HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” PaperMatte review: tablet with dual screen

Apple introduced the first tablet with a dual-layer Tandem OLED screen this year (iPad Pro 2024). But did anyone really doubt that Yabloko would quickly catch up? Six months have not passed since we meet our first pursuer – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”. And if you think that the screen is the only thing that is remarkable about the brand’s older 12-inch tablet, then you are very mistaken; HUAWEI was able to really surprise.

However, a considerable amount of surprise has already been spent on the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 13.2, released at the beginning of the year, with which new accessories (keyboard and pen) debuted and which used the interesting Kirin 9000W hardware platform. But the MatePad Pro 12.2” should in no way be considered a junior version of the 13-inch firmware; in fact, it turned out to be even more technologically advanced.

⇡#Design

The HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” does not have any particularly outstanding design solutions – and in general it is difficult to imagine how you can diversify the appearance of the tablet. But that doesn’t mean the team responsible for the look and feel of the MatePad sat idly by.

The back panel has a very nice and, no less important, pleasant to the touch gold-colored coating with a silky structure. Moreover, it is “silky”, not “silk”, the tablet is not too slippery. The panel is made of special fiberglass, just like on the big Pro.

The front surface, equipped with a proprietary anti-reflective (and also unusual to the touch) PaperMatte coating, is made of traditional tempered glass. The edges are made of aluminum-magnesium alloy; the materials here are generally interesting.

HUAWEI is steadfastly not influenced by, for example, Samsung and does not make the frames around the screen too thin, which could force holes or bulges in the surface of the screen for front cameras. Here the front camera is inscribed in the frame – and at the same time, the front surface area occupied by the screen is 92%. An excellent indicator.

HUAWEI also claims to have made the thinnest and lightest tablet with a 12-inch screen. Considering the narrowness of the niche (competitors mainly produce models with 11- or 13-inch displays), this is probably true. But regardless of the categories “the best” and “in comparison with,” the tablet is really quite compact, if this word is applicable here in principle. The case thickness is 5.5 mm, weight – 508 grams. And this is a serious achievement, without any discounts or reservations – the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 13.2 has a body of the same thickness with the condition that it has a larger screen and a battery of absolutely the same capacity. Yes, and for a device with a smaller diagonal screen, maintaining the same thickness is not an easy task, because in this case the arrangement of elements inside the case becomes more complicated. HUAWEI did it. The workmanship is excellent; the body, despite its thinness, feels monolithic and very strong.

In terms of functional elements, the situation is quite normal – there is no mini-jack, there are many speaker grilles (here there are four), hardware keys are spaced on opposite sides. But a fingerprint scanner is built into the power key, which is rare on tablets. Also, typical for HUAWEI, we note the absence of any contact pads for accessories; they are connected to the mother device using NearLink technology and are charged without the use of special contacts.

⇡#Software

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” runs on the HarmonyOS 4.1 operating system. We talked about the tablet version of the shell familiar from smartphones (where it is called EMUI) in the review of MatePad Pro 13.2.

Key elements: a quick access panel to main applications, always available on the desktop; successful window management in multi-window mode; extensive options for customizing privacy and security settings; “Super Device” mode, which allows you to conveniently manage the ecosystem from your tablet; branded application store AppGallery and search engine Petal Search, which searches for applications not presented in the branded store (yes, Google services are not presented out of the box); the “Multiscreen” function, which allows you to use the tablet as an additional monitor for your computer; proprietary GoPaint application with interesting tools. The interface is well suited for working with a tablet – the icons are of normal size, there are no problems with placement on a large screen in horizontal or vertical orientation. The system occupies 12.6 GB of memory, works quickly and without failures.

⇡#Accessories

Of course, the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” supports work with the already familiar accessories for tablets – a pen and a keyboard case.

We have already talked about the pen – this is the third generation M-Pencil, presented at the beginning of the year along with a 13-inch pen. It provides more than 10,000 pressure levels and features a more sensitive transmitter than its predecessor, reducing latency. It looks and feels noticeably different from the second and first generation M-Pencil, even more reminiscent of a traditional pen rather than a stylus. The body also received ribbing, it is no longer round.

The second accessory is a specially designed HUAWEI Glide Keyboard, and the keyboard is very different from the one we saw in tandem with the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 13.2. It is monolithic (rather than consisting of two parts) and is equipped with an unusual element – a rather heavy panel in the lower part, equipped with a counterweight and providing free rotation angles. This gives the tablet increased stability when placed on this stand. Thanks to it, the tablet can be placed above the touchpad, which prevents accidental clicks. We also note the presence of a special slot for the M-Pencil above the keyboard. The keyboard itself, as well as the touchpad, is pleasant to use – in fact, it feels no different from similar tools on an inexpensive laptop.

Both accessories connect to the tablet via the proprietary NearLink protocol (and not via Bluetooth) and do not require additional charging, being powered contactlessly from the mother device.

The keyboard, by the way, comes with the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” – at least in our case it was in the same package with the tablet.

⇡#Display and sound

The most important value of the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” is its screen with the no longer unique, but still very rare Tandem OLED technology. That is, under the glass there is not one organic LED panel, but two at once, which provide a higher level of brightness (they promise up to 2000 cd/m2 in dynamics at peak) and at the same time increased energy efficiency. The last statement causes some bewilderment – after all, two panels, in theory, should consume more energy than one?

But first, let’s talk about the traditional properties of the screen. Diagonal – 12.2 inches, resolution – 2800 × 1840 pixels (275 ppi). The screen supports a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz (but there is no LTPO technology, so the step to change the frequency is large – 30 Hz).

The second key property of the panel, already unique for HUAWEI devices, is the PaperMatte coating, thanks to which the surface becomes not just matte (and in the sun it is much easier to perceive information from the screen), but also reminiscent of paper to the touch, albeit rather magazine paper. But in any case, drawing on such a screen is much more pleasant than on a regular glossy one. There is also a noticeable but – the PaperMatte surface scratches too easily, you need to be very careful with the tablet.

The measured level of peak static brightness (under artificial light from incandescent lamps) is 565 cd/m2. Very good, but it’s interesting that the MatePad Pro 13.2 with its usual single-layer display achieved this level even higher. But in the sun, the display of the 12-inch Pro behaves perfectly – the picture does not fade at all even on a bright sunny day, you can work using the tablet in the fresh air. The screen fully complies with the declared HDR10 standard. The PWM dimming frequency is 2880 Hz, flickering is not noticeable at low brightness levels. The sampling rate of the sensor layer is 480 Hz.

In the screen settings, you can turn on eye protection (an intensity-adjustable mode with the warmest colors possible), select an e-book mode that is also gentle on your eyesight (you can select both color and monochrome modes), adjust the resolution, scale, font size, set dark or light mode (including selecting a schedule). You can also change the color rendering – choose between two profiles (normal and bright) and set the color temperature you need. The “Natural Tones” mode, traditional for tablets, is also available, when the screen selects color temperature and color rendering settings depending on external lighting. I measured color rendering in two preset profiles without individual temperature adjustment.

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, gamma in normal color mode. Yellow line – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” indicators, dotted line – reference gamma

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, color temperature in normal color mode. Blue line – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, color gamut in normal color mode. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” coverage

By default, the screen operates in normal color mode, in which the picture adapts to the content – our test patterns are made in the sRGB standard, which corresponds to the color gamut of the display. The gamma is normal (the average level is 2.18), the color temperature is close to the standard, the average deviation DeltaE for the expanded Color Checker palette (shades of gray together with a wide range of color shades) is as much as 1.31, which is very close to the declared level of about one . The screen is beautifully set up.

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, gamma in bright color mode. Yellow line – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” indicators, dotted line – reference gamma

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, color temperature in vivid color mode. Blue line – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”, color gamut in vivid color mode. Gray triangle – DCI-P3 coverage, white triangle – HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” coverage

Vivid mode expands the color gamut to levels that are almost exactly the same as the DCI-P3 standard. Gamma increases – 2.32. The color temperature increases slightly – it remains at the level of 7,100 K with a standard of 6,500 K. The average deviation for the expanded Color Checker palette is already 3.5, with the upper limit of the norm being 3. In this mode, the colors are indeed brighter and more saturated, but less accurate .

The sound of the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” is also excellent, as is the picture. The tablet received 8 speakers and a large sound chamber that enhances low frequencies. As a result, the tablet sounds really rich, and sound positioning does not raise any questions at all. There is no analog headphone jack, but high-resolution profiles, including LDAC, are supported for wireless audio transmission.

⇡#«Iron », Performance, Wireless Connections

HUAWEI does not provide official data about the platform used, but from what we were able to learn from various sources (including using special software), we can conclude that the Kirin T91 hardware platform is installed here – an accelerated version of last year’s 9000S, which is well known to us from family of smartphones Pura 70 (Ultra and Pro).

According to unofficial information, the platform received an eight-core central processor with ARM architecture, divided into three clusters: one Taishan Big core with a frequency of 2.3 GHz, three Taishan Mid cores with a frequency of 2.18 GHz and four Cortex-A510 cores with a frequency of 1.55 GHz. Taishan cores are custom and, apparently, multi-threaded – at least the software detects not one or three, but two and six cores in these clusters. The Maleoon 910 accelerator is responsible for the graphics. The platform is made using a 7-nanometer process technology. Basic instructions are supported, but, for example, Vulkan is only in version 1.0, and ray tracing, apparently, is not provided at all – the corresponding benchmarks do not run.

Those that have launched record a fairly average level of performance – relevant for flagship platforms for about three to four generations. This is quite enough for the normal functioning and correct operation of drawing and design software, but the tablet no longer shines in games.

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” is available in versions with 12 or 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage capacity of 256, 512 GB or 1 TB to choose from.

Wireless connections: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n/ac – no Wi-Fi 6 support for some reason), Bluetooth 5.2, navigation module with GPS support (A-GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS . There is no NFC, as well as a mobile communication module, you can only rely on Wi-Fi – in this regard, the lack of Wi-Fi 6 is really painful.

⇡#Camera

The cameras on HUAWEI MatePad Pro tablets do not change not only from model to model, but also from generation to generation – the set has been the same for three years.

A double module is installed on the rear panel: a 13-megapixel sensor and a lens with a very decent aperture ƒ/1.8 and autofocus is responsible for the standard viewing angle, while the second camera – 8 megapixels, ƒ/2.2, no autofocus – is responsible for the extended viewing angle.

Examples of shooting with the rear camera of HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”

In the camera application, the proposed focal lengths are “lined” in an interesting way – in addition to standard and extended viewing angles, a tenfold software zoom is also offered, but the photo quality in this mode is, frankly, appalling, and it’s not worth using. I will also note a strange effect – when shooting, the image on the screen looks slightly blurry and lacking in detail, but after you take the shot, everything is fine. At least during the day the tablet takes good pictures. It’s weaker at night, but you can also use it if you want. There is a quite working portrait mode, although the background of the MatePad Pro 12.2” is still rather roughly blurred.

Examples of shooting with the front camera of HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2”

Front camera – 16 MP + ƒ/2.2. In addition to a good picture (examples of shooting in portrait mode are above), it can constantly keep you in the frame during video calls thanks to the HUAWEI FollowCam function. There is background blur and beautification, video can be shot in resolutions up to 4K 30p – there is even progress here relative to the 13-inch model.

⇡#Autonomy

Let us repeat once again that the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2″ has a battery with a capacity of 38.38 Wh (10100 mAh, 3.8 V) – very respectable for 12.2 inches.

And it was doubly interesting to evaluate the tablet’s autonomy, given the statements about the special energy efficiency of the Tandem OLED. And… the result really exceeded all expectations. Let me remind you that the 13-inch MatePad Pro with the same battery and a difference in diagonals of only one inch played Full HD video with maximum screen brightness and Wi-Fi turned on for six hours. And the 12-inch lasted as much as 11.5 hours, which is just excellent for a tablet! Especially when you don’t expect it at all.

The kit includes a HUAWEI SuperCharge charger with a power of 100 W (20 V, 5 A), with which the tablet can be fully charged in about an hour (it is indicated that in 55 minutes, I got a little more, but not critical). I’ll add that the adapter has two connectors at once – USB Type-C and USB Type-A. This allows it to be used for both smartphones and laptops. However, you cannot plug two cables into the adapter at the same time and thus charge two devices at once.

Wireless charging is not supported.

⇡#Conclusion

HUAWEI again surprises where you don’t expect it at all – in the incredibly stable and jaw-droppingly boring tablet market. Although, it would seem, this is just a version of the already interesting MatePad Pro, released in January, but with a smaller screen. And yet, the combination of a Tandem OLED screen, a battery with a capacity similar to the older one, but without an increase in thickness (and from which the 12-inch Pro lasts twice as long as the 13-inch), a new, really successful HUAWEI Glide Keyboard and a very pleasant to the touch The fiberglass casing makes the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.2” stand out from the crowd. Especially in the PaperMatte version, which simply has no analogues on the market.