We certainly did not see that coming, but there is a fresh best laptop in the town: the Huawei MateBook X Pro. We have been taken by this sleeper hit laptop, which it today sits amongst the maximum standing in our top purchasing guides.

Together with Huawei's MateBook X Pro, we get the speediest, most lavish and durable laptop we have seen as the Dell XPS 13. We must acknowledge that Huawei did so by emulating trendsetters pretty reliably, but none of its predecessors have come near to the balance of form and function.

And, yeah, the Huawei MateBook X Pro is costly, but the math works out in Huawei's favor, providing capacities that a few of its nearest opponents can muster to get a similar cost. Now, let us get right into it.

• Best choices: 15 best laptops in 2019
• Best choices: 10 best ultrabooks you can buy in 2019

Price and availability

We have been waiting patiently for weeks, however the Huawei MateBook X Pro has came -- you are looking at $1,199 (£1,299, roughly AU$1,650) to begin with an 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM plus a 256GB SSD.

From that point, your next choice would be to bump up the spec sheet to double the quantity of available memory and storage in addition to pump up the graphics alternative into an MX150 GPU for $1,499 (Number 1,499 or roughly AU$1,999).

With these costs, the MateBook X Pro version reviewed here resembles a veritable bargain beside the priciest 13-inch MacBook Pro configuration which costs $2,299 (£2,219, AU$3,479). The XPS 13 is conveniently beat concerning worth, also, costing $1,999 (£1,649, AU$2,464) to fulfill the priciest MateBook X Pro Setup -- and still just half the storage area.

Though, in either case, neither of those choices offer you the dedicated graphics that Huawei's new laptop does.

Design

The MateBook X Pro's layout keeps the superior feel of its predecessor alive, including a aluminum unibody design with diamond-cut advantages along with a sandblast finish. This ends in a laptop that definitely looks like -- also feels that way too.

When closed, the MateBook X Pro is only 4.9mm (0.19 inches) in its thinnest finish, and 14.6mm (0.57 inches) in its top. All the time, it weighs only 1.33kg (2.93 lbs ), which -- as Huawei is eager to point out -- is much milder than the MacBook Air's 1.35pound.

Certainly this is a slender and light-enough laptop to carry around. The MateBook X Pro comes in 2 colours, Space Gray and Mystic Silver, and the two seem stunning up close. Obviously, you are going to need to get the most expensive version if you'd like to have that silver colour -- in the United States.

When utilizing the MateBook X outside in the actual world, the lightweight and portable chassis supposed it was readily clasped in hand whilst rushing from meeting to meeting. Additionally, it fits in most backpacks -- as well as some tablet compartments. So, despite significant energy inside, the Huawei MateBook X Pro is a remarkably portable device.

Another welcome signature is the laptop opens without even having to hold down the bottom half. Only wedge your finger or thumb below the cover of the screen when closed, lift and, as though by Apple-magic, the laptop opens without a embarrassing clamshell fumbles.

There is a complete size keyboard that is backlit and spill-proof, although we want the backlighting needed finer control than simply a couple of brightness levels. Nevertheless, the traveling on those keys is quite a bit deep to the laptop's awfully thin profile, and they're only punchy enough to the yield from a media to present little to no learning curve from additional premium laptops, namely the MacBook.

Under the deep-and-punchy keyboard rests the big trackpad -- that Huawei states is the biggest one found on a 14-inch laptop. After a little use, we could confidently state the extra-sized trackpad just aids the experience, together with Microsoft's Precision Touchpad engineering and certificate leading to powerful hands detection. This keeps your hands from tripping touches of this trackpad while typing.

On both sides of the keyboard are just two top-firing, stereo speakers (for a total of four) that support Dolby Atmos, and it reveals. Audio set in 80% volume is loud and incredibly nuanced when playing movies or music. We can actually listen to the audio travel round the four different audio channels.

Over the keyboard is your power switch, which like the MateBook X has a built-in fingerprint scanner for Windows Hello. This really is an excellent idea, because it means that you can turn on the laptop and register to it with only a single touch. Huawei informs us from chilly startup to logging in to Windows 10, it requires only 7.8 seconds to initiate the machine and only 6.6 minutes from hibernation. We are getting similar numbers within our testing.

This is due to the fingerprint detector being a hardware-level component, meaning it is controlled directly by the processor, not by Windows 10 -- naturally it works with Windows Hello. It is small touches like this that assist Huawei's laptop stick out from the contest.

Display and Screen

The 13.9-inch IPS (in-plane switching) screen today has thin, 4.4millimeter bezels surrounding it. This keeps the total size of this laptop down to just under 12 inches broad. Huawei asserts the MateBook X Pro is the world's first'FullView' notebook, using a 91% screen to body ratio.

In contrast, the initial MateBook needed a ratio of 84%. We are serious lovers of screens with small bezels, therefore by giving over so much distance on its display, the MateBook X Pro is definitely eye-catching.

In reality, the bezels are so modest that Huawei created a exceptional positioning for your MateBook X Pro's webcam: it is really from the keyboard under a secret using a camera icon onto it. Pressing the key depresses a knob that allows the 720p camera appear.

This will not really fix the entire 'ChinCam' problem we have seen on laptops such as Dell XPS 13. Instead, it disturbs the matter with this brand new webcam position producing a new 'KnuckleCam' problem. Excited typing could lead to rogue knuckles appearing on-screen and, unlike the camera around the XPS 13, the MateBook X Pro camera can not be tilted up or down.

Nevertheless, the capability to completely hide the webcam away is excellent for solitude. This manner it seems just like a more tasteful and smart solution other thin-bezel laptops.

Now, back to this display: it is currently a touchscreen a snappy answer and Gorilla Glass protection to keep it from getting scratched. Additionally, it has a 3K (3,000 x 2,000) resolution, which contributes to a 260 PPI (pixels per inch) pixel densities. Therefore, the display is a lot sharp, however you will observe that it's much more'square' compared to other laptops.

This is only because it includes a 3:2 aspect ratio, such as the MateBook X prior to it, instead of the most frequent ratio of 16:9. Therefore, it provides more vertical space compared to other laptops, which can assist with productivity, however watching films and TV onto it is going to lead to much more pronounced black bars at the top and bottom of this display than many.

Regardless of what you use it the screen definitely appears bright and sharp, with a 450 nit brightness able to fight some critical glare even at 50% brightness and 1,500:1 contrast ratio for badly heavy blacks.

Performance

Taking into consideration the replicas recorded before, the MateBook X Pro completely stinks through fundamental tasks should not be overly sudden. The version here utilizes an Intel processor that's 40% faster than the previous model. Huawei is eager to determine its usage of a U series CPU, instead of an M collection, which is often found in laptops with the dimension.

That point, coupled with Nvidia MX 150 graphics, leaves us with a laptop that is ready to take on almost any significant productivity task brief of editing and producing 4K media. The laptop keeps speed well enough using all the comparably-specced Dell XPS 13, beating its Geekbench 4 Single-Core score and coming inside the margin of error of other benchmarks.

In terms of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the MateBook X Pro conveniently squashed it in both our Geekbench 4 and Cinebench evaluations, proving just how much more powerful Apple's top laptop would have been had it waited a bit longer for 8th-generation Intel processors. Meanwhile, the MateBook X Pro's dedicated graphics processor means it could manage media editing and rendering greater than competing apparatus without difficulty.

Simply speaking, the longer holistic energy profile inside the MateBook X Pro makes it possibly a much more attractive alternative to the Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Pro performance-wise, a sudden improvement.

Battery life

The wins do not stop there. The MateBook X Pro is among those longest-lasting Ultrabooks -- even less Windows laptops generally -- we have ever tested. At 6 hours and 12 minutes to the PCMark 8 battery evaluation, this laptop beat Dell's flagship by just under 2 hours.

It outlasted the XPS 13 and MacBook Pro by two or more hours and 90 minutes, respectively, at the TechTnet local movie rundown test. We certainly did not see the day coming which could have a laptop outlast the finest Windows laptop about and Apple's top MacBook.

Now, you're taking a look at a laptop that is not just stronger than the top 13-inch versions for Windows and macOS, respectively, but one which also lasts longer. Just how much can this laptop price again?

Software and features

Though the MateBook X Pro does promise a Microsoft Signature Edition of Windows 10 on its most recent laptop, Huawei did inject only 1 app to the operating system: Huawei PC Manager. This service allows for quicker wireless link between it around the MateBook X Pro and Huawei telephones.

The PC Manager application also allows to get Huawei Share, a type of Apple AirDrop competition that enables file sharing together with nearby devices at rates utilizing the support as much as 20 Mbps. It is a nice enough attribute, but demands not merely the consumer to purchase all-in on Huawei devices and solutions, but all his or her friends and co-workers, also -- a tall arrangement.

Beyond this, the only additional curricular characteristic of the MateBook X Pro is its own USB-C, 65W power adapter which houses a wise controller, enabling it to provide just the ideal quantity of amps and voltage based on which sort of apparatus is plugged . Even better, for this particular laptop, it provides up fast-charging capacities, therefore it is going to control the MateBook X Pro quicker than you are able to burn down its battery.

General assessment

Frankly, we are amazed by Huawei's sophomore campaign from the laptop group. In one fell swoop, the MateBook X Pro introduces an overpowering alternate to our favourite laptop, the Dell XPS 13, along with the MacBook Pro.

From its sleek, subtle layout to its lavish typing and browsing experience, and its own powerhouse performance to its storied battery life -- not to mention that a sublime touchscreen -- the Huawei MateBook X Pro is an amazing laptop. Its apparent flaws are few and far in between, such as the shortage of an SD card slot and webcam hint that is smart, but faulty nonetheless.

All told, the MateBook X Pro will probably be among the answers we offer readers and friends whenever they ask that the broadest of all questions:'what is the best laptop?' For that, it has made our Best in Class award.