Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 Review: is HarmonyOS any good?

The Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 was released earlier this summer as the company’s most premium tablet. With HarmonyOS, this device is the first Huawei tablet to debut with the software out of the box.

This tablet has nice build quality and an amazing display. It’s battery life is among the best too. But it’s software is full of shortcomings, which makes it hard to recommend to anyone outside China. Its display is nice but it only has a 60Hz refresh rate, and the tablet’s camera system disappoints.

With a price of €799,99 the MatePad Pro 12.6 competes directly with the Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021) and the Galaxy Tab S7+. But is its price tag justified? Well, this device definitely feels premium enough for its price, but some of its hardware doesn’t deliver.

Design

At first glance, the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 looks like the typical high-end tablet from 2021. It has tiny bezels and is pretty lightweight for its size (609g). The tablet’s metal frame feels sturdy, but the matte back of the device is a bit flimsy, especially in the middle where the Huawei logo is, with it sinking a bit when applying pressure. This sinking effect could be attributed to the MatePad Pro’s wireless and reverse wireless charging capabilities, with the charging location being located there. A nice touch is the inclusion of an LED notification light right next to the front camera. The materials used on the MatePad Pro 12.6 are nice to the touch.


I was most impressed with the quality of the speakers. The MatePad Pro 12.6 has 8 stereo speakers on its sides, which are designed in collaboration with Harman Kardon. The audio output from these is crystal clear, punchy, loud, and offers plenty of depth. Actually, I’ve had bluetooth speakers that sounded worse, and for sure the MatePad Pro’s speakers are a lot better than the ones you can find in the average laptop.


The MatePad Pro 12.6 unit was sent to us with Huawei’s M-Pencil and Smart Magnetic Keyboard. I found the pencil to be well made and accurate when drawing or taking notes. Just like the competition, when drawing or writing the weight of the stroke responds to the pressure and tilt of the stylus. The M-Pencil sticks via magnets and recharges wirelessly at the side of the MatePad Pro 12.6. While normally the pencil sticks well to the tablet, if you try to stick it with the keyboard attached, the keyboard gets in the way, which in turn makes the stylus fall off easily.


Speaking of the Smart Magnetic Keyboard, this one is a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect anything fancy from it, but I found the materials it was made of disappointing. This accessory feels cheap, both the cover and the keyboard buttons aren’t nice to the touch. Also, the buttons don’t offer any depth or quality feedback when typing, and for some reason, I wasn’t able to perform some of the smart commands. At least it doubles as a stand, and it does so pretty well, as its magnets are really strong.


You should keep in mind that while the MatePad Pro 12.6’s accessories aren’t the greatest, they are cheaper than what Samsung and Apple offer for their tablets. Also, you may be able to find Huawei’s tablet on sale bundled together with both accessories.

Display

The Huawei MatePad Pro is equipped with a 12.6-inch OLED display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. This screen is really great. It offers punchy colors, its lowest brightness setting is good, and its peak brightness gets high enough for the tablet to be easily readable outside on a sunny day.

This display’s only drawback is its 60Hz refresh rate. While the tablet still feels snappy enough, this could’ve been improved with a 90 or 120Hz refresh rate screen. Don’t get me wrong, maybe most people don’t need such a high refresh rate on a tablet, but considering the MatePad Pro costs almost the same as the 11-inch iPad Pro (2021), which has a 120Hz variable refresh rate, these aren’t the best specs.

Camera

The Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 has a dual-camera system on its back and a single camera on its front. Don’t expect much from this camera setup, as all of the cameras are average at best.



The main camera has a 13MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. It produces good results for a tablet, but still not good enough for its pricing. The second camera is an 8MP ultrawide shooter with an f/2.4 aperture, and it also produces disappointing pictures. Photos I took with both of these cameras lack detail. These cameras also aren’t the best at picking the right temperature, with the end results often being on the warm side. Photos from the ultrawide camera look a bit washed out.



Low-light performance is even worse, even for a tablet. The MatePad Pro 12.6 also struggles with autofocusing, with it often being too slow to respond or simply inaccurate.

Video-wise, the cameras are also average at best. Video footage is shaky, especially in its maximum 4K 30fps resolution, and detail is still lacking. The autofocus isn’t the best either. In low-light scenarios, the MatePad Pro 12.6 struggles to focus and capture enough light. Forget about detail too. The microphones don't do a very good job at recording voices and eliminating outside noise. Sound is overall on the quiet side.