector.

The disk's write speed in CrystalDiskMark was rated at 1633 MB/s and read speed at 1211 MB/s, which looks quite decent for this type of SSD. You don’t have to worry at all about needing to replace your ultrabook or components in the near future. All operating system processes run very quickly.

There is a fan for cooling, there is only one and it starts up extremely rarely, only when using very resource-intensive tasks.

Game mode testing was carried out on the game GTA V, released for PC in 2015. When starting the game, the frame rate level remains at 22 FPS.

Not the most powerful graphics settings were used, knowing full well that the laptop was not a gaming laptop. And without crossing the line of peak values, we were able to set medium-high parameters. The FPS level remained at a value from 10 to 20 frames per second. At the same time, there was no sharp drop in productivity. After 10 minutes, the framerate remained at 17 FPS without sudden drops. The laptop did not overheat, and the fan was not required. The new Ryzen 5 series processor does the job perfectly.

Review of Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) laptop with 11th generation Intel processor

On May 11, 2022, sales of new Huawei laptops officially started. The company, which regularly updates its line of laptops, this time presented two models: MateBook D 14 and MateBook D 15. They differ not only in display diagonal and case size, but also in the Intel processor model. The older MateBook D 15 can be equipped with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 or Intel Core i5-10210U processor, and the 14-inch model can only be equipped with the younger of these processors. The rest of the characteristics of the new models are the same, so today’s article, in which we will talk about the older MateBook D 15 (2021) with a more modern Intel processor and a larger screen, will be relevant for both versions of the new MateBook D.

Options and packaging

Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) comes in a standard cardboard box with a plastic handle. In terms of visual appeal and information content, there is nothing to praise the box for; on it you can only find stickers with a brief configuration of the laptop and various recycling icons.

More importantly, the laptop is securely secured inside between two polyethylene foam inserts and is additionally enclosed in a plastic envelope. A power adapter with a cable is inserted on the side of it, and a brief instruction and warranty card are placed on top.

The laptop is manufactured in China and comes with a 1-year warranty. The official price of Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) in the maximum configuration with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor is 75 thousand rubles, but until May 26 there is a discount: such a laptop can be purchased for 69 thousand. In addition, traditionally, when you purchase Huawei products on the official website, you receive gifts. At the time of preparing our review, a wireless mouse was included with the laptop as a gift, and you could choose between a router and a backpack.

Laptop configuration

Appearance and ergonomics of the case

It seems that Space Gray has become the signature color of Huawei laptops, as the new Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021), like its predecessors, is launched in this color. Therefore, the laptop looks discreet, but not boring, especially since the anodized aluminum body panels give it a more expensive and sophisticated look than if it were plastic.

In the very center of the screen cover there is only a laconic inscription “Huawei” in chrome without backlight.

Thanks to the material of the panels, the case is not easily soiled. The laptop is 358mm wide, 230mm deep and has a front thickness of 16.9mm. And although the laptop is noticeably thicker at the back (21.5 mm), overall the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) is compact and not heavy: only one and a half kilograms of weight for a 15.6-inch laptop is quite normal by modern standards.

At the base of the case, attention is drawn to a long ventilation grille, two small meshes of stereo speakers and rubber feet, which give the case stability on any surface.

Huawei traditionally has no connectors on the front or back, and two barely noticeable dots in the finger recess are built-in microphones.

The set of ports on the laptop is strange. On the left is USB Type-C for charging (including reverse), which turned out to be version 2.0 , and next to it are USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A and an HDMI 2.0 video output. On the right there is a universal mini-jack for a headset/headphones and two USB Type-A ports, which again turned out to be USB 2.0 !

In our opinion, for a laptop of the 2022 model range, the presence of only one high-speed USB port is a very serious drawback, and we do not understand what prevented Huawei from equipping the MateBook D 15 (2021) with faster USB ports.

The maximum opening angle of the laptop screen is approximately 155 degrees.

The display panel is fixed in any position, but when opening it you have to hold the base of the laptop, since the hinges are quite rigid. Let us add here that the case is assembled neatly and efficiently; no cracks in the joints of the panels or creaks were detected when using the laptop.

Input Devices

The keyboard in the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) unpleasantly surprised us. It turned out to be deprived of a block of number keys, although there is huge space on the sides, and also does not have a backlight.

It even looks small on the working panel, plus those annoying up and down arrows for children's fingers - adults will press both at once. The keyboard is membrane and works almost silently. But this is perhaps its only advantage in this laptop model.

But there’s nothing bad to say about the touchpad of the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021). Its dimensions of 120x72 mm are convenient for use, the sensitivity is high, and button presses are clear and acoustically pleasant.

The HD webcam ( [email protected] FPS) also has not undergone any changes in the new laptop model and is built into the camera, which can be opened by pressing.

The opening angle is not adjustable; it is up to the body of the laptop user to adjust how it fits into the frame. I don’t know if we’ll see the moment when Huawei equips its laptops with better cameras - at least from its own smartphones from three years ago.

A fingerprint scanner is built into the round power button of the laptop.

Supports the creation and storage of up to 10 fingerprints per laptop user.

The laptop supports the Huawei Share Multiscreen function. With its help (and the built-in NFC module), you can duplicate three smartphone screens on the laptop display, transfer files from the smartphone to the laptop, and also receive calls directly from the laptop screen.

Last year's versions of Huawei laptops also supported integration with the company's mobile devices, but in the new model this functionality was further expanded.

Display

The Huawei MateBook D15 laptop uses a 15.6-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920x1080 (edid-decode report). The side and top segments of the screen frame are 5.3 mm wide, and the bottom is 16.0 mm wide.

The outer surface of the matrix is ​​black, hard and semi-matte (the specularity is well expressed). There are no special anti-reflective coatings or filters, and there is no air gap. When powered from the mains or battery and with manual brightness control (there is no automatic adjustment based on the light sensor), its maximum value was 266 cd/m² (in the center of the screen on a white background). The maximum brightness is not very high. However, if you avoid direct sunlight, then even this value allows you to somehow use the laptop outside even on a sunny summer day.

To evaluate screen readability outdoors, we use the following criteria obtained from testing screens in real conditions:

These criteria are very conditional and may be revised as data accumulates. Note that there may be some improvement in readability if the matrix has some kind of transreflective properties (part of the light is reflected from the substrate, and the picture is visible in the light even with the backlight turned off). Also, glossy matrices, even in direct sunlight, can sometimes be rotated so that something quite dark and uniform is reflected in them (on a clear day, for example, the sky), which will improve readability, while matte matrices need to be blocked from the light to improve readability. Sveta. In rooms with bright artificial light (about 500 lux), you can work more or less comfortably even with a maximum screen brightness of 50 cd/m² or lower, that is, in these conditions the maximum brightness is not an important value.

Let's return to the screen of the laptop under test. If the brightness setting is 0%, the brightness is reduced to 4.7 cd/m² . In complete darkness, the brightness of its screen can be reduced to a comfortable level.

The brightness is controlled using PWM, but the modulation frequency is very high, about 6 kHz, so no flicker is visible under any circumstances, and the presence of modulation is not detected in the stroboscopic effect test. Here are graphs of brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) for different brightness settings:

This laptop uses an IPS matrix. Microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure (black dots are dust on the camera matrix):

Focusing on the surface of the screen revealed chaotically located microdefects of the surface, which are responsible for the matte properties:

The grain of these defects is several times smaller than the size of the subpixels (the scale of these two photographs is approximately the same), so focusing on microdefects and the “jumping” of focus across subpixels when changing the viewing angle are weakly expressed, because of this there is no “crystalline” effect.

We measured brightness at 25 points on the screen, located in increments of 1/6 of the screen width and height (screen borders not included). Contrast was calculated as the ratio of the brightness of the fields at the measured points:

If you step back from the edges, the uniformity of the white field is good, but the uniformity of the black field and, as a result, the contrast is worse. The contrast by modern standards for this type of matrix is ​​slightly higher than typical. The photo below gives an idea of ​​the distribution of black field brightness over the screen area:

It can be seen that the black field in some places, mainly closer to the edge, is slightly brightened. However, the unevenness of black illumination is visible only in very dark scenes and in almost complete darkness; it should not be considered a significant drawback. Note that the rigidity of the cover, even though it is made of aluminum, is low, the cover is slightly deformed at the slightest applied force, and the deformation greatly changes the nature of the illumination of the black field.

The screen has good viewing angles without a significant decrease in brightness and color shift, even with large viewing deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades (but IPS matrices in monitors are usually better in this regard). However, when deviated diagonally, the black field is greatly lightened and acquires a red-violet hue.

The response time for the black-white-black transition is 31 ms (17 ms on + 14 ms off), the transition between halftones of gray in total (from hue to hue and back) takes an average of 43 ms . The matrix is ​​not fast, there is no overclocking.

We determined the total output delay from switching video buffer pages to the start of displaying the image on the screen (remember that it depends on the operating characteristics of Windows OS and the video card, and not just on the display). At 60 Hz refresh rate (and no other value is available), the latency is 11 ms . This is a small delay, it is absolutely not felt when working on a PC, and in dynamic games it will not lead to a decrease in performance.

Next, we measured the brightness of 256 shades of gray (from 0, 0, 0 to 255, 255, 255) at default settings. The graph below shows the increase (not absolute value!) in brightness between adjacent halftones:

The increase in brightness is more or less uniform and almost every next shade is significantly brighter than the previous one. However, in the shadows, the three shades closest to black do not differ from it in brightness:

The approximation of the resulting gamma curve gave a value of 2.16, which is close to the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the approximating power function:

The color gamut is noticeably narrower than sRGB:

Therefore, visually the colors on this screen are pale. Below is the spectrum for the white field (white line), superimposed on the spectra of the red, green and blue fields (lines of the corresponding colors):

This spectrum with a relatively narrow peak of blue and wide humps of green and red is typical for screens that use white LED backlighting with a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor. The spectra show that the matrix filters significantly mix the components with each other, which narrows the color gamut.

With default settings, the balance of shades on the gray scale is good (graphs Without correction in the figures below), since the color temperature is not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered acceptable for a consumer device indicator. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Additionally, by moving the point on the color wheel in the screen settings, we tried to correct the color balance. The result is presented in the graphs above with the caption Corr.

The correction made it possible to improve the color balance (although the spread of values ​​increased slightly), but there is no particular need for such a correction.

Enabling the Eye Comfort (or Vision Protection as translated from the manufacturer) reduces the intensity of the blue component, by how much you can adjust the slider (in Windows 10 there is a corresponding setting). Why such a correction can be useful is discussed in another article. In any case, when working on a laptop at night, it is better to reduce the screen brightness to a low, but still comfortable level. There is no point in yellowing the picture.

Let's summarize. The screen of this laptop has a sufficiently high maximum brightness (up to 266 cd/m²) so that the device can be used outdoors on a bright day, shielded from direct sunlight. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level (up to 4.7 cd/m²). The advantages of the screen include low output latency, no flickering, good uniformity of the white field, and good color balance. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane and a narrow color gamut. Overall the screen quality is average.

Disassembly capabilities and components

The bottom panel of the laptop can be removed entirely after unscrewing the screws along its perimeter. Half of the internal volume of the laptop is allocated for the motherboard with components, and the rest for the battery and 2.5-inch drive.

The laptop is based on a motherboard based on the Intel Tiger Lake-UP3 system logic set with BIOS version 1.08 dated December 28, 2020.

The processor chosen was a quad-core eight-thread Intel Core i5-1135G7, manufactured according to 10 nm process standards and operating at frequencies up to 4.2 GHz .

The processor specifications indicate a TDP level of 12-28 watts, that is, the processor can be very economical or quite productive. In general, you can expect a long battery life from the laptop. Let us remind you that other versions of the updated Huawei MateBook D 15 or D 14 (2021) may be equipped with a previous generation processor - Intel Core i5-10210U.

Any of the three models of the updated Huawei MateBook D is equipped with 8 or 16 GB of DDR4 memory, soldered on the board and operating in dual-channel mode at an effective frequency of 3.2 GHz with timings of 22-22-22-52 2T.

RAM bandwidth is average even by the standards of office laptops.

The Intel Iris Xe graphics core built into the central processor is used as a video card.

The graphics core frequency in 3D mode is 1.3 GHz, and the memory is borrowed from the RAM.

For an SSD drive, the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) has only one M.2 slot, in which the Samsung PM981a (MZVLB512HBJQ-0000) with a capacity of 512 GB is installed.

Its linear read and write speeds stated in the specifications are 3500 and 2900 MB/s, respectively, and with random access - 460 and 500 thousand IOPS.

Interestingly, inside the laptop case there is a compartment for installing a 2.5-inch drive, but the cable for connecting it is not provided.

The characteristics of the installed SSD are as follows:

The performance of the drive is at a high level both when the laptop is running on mains power and when powered only by the battery.

SSD performance when running on mains power

SSD performance when running on battery

As for its temperature regime in the stress test, the readings of the two built-in sensors differ significantly: one at the peak of the load showed a temperature of 54 °C, and the second - 75 °C. Most likely, the reason lies in the placement of thermal sensors in different places on the drive.

The second temperature may cause some concern. At the same time, in everyday work with a laptop, the SSD did not warm up above 47 °C according to the hottest sensor.

The updated Huawei MateBook D 15 does not have a wired network adapter, as before, but a wireless one is implemented by the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201D2W .

The 802.11ax communication standard, 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands (channel width up to 160 MHz), as well as Bluetooth version 5.1 are supported.

Apparently, the audio system in the laptop has not undergone any changes. It is based on the Realtek audio codec, which outputs a stereo signal to two 2 W speakers built into the bottom panel of the laptop case.

The volume of the built-in speakers was measured while playing an audio file with pink noise. The maximum volume is 72.9 dBA. Among the laptops tested at the time of this writing (minimum 64.8 dBA, maximum 83 dBA), this laptop is slightly quieter than average in terms of volume.

Cooling system and load operation

The cooling system now uses two heat pipes instead of one in the previous model. Thanks to this, a 24% increase in processor cooling efficiency is claimed compared to previous MateBook models.

The tubes transfer heat from the processor die to a copper radiator, which is cooled by a Huawei Shark Fin fan with blades only 0.2 mm thick.

Cold air is sucked in by a fan from below and thrown back through a slot formed when the screen opens.

As in the older Huawei MateBook D16, in the new Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) you can activate the productivity mode through the PC Manager application or by pressing the Fn + P key combination.

Laptop operating modes really differ both in frequencies and heat dissipation, as well as in temperatures and noise levels. First, we tested the laptop in the powerMax stress test (with AVX) when powered by the included adapter in the Performance and Balanced settings.

AC Powered, Performance (3.1 GHz, 31 W, 84 °C) AC Powered, Balanced (2.4 GHz, 18 W, 63 °C)

At the very beginning of the test in Performance mode, the processor frequency rose even higher than stated and briefly reached 4.3 GHz, but the temperature also jumped to 96 °C with the simultaneous activation of the thermal protection mode. After a couple of minutes, the laptop cooling system stabilized the processor frequency at 3.1 GHz at a temperature of 84 °C and a power consumption level of about 31 W. In the Balanced settings mode, the laptop worked according to the same algorithm, but after stabilization, the processor frequency was 2.4 GHz at 63 °C and 18 W. In balanced mode, the laptop operates quite comfortably in terms of noise level, which cannot be said about the performance mode.

When the laptop is running on battery power, only balanced mode is available, in which the frequency, temperature, and power consumption of the processor smoothly change during the stress test.

Battery Powered, Balanced (2.4 GHz, 18 W, 63 °C)

However, on average, the CPU shows the same performance as when powered from the mains in Balanced mode.

Performance

We tested the performance of the central processor, RAM and storage of the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) laptop in real applications in accordance with the methodology and set of applications of our iXBT Application Benchmark 2022 test package. For comparison, the table includes a reference system based on a 6-core Intel processor Core i5-9600K, as well as test results of the Huawei MateBook D 16 laptop (worth 75 thousand rubles) with an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor. Let us add that the laptops were tested in maximum performance mode when powered from the mains. The results are shown in the table.

The fact that the Huawei MateBook D 15 was inferior to its older brother, the Huawei MateBook D 16, hardly surprises anyone; nevertheless, the AMD Ryzen 5 4600H is obviously a more powerful processor than the Intel Core i7-1135G7.

In addition, we present the results of testing the Intel Iris Xe Graphics integrated into the Intel Core i7-1135G7 in several 3D benchmarks.

Noise level and heating

We measure the noise level in a special soundproof and semi-muffled chamber. In this case, the microphone of the sound level meter is positioned relative to the laptop so as to simulate the typical position of the user’s head: the screen is tilted back 45 degrees, the axis of the microphone coincides with the normal emanating from the center of the screen, the front end of the microphone is at a distance of 50 cm from the plane of the screen, the microphone is directed at the screen . The load is created using the powerMax program, the screen brightness is set to maximum, the room temperature is maintained at 24 degrees, but the laptop is not specially ventilated, so in the immediate vicinity the air temperature may be higher. To estimate real consumption, we also present (for some modes) the consumption from the network (the battery is pre-charged to 100%; the Performance or Balanced profile is selected in the settings of the proprietary utility ) :

If the laptop is not loaded at all, then its cooling system still operates in active mode, but so quietly that at the above distance from the laptop the noise level does not exceed the background value. In the case of the Balance , even under heavy load, the noise from the cooling system is low. Enabling the Performance increases the characteristic of the same name, but the noise level also increases noticeably. The nature of the noise is smooth and does not cause irritation.

To subjectively assess the noise level, we use the following scale:

From 40 dBA and above the noise, from our point of view, is very high, long-term work on a laptop is difficult, from 35 to 40 dBA the noise level is high, but tolerable, from 30 to 35 dBA the noise is clearly audible, from 25 to 30 dBA the noise from the system cooling will not stand out much against the background of the typical sounds surrounding the user in an office with several employees and working computers; somewhere from 20 to 25 dBA the laptop can be called very quiet, below 20 dBA it is conditionally silent. The scale, of course, is very arbitrary and does not take into account the individual characteristics of the user and the nature of the sound.

Below are thermal images taken after long-term operation of the laptop under maximum load on the CPU and GPU ( Performance ):

Above

From below

power unit

Under maximum load, working with the keyboard is not very comfortable, since the area under the left wrist becomes noticeably hot. Holding the laptop on your lap is also unpleasant, since the left knee feels a significant heating of the bottom of the laptop (heating above the right is also felt). The power supply gets very hot, so when working with high performance for a long time, it is better to make sure that it is not covered with anything.

Battery life

The Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) comes with a power adapter marked HW-200325EP0 with a power of 65 W (20.0 V, 3.25 A) and a weight of 155 g.

It connects to the laptop with a 1.75 meter USB Type-C cable; when the power adapter is connected to the laptop, a white LED lights up (blinks during charging and lights up constantly at 100% level).

The capacity of the lithium-ion battery in the updated Huawei MateBook D 15 is 42 Wh (3665 mAh).

Using the included adapter, the battery is charged from 3% to 99% quite quickly: in 1 hour and 32 minutes (average result of four full charging cycles). But here you need to remember that if while charging the laptop is performing some resource-intensive tasks or, even worse, undergoing stress tests, then the full charging time will be much longer.

Contrary to our expectations, Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) did not boast impressive battery life. We tested the laptop at a screen brightness of 100 cd/m² (which in this case is equivalent to 44%) in the PCMark'10 test suite, where the laptop was able to work for exactly eight hours , and in the Word, Excel and PowerPoint simulation test - Applications - seven and a half hours .

PCMark'10 Modern Office (8:00)

PCMark'10 Applications (7:30)

PCMark'10 Gaming (1:43)

In conditional gaming mode, the laptop worked for only 1 hour and 43 minutes , but in the last 20 minutes its performance decreased noticeably. When playing full-screen video with acoustic volume at 20% and active network connections, the full battery capacity lasted almost nine hours . Perhaps these are good indicators for a 15.6-inch screen, but we still expected slightly better autonomy from the energy-efficient Intel Core i5-1135G7 with effective cooling.

conclusions

We can say that the creators of the Huawei MateBook D 15 (2021) did not use all the opportunities at their disposal to increase the attractiveness of the new model. With the hardware platform of the laptop, everything is more or less in order: the Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, coupled with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD today is enough for most everyday tasks, not counting games. And its screen is not bad.

Among the shortcomings, we will first of all highlight the impossibility of installing a second drive, a keyboard without a number pad with reduced arrows and no backlight, a webcam of modest quality with a bottom location and without tilt adjustment, three ports of the USB 2.0 standard and only one USB 3.2 Gen1 , lack of a card reader and rather simple-sounding acoustics. In addition, the battery has a relatively small capacity, and therefore even with an economical processor and without a discrete graphics card, the laptop does not demonstrate impressive battery life.

The advantages of the laptop are a lightweight and wear-resistant anodized aluminum body, an acceptable level of performance with a low noise level, a fingerprint scanner, a wireless module with support for Wi-Fi 6, Huawei Share and a calm, laconic design. And yet, in the future, I would like to see a deeper modernization of the MateBook series laptops, correcting all the shortcomings we have listed.

Display

A screen with FullHD resolution (1920×1080) and an IPS matrix is ​​used. When you turn on the ultrabook for the first time, you notice the eternal problem of any IPS matrix - glare, which also affected the MateBook D15. The surface of the screen is matte, without a protective film. The matrix here is not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either.

The maximum brightness level is 390 nits. You can easily take your laptop with you outside on a bright sunny day.

Shifting your gaze to a corner reduces the brightness and readability of the screen by about 20%, which is a good result. The second eternal problem of cheap IPS matrices is absent: bright whiteness or a yellow tint. The colors on the MateBook D15 screen look organic.

⇡#Battery life

Huawei claims up to 9.5 hours of video playback and up to 10 hours of office work (typing, email, reading documents, viewing presentations). These are quite familiar numbers, one might even say they are not bad. And although we are used to trusting Huawei, we always check whether the stated operating time corresponds to the real one. Testing was carried out in two modes. The first load option is web surfing, which involves alternately opening and closing tabs in the Google Chrome browser with an interval of 30 seconds. The second option is to play a video in x265 (HEVC) format using a standard Windows 10 player in loop mode. The display backlight brightness was set at 200 cd/m2, and here it is worth noting that for the Huawei MateBook D 14 this level was close to the maximum, which, as we found out above, is 249 cd/m2.

As you can see, the result turned out to be less than stated - obviously, the problem is the brightness of the backlight. If you set the brightness to 40-50% of the maximum, the results become better, coming very close to what was promised. In general, if you suddenly forget your charger at home, the Huawei MateBook D 14 will provide you with a full working day. The main thing is not to abuse the maximum brightness and do not forget to close the lid during breaks in work.

Software

The Huawei D15 ultrabook runs on the Windows 10 Home Edition operating system. Despite the cost of 60 thousand rubles, the configuration of the Pro version was neglected here, which therefore needs to be purchased separately.

As for additional software, there is a Nahimic utility for sound capabilities, compatible with the Realtek ACL256 audio processor. It allows you to adjust the sound volume, bass and clarity. There are presets with already set parameters for the “Movies”, “Music”, “Communication”, “Game” plots.

There is also a Realtek Audio Console for controlling the sound balance, but in fact it is not a necessary program.

By default, the PC Manager program is included with the operating system, which checks the drivers of components and the BIOS/UEFI of the motherboard itself. It also allows you to connect an Honor/Huawei mobile phone to control your desktop via Bluetooth wireless technology, as well as upload a backup copy of your smartphone to your computer. Additionally, the tray has a built-in shortcut with a notification line, which contains the latest clipboard values, documents, and CPU load statistics.

Familiar appearance

Externally, the device has not changed in any way; we have a well-known unified design made up of smooth lines and dark gray aluminum with a slight purple tint. The metal gives the body extreme rigidity and a feeling of complete solidity. Despite this, the weight is quite adequate for regular carrying - 1560 grams.

The shade of the metal is highly dependent on the ambient lighting

The opening angle of the display falls slightly short of the reference 180 degrees, but is still larger than that of last year’s version of the MateBook D 15. The mechanism is very tight, and although it cannot be opened with one hand, the lid practically does not shake, and rare vibrations quickly die out.

Communication networks

The laptop does not have a module for installing a SIM card, but all modern communication equipment is present: Wi-Fi standard IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0. There is no memory card slot.

The laptop connects to networks almost instantly. Constant external monitoring is not required to connect to HotSpot. PC Manager prompts you to go to a browser window if you need to confirm user authentication.

The fingerprint sensor works the first time, but only if the finger can be fully placed on it.

Screen

But the screen is striking in its framelessness. Until recently, manufacturers could not fit such a large diagonal into such a small case. Here there are really almost no frames and they are the same on all three sides.

This is also achieved due to the fact that the webcam was not placed traditionally above the screen, but was disguised as a button on the keyboard. Thus, they killed two birds with one stone - they reduced the frames around the display and made it safe to use the webcam, since it is guaranteed to be disabled in a passive state.

Overall, the monitor left a pleasant impression. Yes, the IPS matrix does not have such a richness of colors as in Amoled, but it is matte, does not glare, does not fade or wear off. And the resolution is only 1920x1080 pixels, but it’s convenient to use and your eyes don’t get tired from working for a long time.

Power button with scanner

And one more feature, previously available only in flagships, is the power button with a built-in fingerprint scanner. Now, immediately after activating the laptop, the scanner is triggered and there is no need to enter a PIN code when loading Windows. Cool! By the way, Windows was installed right out of the box - the Home version.

Battery

The laptop has a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 3665 mAh. Thanks to the use of a processor with a smaller area, but with a higher transistor density, it was possible to reduce power consumption and, as a result, reduce the battery capacity, which in turn made it possible to reduce the thickness of the case.

To charge the device, a 20 Volt and 3.25 Ampere adapter is used. When using a laptop as a “typewriter” and surfing the web, you will need to fully charge the laptop at least twice a day. When using games, things are not so rosy. The charge lasts from two to three hours, depending on the energy consumption of resources.

But the capacity is not enough in any case. It feels like more is needed. For example, 5000 mAh or a very respectable 7000 mAh. However, Huawei tried to focus on modern components and neglect other elements of the system.

The laptop can be charged from any adapter with a USB Type-C cable. You can even carry a smartphone charger and charge two devices alternately.

Compact body

In addition to the laptop, the box also contains a 65-watt USB-C power adapter and the corresponding cable, brief instructions, and a warranty card.

The result was achieved without causing inconvenience to users. The 16-inch display did not lead to a significant increase in size. The laptop is comparable in size to 15.6-inch models. Aluminum as a body material turned out to be a very good choice. Thus, the screen is sufficient to use the device as the main home computer. And since it weighs noticeably less than two kilograms, mobility is not affected - it will not be difficult to carry around.

The thin body (1.84 cm thick), fortunately, lacks one of the least pleasant features of stylish metal devices - the ability to attract greasy fingerprints. The brand logo was placed on the display cover. There are no excesses in the design, as well as decorations.

Sound

The Huawei MateBook D15 laptop has two stereo speakers. They play simply amazing. It seems like there is Dolby Sound 5.1 surround technology. The sound is very clear, moderately bassy. It is several times better than on any other smartphone. So rich that you can distinguish the timbre of the voice of the same person without resorting to high volume.

To control sound, there is the Realtek Audio Console program and the Nahimic application. In the latest software product, you can carry out acoustic adjustment of playback modes.

It seems like there is Dolby Sound 5.1 surround technology. The sound is very clear, moderately bassy. It is several times better than on any other smartphone. So rich that you can distinguish the timbre of the voice of the same person without resorting to high volume.

One small drawback will be a slight distortion of the sound, as if it were passing through a wooden block that is blocking the exit of the sound wave. But you can hardly notice this if you don’t get carried away with music and regularly listen to tracks on expensive speakers.

⇡#Huawei Share (Multiscreen function)

Each of us is incredibly infuriated by all kinds of stickers with logos on the body. Unfortunately, the Huawei MateBook D 14 also has them. But fortunately, they are easily removed. So, one of them points to the Huawei Share function, which should make life easier for those who have both a smartphone and a laptop made by Huawei. True, for now this only works on Huawei smartphones that support the latest versions of EMUI (and there are still few of them).

For Huawei Share to work, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules, as well as NFC, must be enabled on the laptop and smartphone. After successful connection, a window with a smartphone interface will appear on the screen, in which you can write messages in instant messengers from the keyboard, as well as transfer images and files back and forth. It looks like something between Apple's AirDrop feature and what Samsung has implemented with the DeX dock.

Keyboard

The keyboard in Huawei MateBook D15 is island-type. With flat and wide buttons. There is no special installation scheme for the key lifting mechanism, but there is light shock absorption when pressed. The click is soft, knocking is almost completely absent. There is no additional layout for the keyboard and numbers with commands. There are cutouts for the Fn and Caps keys. He responds very easily and quickly. You don't need to get used to the keyboard very much.

Bottom line

Huawei has made an excellent device in the mid-price segment that meets most of the requirements of the modern user, who by and large does not need gaming projects, but works with documents, searching for information on the Internet, watching videos on YouTube, and storing data on a solid-state drive.

Advantages:

• Excellent layout of the island keyboard, which you get used to the first time.
• a huge touchpad with minimal response and smooth movement;
• high performance;
• a hidden camera will not allow third parties to gain access to it;
• presence of a fingerprint sensor along with a power button;
• The charging port uses the popular USB Type-C connector;
• great sound.

Flaws:

• low battery capacity;
• retractable camera shows the user from below;
• Not the best quality display.

Not hot

The chip as a whole is not prone to significant heating. The coolers started up at full power only during Cinebench R23 testing. In the multi-core test, the model scored 8341 points, in the single-core test - 1162.

In two Huawei SharkFin coolers, the arrangement of thin blades is designed so that the laptop runs as quietly as possible. The design of the back cover provides effective air removal. This task is not least facilitated by two raised rubberized feet.

The user is offered two options to choose from, which differ in memory configuration. The first combines 8GB of RAM with a 512GB solid-state drive. The second SSD capacity is the same, but the RAM is 16 GB.

RAM is soldered in. Users who have to open a hundred or two browser tabs while working are better off choosing the version with 16 GB of memory. In the meantime, the user has the opportunity to install a more capacious NVMe PCIe drive (up to 2 TB).