Huawei has updated its Huawei MateBook D15 for 2021, but its shortcomings from last year have not been rectified. The design of the case is unchanged, which means that the speakers still shoot down instead of using the space to the left and right of the keyboard, and the webcam is still a pop-up window in the Fn key bar. Doors and connectors are the same as in 2020, and Huawei has not provided support for Thunderbolt, probably missing a significant upgrade.
Huawei Matebook D15 (2021)
The Huawei MateBook D15 (2021) is equipped with the latest 11th generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, which is a quad-core component with a base speed of 2.4 GHz and Turbo Boost 4.2 GHz, along with 8 GB of dual-channel DDR4 3200 MHz RAM.
A key feature of the Huawei MateBook D15 (2021) is the combination of a large screen with low weight. The 15.6-inch screen is housed in a case that measures 357.8 mm in width, 229.9 mm in depth and 16.9 mm in thickness.
These dimensions are exactly the same as last year’s model. It weighs 1.56 kg (3 g more than last year). The aluminum alloy case helps reduce weight, and although the size and weight will be noticeable in the backpack, this large screen can be worth your effort due to the slight inconvenience.
Huawei states that the MateBook D15 has passed a variety of tests, including 40 ° C and 90% relative humidity, including USB-C port and fingerprint key durability tests and keyboard life tests, screen rate, and touchpad. However, there is no official MIL-STD certificate.
The 15.6-inch screen is housed in a small top and side bezels measuring 5.3mm, although the bottom bezel is much deeper. This results in a required screen-to-body ratio of 87%.
The camera lifts easily when needed, but the position is far from ideal. Given that video conferencing will probably still be a fact of life for many of us, the camera angle shown here is less than satisfactory. This is one of the two major issues with this laptop that could violate the agreement.
Screen
The screen is a 15.6-inch IPS panel with FHD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels, 141.2 ppi). It is not responsive to touch and has a maximum brightness of only 250 threads, which means that outdoor use on sunny days can be compromised. Visible angles on both the horizontal and vertical planes are not large. With all of this, the screen is perfectly useful for everyday writing and productivity tasks at home or in the office.
Speakers
The speakers, whose grilles are on the underside of the case, as they were in last year’s model, provide good volume, but there is some distortion at the top of the range, and the low tones could be stronger. This is a missed opportunity as a better sound subsystem would greatly enhance this laptop. Instead of sticking to last year’s case design, Huawei could push the speaker grilles up into the keyboard area, where there’s plenty of unused space on the left and right.
Keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard itself is comfortable to work with. The keys are large and well spaced, with a slightly textured finish that stands out nicely from the smoother keys. The Fn line keys are relatively large, as are the arrow keys – the left and right arrow keys are full sizes. I had no problem typing by touch at normal speed.
The touchpad is large and responsive, the power button has a built-in fingerprint sensor located on the right side of the keyboard, at the level of the Fn key line.
Huawei includes its PC Manager software, which is a hub for checking driver updates, power management settings, troubleshooting features such as fingerprint sensor and wireless connectivity (both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6), and phone connection management. Here, laptop users also access Huawei Share.
