Huawei MateBook E set to take on Surface Pro 8

Huawei has announced another Windows tablet in the MateBook E series, that will take on Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 among others. For 2021 it comes with a stylish, versatile design and high-end specs.

As we’ve become accustomed to with Huawei hardware, the MateBook E (2021) is packed with high-end specs and features including a 2.5K OLED display. It’s 12.6in with a 16:10 aspect ratio, 90% screen-to-body ratio and can reach 600 nits of brightness.

It’s the design, complete with a detachable keyboard case, that makes the tablet a direct rival to the Surface Pro 8 and other similar Windows hybrid devices. The MateBook E is 7.99mm thick and 709g in weight and the keyboard case can set the screen at different angles – 110 to 160 degrees – and has a trackpad with built-in NFC for multi-screen collaboration and file transfer, too.

The keys have 1.3mm of travel and a ‘smart voice key’ which offers voice-to-text dictation as well as AI real-time translation of English, Korean and Japanese.

Other hardware specs include an NVMe SSD up to 512GB, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, a 13Mp rear camera, fingerprint scanning power button, four speakers and USB-C with support for Thunderbolt 4.

Handling processing is either a Core i5 or i7 chip from Intel’s 11th-generation range and there’s M-Pencil stylus support along with 65W fast charging, too.

The MateBook E is available in (translated) Nebula Ash and Interstellar Blue and looks like a real contender for best Windows tablet.

It’s only been announced in China so far, so we’ll have to wait and see if Huawei launches it in other markets soon. The cheaper MateBook E with a Core i5 and 8/256GB configuration is Chinese Yuan ¥5,999 which converts to around £695 or US$940.

The higher-spec Core i7 model is ¥7,999 – roughly £930 or US$1,250. It’s available from Vmall with an expected shipping date before 3 December.