Huawei MateBook D 14 review: Quiet office laptop with a long battery life

The current incarnation of the Huawei MateBook D 14 – an elegant 14-inch office laptop – comes from the model year 2021 and is currently sold at a price starting from around 600 Euros (~$652). It includes an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM (LPDDR4X-4266), and a 512-GB SSD. The competitors include devices such as the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.

1 GWTC51427 , the HP Envy 14 , the Dell Inspiron 14 5425 , and the Acer Swift 3 SF314-43 . We already know the MateBook D 14, since we tested several similar sibling models over the years that shared an identical construction. This includes models such as the Honor MagicBook 14 ( Core i7-1165G7 ) and the AMD MateBook ( Ryzen 5 3500U ).

Huawei uses an elegant metal case that is kept in a matte grey color (Space Grey). The laptop doesn’t show any faults in workmanship, and the base unit and lid offer sufficient stiffness. The maximum opening angle of the lid is 180 degrees.

The battery, which is screwed instead of glued in, as well as the rest of the hardware are accessible after removing the bottom of the case. The laptop has two USB-A connections (1x USB 2. 0, 1x USB 3.

2 Gen 1) and a single USB-C port (USB 3. 2 Gen 1) that is also used to charge the laptop (Power Delivery). DisplayPort via USB-C is not supported, so with the HDMI port, there is only a single available video output port.

The laptop does not offer a storage card reader. The WLAN transfer rates we determined under optimal conditions (no additional WLAN devices nearby and close distance between laptop and server PC) turn out very good, even though they still remain slightly below the capabilities of the Wi-Fi chip (Intel AX201). The webcam (0.

9 MP, 1280 x 720 pixels max. ) of the laptop is hidden in the keyboard, disguised as a key between the F6 and F7 keys. Pressing this “camera” key will cause the webcam to slide out and back in.

The camera produces decent results with a relatively low color deviation. The MateBook D 14 includes an illuminated Chiclet keyboard, with keys that offer a short stroke and clear pressure point. While typing, the keyboard only offers a minimal give, which does not interfere with the typing tasks.

The two-step keyboard illumination is controlled with a function key. Overall, Huawei delivers a keyboard here that is suitable for everyday tasks. The smooth surface of the multitouch-capable ClickPad (~12.

1 x 6. 4 cm; ~4. 8 x 2.

5 in) facilitates sliding of the fingers. The pad also responds to inputs in the corners and offers a short hub and clear pressure point. The matte 14-inch display with 1,920 x 1,080 pixels offers a good contrast of 1,265:1.

However, with a maximum brightness of 258. 3 cd/m², the target of > 300 cd/m² is not reached. On the other hand, most competitors aren’t much better in this regard either, and only the Envy 14 brings a very bright display.

The display of the D 14 shows some flickering (25,000 Hz) at brightness levels of 30% or below, which could lead to headaches or eye problems for sensitive users. In the state of delivery, the display offers a decent color reproduction, and with a deviation of around 4, the target of DeltaE < 3 is barely missed. While a calibration only drops the deviation to 3.

6, it ensures a more even reproduction of the grayscale. The screen is unable to cover the AdobeRGB (43%), sRGB (63%), and DCI-P3 (42%) color spaces. With this, the panel is not designed for application scenarios that depend on color accuracy.

Most of the competitors perform at eye-level here as well, with the exception of the panel of the Envy 14 , which offers complete sRGB color space coverage. The IPS panel, which offers stable viewing angles, can be read from any position. Outdoors, the display can be read as long as the sunlight isn’t too bright.

With the MateBook D 14, Huawei offers a mobile laptop in its portfolio that brings sufficient computing performance for Office and Internet applications, as well as simple games. You can switch between the manufacturer specific performance modes (“Performance” and “Balanced”) via the Fn + P key combination. We performed the tests with the “Balanced” mode activated.

The “Performance” mode can only be used in mains operation with a battery level of at least 20%. The mode justifies its name, increasing the multi-thread CPU performance. In addition, the GPU is allowed to run constantly at its maximum clock speed.

The Core i5-1135G7 quad-core processor of the Tiger Lake generation runs at a basic clock speed of 2. 4 GHz, which can be increased via Turbo to 3. 8 GHz (all cores) and up to 4.

2 GHz (single core). Hyperthreading with two threads per core is supported. The benchmark results range around the average levels for the CPU or above, depending on the performance mode used.

The CB15 loop test shows that the CPU Turbo is used constantly during multithread load, but the CPU is only able to run at full speed for a short time period, regardless of the selected mode. After several seconds, the clock speed drops. This behavior is more pronounced with the “Balanced” mode activated than with the “Performance” mode.

The smoothly running system offers sufficient performance for Office and Internet applications, as well as gaming at low settings. The PCMark results turn out good. The transfer rates of the working memory range at a level that is normal for LPDDR4X-4266 storage (onboard).

The standardized Latency Monitor test (web surfing, 4k video reproduction, Prime95 high load) attests the laptop with fairly low latencies. However, there appears to be a problem with one of the drivers. Future updates might lead to some improvements or also make things worse in this regard.

Huawei has equipped the MateBook with a PCIe 3 SSD (M. 2 2280) from Phison, which offers a storage capacity of 512 GB. The available storage space is split into a Windows (119 GB) and a data partition (337 GB).

While the transfer rates turn out good, this is not one of the top models among SSDs. During the DiskSpd loop, it struggles with some slight performance drops due to thermal throttling. Our The Witcher 3 test shows that Intel’s UHD Graphics G7-80EU GPU is able to run constantly at full speed (1,300 MHz), as long as the “Performance” mode is activated.

The “Balanced” mode will only allow this for several minutes, after which the clock speed is lowered to about 1,150 MHz. The computing performance is sufficient to bring many less-demanding games at low to medium settings smoothly to the screen, but the D 14 is not a gaming laptop. The 3DMark results and frame rates range above the average for the iGPU that is used, and the fast LPDDR4X working memory shows its worth here.

During idle and everyday operation (Office, Internet), the fan usually remains turned off and there is complete silence. Under medium to high load (stress test, The Witcher 3 test), the noise level can increase up to 43 dB(A), but you should take this value with a grain of sand. The MateBook mostly runs quietly or even silently.

When “Balanced” mode is activated, the fan activity is kept as limited as possible. In everyday operation with Office and Internet, the case temperatures remain within the green range. Unter load with the stress test or The Witcher 3 test, the laptop hardly heats up, only reaching a temperature barely above 40 ºC (104 ºF) at a single measurement spot.

The stress test with Prime95 and FurMark running constantly represents an extreme scenario to evaluate the system stability under full load. The CPU clock speed drops from 2. 9 GHz in the beginning to 700 MHz to 1.

1 GHz during the course of the test. The clock speed of the graphics core drops from 1,300 to 750 MHz. The stereo speakers produce a decent sound that hardly has any bass, though.

The power consumption of the laptop doesn’t show any conspicuous behavior, and the values are at a normal level for the hardware used here. During the stress test, the power consumption drops due to the lowered CPU and GPU clock speed. The 65-Watt charger provides sufficient power.

The MateBook D 14 achieves a runtime of 12:21h in our realistic WLAN test, which applies the loads when opening web sites via a script. This is a very good value. A very good battery life, sufficient computing performance, quiet operation, low heat development, and an elegant metal case: the Huawei MateBook D 14 is able to score in many areas.

The price point at about 600 Euros (~$652) provides an additional incentive that makes the laptop even more attractive. With the MateBook D 14 (2021), Huawei offers an elegant 14-inch laptop that doesn’t feel aged, despite having an Intel processor of the 11th generation and belonging to the 2021 model year. With a Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM (LPDDR4X-4266, dual-channel mode, onboard), and a PCIe 3 SSD (512 GB), the D 14 is well-equipped for office and Internet operation.

The amount of working memory should currently be sufficient for most users, but since the memory cannot be expanded, this amount is not future proof. The matte 14-inch display (FHD, IPS) can be described as one of the few weak points of the laptop. Even though it delivers a good contrast and decent color reproduction, the color space coverage is only low and so is the brightness.

In addition, we measure PWM flickering. An alternative at a similar price level would be the Acer Swift 3 SF314-43 . While that offers a higher multithread performance, the MateBook is ahead in the single-thread performance.

The SF314 scores with a lower noise development, and the D 14 with a longer battery life. As a higher-quality (and more expensive) alternative, you could also take a look at the HP Envy 14 . It offers a very bright display (covering the sRGB color space) in the work-friendly 16:10 format and also has a Thunderbolt 4 port.

The Huawei MateBook D 14 is available in various European and Asian countries. Due to trade restrictions in the US, it is only available from international vendors there. .