Huawei Matebook 16S review – 2022 model

In our Huawei Matebook 16S review, we take a look at the general features of the model, which has a stylish design and touch screen.

Huawei continues to expand its Matebook range and add new features and differences to this series with each new model. Our guest is the Matebook 16S model, which is powerful with its new Intel processor, as well as providing great ease of use, especially with its touch screen.

Let’s take a look at the general features, performance and, of course, the user experience of this model.

Huawei Matebook 16S review

Design and Display features

First of all, when we look at the design of the laptop, we see that it is quite similar to the Matebook 16 model. A simple and elegant look combined with a 3:2 ratio in a compact design. This model, which uses a metal alloy, has a 16-inch screen, as the name suggests.

As soon as you lift the screen cover, this frame structure draws your attention. This screen has a 90% screen-to-body ratio with a thin bezel. An IPS panel was used on the screen, and as with other models, I was quite satisfied with the quality of the screen.

In the Matebook 16S model, which uses a very thin frame structure, you also see the 2W dual speaker system placed on the right and left sides of the keyboard. The fingerprint power button is placed in the upper right corner.

The screen has a touch feature puts the device in an incredible structure in terms of use. Instant interventions increase your working speed both in daily use and in advanced programs. Since it is not in a structure like the matebook E, it is not very specific for pen use, but we can say that it provides a great advantage to the use of the touch screen.

There are two points we can criticize on the screen. First, it can reflect in high-nit light sources. On the other hand, 90 Hz panel could be preferred instead of 60 Hz.

The chiclet keyboard offers a very comfortable performance when typing. The space of the keys, which have backlighting and a distance of 1.5 mm, also simplified typing. The Touch Pad has been kept quite wide considering the use of the share feature. This feature, which used to be on the right, has now been shifted to this part and expanded further in the latest models. Thus, you can use it much faster when you transfer files from the phone.

A dual microphone system is located just below the touchpad. These microphones, which offer noise cancellation with artificial intelligence, are more than enough for you if you are not in an extremely noisy environment.

Huawei has now completely abandoned the camera which is hidden in the keyboard. Angle related issues are now completely resolved on new models. 1080P camera brings with it the feature of following you as well as virtual background support. I can say that it is a notebook that will make you very happy when you on a video call.

Notebook screens usually have 16:9 dimensions. In Huawei models, we see 3:2 dimention, including this one. This not only put the device in a more compact structure, but also made it move away from the usual design. It increases the appeal of the device and allows you to encounter a much clearer and more saturated image.

Huawei Matebook 16S provides a more comfortable navigation on websites with 4:3 and 3:2 design. With its higher resolution and higher screen, you also have more space in video applications such as Premier or Photoshop. With a height of 254.9mm, a width of 351mm and a thickness of 17.8mm, the Matebook 16S is a 1.99kg portable workstation. It fits easily in your backpack. This makes it advantageous for both work and school. Despite its large screen and strong structure, it is ergonomically easy to use.

There are two Type C ports on the left, along with a 3.5 mm audio jack and HDMI port. While these ports have data, charging and display port support, one of them also includes Thunderbolt 4 support. On the right side, there are USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports.

Technicial Specifications

The other strength of the Matebook 16S is the Intel Alder Lake CPU. It is powered by the Intel 12th Generation Core i7 12700H. With 16 GB memory and 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD, it has more than enough performance for your daily use.

Intel’s H CPU for mobile offers a very stable usage with 6 performance and 8 auxiliary cores. You use applications very fluently. It should be noted that even when working with 4-5 layer projects, it processes a 10-minute video in just 3 minutes with 1080P resolution and 20 bitrate. Compared to previous versions, a performance increase of almost 25% has been achieved.

Performance and Battery

The 12700H model makes you feel the difference in terms of performance. The processor, which has a power value of 45W, is also very good on the battery performance. The CPU offers a noticeable usage compared to the i5. There is a 300 Mhz clock speed difference with the i9. There is not a big difference for work and school focused laptops.

Although the processor runs at 1.4 GHz when the computer is idle, it increases to 2.3 GHz if you need a performance. This means that you will not hear the fan speed at all when the system is idle. The fans run very quietly even when processing a video or when the processor is loaded.

Games are not on the focus of Matebook 16S. In other words, it is not possible to play AAA games, but you can still easily play games such as League of Legends, Valorant, Minecraft or Dota, Overwatch. As an active LoL player, I did not neglect to play a few matches during the time I used it.

Huawei Matebook 16s, which has an 84 Wh lithium polymer battery, can charge 50% of the battery in just 40 minutes. In addition, even with very heavy use, you encounter a performance exceeding 6 hours.

Conclusion

As a result, we saw that the notebook has been a very powerful work station in terms of both performance and use during Huawei Matebook 16S review tests. Material quality is good, CPU performance is as expected. With the simplicity of the touch screen, it makes your work much easier.

I can say that I was able to get successful results in the three-week period I tested. If you already have a Huawei notebook, it doesn’t offer huge differences for the upgrade. If you’re looking for a model with a touchscreen as well as better performance, I’d say it’s a model you should check.

If you are searching for a more powerful and gaming notebook you can check our Acer Aspire 7 review. When we tested Call of Duty Modern Warfare II with the Acer Aspire 7, it easily passed the 60 FPS limit with the high settings. If you are searching more portable device with good features check Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 review in PLAY4UK.

Specifications

Hardware

• Processor: 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700H processor
• Graphics Unit: Intel®Iris®Xe graphics unit
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Storage: 512GB / 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD

Design

• Dimensions: 351mm x 254.9mm x 17.8mm
• Weight: 1.99 kg
• Color: Space Gray
• Inputs: 3.5mm audio jack x 1 / USB3.2 Gen1 x 2 / USB –C x 2 / HDMI 2.0 x 1
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2
• Camera: 1080P FHD camera

Screen

• Size: 16 inches IPS,
• Screen-to-body ratio: 90%
• Resolution: 2520×1680, 189 PPI
• Color gamut: 100% sRGB color gamut
• Maximum Brightness: 300 nits
• Color Accuracy: E=1 (Average)
• Contrast Ratio: 1500:1
• Aspect Ratio: 3:2
• Angle of view: 178 degrees
• Audio Microphone x 2 | Speaker x 2
• Touchscreen: Yes

Battery

• Material: Lithium polymer
• Capacity: 84 Wh (nominal capacity)

Box contents

• HUAWEI Matebook 16s
• 90 W / 135 W USB-C Power Adapter
• USB-C Charging Cable