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With everything going digital nowadays, it’s no surprise that even the educational space is going electronic—yes, I’m talking about tablets, the in-betweener of smartphones and laptops that serve as the perfect digital notebook for students and professionals alike.
Even so, not all tablets are made equal. It’s no easy feat to recreate a lifelike pen-on-paper experience on glossy screens and plastic styluses. There’s not only the latency to consider; the feel, the friction, and, perhaps less prominent but nonetheless important, the sound. In comes HUAWEI’s latest tablet: the HUAWEI MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition, designed specifically for the ultimate paperlike experience.
Build & Design
The HUAWEI MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition has a sleek design that feels quite premium in hand, especially with the matte back finish. The edges are sharp, giving the tablet an overall blocky look, and the machine itself is pretty lightweight.
The tablet came with the M Pencil 2 and the HUAWEI smart magnetic keyboard, so there’s no need to shell out for necessary accessories that allow you to make the most out of your tablet. The keyboard is a pretty nifty case on its own, with a slot on the side where the M Pencil 2 sticks to the tablet magnetically both for charging and safekeeping. I must say that I really liked this design, as the slot makes it less likely for the pen to fall off the tablet.
One thing to note, though, is that the keyboard adds some significant weight to the tablet. Where it was once a sleek and lightweight tablet on its own, the keyboard makes the MatePad 11 a little more bulky and much heavier than I’d have preferred.
Display
The display is undoubtedly one of the standout features of the MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition. The 11” LCD screen supports up to 120Hz and 2K resolution, and most importantly, it comes with a matte screen, dubbed “PaperMatte” as in its name. Yes, it has a matte screen right out of the box, without having to add any additional screen protectors.
The matte screen is the star of the show: it’s what allows you to have a paperlike experience when reading, writing, or drawing on the tablet. Coupled with the M Pencil 2, there's really barely any noticeable latency when writing and drawing on the tablet—just like writing on paper!
And it’s just not any matte screen; the MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition is also the first tablet in the world to have an SGS low visual fatigue gold standard and the first to get a Whine non-reflective certification. It’s easier on the eyes if you’re going to be staring at it for hours on end.
However, due to the matte screen, the colours on the tablet aren’t as vibrant as I would like them to be. It’s fine and easy on the eyes when reading and writing, but not so much when you’re trying to watch movies. Considering that this tablet is aimed toward work more than entertainment, it’s probably for the best.
Performance & Battery
Aimed toward students and young professionals, it is of utmost importance that the MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition is able to handle multitasking well—and I’m happy to report that it does. Split screens, pop-up windows, and HUAWEI’s SuperHub feature make for a lovely cross-app multitasking experience as I was able to easily switch between apps without any fumbling.
Besides that, the MatePad 11 PaperMatte also supports PC-level WPS office capabilities. What that means, basically, is that you can use the MatePad 11 as a compact little workstation in lieu of your laptop to a certain extent, especially for word processing, PowerPoint presentations, and spreadsheets. In fact, the PC-level WPS Office is only on the HUAWEI MatePad 11 PaperMatte Edition, which provides a full range of functions you’d typically miss out on regular mobile versions.
Running all of this is the HUAWEI’s HarmonyOS. If you’re familiar with the world of operating systems, you’ll know that HarmonyOS, while running as an Android operating system, does not support Google Mobile Services. There’s no Google Play Store, but what you have is the AppGallery—which is really not my favourite all things considered, but it does the job.
Of course, all is not lost. You can still get GMS onto the HUAWEI tablet via third-party apps. I was able to get Gmail, Chrome, Google Drive, and all my other Google apps through Lighthouse. It’s not exactly the most straightforward way, and there are a lot of apps that I wish were available in AppGallery.
One of the critical aspects of any portable device is its battery life, and the MatePad 11 doesn't disappoint. With a 7700mAh battery, it was able to last through a day of moderate to heavy usage.
