(Surface Book 2 or Huawei Matebook X Pro – Purchase advice / long-term test)
My two current favorites when it comes to portable window notebooks are the Microsoft Surface Book 2.13 inch and the Huawei Matebook X, because they fit well in the pocket and are powerful at the same time. I actively used the Microsoft Surface Book 2 for about 6 months and I was also able to actively use the Huawei Matebook X Pro for about 2 months. You can find out which of the two might be better suited to you here. We recommend huawei matebook x. It’s my personal experience; I used it by my own. If you want to buy than click on the highlighted link and visit on our site. There you can see the cheap price. You can check the difference both of these devices below;
Surface Book 2 and Huawei Matebook X Pro – Preface
So that you get a good overview of how my user behavior is on the move, I’ll give you a small overview, because the comparison is mainly based on it. Most of the time I’m on the go and either sits in a cafe, on a plane, on the train, in a lounge, in an event location, in a business meeting, etc. The list goes on and on. I work on various things. This can be, for example, writing texts or creating documents with MicrosoftOffice 365, complex image processing with Photoshop and Lightroom, video editing with Premiere Pro and now and then something with After Effects. During this time I often listen to music and every now and then I watch a movie or a series. The rest of the time, I surf the web with way too many open tabs in Google Chrome regarding the question that you can’t compare 2in1 with classic notebooks: Yes you can. Most Surface Book users I know never use the 2-in-1 functionality and have only bought the device because of its powerful performance and portability.
Design and portability
The Microsoft Surface Book 2 consists of two parts, the tabletand the Performance Dock. If you put these together, you get a full-fledged classic notebook. In this form, I use the device 99% of the time and only switch to tablet mode when it was too tight on the plane. However, if you want to take notes with the Surface Pen in class, or work artistically and use the device for drawing and design, you will be pleased with this mode. You don’t have to forego the performance of the performance dock; you can put the tablet back upside down and fold the device up so that it becomes an admittedly thick, but powerful tablet. A good addition here is the Surface Dial, which gives you more control on the screen, but I wasn’t able to test that. But it should be very useful for creative work. The case itself is made of magnesium and is therefore lighter than the device suggests and overall the Microsoft Surface Book 2 has a super high-quality finish, which the notebook immediately notices. It’s just not the most space-saving notebook and often takes up more space in your pocket than you might want. For what is inside, however, it is relatively compact.
Ports / connections
Ports are very important in a notebook with which you want to be productive. Fortunately, neither of the two notebooks is necessarily dependent on dongles, although some compromises have to be made with both devices.
The Microsoft Surface Book 2 is equipped as follows:
- USB Type-C (no Thunderbolt)
- 2x USB Type-A 3.0
- UHS-II SDXC card reader
- 5mm headphone jack
- Surface Connect.
- The power supply unit has another USB port for charging other devices
- In direct comparison, here is the Huawei Matebook X Pro:
- 5 mm jack connector
- 1x USB-A (USB-3.0)
The included MateBook 2:
- 1x USB-A
- 1x USB-C
- 1x HDMI
- 1x VGA
- No SD card slot
The Matedock 2 comes with two USB-C ports, one of which is used for charging. The second is the only one of the two that supports Thunderbolt 3. This enabled me to do just fine with the Thunderbolt SSD I’m currently testing. Unfortunately, this connection “only” has 2 lanes, which is why the full strength of 4-lane Thunderbolt SSDs cannot be used, which is why I use the Samsung Portable SSD X5was only 200-300MB faster than the USB 3.1 Gen2’s maximum speed, when it should be almost double. But this is first of all grumbling at a high level, as most of them could not even notice the difference if you showed it to them. Even if I would like to have an SD card, the lack of Thunderbolt 3 support on the Microsoft Surface Book 2 bothers me a little more, which is why I would also tend towards the Huawei Matebook X Pro here. I can at least “upgrade” the SD port myself, but not Thunderbolt 3.
Display:
Both notebooks come with great displays. The Microsoft Surface Book 2 13 comes with a 13.5 inch touch display with a resolution of 3000 x 2000, i.e. an aspect ratio of 3: 2 and therefore with 267 ppi. With a smaller body, the Huawei Matebook X Pro can call its own 13.9 inch touch display, 0.4 inch less with the same resolution and 260 ppi. This is of course due to the smaller edges and the fact that the camera is not located above the display. In terms of brightness, both don’t take a lot and both come with a glossy coating. The color accuracy doesn’t really seem to be distinguishable between the two devices. Here you have the choice between the slightly larger display and little edge with the Huawei Matebook X Pro or the Microsoft Surface Book 2, which allows you to use the Surface Pen and the Surface Dial. As far as productivity is concerned, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is of course better if you really want to use the extra accessories that have to be bought separately. For example, I don’t use either of the two and therefore prefer the Huawei Matebook X . Here you really have to differentiate between use cases. Both work well for photo and video editing, and both can be a bit slow for gamers.
Audio:
Whether Microsoft Surface Book 2 or Huawei Matebook X Pro: Both devices offer very good sound that is significantly better than the current average. The overall sound and volume of the Huawei Matebook X Pro with Dolby Atmos is a bit better overall. Even at 50% it is louder than most other notebooks. What can be annoying is that from 50% the housing starts to vibrate. The louder the sound, the more you feel it on the keyboard. On the other hand, with the Microsoft Surface Book 2, which also has a great sound, it can happen that the fan simply drowns out the sound. It might be better to use headphones, especially when playing. The fans of the Huawei Matebook X Pro can also get loud, but they don’t drown out the speakers.
Performance
When it comes to performance, your own preferences and also your wallet play an important role. The Microsoft Surface Book 2 with the Intel i7-8650U is a beast among convertibles, because the GTX 1050 is not as powerful as the models from the GTX 1060 onwards, which come very close to their PC equivalents when it comes to performance, but on the way it leaves little to be desired. Videos are rendered quickly and it can also handle other tasks well. One or the other more recent game can also be played.
Battery life
Both models do pretty well in terms of battery life, although the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is clearly ahead. With my usage behavior with the Microsoft Surface Book 2, I get an average of 10 hours of use. The Huawei Matebook X Pro only manages 6.
Conclusion: what’s better now?
So which of the two notebooks should you get the Microsoft Surface Book 2 or the Huawei Matebook X Pro? Get what you like best and what suits your usage behavior. I think both are great, but for me it’s the Huawei Matebook X that I prefer to use in everyday life, because portability is more important to me and I don’t need many of the really cool extra functions of the Microsoft Surface Book 2 in my everyday life.
