Review of the Huawei MateBook D 15: The Ideal Student's Laptop
When it comes to choosing a laptop, we are definitely spoiled for choice There are budget laptops starting as low RM 1,000 to serious powerhouses that can cost up to the price of a new full spec Proton Saga! We are definitely spoiled for choice. However to the average student, all this can be very confusing and overwhelming, so how much is a healthy budget for a laptop? Which brand should I choose? CPU? GPU? Ram? What's all this? Thankfully, we're here to help, so sit back, grab a coffee, and enjoy the read.
As a student, there are plenty of factors that must be considered, including speed, price, portability, size, weight, reliability, durability and battery life. You need a laptop that is quick so you can be ready to take lecture notes, capable in multitasking, and ready to pounce on that assignment you were just given; a laptop that is portable and lightweight, as you would be carrying it on the daily to wherever you may need to go; a durable laptop, that can survive unforeseen accidents such as drops, shocks, and basically whatever life throws at you; a long battery, so you can use your laptop anywhere, and anytime, without the need to look for a wall outlet or the fear of forgetting your power adapter. Oh, and you'd need all this for a price that won't break the bank.
Its definitely hard to find a laptop that'll fill in all the boxes, however, I did find one, that meets all of the above. Its fast, lightweight, slick, durable, has a long, battery life, and did I mention? It doesn't break the bank and you sure get a lot of bang for your buck. Introducing the Huawei Matebook D 15.
The Huawei Matebook D 15 is definitely an eye catcher - on the specs sheet, price tag, and in overall design. Starting with specs in Malaysia the Matebook D 15 runs on an AMD Ryzen 5 3500u processor, an AMD Vega 8 graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD Storage. It comes in 2 variants, identical in specs, however one adds a 1TB HDD with drop protection (We'll come back to this later). The Matebook D 15 is available in a single color option (Mystic Silver) and features an all aluminium body with ridiculously slim screen bezels. Prices for the 256GB SSD variant and 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD variant are RM 2,299 and RM 2,499 respectively.
Out of the box I was really impressed at the premium build quality, and sleek design, especially considering its price. The solid aluminium body feels solid and sturdy, there's also no keyboard flex at all. Its hard to ignore, but I can definitely see some inspiration in terms of design and build quality from its fruit branded rival. Heck, even the materials feel almost identical, yet it costs less than half the price. Lifting up the lid, I was pleasantly surprised that the fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button, so as soon as you press it to turn on, it will also log you in without you needing to place your finger anywhere else. The screen is lovely, it has a semi-matte finish to it, eliminating reflections, yet keeping clarity. The 15.6 inch IPS display is bright and vibrant, with accurate color reproduction, and ridiculously slim bezels. The slim bezels provide a very immersive experience whist reducing the size of the overall laptop footprint resulting in a more portable package. Weighing just 1.62 kg, it certainly won't kill your back while residing in your backpack.
In terms of hardware, the 8GB RAM is not upgrade-able as it is soldiered onto the motherboard, but it is more than sufficient to breeze through your assignments, social media, and moderate gaming. Earlier I mentioned that that it comes with a 256GB SSD and an optional 1TB HDD with drop protection. The SSD allows the laptop to boot really quickly and the 1TB HDD serves more like a built-in hard disc drive to hold your files, so you don't slow the speed of the laptop with tonnes of files. The special thing about this HDD is it comes with drop protection, which means that when the laptop detects sudden acceleration, the system will tell the HDD to unload its heads to prevent the infliction of damage such as scratches, head crash, and etc. Port-wise the Matebook D 15 comes with 2 USB-2.0 ports, 1 USB-3.0 port, a USB-C port for fast charging, a HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The selection of ports is not great, but it's livable with. The USB-C charging port is brilliant, as most of our smartphones are using USB-C, you don't need to worry about carrying an extra charger. Additionally, this means you can charge the Matebook D 15 with a power bank - very handy and convenient. Battery life averaged between 6-7 hours during the time I spent with the computer
Some cool features of the laptop include a popup webcam, which is a real treat for those of us who put a small piece of tape over our webcams. The popup webcam is recessed between the F6 and F7 keys, when you need it simply press on the button and up pops the camera, and when not in use you don't to worry about the infringement of your privacy. Another feature is called "Huawei Share", which means if you have a compatible Huawei or Honor smartphone, you can screen mirror and send and receive files simply by tapping your phone on the right palm-rest next to the track pad. No need for fumbling with cables anymore. Welcome to the future!
So is this laptop for you? Well, if you want something to cover your daily needs as a student, looks stylish and chic, and don't want to break the bank, then the obvious answer is yes. However, it you do heavy games or heavy video editing and rendering, then maybe not. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
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| The Huawei MateBook D 15 |
As a student, there are plenty of factors that must be considered, including speed, price, portability, size, weight, reliability, durability and battery life. You need a laptop that is quick so you can be ready to take lecture notes, capable in multitasking, and ready to pounce on that assignment you were just given; a laptop that is portable and lightweight, as you would be carrying it on the daily to wherever you may need to go; a durable laptop, that can survive unforeseen accidents such as drops, shocks, and basically whatever life throws at you; a long battery, so you can use your laptop anywhere, and anytime, without the need to look for a wall outlet or the fear of forgetting your power adapter. Oh, and you'd need all this for a price that won't break the bank.
Its definitely hard to find a laptop that'll fill in all the boxes, however, I did find one, that meets all of the above. Its fast, lightweight, slick, durable, has a long, battery life, and did I mention? It doesn't break the bank and you sure get a lot of bang for your buck. Introducing the Huawei Matebook D 15.
 |
| The Cleverly Placed "Pop-Up" Webcam |
The Huawei Matebook D 15 is definitely an eye catcher - on the specs sheet, price tag, and in overall design. Starting with specs in Malaysia the Matebook D 15 runs on an AMD Ryzen 5 3500u processor, an AMD Vega 8 graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD Storage. It comes in 2 variants, identical in specs, however one adds a 1TB HDD with drop protection (We'll come back to this later). The Matebook D 15 is available in a single color option (Mystic Silver) and features an all aluminium body with ridiculously slim screen bezels. Prices for the 256GB SSD variant and 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD variant are RM 2,299 and RM 2,499 respectively.
Out of the box I was really impressed at the premium build quality, and sleek design, especially considering its price. The solid aluminium body feels solid and sturdy, there's also no keyboard flex at all. Its hard to ignore, but I can definitely see some inspiration in terms of design and build quality from its fruit branded rival. Heck, even the materials feel almost identical, yet it costs less than half the price. Lifting up the lid, I was pleasantly surprised that the fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button, so as soon as you press it to turn on, it will also log you in without you needing to place your finger anywhere else. The screen is lovely, it has a semi-matte finish to it, eliminating reflections, yet keeping clarity. The 15.6 inch IPS display is bright and vibrant, with accurate color reproduction, and ridiculously slim bezels. The slim bezels provide a very immersive experience whist reducing the size of the overall laptop footprint resulting in a more portable package. Weighing just 1.62 kg, it certainly won't kill your back while residing in your backpack.
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| The Simple Yet Elegant Lid of The MateBook D15 |
In terms of hardware, the 8GB RAM is not upgrade-able as it is soldiered onto the motherboard, but it is more than sufficient to breeze through your assignments, social media, and moderate gaming. Earlier I mentioned that that it comes with a 256GB SSD and an optional 1TB HDD with drop protection. The SSD allows the laptop to boot really quickly and the 1TB HDD serves more like a built-in hard disc drive to hold your files, so you don't slow the speed of the laptop with tonnes of files. The special thing about this HDD is it comes with drop protection, which means that when the laptop detects sudden acceleration, the system will tell the HDD to unload its heads to prevent the infliction of damage such as scratches, head crash, and etc. Port-wise the Matebook D 15 comes with 2 USB-2.0 ports, 1 USB-3.0 port, a USB-C port for fast charging, a HDMI port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The selection of ports is not great, but it's livable with. The USB-C charging port is brilliant, as most of our smartphones are using USB-C, you don't need to worry about carrying an extra charger. Additionally, this means you can charge the Matebook D 15 with a power bank - very handy and convenient. Battery life averaged between 6-7 hours during the time I spent with the computer
Some cool features of the laptop include a popup webcam, which is a real treat for those of us who put a small piece of tape over our webcams. The popup webcam is recessed between the F6 and F7 keys, when you need it simply press on the button and up pops the camera, and when not in use you don't to worry about the infringement of your privacy. Another feature is called "Huawei Share", which means if you have a compatible Huawei or Honor smartphone, you can screen mirror and send and receive files simply by tapping your phone on the right palm-rest next to the track pad. No need for fumbling with cables anymore. Welcome to the future!
So is this laptop for you? Well, if you want something to cover your daily needs as a student, looks stylish and chic, and don't want to break the bank, then the obvious answer is yes. However, it you do heavy games or heavy video editing and rendering, then maybe not. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
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