Huawei announced an unusual MateBook Fold laptop in its home market of China earlier this year. Unlike the Asus Zenbook Duo, it unfolds into an 18-inch single screen. But that’s not the best part. The Huawei MateBook Fold's ultra-portable design is housed in a 1.16kg form factor (1.45kg including the thin keyboard), which makes it one of the lightest laptops on the market right now.
I was skeptical about the MateBook Fold's responsiveness and design, but then I held it and went hands-on for 30 minutes. And as with the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate tri-fold, I was proven wrong about its unique form factor. This thin and light foldable laptop is functional, novel, and could be the future of mobile computing. Let me explain.
I’ve never used anything like the Huawei MateBook Fold before
Carrying the Huawei MateBook Fold is like carrying a big book with a nice cover but without the heft. It's big but not bulky.
When folded, there is almost no gap to fit a keyboard between the folded screen. Unlike Asus' equivalent, Huawei’s detachable keyboard sits outside the laptop and attaches magnetically at the back. I was under the impression that this would lead to a clumsy form factor, but the magnets are strong enough to hold the thin keyboard as if it were part of the laptop body. It's extremely comfortable to hold and carry.
I’m bullish on this design because even without the keyboard, the laptop's user interface is super responsive. Unlike Windows on a Microsoft Surface Pro or dual-screen laptops, the Huawei MateBook Fold is quick to respond to gestures. A ten-finger tap, for example, will activate the keyboard, and while playing around with this gesture and typing on the Fold's on-screen keyboard, I never once lamented its lack of Windows compatibility (the Fold runs Huawei's in-house Harmony OS software).
For context, I’ve used the Surface Pro 11 and Asus Zenbook Duo as my primary laptops for both work and travel, and I won’t use them without a keyboard because there’s weird friction between the user and Windows as a touch interface. In contrast, after just 30 minutes with the MateBook Fold, I’m confident that Harmony OS 5 is more responsive to touch than Windows.
As for when you do need the thin keyboard, typing on it isn’t as hard as I’d expected. It offers 1.5mm key travel and a pressure-sensitive touchpad, which are both solid enough not to register fake touches from underneath the keyboard.
The Huawei MateBook Fold is astonishingly thin and lightweight, measuring just 14.9mm when folded and 7.3mm when unfolded. For comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold measures 17.4mm thick when folded and 8.6mm when unfolded, while the Asus ZenBook Duo is 19.8mm (with keyboard) when folded.
Plus, the Huawei laptop weighs just 1.45kg with the keyboard and as low as 1.16kg without it. To compare, the M4 Apple MacBook Air weighs 1.24kg, whereas other dual-screen laptops weigh more than 1.5kg. You lose out on some ports with the MateBook Fold, but as with a MacBook, you get two USB-C ports.
In terms of screen estate, you get an 18-inch OLED display with a 92% screen-to-body ratio, a minimal crease, and a 4:3 aspect ratio. When folded, there’s a 13-inch screen in 3:2 to get work done. Like the ZenBook Duo, the Huawei MateBook Fold houses a kickstand so you can use it in both horizontal and vertical orientations. It gets plenty bright, too, at 700 nits of typical brightness and 1,600nits of rated peak brightness. I used it in a brightly lit environment, and the on-screen content was easily legible.
I wasn’t able to put the MateBook Fold’s power credentials to the test, but it is powered by an in-house processor, paired with 32GB of RAM and 1TB or 2TB of storage. I do wonder, though, how long the 74.60Wh battery (that's around 4,850mAh) holds up in real-world usage with full-screen mode.
For entertainment, you get six built-in speakers and four microphones alongside an 8MP front camera for video calls.
The Huawei MateBook Fold is my dream laptop
I love the Huawei MateBook Fold and would buy it in a heartbeat if it weren’t so expensive and could run everything I wanted.
As of now, it's only available in China and costs ¥23,999, which converts to around $3,330 / £2,490 / AU$5,200. Even if you can afford it, several mainstream software programs might not be compatible with Harmony OS.
That said, this is my dream laptop for the kind of lifestyle I live. As a frequent traveler and freelancer, I'm always on the lookout for lightweight productivity-focused devices. And the Huawei MateBook Fold nails it with its big screen foldable form factor. It pushes the boundaries of mobile computing, and I’m here for it. I'd pick this over my traditional laptop for its slim and lightweight design any day.
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