Huawei has today unveiled the Huawei MatePad Pro, which is the company’s first tablet to come preloaded with HarmonyOS.
Huawei has opted for its own operating system instead of Android, with HarmonyOS featuring a layout that looks very similar to Apple’s iPadOS with a shortcut bar and customisable widgets.
Huawei also detailed some new HarmonyOS features such as multitasking function for having multiple apps open simultaneously, drag-and-drop support with Windows 10 systems and cross support with other Huawei devices, so you can use the MatePad Pro as a sketching tablet for a Huawei Matebook laptop.
Of course, the new MatePad Pro isn’t just about the software. It also features an impressive spec sheet, with a 12.6-OLED display and a wafer-thin bezel that helps the tablet to achieve a 90% screen-to-body ratio.
Huawei has emphasised the tablet is ideal for creative work, with incredibly accurate colours thanks to a <0.5 Delta E score and wide gamut coverage of DCI-P3.
A Kirin 9000e processor is confirmed to be powering the tablet, with Huawei claiming it’s powerful enough for 3D modeling and video editing. Wi-Fi 6 support will also enable a fast and reliable internet connection with compatible routers.
The MatePad Pro is claimed to have a 14-hour battery life, although this figure will depend on the tablet’s workload. This seemingly compares well with the latest iPad Pro, which Apple suggests can last 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi or watching video.
The MatePad Pro is also lighter than the 12.9 iPad Pro, with Huawei suggesting it “weighs slightly more” than 600 grams. There will be eight speakers on board, which is the most Huawei has even built into a tablet.
The new Huawei M-Penil has also been confirmed, enabling a low-latency writing experience for the MatePad Pro. It also looks to be a useful tool for drawing, as Huawei suggests it offers a similar experience to a real pencil thanks to a whopping 4096 sensitivity levels and a nippy 9ms latency.
A second tablet was also confirmed to feature HarmonyOS, with the new Huawei MatePad 11 featuring top-end specs such as a 120Hz refresh rate, 2560×1600 resolution and a 12-hour battery life. Surprisingly, Huawei is opting for the Snapdragon 865 processor here instead of a Kirin-flavoured chip.
Huawei has not yet revealed UK, US and European pricing for the MatePad Pro and MatePad 11 tablets, but we’ll be update this article as soon as we hear more.
