Huawei MateBook 14: Who knew a 3:2 display would be such a visual revelation?

For the last million or so years I’ve been working with laptops, yet it’s only this month that I’ve experienced a 3:2 display on one of them. It’s the 3:2 display on the new Huawei MateBook 14 Core Ultra (2024), to be exact and, visually, it’s an absolute banger. I love it. So why aren’t all laptops built to this ratio? Is it just a bad habit that they are still made in 16:9? And how the hell do you pronounce Huawei anyway?

Of course, it helps that the MateBook 14’s display is also 2.8K and OLED – plenty of visual swag for it to make our list of the best laptops for graphic design (apart from it has one fatal flaw – more on that below). But this laptop has oh-so-much-more than a saucy display. Let’s dive into why the Huawei MateBook 14 Ultra Pro is probably the best laptop that you will likely never own…

3:2: a better ratio

So, this 3:2 ratio. It just makes sense, especially if you’re office-based, and your average day is spent scrolling through spreadsheets (a job even for the most creative of creatives), or if you’re consuming visual media, art or design. Putting the MateBook 14 next to my MacBook Air (M1, 2020), and my beloved Air looks positively squished. I kind of feel like I raise my eyes, head and whole being when looking at the taller MateBook display. You can take in so much more information in the vertical view.

Also, with an OLED display, and 120hz refresh rate, this 14-inch portable lappy is surprisingly able to do a lot more than a productivity laptop should. No, this will not be on our list of the best gaming laptops. It doesn’t have a dedicated GPU, and though the refresh rate is lovely and smooth for scrolling around the internet world and streaming HD films, the Core Ultra was jittery when I fired up Manor Lords (best game ever, right?!), so I’d flat out ignore playing too many AA and AAA games on this baby.

Design: Very good, very nice

The Huawei MateBook 14 Ultra Pro comes in a lovely, soft green shade that just makes me smile. Because how many more charcoal laptops do we need? It’s a subtle design note, but one that actually makes it more enjoyable to use. You notice it every time you pick it up, and when you leave the room, and then come back, ‘Oh look! There it is, all green. Isn’t that nice…’ I’ve made my point.

There’s quite a lot of MacBook-Air-2020-chic going on here. Everything from the wedge profile to the excellent keyboard and the aluminium chassis reminds me of the M1 Air. However, you get fingerprint security with the 14 Core Ultra, and a more varied set of ports, including an HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, one USB-A on each side, and one USB-C.

Yes, having one USB-C port (not Thunderbolt 4) means you don’t have a USB-C port to use when you’re charging it. And that’s dumb. But… THE LAPTOP’S GREEN, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!!

Specs: Clever inside

Huawei MateBook? More like Huawei MateBook Air 14 M1 CoreBook 2020! Amirite?! Well, I think it’s clever that Huawei went for a 2020-M1-Air-killer-vibe, as it’s got the retro look going for it, but then totally over-delivers in a number of other areas. You get the OLED mentioned above, 2.8k display, but it’s also a touchscreen – something I’m fairly amazed that I haven’t mentioned before this point – and comes with a stonking 16GB RAM and either 512GB or 1TB storage. That blows even the current Apple Airs out of the water, with the standard iteration’s meagre 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. They’re about the same price too. That’s just wild.

When looking under the hood, you’ll be greeted by either an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H, or an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor 125H, and for graphics, you’ve got the dedicated Intel Arc graphics. This all makes productivity and content consumption ‘tasks’ absolutely pop off the screen (YouTube can be a rich source of inspiration for work, I’ll have you know).

Should you buy? More like, can you buy?!

Look, the Huawei MateBook 14 Core Ultra makes me happy. Look at the photo above. That’s me smiling because I’m thinking about how awesome this portable, beefy, beautiful laptop is. But there’s a fly in this ointment. More like a dirty big wasp, really. This laptop is incredibly hard to get hold of if you live in the USA. Live in the UK or Europe? Go ahead and get £200 off – down from £1,199 to £999 – over at the official Huawei site.

But the US government believes that the Chinese company is using their products to listen in to their conversations. And they may be right. It’s all a bit ‘pot, kettle, black’, if you ask me. But there you have it – if you want this excellent laptop in the US, you’ll have to get it imported from god knows who, which is less than ideal.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for the US market, as I personally haven’t felt surprised and excited about a laptop since I got my 2020 M1 MacBook Air. However, if you can get a hold of one of these beauties, I highly recommend you do. It could make you all sorts of happy.