Huawei MateBook D 14 review: Quiet office laptop with a long battery life
The current incarnation of the Huawei MateBook D 14 - an elegant 14-inch office laptop - comes from the model year 2021 and is currently sold at a price starting from around 600 Euros (~$652). It includes an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM (LPDDR4X-4266), and a 512-GB SSD. The competitors include devices such as the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427, the HP Envy 14, the Dell Inspiron 14 5425, and the Acer Swift 3 SF314-43.
We already know the MateBook D 14, since we tested several similar sibling models over the years that shared an identical construction. This includes models such as the Honor MagicBook 14 (Core i7-1165G7) and the AMD MateBook (Ryzen 5 3500U).
Possible Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84.7 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.4 kg | 15.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 78 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2022 | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 20.3 mm | 14.10" | 1920x1080 | |
| 85.6 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2022 | HP Envy 14-eb0252ng i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.5 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 84.6 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2022 | Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR R5 5625U, Vega 7 | 1.6 kg | 18.37 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 86 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2022 | Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP R5 5500U, Vega 7 | 1.3 kg | 16.5 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case and Equipment - The MateBook offers an elegant metal case
Huawei uses an elegant metal case that is kept in a matte grey color (Space Grey). The laptop doesn't show any faults in workmanship, and the base unit and lid offer sufficient stiffness. The maximum opening angle of the lid is 180 degrees. The battery, which is screwed instead of glued in, as well as the rest of the hardware are accessible after removing the bottom of the case.
The laptop has two USB-A connections (1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1) and a single USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 1) that is also used to charge the laptop (Power Delivery). DisplayPort via USB-C is not supported, so with the HDMI port, there is only a single available video output port. The laptop does not offer a storage card reader.
The WLAN transfer rates we determined under optimal conditions (no additional WLAN devices nearby and close distance between laptop and server PC) turn out very good, even though they still remain slightly below the capabilities of the Wi-Fi chip (Intel AX201).
The webcam (0.9 MP, 1280 x 720 pixels max.) of the laptop is hidden in the keyboard, disguised as a key between the F6 and F7 keys. Pressing this "camera" key will cause the webcam to slide out and back in. The camera produces decent results with a relatively low color deviation.
Input Devices - The Huawei laptop includes keyboard illumination
The MateBook D 14 includes an illuminated Chiclet keyboard, with keys that offer a short stroke and clear pressure point. While typing, the keyboard only offers a minimal give, which does not interfere with the typing tasks. The two-step keyboard illumination is controlled with a function key. Overall, Huawei delivers a keyboard here that is suitable for everyday tasks.
The smooth surface of the multitouch-capable ClickPad (~12.1 x 6.4 cm; ~4.8 x 2.5 in) facilitates sliding of the fingers. The pad also responds to inputs in the corners and offers a short hub and clear pressure point.
Display - IPS but dark
The matte 14-inch display with 1,920 x 1,080 pixels offers a good contrast of 1,265:1. However, with a maximum brightness of 258.3 cd/m², the target of > 300 cd/m² is not reached. On the other hand, most competitors aren't much better in this regard either, and only the Envy 14 brings a very bright display.
The display of the D 14 shows some flickering (25,000 Hz) at brightness levels of 30% or below, which could lead to headaches or eye problems for sensitive users.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 77 %
Center on Battery: 291 cd/m²
Contrast: 1265:1 (Black: 0.23 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.98 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.86, calibrated: 3.59
ΔE Greyscale 1.85 | 0.09-98 Ø5.1
43.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
63.3% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
42% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.33
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) Chi Mei N140HCA-EAD, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 BOE CQ NV140FHM-N48, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.1" | HP Envy 14-eb0252ng BOE0929, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR BOE NV14N42, IPS, 1920x1200, 14" | Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP Chi Mei N140HCA EAC CMN, IPS, 1920x1080, 14" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | 61% | -8% | 3% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 42 | 41.4 -1% | 69.3 65% | 39.2 -7% | 43 2% |
| sRGB Coverage | 63.3 | 61.8 -2% | 98.5 56% | 57.4 -9% | 65 3% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 43.4 | 42.8 -1% | 70.4 62% | 40.5 -7% | 45 4% |
| Response Times | -66% | -42% | 12% | -32% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 26 ? | 36.4 ? -40% | 44.9 ? -73% | 23 ? 12% | 37 ? -42% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 17 ? | 32.4 ? -91% | 18.9 ? -11% | 15 ? 12% | 26 ? -53% |
| PWM Frequency | 25000 ? | 25000 ? 0% | |||
| Screen | -36% | 23% | -33% | -4% | |
| Brightness middle | 291 | 213.9 -26% | 451 55% | 292 0% | 259 -11% |
| Brightness | 258 | 208 -19% | 439 70% | 279 8% | 229 -11% |
| Brightness Distribution | 77 | 82 6% | 92 19% | 90 17% | 78 1% |
| Black Level * | 0.23 | 0.21 9% | 0.31 -35% | 0.34 -48% | 0.24 -4% |
| Contrast | 1265 | 1019 -19% | 1455 15% | 859 -32% | 1079 -15% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.98 | 6.97 -75% | 2.46 38% | 6.26 -57% | 3.63 9% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 16.57 | 18.69 -13% | 4.24 74% | 19.14 -16% | 6.53 61% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 3.59 | 2 44% | 1.32 63% | 3.83 -7% | |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.85 | 6.2 -235% | 3.5 -89% | 4.31 -133% | 2.89 -56% |
| Gamma | 2.33 94% | 2.16 102% | 2.24 98% | 2.27 97% | 2.31 95% |
| CCT | 6589 99% | 8084 80% | 7289 89% | 6102 107% | 6759 96% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -34% /
-33% | 14% /
22% | -10% /
-20% | -11% /
-8% |
* ... smaller is better
In the state of delivery, the display offers a decent color reproduction, and with a deviation of around 4, the target of DeltaE < 3 is barely missed. While a calibration only drops the deviation to 3.6, it ensures a more even reproduction of the grayscale. The screen is unable to cover the AdobeRGB (43%), sRGB (63%), and DCI-P3 (42%) color spaces. With this, the panel is not designed for application scenarios that depend on color accuracy. Most of the competitors perform at eye-level here as well, with the exception of the panel of the Envy 14, which offers complete sRGB color space coverage.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 17 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 9 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 8 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 36 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.7 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 26 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 3 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 23 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 33 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.4 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 25000 Hz | ≤ 30 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 25000 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 30 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 25000 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8439 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
The IPS panel, which offers stable viewing angles, can be read from any position. Outdoors, the display can be read as long as the sunlight isn't too bright.
Performance - Huawei uses Tiger Lake
With the MateBook D 14, Huawei offers a mobile laptop in its portfolio that brings sufficient computing performance for Office and Internet applications, as well as simple games.
Test Conditions
You can switch between the manufacturer specific performance modes ("Performance" and "Balanced") via the Fn + P key combination. We performed the tests with the "Balanced" mode activated.
The "Performance" mode can only be used in mains operation with a battery level of at least 20%. The mode justifies its name, increasing the multi-thread CPU performance. In addition, the GPU is allowed to run constantly at its maximum clock speed.
| Performance | Balanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Power Limit 1 | 28 Watt | 25 Watt |
| Power Limit 2 | 60 Watt | 60 Watt |
Processor
The Core i5-1135G7 quad-core processor of the Tiger Lake generation runs at a basic clock speed of 2.4 GHz, which can be increased via Turbo to 3.8 GHz (all cores) and up to 4.2 GHz (single core). Hyperthreading with two threads per core is supported. The benchmark results range around the average levels for the CPU or above, depending on the performance mode used.
The CB15 loop test shows that the CPU Turbo is used constantly during multithread load, but the CPU is only able to run at full speed for a short time period, regardless of the selected mode. After several seconds, the clock speed drops. This behavior is more pronounced with the "Balanced" mode activated than with the "Performance" mode.
Cinebench R15 Multi Constant Load Test
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Average of class Office | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Office (763 - 31245, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (4313 - 7952, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (4113 - 125394, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (19402 - 32283, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Average of class Office (287 - 5398, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1316 - 2172, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (8185 - 115197, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (39000 - 46951, n=45) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (404 - 18321, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3497 - 4445, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (2075 - 66922, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (12569 - 19635, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (28988 - 67977, n=45) | |
| Average of class Office (7254 - 155900, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Average of class Office (78 - 1366, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (265 - 373, n=51) | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Office (432 - 17834, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (2226 - 4291, n=45) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average of class Office (4814 - 55359, n=88, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (9004 - 45366, n=45) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
System Performance
The smoothly running system offers sufficient performance for Office and Internet applications, as well as gaming at low settings. The PCMark results turn out good. The transfer rates of the working memory range at a level that is normal for LPDDR4X-4266 storage (onboard).
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Average of class Office (2463 - 7578, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (4026 - 4952, n=53) | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Average of class Office (5575 - 20841, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (8149 - 9917, n=53) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (3041 - 10415, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (5040 - 6619, n=53) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Average of class Office (2049 - 11108, n=78, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (3548 - 5255, n=53) | |
| CrossMark / Overall | |
| Average of class Office (348 - 1891, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1058 - 1293, n=11) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| CrossMark / Productivity | |
| Average of class Office (393 - 1870, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (1148 - 1332, n=11) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| CrossMark / Creativity | |
| Average of class Office (340 - 2155, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (895 - 1263, n=11) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
| Average of class Office (258 - 2017, n=83, last 2 years) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (923 - 1320, n=11) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 4682 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Average of class Office (7158 - 108783, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (17443 - 63889, n=45) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average of class Office (7325 - 127282, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (19716 - 63705, n=45) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average of class Office (7579 - 117935, n=89, last 2 years) | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (18722 - 66778, n=45) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Average of class Office (7.6 - 185.2, n=86, last 2 years) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (68.3 - 107, n=51) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latencies
The standardized Latency Monitor test (web surfing, 4k video reproduction, Prime95 high load) attests the laptop with fairly low latencies. However, there appears to be a problem with one of the drivers. Future updates might lead to some improvements or also make things worse in this regard.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Solution
Huawei has equipped the MateBook with a PCIe 3 SSD (M.2 2280) from Phison, which offers a storage capacity of 512 GB. The available storage space is split into a Windows (119 GB) and a data partition (337 GB). While the transfer rates turn out good, this is not one of the top models among SSDs. During the DiskSpd loop, it struggles with some slight performance drops due to thermal throttling.
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics Card
Our The Witcher 3 test shows that Intel's UHD Graphics G7-80EU GPU is able to run constantly at full speed (1,300 MHz), as long as the "Performance" mode is activated. The "Balanced" mode will only allow this for several minutes, after which the clock speed is lowered to about 1,150 MHz.
The computing performance is sufficient to bring many less-demanding games at low to medium settings smoothly to the screen, but the D 14 is not a gaming laptop. The 3DMark results and frame rates range above the average for the iGPU that is used, and the fast LPDDR4X working memory shows its worth here.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 6196 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 18654 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 4031 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 1474 points | |
Help | ||
| Blender - v3.3 Classroom CPU | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (463 - 3047, n=51) | |
| Average of class Office (245 - 3964, n=85, last 2 years) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
* ... smaller is better
| The Witcher 3 - 1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing | |
| Average of class Office (12 - 106.3, n=41, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (21.8 - 56.9, n=103) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) | |
| HP Envy 14-eb0252ng | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR | |
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTA V (2015) | 99.1 | 86.9 | 22.7 | 9.22 |
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 72.4 | 41.2 | 22.3 | 11.5 |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 112.1 | 88.3 | 51.1 | 47.5 |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 35.7 | 19 | 19 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 53.7 | 37.3 | 34.7 | |
| Strange Brigade (2018) | 81.9 | 34.6 | 27.4 |
Emissions and Power Management - The MateBook offers a long battery life
Noise Levels
During idle and everyday operation (Office, Internet), the fan usually remains turned off and there is complete silence. Under medium to high load (stress test, The Witcher 3 test), the noise level can increase up to 43 dB(A), but you should take this value with a grain of sand. The MateBook mostly runs quietly or even silently. When "Balanced" mode is activated, the fan activity is kept as limited as possible.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 26 / 26 / 26 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 42.9 / 42.6 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 26 dB(A) | ||
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) Iris Xe G7 80EUs, i5-1135G7, Phison PS5013 311CD0512GB | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 Iris Xe G7 80EUs, i5-1235U, W800S W800SHMQ 512GB SSD | HP Envy 14-eb0252ng Iris Xe G7 80EUs, i5-1135G7, Toshiba XG6 KXG60ZNV1T02 | Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR Vega 7, R5 5625U, SK Hynix BC711 512GB HFM512GD3GX013N | Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP Vega 7, R5 5500U, Kingston OM8PDP3512B-AI1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | 9% | 3% | 3% | 4% | |
| off / environment * | 26 | 23.1 11% | 26 -0% | 25.5 2% | 26 -0% |
| Idle Minimum * | 26 | 23.3 10% | 26 -0% | 25.5 2% | 26 -0% |
| Idle Average * | 26 | 23.3 10% | 27 -4% | 25.5 2% | 26 -0% |
| Idle Maximum * | 26 | 23.3 10% | 31 -19% | 25.5 2% | 27.5 -6% |
| Load Average * | 42.9 | 39.7 7% | 32 25% | 37.7 12% | 34 21% |
| Load Maximum * | 42.6 | 40.7 4% | 36 15% | 43.3 -2% | 38.2 10% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 40.5 | 33 |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
In everyday operation with Office and Internet, the case temperatures remain within the green range. Unter load with the stress test or The Witcher 3 test, the laptop hardly heats up, only reaching a temperature barely above 40 ºC (104 ºF) at a single measurement spot.
The stress test with Prime95 and FurMark running constantly represents an extreme scenario to evaluate the system stability under full load. The CPU clock speed drops from 2.9 GHz in the beginning to 700 MHz to 1.1 GHz during the course of the test. The clock speed of the graphics core drops from 1,300 to 750 MHz.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 39.1 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 34.3 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 41.1 °C / 106 F, compared to the average of 36.8 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.8 °C / 84 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are reaching skin temperature as a maximum (32.5 °C / 90.5 F) and are therefore not hot.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.6 °C / 81.7 F (-4.9 °C / -8.8 F).
| Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs | HP Envy 14-eb0252ng Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs | Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR AMD Ryzen 5 5625U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 | Acer Swift 3 SF314-43-R8BP AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat | 17% | 4% | 4% | 18% | |
| Maximum Upper Side * | 39.1 | 36.2 7% | 41 -5% | 39.1 -0% | 36 8% |
| Maximum Bottom * | 41.1 | 32.2 22% | 43 -5% | 41.9 -2% | 38 8% |
| Idle Upper Side * | 33.3 | 26.4 21% | 29 13% | 31.2 6% | 24.1 28% |
| Idle Bottom * | 34.8 | 28.4 18% | 30 14% | 30.9 11% | 25.7 26% |
* ... smaller is better
Speakers
The stereo speakers produce a decent sound that hardly has any bass, though.
Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021) audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 32.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.5% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (6.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 14.2% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (5.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (30.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 92% of all tested devices in this class were better, 3% similar, 6% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 21%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 88% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 9% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.3 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 17.9% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.8% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.8% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (14% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 7% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 89% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 21%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 15% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 82% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Power Consumption
The power consumption of the laptop doesn't show any conspicuous behavior, and the values are at a normal level for the hardware used here. During the stress test, the power consumption drops due to the lowered CPU and GPU clock speed. The 65-Watt charger provides sufficient power.
| Off / Standby | 0.3 / 0.7 Watt |
| Idle | 5 / 7 / 7.2 Watt |
| Load |
40.5 / 66.1 Watt |
   
| |
Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Metrahit Energy | |
Power Consumption The Witcher 3 / Stress Test
Power Consumption With External Monitor
Battery Life
The MateBook D 14 achieves a runtime of 12:21h in our realistic WLAN test, which applies the loads when opening web sites via a script. This is a very good value.
Pros
Cons
Verdict - A solid office laptop at a fair price
A very good battery life, sufficient computing performance, quiet operation, low heat development, and an elegant metal case: the Huawei MateBook D 14 is able to score in many areas. The price point at about 600 Euros (~$652) provides an additional incentive that makes the laptop even more attractive.
With the MateBook D 14 (2021), Huawei offers an elegant 14-inch laptop that doesn't feel aged, despite having an Intel processor of the 11th generation and belonging to the 2021 model year.
With a Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM (LPDDR4X-4266, dual-channel mode, onboard), and a PCIe 3 SSD (512 GB), the D 14 is well-equipped for office and Internet operation. The amount of working memory should currently be sufficient for most users, but since the memory cannot be expanded, this amount is not future proof.
The matte 14-inch display (FHD, IPS) can be described as one of the few weak points of the laptop. Even though it delivers a good contrast and decent color reproduction, the color space coverage is only low and so is the brightness. In addition, we measure PWM flickering.
An alternative at a similar price level would be the Acer Swift 3 SF314-43. While that offers a higher multithread performance, the MateBook is ahead in the single-thread performance. The SF314 scores with a lower noise development, and the D 14 with a longer battery life. As a higher-quality (and more expensive) alternative, you could also take a look at the HP Envy 14. It offers a very bright display (covering the sRGB color space) in the work-friendly 16:10 format and also has a Thunderbolt 4 port.
Price and Availability
The Huawei MateBook D 14 is available in various European and Asian countries. Due to trade restrictions in the US, it is only available from international vendors there.
Huawei MateBook D 14 (2021)
- 01/23/2023 v7 (old)
Sascha Mölck
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