Huawei is starting in the 16-inch segment with the refreshed MateBook 16s, which distinguishes itself above all with the display in 3:2 format and shows its advantages in everyday use. The Intel Core i9-12900H provides a lot of performance. The notebook is still lacking in some areas for a well-rounded overall package in all areas.
Table of contents
1 Quick 16 -inch notebook of format
Specifications of the MateBook 16s (2022)
Even compact 16 inches are big
High-quality workmanship
Many, but not all connections
Very large touchpad
Keyboard forgets lighting
Webcam in a usable position
Screen in a practical 3:2 format
Panel, resolution and brightness remain the same
2 Performance, benchmarks and battery runtimes
Core i7-12700H and Core i9-12900H to choose from
Profiles with a maximum of 96.6 or 116.3 watts
Core i9 -12900H in the benchmark
Comparison of performance profiles
Unknown SSD still uses PCIe 3.0
84 Wh battery does not exhaust the maximum
Average office battery runtimes
Power adapter with 130 watts via USB-C
3 Conclusion
Huawei has been offering two new 16-inch notebooks since the end of June: the MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16. The premium device among the models mentioned is the MateBook 16s, which sets itself apart from the MateBook D16 with faster Alder Lake processors from Intel, larger SSDs, a screen in 3:2 format and a larger battery.
< p class="p text-width">In the test, the editors took a close look at the top model with a Core i9-12900H, 16 GB LPDDR5 and 1 TB SSD at a price of 1,899 euros. The table below provides more details on the configurations and a comparison with the cheaper MateBook D16.
Specifications of the MateBook 16s (2022)
Even compact 16 inches are big
The MateBook 16s is quite a colossus of a notebook, although Huawei tries to hide the dimensions with all sorts of tricks, such as narrow bezels. A 16-inch notebook remains exactly that, even if a lot of aluminum ensures that the weight remains below the critical 2 kg mark. But 351 × 254.9 × 17.8 mm (W × D × H) are not exactly easy to stow in a backpack and take up significantly more space on the desk than an ultrabook. The MateBook 16s is not a MateBook X Pro (test), which has not yet received an update for 2022, at least in Germany. The MateBook 16s is more like Apple's MacBook Pro 16″ is: high-quality and elegant, but by no means particularly small or light.
Fingerprint sensor in the power button 14 × 9 cm (W × H) large touchpad Touchpad in size comparison with a 10-euro note
Webcam in a usable position
One thing users will no longer find on the keyboard: the webcam. Huawei had previously hidden them in the row of function keys. The hide-and-seek game was particularly advantageous for data protection reasons, because the camera could be stowed in the housing and protected against potential unauthorized access. However, viewing angles and general quality were weaknesses in this implementation. The camera has recently been placed above the screen and offers a higher resolution of 1080p (2.1 MP). The image quality is better, especially compared to the XPS 13 Plus.
MateBook 16s webcam with 2.1 MP resolution
Screen in practical 3:2 format< /h2>
The screen is one of the most interesting on the market due to its aspect ratio. Huawei is one of the very few manufacturers to offer a screen in the 3:2 format that offers even more vertical space than the 16:10 that has recently been used by many manufacturers. Microsoft is best known for this format with its Surface devices, but Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo also use it occasionally. Apple, on the other hand, does not quite achieve a real 3:2, the current MacBook Pro 14" (test) and 16" as well as the new MacBook Air, but just below this format (~ 3:1.95).
Touch as a dispensable innovation
< p class="p text-width">The biggest change for the MateBook 16s is touch input support, which the MateBook 16 didn't have yet. Whether this feature is absolutely necessary in everyday life depends heavily on the personal operation of Windows 11 and whether you have previously used touch intensively on a notebook. In personal everyday life, touch was not a mandatory requirement for the device.
Panel, resolution and brightness remain the same
Other than that, Huawei hasn't made any progress, so the 2,520 × 1,680 pixel IPS panel has the same characteristics as its predecessor. At 16 inches, the resolution ensures a pixel density of a mediocre 138 ppi – no comparison to the extremely sharp 329 ppi of the XPS 13 Plus. Huawei thus achieves approximately the same pixel density in 3:2 format that Full HD would deliver in 16:9 or 16:10 format on 15 or 16 inches. The default Windows scaling of 150 percent ensures a good compromise between sharpness and enough space to work.
The 16-inch display in 3:2 format
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Screen with touch support reaches almost 350 cd/m² The IPS panel has 2520 × 1680 pixels (138 ppi)
The panel itself is a good IPS example that almost completely covers the sRGB color space, scores with solid viewing angle stability and the test device shows neither strong backlight bleeding nor large deviations in brightness or other falsifications. However, the brightness of 300 cd/m² advertised by the manufacturer is only average and a point where improvements were expected. The test device comes to an average of 348 cd/m² from nine measuring areas and achieves a static contrast of 1,530:1, which is derived from the average black value of 0.227 cd/m².
Charts
Maximum brightness
Minimum brightness
Contrast
Homogeneity
8 Entries Maximum Brightness
Samsung Galaxy Book S (Core i5-L16G7, outdoor mode)612
The maximum Brightness is therefore the primary point of criticism of the display, since a higher brightness is always required in connection with a reflective touch screen, as in the MateBook 16s, in order to compensate for bright ambient light. The screen still performs well, especially due to the 3:2 format, which is practical for everyday use.
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