Huawei MatePad Pro Max: thinnest and lightest, this 13.2-inch tablet offers a serious camera

Like we told you the other day, Huawei unveiled a couple of new smartwatches (the Watch Fit 5 series) and with those – a large, thin tablet. It's called the Huawei MatePad Pro Max and it's about time to check it out in detail.

How big, how thin!

Huawei's MatePad Pro Max doesn't come with the most original moniker but compensates with spectacular specs.

Huawei proudly says this is both the thinnest and lightest slate in the 13-inch+ tablet category:

• 4.7mm thin chassis
• 499 g weight (the exclusive PaperMatter Edition goes to 509 g)

If you've dreamed about a sleek and portable tablet, this might be the one to get. A profile under 5mm is truly impressive, since the iPad Pro 13 is 5.1 mm thin – and that's one super thin tablet already!

The company assures potential buyers that the MatePad Pro Max is durable despite being so thin. The tablet has earned a TÜV Rheinland bending resistance certification. Though babying this slate won't be needed 100% of the time, I'd personally recommend not abusing it, either.

Huawei says the tablet uses a redesigned internal layout with a centralized mainboard to make the device thinner and use space more efficiently. The compact design frees up room for better cooling and larger speakers, while also helping heat spread more evenly to reduce hotspots and improve thermal performance.

Display and audio goodness

The Huawei MatePad Pro Max offers a new 13.2-inch 3K flexible OLED display with narrow bezels to further enhance its sleek looks.

The bezels are 3.55 mm (in other words, thin), and the full-screen experience is provided by the lack of notches or cutouts on the panel.

If you're into drawing and you don't want to be distracted by anything on the panel, the MatePad Pro Max looks like a solid contender for your money.

Huawei says its PaperMatte Display uses nano-level etching technology to reduce glare and improve clarity on its flexible OLED panel. The company claims the screen is 20% sharper while also being easier on the eyes.

Paired with a six-speaker audio system and spatial audio processing, the device is designed to deliver a more immersive viewing and listening experience.

Performance levels

Huawei is still being sanctioned by the US, which, in return, means that the company still hasn't got access to super-advanced chips for their mobile devices.

This doesn't matter as much as one would think, especially if you're an everyday user (and not a power user who's obsessed with benchmark scores).

Naturally, Huawei doesn't specifically brag about the chipset model in its devices, and that's valid here as well. The company says that compared with its predecessor, the new MatePad Pro Max delivers 20% higher overall performance and 30% better heat dissipation.

There's a 10,400 mAh battery (high-silicon anode) cell that should offer 14 and a half hours of screen time. The good news is that the cooling system has been updated and redesigned – it's built around the central mainboard layout that spreads heat more evenly and avoids hotspots. There's a dual vapor chamber setup that increases the heat-spreading area and speeds up heat transfer away from the chipset.

The system is further enhanced by a liquid metal thermal gel that improves thermal conductivity while maintaining stability and avoiding corrosion issues. A redesigned micro-perforated wick structure inside the vapor chamber improves liquid circulation and evaporation, making cooling cycles faster and more efficient.

Camera setup

Now, who would use a tablet for photography?

In case you want to be that person, you can take advantage of the rear 50 MP main camera paired with Huawei's True-to-Color system (for the first time) for more accurate and natural colors. The company claims this improves color accuracy by up to 120% compared to the previous generation.

The MatePad Pro Max has a compact 12 MP front camera module for those Google Meet sessions.

In fact, Huawei says it eliminated the front camera notch by shrinking the camera module using an ultra-thin lens design. To keep image quality in a smaller space, it uses a redesigned "racetrack ring" aperture that lets in more light while fitting within slim bezels.

The display wiring has also been rerouted and simplified to free up space at the top of the screen.

Accessories, features

It's clear that the MatePad Pro Max is built with the full productivity and creative ecosystem routine in mind. It blends hardware, software and AI tools. There are "PC-level" AI features for writing, summarizing, making presentations and analyzing data.

The tablet also supports multi-device collaboration, syncing files in real time across phones, PCs and other tablets with different access permissions. This is really handy.

A Live Multitask system lets users run up to three apps at once in a split-screen layout with fast switching and adjustable focus. For input, the Glide Keyboard integrates a keyboard and stylus storage to improve portability and workflow efficiency.

For creativity, it works with Huawei's M-Pencil Pro and the GoPaint app, which offers advanced brush tools like splatter and fluid effects plus animation support. Huawei's Notes app is designed to mimic real pen-on-paper writing while adding AI features like handwriting improvement and equation solving, but I'm sure you've already seen those before.

Last, but not least, there's a new quad-antenna system that improves signal stability, with better long-distance performance and wall penetration. I hope this is true, since poor connectivity can spoil the whole experience, no matter how premium and sleek your new gadget is.

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