Huawei has officially launched their 2023 refresh of MateBook laptops in the Philippines – the most affordable of which is the Huawei MateBook D 14 BE. Packing an Intel 12th Generation processor, it might be priced at PhP 29,999 but is it cheap or can it be the companion of both students and professionals?
| CPU | Intel Core i3-1215U, Core I5-1240P |
| GPU | Intel UHD (i3), Intel Iris Xe (i5) |
| OS | Windows 11 Home |
| RAM | 8GB (i3), 16GB (i5), Up to 40GB DDR4 |
| Display | 14.0-inch IPS, 1920 x 1080 |
| Storage | 256GB (i3), 512GB (i5), Up to 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm Combo Jack, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 1x Security Slot |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Battery | 42Whr, 65W PD Charging |
| Audio | 2x Speakers, 2x Microphone, AI Noise Cancelling |
| Others | 1.5mm Travel Keyboard, Power Button with Fingerprint Scanner, Huawei Metalline Antenna |
| Dimensions | 325 x 218 x 17.2mm |
| Weight | 1.39kg |
| Colors | Space Gray |
The Huawei MateBook D 14 BE doesn’t stray away from its roots. It still has the Space Gray colorway as most of the brand’s laptops. To keep its price low, the chassis is made out of plastic but the finish makes it look like aluminum mimicking more expensive notebook options. Huawei keeps the top-mounted webcam with a privacy shutter.
It isn’t as portable as an ultrabook but sticks closer to a regular laptop formfactor. The notebook fairly portable measuring at 325 x 218 x 17.2mm and is also lightweight at around 1.39kg. Its chassis is surprisingly rigid for a plastic shell.
At the right-hand side is a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port (unfortunately does not support Thunderbolt), two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 1.4 connection, and a 3.5mm combo jack. On the reverse side is a single USB 2.0 Type-A, an RJ-45 ethernet connector, and a security lock.
It has a 14.0-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display. Pixel density is decent enough but not the sharpest as it’s only 1080p. The screen covers 95% sRGB so colors look good for daily use, but you probably won’t use it for color accurate work as it only supports 67.80% DCI-P3.
The panel also has an anti-glare coating to prevent reflections from interfering. Some might prefer a glossy finish but the MateBook D 14 BE needs this as the screen brightness maxes out at 362.4 cd/m2 and might not be enough for extreme outdoor use.
Audio is decent enough but nothing outstanding. There is a single downward-firing speakers at either side and they good treble and highs for an entry-level laptop. As expected, however, bass sound weak and turning up the volume to the max can result in a tinny experience at times.
The Huawei MateBook D 14 BE’s keyboard has a standard 65% key layout with an arrow key cluster at the bottom right-hand side and white backlight with 2 levels of brightness. It has a 1.5mm travel so typing feels tactile and satisfying. Controls for the brightness, multimedia, additional functions are bound to the Function keys by default. You’ll need to use the Fn key to access F1 – F12.
The trackpad is right in the bottom middle of the notebook and is large enough for tracking. It’s out of the way from the hands enough to prevent accidental clicks or tracking. It’s smooth to the touch and tracking feels precise even when using gesture controls.
The MateBook D 14 BE runs on stock Windows 11. There’s not much here to discuss when it comes to the OS as it barely has any additions OS experience. It does support the Huawei PC Manager and Huawei Mobile Cloud but they are optional installs.
The Huawei PC Manager allows the notebook to control other Huawei devices like tablets and smartphones seamlessly. Smartphone functions like texting or chatting can be used wirelessly so you don’t need to open them if you have them connected. Tablets have more uses as they can act as secondary displays or a drawing tablet.
The Huawei MateBook D 14 BE comes in two configurations: an i5-1240P with 16GB DDR4 RAM version and an i3-1215U model. Huawei sent us the former for the purposes of this review. The i5-1240P variant sports 4 performance cores and 8 efficient cores. RAM can be upgraded up to 40GB as there is an upgradeable slot on the notebook with 8GB being soldered on the board.
As far as storage goes, the notebook has a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. It seems to be an OEM drive but software cannot determine its model number so we can’t be sure of its model. Based on our testing, it is able to reach nearly 2,400MB/s and 1,600MB/s in sequential reads and writes, which is pretty decent for an entry-level device.
As with most of our notebook reviews, the MateBook D 14 BE will be run against a plethora of programs to test its CPU performance. It doesn’t have a dedicated GPU but relies on an Intel Iris Xe for graphics so we’ll run a lighter workload on it for testing.
Despite being a generation old, the MateBook D 14 BE’s 12th Generation Intel Core i5-1240P can do decent work especially in single core scenarios. It seems Huawei has done a great job with its cooling as boost speeds of its Performance cores can last a longer period in quick workloads. Over a longer stress test, however, the Performance cores boosts up to 3.5GHz before settling at 2.2GHz
The Intel Iris Xe wasn’t made for gaming and it shows in the benchmarks. It’s way below the 60fps standard at the display’s native 1080p resolution at just an average of 40fps. Bumping it down to 720p fares better but framerates dip to 48fps, which isn’t optimal. The lack of a Thunderbolt 4 means that you won’t be able to expand its graphical capabilities.
Huawei has made the MateBook D 14 BE run cooler. At idle or in light workloads, it only runs at an average of 38°c. Loading up heavier tasks like 3D rendering using the CPU boosts temp to a maximum of 96°c at 3.3GHz before settling down to an average of 84°c.
Providing juice to the notebook is a 42Whr Lithium Polymer battery. It might not sound much but it can last quite a bit especially at low power. At average use composed of replying to emails, writing, and browsing the web, we were able to get nearly 8 hours of usage. A video loop test reveals that it can last up to 5 hours with 50% volume and brightness.
Charging, however, is problematic. Huawei ships the laptop with a 65W USB-C PD charger but it only uses around 30 – 40W regardless of workload. We tried using different USB PD-compatible chargers with the same effect.
The Huawei MateBook D 14 BE currently sits as one of the most budget-friendly notebooks from the brand this generation but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Its build is solid enough despite not being made from aluminum and the keyboard has minimal flex. Performance is decent enough for most tasks but don’t expect any caliber of gaming out of it.
You also get additional functionalities if you invested in the Huawei ecosystem. Smartphones and tablets can be easily controlled through the Huawei PC Manager and you can even use the latter as secondary displays wirelessly.
Its speakers are nothing to write home about as expected. The only real downside of the MateBook D 14 BE is its charging speed. Huawei ships it with a 65W USB PD charger but fails to use all of it leading to a longer wait than necessary.
Starting at PhP 29,999 with an i3-1215U, the Huawei MateBook D 14 BE is a perfect companion for both students and those starting out their working career. It will be able to get you through the day without any hiccups and have expanded functionality when paired with other Huawei devices.
The Huawei MateBook D 14 BE is priced starting at PhP 29,999 in the Philippines. Currently, only the i3 variant is available with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for PhP 29,999 and will come bundled with a bag worth PhP 1,499. No word yet if we will get the i5-1240P with 16GB RAM model soon.
You can now get the notebook via Huawei’s online store, Shopee, and Lazada, as well as Huawei concept stores and authorized retailers nationwide.
