Are you a workaholic or more of an entertainment junkie? The MatePad Pro 11 wants to appeal to both camps. Huawei’s latest has the multitasking chops and productive peripherals to get serious work done, plus a premium display and six-speaker pack for when it’s time to play.
This lean and svelte 11-inch is also as good on the eye as any top-tier Tab, and doesn’t come with the Apple tax that applies to every iPad. But not everything is simple. Huawei’s access to next-generation silicon is still restricted by the US government and the Google Play Store remains banned.
The company, however, has stepped up its own software efforts to compensate. And quality hardware goes a long way. Is the total package as compelling as any other high-end Android tablet?
Design and construction: size zero slate
At just 449g, the MatePad Pro 11 is one of the lightest tablets you’ll find with a screen of its stature. Reading ebooks in portrait mode shouldn’t give your wrists much to complain about, although the 16:10 aspect ratio does require both hands for landscape content. The magnesium alloy frame reduces weight, with perfectly rounded edges that won’t dig into your palms.
It’s reassuringly sturdy, despite being just 5.9mm at its thinnest point. The only exception is the rear camera bump, which borrows its circular style from the Huawei P50 Pro smartphone – and protrudes only a little further. It’s more to give the optional magnetic keyboard cover something to grab onto.
A splash of red on the power button and a gold border around the rear camera lens and Huawei logo are the only color accents, although the frosted effect on the rear panel looks suitably premium. It shines in the light like metal, but it’s soft to the touch and does a great job of hiding fingerprints.
Speaking of which, there’s no fingerprint sensor here – just a front-facing webcam that can be configured for facial recognition if you’re not a fan of entering passwords. It’s conveniently placed in the top-right corner, so it’ll have a decent view of your face in both portrait and landscape, and is quick enough to recognize you even in low-light conditions.
There are few remarks on the sides aside from the four speaker grilles (two top, two bottom) and the SIM tray. 4G networks only need apply – 5G remains prohibited for Huawei hardware. There’s no 3.5mm headphone port for private listening and no expandable storage.
Screen & sound: all the pretty pixels
An impressive 92% screen-to-body ratio means almost the entire front of the MatePad Pro 11 is a display. The punch-hole selfie camera is also well hidden in the corner, so it doesn’t distract from the pleasantly punchy OLED panel.
With a resolution of 2560×1600 and a high refresh rate, it ticks most of the boxes for a high-end tablet. Text and icons are very crisp and images are very detailed. There’s the dynamic refresh option to save some battery, but we found that didn’t always work for some apps, so stuck with forced 120Hz for still creamy motion.
The peak brightness of 600 nits provides excellent visibility when entering direct sunlight, although Huawei does not claim HDR support. Viewing angles are excellent and color accuracy is on point too. A natural tone mode, which adjusts color temperature on the fly based on ambient lighting, can usually be used for convincing hues – or there’s a full color wheel for manual adjustment.
It’s got all the right software handshakes needed to take Netflix and the like to Full HD, which will be music to the ears of anyone looking to catch up with the latest streaming services – as will the built-in speakers. There are six of them, split between four woofers and two tweeters, and they’re all very loud. Voice-driven music is consistently clear, there’s plenty of treble detail and a decent amount of bass for such a skinny machine. Apple still has superior sound overall, but that’s a short-term thing.
Software & accessories: put to use
Productivity is a big part of HarmonyOS 3, Huawei’s bespoke version of Android, though it feels less polished than iPadOS or Samsung’s recently updated OneUI. Take the iPad-like app dock, with space for favorite and recently opened apps: it only appears on the home screen, being inaccessible in an app. An entirely separate vertical menu is used to launch a second application side by side. There’s no way to save specific app pairs there for easy access either.
It will, however, run two other apps in floating windows, with drag-and-drop support allowing for serious multitasking. Equally seamless is Huawei’s Super Device cross-collaboration, for sharing between laptops and own-brand phones.
Elsewhere the interface will look familiar to Huawei fans, with simple icons and a full range of local apps. Beyond the basics (music and video players, image gallery, email client, web browser, calendar), there’s also a full health app, ebook reader, and maps.
There’s a reason for that, of course. We can’t ignore the missing Google Play Store, although Huawei’s App Gallery is a decent alternative. If it doesn’t have exactly what you’re looking for, it will direct you to trustworthy APK hosting sites instead. It’s a bit complicated, and even then, some apps that rely on Google’s core software will refuse to work. Huawei’s alternatives aren’t always a winner either. The on-screen keyboard didn’t want to stay hidden while using the official Bluetooth keyboard and insisted on overwriting our words with suggestions.
Overcome the vagaries of software, and the detachable magnetic keyboard is great for getting the job done. Each key has a generous 1.5mm of travel and is satisfactorily springy. The two-piece design lets you prop up the tablet and move the keyboard around (handy for tight spaces, like an airplane seat), with the back half serving as a kickstand. The tablet also charges the keyboard when combined.
Our device also plays with the optional 2nd generation M Pencil stylus, which magnetically hugs the tablet for recharging. It’s super responsive, no heavier than a regular pencil, and feels quite natural when scribbling on glass. Just keep in mind that adding the tablet and tablet will likely increase the price of the tablet by £200.
Performance and autonomy: one night is good
The MatePad 11 Pro is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of built-in storage, which puts it at the top of Android tablets. There’s enough grunt here to deliver consistently fast performance, even when running two apps side-by-side. Everything remained responsive, with no noticeable stuttering or thumbing while waiting for things to load.
It’s no slouch on the gaming front either. QHD resolution demands a lot of silicon, but you can still turn the settings on most titles and get playable frame rates. Particularly demanding titles won’t hit the maximum refresh rate, and the whole thing is bound to slow down a bit once temperatures start to climb, but you won’t notice any sudden peaks or dips – Genshin Impact stays fluid even during the busiest sequences.
Gaming sessions are the biggest determining factor in how long the MatePad Pro 11 lasts away from the mains. With consistent play, you might be watching less than eight hours before it’s time to recharge, but stick to simpler tasks and it’ll last much longer. We saw 11 hours with a mix of document editing, web browsing and music streaming, which closely matches the current 11-inch iPad Pro, and more than enough for a full day’s work followed by an hour or two of Netflix or Prime Video.
It will support fast charging up to 66W, which is a nice step up from Apple’s best efforts. A full refueling takes less than two hours.
Cameras: does the job
The MatePad Pro 11 can’t help but look like a wally for using a tablet to take photos, but at least the hardware looks decent. You get a 13MP, f/1.8 main camera with phase detection autofocus, paired with an 8MP, f/2.2 ultrawide on the back, as well as a 16MP sensor on the front for video calling. The rear cameras can handle 4K video recording at 30fps, while the front camera is limited to 1080p.
Give it good light and images come out pretty sharp, with a reasonable amount of detail and natural colors. Some shots could maybe use a little more sharpening, and there is some noise once you start zooming in on darker areas, but not enough to distract from the rest of the shot.
Ultrawide is a step up in detail, but colors are consistent with the main camera, and dynamic range is mostly on par too. Things drop off quickly in low light, however, and the fixed focal length is no help for close-ups. Performance is a “it’ll do in a pinch” step overall, but not so much that you shouldn’t reach for your smartphone in most situations yet.
Huawei MatePad Pro 11 Verdict
The MatePad Pro 11 has it all hardware-wise: a beautiful display, stellar sound and reliable battery life. It also takes a decent photo – not always a given when it comes to even the most expensive tablets.
There are, however, some quirks on the software side. As friendly as HarmonyOS 3 is for multitasking, rival tabs have raised the bar, and there are still additional hurdles to jump due to the lack of Google services. We’re not a total dealbreaker either, but shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone not at least familiar with APKs.
It’s a lot more user-friendly than an iPad Pro, though, and also undercuts the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8. That alone might be worth it to anyone after a do-it-all slate.
Technical specifications of the Huawei MatePad Pro 11
Filter | 11-inch, 2560×1600 OLED with 120Hz refresh rate |
CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 4G |
Memory | 8 GB RAM |
Cameras | 13MP, f/1.8 main + 8MP, f/2.2 rear ultrawide 16MP, f/2.2 front |
Storage | 128/256 GB |
Operating system | Harmony OS 3 |
Battery | 8300mAh |
Dimensions | 160x249x5.9mm, 449g |