While we all love high-end laptops with amazing displays and incredible performance, most people cannot afford them. Therefore, when buying a laptop, we’re looking for reasonably priced options that provide good value for money. HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 is a mid-range model that aims to provide people with a balanced experience at an affordable price. It looks good, has an excellent battery life, and can be equipped with powerful hardware. But is it the right laptop for you? Learn the answer to this question in my review:

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024: Who is it good for?

This laptop is an excellent choice for:

• People looking for a reasonably priced laptop for productivity tasks
• Users who prefer a large 16-inch screen and a keyboard with a numeric keypad
• People who want a laptop with excellent battery life
• Owners of other HUAWEI devices who want productive multi-screen experiences

Pros and cons

There are a lot of good things to say about the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024:

• It looks good and has a minimalistic design
• It stays cool and quiet when running normal computing tasks
• Excellent battery life
• The power button acts as a fast fingerprint reader
• It works great in tandem with other HUAWEI devices
• Huawei doesn’t preinstall a lot of apps on this laptop

There are some downsides to consider as well:

• Other similarly priced laptops tend to offer better displays
• Underwhelming webcam
• More USB-C ports would have been useful

Verdict

HUAWEI MateBook D 16, in general, is a good companion for people looking for an affordable mid-range laptop that covers most of the basics they need. It’s good for productivity and office work, attending classes online and doing homework, browsing the web, or developing software. The 2024 version, in particular, adds some welcome upgrades like the latest Intel Core mobile processors, which deliver excellent performance and energy efficiency, but also downgrades things like the webcam and the number of USB-C ports available. If you’re not a power user and want a laptop that strikes a good balance between the price you pay and the value you get, you should add the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 to your shortlist. More demanding users, however, should look for other options.

Unboxing the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

This year’s version of the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 laptop comes in a simple cardboard box with the company logo and a sketch of a laptop printed on it.

The packaging for HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

When you open the box, you immediately see the laptop tucked inside protection foam alongside the fast charger.

Unboxing the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

Inside the box, you find only the laptop, its USB-C 65 Watts power adapter, a quick start guide, and the warranty card. Unfortunately, the review unit I received was missing the latter items. However, they are included in the final retail packaging. One important aspect I noticed as soon as I unboxed this laptop is that its power adapter features HUAWEI’s proprietary SuperCharge technology for fast charging. Therefore, it can quickly charge your laptop and other HUAWEI devices, like the HUAWEI P50 Pro. However, newer phones like the HUAWEI P60 Pro, which I reviewed last year, feature 88-watt fast charging, so you’ll need to stick with the phone’s charger for the best experience possible. For next year’s laptop refresh, it would be great for HUAWEI to upgrade its laptop charging tech to match the speed of its latest smartphones.

What you find inside the box

Unboxing the Huawei MateBook D16 laptop is a straightforward experience. The packaging is aimed at being functional instead of beautiful, and the contents are limited to the essentials. At first glance, I liked that HUAWEI used a USB Type-C charger compatible with many of its phones and tablets.

Design and hardware specifications

As you might expect, HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 is not a radically different laptop when compared to its 2023 predecessor, but a minor iteration that introduces the latest mobile processors from Intel while improving aspects like the laptop’s thickness, which went down from 18.4 mm to 17 mm, and the battery capacity, which went up from 60 Wh to 70 Wh. The laptop is available in two colors: Space Grey and Mystic Silver. The unit I received in testing has a muted, dark-gray tone with a metallic sheen. The company’s logo is nicely imprinted right on the center of the lid. The laptop is 356.7 x 248.7 x 18 mm or 14.04 x 9.79 x 0.7 inches in height x width x depth and weighs only 1.72 kg or 3.79 pounds.

I tested the Space Grey version

As its name suggests, HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 is a 16-inch laptop with a 90% screen-to-body ratio. The screen uses an IPS panel with a 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution, a 60 Hz refresh rate, a pixel density of 141 ppi, and a maximum brightness of 300 nits. While the screen has decent specs, most competitors offer screens with either a higher resolution, a brighter panel, or higher refresh rates at similar pricing.

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 has an IPS panel

The webcam is placed above the display, exactly in the center. Unfortunately, it’s a simple 720p webcam, which can record video at a maximum of 30 frames per second and can’t be used to face-unlock Windows 11 with Windows Hello. On the upside, the Power button just above the keyboard doubles down as a fingerprint reader, allowing for fast authentication.

There are several stickers next to the touchpad and just below the keyboard. One of them says HUAWEI Share. You shouldn’t remove this sticker because you may damage the NFC detection area beneath it, which allows you to connect your laptop easily to HUAWEI smartphones, tablets, and other devices compatible with HUAWEI Share.

Notice the stickers under the keyboard

One small upgrade is that you can open the screen fully to 180 degrees, which is useful in certain situations, such as placing your laptop on a stand upright.

You can open the screen to 180 degrees

Design-wise, the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 resembles its 2023 predecessor. On the laptop’s left side, you find a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port that can be used to fast charge the laptop, the charging indicator, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, one HDMI v1.4 port, and the headset/microphone jack.

The ports on the left side of the laptop

On the right side, you’ll find just one USB 2.0 port. Unfortunately, the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 takes a step back regarding the number of ports available. Previous generations used to have two USB-C ports.

The ports on the right side of the laptop

On the bottom of the laptop, you see the ventilation grids that help keep it cool, the rubber feet for holding it into place, the speakers (on the left and right), the screws that you can use to open the laptop and access its internals, and stickers with information about the product: its exact model, serial number, etc.

The bottom of the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

The HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 introduces the latest Intel Core i9-13900H mobile processor and other 13th Gen Intel processors, like the Core i7-13700H and Core i5-13500H. All models come with an Intel Iris Xe Graphics chip. However, you should remember that in 2024, we will get the 14th Generation Intel Core mobile processors, which may come with a more powerful graphics chip.

You can get it with a Intel Core i9-13900H mobile processor

The RAM can be 8 GB or 16 GB of LPDDR4x made by Samsung, while the storage is ensured by an NVMe PCI-Express v4.0 SSD with a capacity of 512 GB or 1 TB, depending on which model you buy. My review unit was equipped with 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage, as shown in the screenshot below.

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 has a 1 TB NVMe SSD

Network connectivity is ensured by the same Intel AX201 network card with support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, identical to the one found on this laptop’s previous versions. Unfortunately for HUAWEI, the competition offers DDR5 RAM instead of DDR4, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 on other laptops with similar prices.

You get Wi-Fi 6 connectivity

The battery on the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 has a capacity of 70 Wh. However, as I understood from some regional HUAWEI websites, the company will also offer models with a 56 Wh capacity. Therefore, when you buy this laptop, pay attention to these details to make sure its autonomy meets your expectations. Regarding software, this laptop comes only with Windows 11 Home preinstalled. Check this guide for more information about Windows 11 editions and their particularities.

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 comes with Windows 11 Home preinstalled

The HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 looks like a well-equipped laptop in terms of hardware. Besides being slimmer than last year’s model, its display is large, the battery’s capacity is generous, and you can get it with the latest Intel Core processors available on the market right now. However, there are also two main downsides: it has fewer USB-C ports compared to the 2023 model, and you can’t get it with DDR5 memory (it supports DDR4 only).

For more information on technical specifications and the different configuration options of this laptop, I recommend you visit this page: HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024.

Using the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 is a relatively lightweight laptop with a classic look that copies some elements from Apple’s textbook. Although this is a 16-inch notebook, the thin bezels around the screen make it smaller than the norm, and I could easily fit it inside a regular 15.6” laptop backpack. One aspect that I immediately loved was the Power button, which is also a fingerprint reader. When you press it, it scans your fingerprint and then immediately logs you into Windows 11. I found it a lot faster than using face unlock.

The fingerprint reader is awesome

The laptop boots fast and works great for things like browsing the web, working with Microsoft Office apps and documents, running virtual machines, or writing code. All the apps ran well, with no lags and no hiccups, and I was satisfied with the general level of performance.

Office apps work great on the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

The display on the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 is the same as on previous versions of this notebook, and it uses an IPS panel with reasonably good quality and decent outdoor visibility. However, the competition has upgraded its offerings and offers laptops with a higher resolution, refresh rate, or a more vivid OLED panel. Leaving this aspect aside, I like the display size and that I can work with many apps in parallel. However, a higher resolution would have allowed for even more productive use for power users like myself.

The display is a bit dated

Typing on the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 is a pleasant experience. I like that it has a full-sized keyboard, which includes a numerical keypad. I know many users care about having the keypad, even though I don’t mind when it’s missing. Backlighting is also available, making typing easier in low-light environments, and the keys offer nice feedback when pressed. However, just like on previous versions of this laptop, the left Shift key and the Up and Down arrow keys are too small, which often made me accidentally press other surrounding keys. The positioning of the left Shift and the \ keys is especially problematic. On the upside, though, the buttons on the top side of the keyboard are very useful. HUAWEI included the usual F1 to F12 keys but also some custom keys. You can use them to do things like start HUAWEI’s AI Search feature, which is fast in returning results (unlike Windows 11), open the Calculator for quick math, turn on or turn off the webcam, and open voice typing.

HUAWEI's custom keys are useful

HUAWEI MateBook D 16 has a precision touchpad that is large and responsive, with support for gestures with three or four fingers, which can enhance your productivity if you decide to learn and use gestures. During my testing, I found that the touchpad works well but tends to be noisier than others I’ve used. I would have preferred a quieter touchpad.

The precision touchpad works well

As you would expect from a laptop for general office use, the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 includes a webcam. Unfortunately, HUAWEI decided to bundle a 720p webcam, while previous editions of this laptop included a 1080p camera. The “new” 720p webcam delivers poor video quality, and the built-in “AI” effects and technologies can’t compensate for its underwhelming capabilities; they only make them more visible. This is a strange cost-cutting decision on HUAWEI’s part.

The 720p webcam is underwhelming

The audio quality of the built-in speakers is decent. While they sound loud enough when using the notebook on a desk or table, it’s easy to cover the speakers because of their positioning if you keep the device in your lap. Keeping the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 in your lap muffles the sound, making it harder to hear what’s playing. The company offers some settings to fine-tune the sound, and they work reasonably well. You will also appreciate the noise canceling and voice enhancement features for the built-in microphone. They are useful when joining calls on Teams, Zoom, and other platforms.

Changing your Audio settings is easy

HUAWEI did not bundle much software on the MateBook D 16, and that’s great. It helps it start fast and feel snappy during everyday use. To make things even more interesting, the little software included with this laptop is focused on integrating it into the company’s cloud and devices ecosystem. Therefore, if you own other HUAWEI devices like a smartphone or tablet, you can easily connect them to your laptop, share files and clipboard data between devices, enjoy multi-screen experiences, etc.

MateBook D 16 2024 is well integrated with other HUAWEI devices

And if you do not own other HUAWEI devices, you can easily uninstall the built-in HUAWEI apps and stick to the features bundled in Windows 11. You’ll find more information about preinstalled apps in the next section of this review.

The Huawei MateBook D16 2024 offers a good user experience for work, school, and other daily tasks. I like that it’s relatively lightweight, equipped with the latest Intel Core processors, and a reasonably fast SSD. Battery life is good too, but more details will be provided later in this review.

Apps bundled with the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024

The HUAWEI MateBook D 16 lineup always had little preinstalled software, and the 2024 revision keeps the same approach. When you set up the laptop for the first time, you can choose whether to install HUAWEI’s recommended apps:

HUAWEI Recommended Apps

• HMS Core is the basic suite of HUAWEI services attached to your HUAWEI ID. It provides map and location services (useful if your laptop gets lost or stolen) and a collection of proprietary services and application programming interfaces that allow the laptop to integrate with other HUAWEI devices like smartphones, tablets, headsets, etc.
• HUAWEI Mobile Cloud provides access to the company’s cloud storage services. You can sync your files across HUAWEI devices, view the Gallery of pictures from your smartphone, access your contacts, and more. However, you need a HUAWEI ID to use these services across devices.
• Huawei PC Manager is an app that allows you to troubleshoot problems with your laptop, optimize its settings, check for driver and BIOS updates, and manage other HUAWEI devices you may have. This app also installs and activates HUAWEI’s Control Panel, which provides you with access to all kinds of tools and features like HUAWEI Share, AI Search (I found it to be a lot faster and more precise than the default Windows 11 Search), your laptop’s camera and audio devices.
• Tips is an app that provides documentation about your laptop and how to use its many features, especially those related to its integration into HUAWEI’s device ecosystem.

HUAWEI PC Manager

I like that HUAWEI doesn’t bundle many apps and allows users to skip their installation. Except for the drivers you need to get your laptop into working order, everything else is optional, and that’s great.🙂

If you are curious about how the HUAWEI MateBook D 16 2024 performs in real life when running all kinds of computing tasks, how hot it gets, how much power it draws, and how long its battery lasts, I highly recommend reading the next page of this review.