Huawei MatePad 11.5 Review: iPad Rival That’s Missing a Trick

Worth When Reviewed

Not obtainable within the US

Greatest Costs At present: Huawei 11.5in MatePad PaperMatte

The Huawei MatePad returns for 2025, aiming to be the go-to choice for college kids and professionals alike as September rolls round. It could possibly deal with note-taking, essay-writing, and late-night streaming with out breaking a sweat.

On paper, it’s pitched squarely in opposition to the entry-level Apple iPad and mid-range Android rivals such because the Xiaomi Pad 7. And in some ways, it holds its personal. The matt, paper-like show is a pleasure to make use of, the M-Pencil stylus glides naturally throughout the floor, and battery life is greater than sufficient for a full day’s work. Cameras are first rate for video calls, and the construct high quality feels reassuringly premium.

However as soon as once more, Huawei’s software program ecosystem stays the sticking level. The absence of Google companies and gaps in app availability create a barrier for anybody who isn’t keen to tinker with third-party workarounds, and in the end makes this pill a tricky promote for potential customers in Europe.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Design & Construct

• No headphone jack
• Two-part good keyboard
• No trackpad

Huawei has slimmed the MatePad down to simply 6.1mm, whereas including a contact of weight – now 515g versus final 12 months’s 499g. The additional heft implies that it feels extra premium in hand, and the matt end, obtainable in Violet or House Grey, resists fingerprints with out feeling low-cost. It additionally means the pill has decreased glare when used within the solar, whereas the clear strains maintain it trying sharp, whether or not on a desk or espresso desk.

Port choice is minimal however useful: USB-C for charging and knowledge (although the included USB-C to USB-A cable feels outdated), plus the standard energy and quantity controls. Sadly, there’s no headphone jack.

Biometrics are dealt with by quick face unlock solely – there’s no fingerprint scanner until you step as much as the MatePad Professional. It really works reliably in good mild however might be much less reliable in dim situations.

The included Sensible Keyboard case are available two elements: a magnetic kickstand cowl, and a removable keyboard (with no trackpad). It’s snug for lengthy typing classes, although the fastened viewing angle and occasional software program hiccups – such because the on-screen keyboard refusing to look when the bodily keyboard is disconnected – are irritating.

Stylus storage can also be much less elegant than on the Professional mannequin, with solely a magnetic clip that leaves the M-Pencil uncovered and simple to lose.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Display screen & Audio system

• Glorious decision and color stability
• 120Hz refresh price
• Spectacular audio

The 11.5-inch LCD panel has seen a refined however welcome bump in decision to 2456×1600, up from 2200×1440 final 12 months. Textual content appears crisp, photographs have finer element, and the adaptive refresh price nonetheless peaks at 120Hz, retaining scrolling clean.

The Huawei’s excessive decision and color stability is noticeably higher than different Android tablets. Watching a nature documentary, the MatePad captures the feel of an ibex’s fur with nuance, whereas different Chinese language producers generally err on unnaturally brightening the palette in an try to make their shows appear extra spectacular. The MatePad avoids this pitfall, controlling the whites for a extra life like image.

On the different finish of the spectrum, the MatePad captures the rain-soaked leather-based of the caped crusader’s costume in The Batman (2022) with an inky depth that’s troublesome for opponents to match. As he emerges within the metro to tackle a posse of clown-like criminals, it feels just like the MatePad is holding again till the final second earlier than revealing that the darkish knight has been standing within the shadows all alongside.

Audio, in the meantime, comes from a well-known quad-speaker setup, and continues to be impressively loud and clear, simply filling a small room with out distortion.

Specs & Efficiency

• Storage choices of both 128GB or 256GB
• 8GB RAM
• Responsive and succesful

Huawei has stored issues constant right here, with 8GB of RAM commonplace and storage choices at 128GB or 256GB. Though the corporate has but to verify the chipset, GSMArena has it with an octo-core Kirin 8020 on the within, matched with a Maleoon 920 2cu GPU.

The chipset stays succesful for on a regular basis duties, from looking and HD streaming to extra demanding multitasking. Huawei has achieved a good job retaining this pill responsive, supreme for higher-intensity workloads.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Huawei MatePad benchmarks

Cameras

Cameras on a pill are by no means a precedence, however Huawei’s rear 13MP f/1.8 digicam gives a stable efficiency. The inexperienced graffiti on a London wall pops with out being oversaturated, and its dealing with of shadows throughout a headstone exhibits a good eye for the distinction in shades.

Small particulars, such because the strands in a spider’s internet, are misplaced slightly, however that’s to be anticipated. Equally, when pointed at shiny lights hitting the facet of a church window, the MatePad is unable to correctly cope with the overbearing whites and loses any differentiation within the colors.

The MatePad’s digicam is able to a 5x zoom at most, however this must be prevented as photographs are far too blurry to be used.

In the meantime, the 8MP front-facing digicam is clear and clear. Though it has lots of the identical points because the rear digicam, customers could have no subject when utilizing it for video calls.

Battery Life & Charging

Battery life is the actual leap ahead, with the 2025 MatePad leaping to a hefty 10,100mAh from final 12 months’s 7,700mAh. The pill will handle a day’s use with ease and, with a appropriate 40W plug and cable, you possibly can reap the benefits of its fast-charging capabilities.

However that may price you further, as Huawei solely gives a lower-end cable and energy brick. Which means that, utilizing it with a 12W Philips journey plug, it solely reaches 6% in quarter-hour and 13% after half-hour.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Software program & Apps

HarmonyOS, Huawei’s personal working system, stays the MatePad’s Achilles’ heel. With out Google companies, you lose instantaneous entry to necessities like Gmail, Maps, Drive, and YouTube, and well-liked apps akin to Netflix and Instagram aren’t natively obtainable in Huawei’s AppGallery.

Workarounds can be found, nonetheless. By downloading particular Android information from the MicroG Challenge, a free and open-source implementation of proprietary Google libraries, together with Android file libraries akin to APKPure, customers are in a position to get copies of practically each main Android app lacking by default on the MatePad. This however stays an inconvenient hurdle, and one which’s not really helpful much less tech-savvy customers or youngsters.

Furthermore, Huawei has achieved little to make its personal AppGallery a compelling expertise. Regardless of years as Huawei units’ important supply of apps, and a would-be listing for Android information on the open internet (WhatsApp, for instance, might be downloaded straight from Meta’s web site), the search operate is unforgivably lacklustre. Even China-based video games akin to Genshin Influence and AFK Journey, or Western video games which have launched in China akin to Hearthstone, stay unavailable within the AppGallery’s search outcomes. Regardless of the premium construct of the pill, its software program reminds customers that, if they’re outdoors China, they’re left with a second-rate expertise.

HarmonyOS itself, to its credit score, runs comparatively effectively. It’s primarily based on Android 12, however Huawei has layered further options excessive that give it character. Dragging from the top-right nook with the M-Pencil, for instance, brings up a menu to straight annotate what’s on display – it’s particularly helpful for signing paperwork or writing notes on photographs.

Huawei additionally has its personal app known as GoPaint, which performs the identical portray and illustration feats as Apple’s Procreate iPad app. The app has 150 brushes and textures which might be customisable, can observe how laborious a person presses with the M-Pencil, and may edit the form of the brushes, all of which make it a surprisingly good choice for digital artists on Android tablets.

There’s additionally its personal Notes app, with numerous paper layouts inbuilt, AI instruments to make any scribbled notes extra legible, and a recording mode that lets customers replay recorded audio in sync with the notes – a boon for college kids in lectures.

In different regards, Huawei affords aggressive help for many who even have its laptops and telephones. It could possibly robotically recognise close by units for pairing and file sharing, and its multitasking options work effectively. 

Worth & Availability

Huawei’s MatePad 11.5 is on the market from Huawei and Amazon, priced at £349 with out the keyboard and £399 with one. The M-Pencil will have to be purchased individually. It’s well-priced if you may get across the lack of Google apps. To see the way it stacks up in opposition to our prime suggestions, take a look at our round-up of the very best tablets we’ve examined.

Must you purchase the Huawei MatePad 11.5?

The MatePad 11.5’s craftsmanship, show, and battery stamina make it a formidable piece of {hardware}. Its tactile display end and accompanying stylus is almost sufficient to make this a daily-use system.

But for all its bodily strengths, the software program stays an immovable roadblock. The absence of Google integration, coupled with inconsistent app availability, forces customers right into a patchwork of sideloading and third-party fixes that few outdoors the fanatic crowd will tolerate. HarmonyOS itself runs easily, and Huawei’s personal instruments have flashes of brilliance, however they’ll’t totally masks the ecosystem’s blind spots.

That leaves the MatePad in an ungainly center floor. It’s a wonderfully engineered pill that will likely be a sensible choice for these keen to work round its limitations, however for the common purchaser in Western markets, the compromises are laborious to disregard. Till Huawei both bridges the software program hole or makes its personal platform much more compelling, this can stay a tool for the decided somewhat than the mainstream.

Specs

• HarmonyOS 4.3
• 11.5-inch, 1600 x 2456, 120Hz TFT LCD show, 600 nits peak brightness
• Kirin 8020 processor
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB or 256GB inside storage
• 13MP rear digicam, f/1.8, AF
• 8MP entrance digicam, f/2.0, 105° ultrawide
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.2
• USB-C (USB 2.0, OTG, magnetic accent connector)
• 10100mAh battery
• 40W wired charging, 5W reverse wired
• 262.6 × 177.5 × 6.1mm
• 515g
• Launch colors: Violet, House Grey