MWC 22 kicks off this week. Yes, the once biggest tech event of the year is still kicking and for its part, Huawei has been leaning into the WFH trend, debuting a slew of new smart office products and solutions.
To that end, there is no new smartphone, but rather a pair of notebooks, an e-reader, a monitor and even a printer.
The move makes a lot of sense, with Huawei still to find its footing on the mobile front now that HMS is the go-to. Add to that HarmonyOS, the desire to create an ecosystem of connected devices and the push for more smart office products becomes more evident.
So what does Huawei have on the cards?
We’ll start with the more expensive tech and there is a new MateBook X Pro for 2022.
This year’s iteration does not look too dissimilar from predecessors, with a 14.2″ FullView display (3120×2080) and 92.5 percent screen-to-body ratio. It also tips the scale at 1.38kg and features more collaborate functionality, capable of serving as an IoT hub for other devices in the vicinity.
In terms of silicon, an 11th Gen Intel Core processor is present, with up to an i7-1195G7 chipset configurable. Intel Iris Xe is also taking care of the graphics, 16 GB LPDDR4x RAM features here and up to 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD is available.
For now, local details on the 2022 MateBook X Pro are yet to be shared.
On the All-In-One (AIO) side of things, Huawei has a refreshed MateView monitor. This iteration is billed as a jack of all trades, compared to the gaming and creator focused MateView GT.
In terms of key specifications, a 4K+ screen is present, touting a resolution of 3840×2560. It is also fully touched enabled and measures 28.2″ diagonally, along with 500 nits of brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate.
Other interesting features include support for wireless projection (akin to Samsung DeX), although this is model specific, while wired projection is standard. There’s also a gesture controlled touch bar for navigation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQkFatOpdrg
Next is an e-reader / tablet in the form of the Huawei MatePad Paper. This is a 10.3″ tablet with an e-ink display and resolution of 1872×1404.
Along with reading ebooks, Huawei is seemingly billing this device as a scribing tool, with an extensive looking note taking app. Added to this is an ability to record audio, attach it to notes and annotate them when needed. There is also a feature that translates handwritten notes to text.
Like many of the smart office devices shown by Huawei over the weekend, the MatePad Paper is able to connect wirelessly with selected hardware, facilitating transfer from one device to the other and vice versa.
The last device we’re highlighting is one that really surprised us – a Huawei printer. It’s called the Huawei PixLab X1 and it is a multifunction laser printer.
If we are honest, there isn’t a lot of innovative technology from a printing perspective at wok here, with the PixLab X1 capable of printing up to 28 pages per minute.
Instead the focus is on ease of printing, with it featuring wireless printing for Huawei phones, as well as over WiFi, Lan or USB cable. There is also the ability to print remotely with the Huawei AI Life app and Cloud service.
As such, this is very much a device for those who have a lot of Huawei tech in their office.
Given how fresh these announcements are, local availability and pricing are yet to be divulged by Huawei South Africa, but hopefully more information is forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.
Either way it looks like the company is pivoting its focus slightly in terms of consumer technology.
