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Huawei introduced its new mid-range tablet in two variants. The name of the device is the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch, and I’m here to review it. Now, this tablet comes in a regular version, the name just mentioned, and a special ‘PaperMatte Edition‘ model. The two tablets are almost identical, which is why I’m reviewing them at the same time. The main difference is in the display category, as the PaperMatte edition has a new anti-reflective coating, which actually does wonders, but we’ll talk about that later. The only other difference is in the RAM section, the PaperMatte Edition comes with 8GB of RAM compared to the regular model. That’s basically it. That’s why we’ll check out both at the same time, as I’ve been using them for a while now, certainly enough to form an opinion. Let’s get down to it, shall we?
Table of contents
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Hardware / Design
The two tablets look exactly the same, aside from the screen reflection, of course. They have the exact same look, and even dimensions and weight. The Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch series is made out of metal, it features a metal unibody design. The sides are ever so slightly rounded, and the in-hand feel is great. I simply love the feel of cold metal in the hand, and actually miss metal unibody designs, so I’m right at home here. Both tablets feel very premium in the hand as well, and have rather thin bezels on the front. Well, thin for tablets, of course, they’d look thick on smartphones. Either way, there’s just enough bezel there that you can grip the device properly.
These tablets feel premium (build-wise) through-and-through
When you hold the device in landscape mode, there is a selfie camera located at the top. It’s etched into the bezel, so it won’t bother you within the display itself. When you hold either device in portrait mode, the power/lock button is at the top, while the volume up and down buttons sit high on the right side of the tablet. Type-C port is also a part of the package, as are four speakers. Another thing you’ll notice are metal connectors on the bottom, for accessories. On the back of the device, you’ll notice the company’s logo, and a single camera. That camera sits on a small camera island, and there’s no LED flash here.
They’re not too heavy, but they are slippery, though
Overall, Huawei did a great job designing the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch series. Both tablets feel outstanding in the hand, like very premium products, even though they’re technically just mid-range tablets. They sit well in the hand, as the sides are not too sharp. Both tablets have enough heft to them to feel good, and yet not too much to be too heavy. I never felt like they were too heavy during my usage or anything of the sort. All in all, I don’t have a single complaint when it comes to the design here, not at all. They are both slippery, but you can’t really avoid that when it comes to all-metal build.
Accessories
Huawei did send me an accessory for these two tablets, the Huawei Smart Keyboard. That accessory actually comes bundled in with only the PaperMatte Edition, though, along with thet second-gen M-Pencil stylus. From time to time, Huawei refreshes/improves the design of its smart keyboard. That serves as both a case, and a keyboard attachment for their tablets. It also serves as a stand, by the way, as it’s detachable. One part of it is a case, in which you place the tablet in. The other part is the keyboard, and they magnetically attach one to the other. You can easily fold one over the other for safekeeping.
Well, this is a new version of that accessory. The latest Huawei Smart Keyboard is also the best one yet. The material feels like something between rubber and leather, and it’s quite grippy. The tablet is well-protected on the inside, and the keyboard is not half bad. The key travel is sufficient, even for me, a person who spends almost his entire work day at a desk, typing. The magnets that connect the case and the keyboard are also very strong, which is always good to see. It works great with both tablets, and even the pairing process is extremely simple. A pop-up appears, and that’s it.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Display
These displays are two aspect where the two tablets differentiate the most, and yet, the specs are basically the same. You’re getting an 11.5-inch 2200 x 1440 TFS LCD (IPS) display here. That is an LTPS display with a refresh rate that jumps between 60 and 120Hz. We’re looking at a 229 PPI here, and the display is flat. That’s the same on both tablets. The PaperMatte Edition’s panel does look considerably different, though, as you’ll immediately notice the reduced glare. You’ll notice that immediately, even when the display is off. On the regular model, you can see yourself in the reflection, on the PaperMatte Edition, not so much. In fact, you cannot see yourself at all. Think of it as a matte glass on the back of a phone you own, or someone you know owns. Fingerprints are less visible on this display, but they’re also a bit more difficult to wipe off when you see them.
Below this paragraph, on the other hand, you can see the difference in reflection in daylight (with the sun shining, but not directly on the tablets). Instead of reflection on the PaperMatte display, you do get glare, white glare. It does look different, but it is glare nonetheless. Do note that you will see that only if you’re not looking at the display straight on, so it will be a non-issue for most of all.
The PaperMatte Edition adds much needed friction for the stylus
Another important aspect of the display is the friction it adds. To the touch, it’s as smooth as silk, even when your hands are not completely dry. It’s much smoother to run your finger over than a regular display on the MatePad 11.5-inch. The real magic happens when you use a stylus, though. If you utilize the M-Pencil that Huawei sells separately, you’ll be able to use it with both of these tablets. The thing is, the friction will be a lot more pronounced on the PaperMatte edition, and thus it will feel a lot more like you’re writing/drawing on an actual paper. You will feel the difference, that’s for sure. I can’t draw to save my life, but I did notice a major difference.
Huawei used “nano-level anti-glare etching technology” for the PaperMatte Edition model
Huawei used a “nano-level anti-glare etching technology” in order to make this happen. The company also adds that it “eliminates 97% of all light interference”. Does it? Well, I can’t confirm that percentage, of course, but it is a massive difference. What many of you are probably wondering, however, is whether the image is worse on the PaperMatte Edition of the tablet as a result. Does this special etching tech affect the quality of the represented image. I’ll tell you one thing, it affects the brightness effect that you get with a regular display, that’s for sure. That is the trade-off. Don’t get me wrong, the display still looks very good, but it does seem a bit dimmer in comparison. Well, perhaps the right word is “duller”.
Another thing that you’ll notice is different on this display is, well, it has the same effect as matte screen protectors, in a way. I don’t know if you’ve used one of those, but if you have, you’ll know exactly what to expect here. If you look at the display close-up, you’ll see some graininess, kind of. That’s not the right word, but it will look like the display has extremely tiny droplets that light reflects off of. It’s kind of difficult to explain, but it’s visible if you look for it. I did include some images below, in which I try to depict it, but you can’t really see it properly in photos. You need to look for it in real life. This is not a big problem at all, quite frankly most of you probably won’t even notice it, but it’s worth mentioning it.
Each of them have trade-offs, you have to decide what matters to you
So, what I realized, after using both of these tablets for a while is… each of them has tradeoffs. Or, better yet, each of the two displays has its tradeoffs. The regular display has the reflection problem, as any other (normal) display on the market. Many of you are familiar with it. The PaperMatte one does not have that issue, but it does have some other tradeoffs we talked about. You basically have to decide what works best for you.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Performance
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC from Qualcomm fuels both of these tablets. That’s not the latest or greatest chip the company announced, quite the contrary. It arrived back in May last year, and it was a mid-range offering back then. That chip is really good, though, and in combination with Huawei’s HarmonyOS software, it functions great here. The two tablets offer basically identical performance, despite the fact one of them has less RAM. Even with only 6GB of RAM, the MatePad 11.5 works great, to say the least (8GB RAM model is also available, for the regular tablet). The experience has been nothing but smooth, and that’s a pattern when it comes to Huawei smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches I’ve used in the last couple of years.
The performance is really good, while the animations are great
I was able to jump between various different apps without a hitch, and the animations are great as well. Huawei has some of the best animations out there, and if you’re annoyed by jittery software, that’s not what you’ll get here. More on that later, though. App opening times were also really good, and the overall experience was very positive. Some of you are probably wondering about the gaming aspect, though. Well, you can play games on this tablet, but it’s definitely not meant for that. It ran almost everything I threw at it without a problem, though truly graphically-demanding games could be a problem. If you’re a casual gamer, both of these will serve you perfectly fine.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Battery
Each of these two tablets includes a 7,700mAh battery. They both support 18W wired, charging, and do come with a charger in the box. Wireless charging is not supported, of course. This is not the biggest battery capacity we’ve seen on 11-inch tablets, but it’s a solid battery size. Yes, that does translate into good battery life too. I don’t really use tablets all that much during the day, and for my specific use cases, I was able to get several days’ worth of battery life out of both. It all depends on how much you use them, of course. I use tablets (when reviewing them) for light typing, answering emails, scrolling social media, and… of course, consuming content. I also replied to some emails during my usage, and more. Even if you’re a power user, you should get good battery life out of both of these. Oh, and by the way, the battery life was basically the same between them, I did not notice any major differences in longevity.
18W wired charging is supported, and charger included
What about the charging? 18W does not exactly sound fast, especially when it comes to a 7,700mAh battery. Well, you’d be right if you made that assumption. It’ll take over two and a half hours to fully charge these tablets. You can get them to the 50-percent mark in just over an hour, though, it took me around 70-75 minutes to get there.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Camera
Using a tablet to take pictures is basically never a good idea. I always cringe when I see people using them for picture-taking, though luckily that’s almost never happening where I live. It’s mostly some people in touristy places. Either way, my point is that tablets are basically never focused on offering a great camera experience, especially not mid-range ones. That’s the case here as well. There is a 13-megapixel camera with an f/1.8 aperture on the back of the MatePad 11.5 and PaperMatte Edition. That camera can be used to take pictures and video, but it’s not exactly good. The shutter is quite slow, and the images don’t really end up looking great either.
They end up looking washed out, and the HDR performance is not the best either, and neither is the white balance. The colors are a bit off, and so on. This is something I’ve been seeing on many tablets, so it’s not exactly something new. If you need to take a quick photo, it’ll do the trick, just don’t expect to show you photography prowess by using this camera. The video is in the same boat. In regards to the selfie camera, well, it is okay. It does a good job for video calls, at least it did for me, as long as you’re in okay lighting. That’s basically what you’ll be using it for, so… there you go. You can also take a quick selfie if you need to, but don’t expect the same quality a good camera on a phone would offer.
Shooting low light photos or videos is not the best idea
You can find a bunch of camera samples below, though do note that I didn’t include any low-light ones. I tried taking some, but they ended up looking really bad, so all I’m going to say is that you shouldn’t use this camera in low light. That goes for every single tablet camera, basically, though.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Software
As per usual when it comes to Huawei smartphones and tablets, we have to let you know that Google app support is not available here. In fact, the company’s smartphones and tablets don’t come with Google’s services, so you don’t have access to the Google Play Store either. Huawei’s services are included, along with the company’s AppGallery app store. You also have Petal Search to install apps that you may not find in the AppGallery. There are also ways to get Google apps going too, via GSpace and similar emulation apps that have come a long way. That’s something worth noting in every Huawei smartphone and tablet review, to be quite honest, as there are apps missing from the AppGallery, even though the store has grown a lot in the last couple of years.
AppGallery is good, but apps are still missing from it
Speaking of AppGallery, the offerings in it did grow over the years, but some problem apps crept in there too. Huawei has a high level of security for AppGallery, that’s for sure, but you’ll still find some close apps floating around. That may be more of an issue here than on the Play Store, as you may be looking for an app that is usually available on the Play Store, but not on AppGallery, and then you stumble upon a clone of some sort. Those apps are usually easy to spot, but you should be careful nonetheless.
In any case, the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch and PaperMatte Edition have the same software, basically. HarmonyOS comes pre-installed on both devices, on top of Android 12. The general Android version is not all that important here, as you’re not getting Google’s features here, but Huawei’s own set of software offerings. Huawei has a replacement for basically everything, and HarmonyOS works great on both tablets. We also touched upon everything in the performance section, but it’s the truth. Every time I use one of the company’s HarmonyOS-based devices, I have a good time performance-wise. The OS looks nice, has outstanding animations, and everything just works.
There is a rather useful side bar included here
On the home screen, these tablets have a navigation bar which, unfortunately, does not follow you on other screens. But there is a separate side bar which you can activate by swiping from the right, and holding for a second or two. This side bar is customizable, and it can be a valuable addition to your repertoire if you’re a heavy multitasker. Activating multi-window from this bar is easy, as is launching apps in a window view. You can drag an app out to utilize multi-window mode, or simply tap it to open it in a separate window.
If you use more than one Huawei product, the company’s ‘Super Device’ feature is truly useful. Sharing files between them, keeping one clipboard across devices, and more is possible. It also works really well, without hiccups, in my experience. You do also get a layer of customization on these tablets, as support for themes, custom icons, and more are available. By default, there is no app drawer on these tablets, all the apps are thrown on home screens. You can easily change that via the ‘Home screen / wallpaper’ menu in the settings, though. The overview mode looks great, as it places your opened apps into two rows, as it should on such a large display.
HarmonyOS is very good, but it’s not for everyone
So, the bottom line is, everything works really well here. You may have some issues finding apps that you want on the AppGallery, so feel free to utilize Petal Search. Do note that Petal Search tracks down apps from app repositories, so you’ll be installing them from there. And yes, you can keep them updated this way too. I mentioned earlier that GSpace is an option for Google apps, and it has come a long way since its inception. It works really well now, and you can even place shortcuts on the home screen, if you want. The battery consumption for GSpace can be improved still, but it’s nowhere as bad as it used to be.
All in all, HarmonyOS is a really compelling UI. It not only works great, even with mid-range hardware, but it looks great, and offers really sleek animations.
Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition Review: Should you buy it?
Should you buy any of these two tablets? Well, they’re not for everyone, and only you can answer that question. The first thing you need to decide is whether you can live without Google apps, or are you willing to use GSpace. Then, if you’re ready to use Petal Search and app repositories. If the answer to those questions is ‘yes’, then sure, considering both of these tablets. They’re basically the same in all aspects except the displays. They are considerably different. Each of them has its advantages, so be careful which one you choose.
The PaperMatte Edition has an interesting display, but…
If you’re looking for a more regular display experience, go for the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch. You’ll get a nice IPS LCD panel with a high refresh rate, with the usual glare problem. The ‘PaperMatte’ edition is great for some people, but it’s not for everyone. You may not see your reflection on the screen, but the light creates a white glare if you’re looking at the tablet from the side. If you’re looking at it straight-on, that’s not an issue at all. If glare really bothers you, and you’re using your tablets outdoors much, the PaperMatte may be an ideal solution for you.
Huawei managed to create two really compelling devices that have one major difference, and because of it should appeal to two completely different user types. Options are great to have, and that’s exactly what you’re getting here.
You should buy the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition if you:
– Want to use a mid-range tablet
– Are not bother by the lack of Google services & apps
– Need great performance on mid-range products, and love smooth animations
– Are not bothered by having the latest version of Android on your devices
– Want a great keyboard/case accessory for your tablet
– Hate the glare/reflection that you get on regular displays (PaperMatte Edition is the solution for you)
You shouldn’t buy the Huawei MatePad 11.5-inch & PaperMatte Edition if you:
– Use many apps, are don’t want to mess around with Petal Search & app repositories
– Use many Google apps on a regular basis