HUAWEI MATEVIEW
Listen carefully, Huawei has a tall tale to tell...
SOMETIMES STANDARDS take hold for no particularly good reason. For proof, look no further than PC monitors and the 16:9 aspect ratio. From a pure computing perspective, there’s isn’t much reason to favor 16:9 over numerous alternatives. But 16:9 is the standard for the HDTV market, so it dominates the desktop, too.
The exception, of late, has been various flavors of ultrawide panels from 21:9 aspect right out to crazy 32:9 monitors. For productivity, however, ultrawide isn’t always super desirable. Enter the new Huawei MateView. It ditches all those wide and wonderful aspect ratios for a much squarer and taller 3:2 format.
Derived from a standard 4K display, the MateView clocks in with 3,840 by 2,560 pixels. So, that’s an extra 400 vertical pixels compared with regular 4K. Squeezed into a 28.2-inch panel, it makes for 163 pixels per inch, or around the same pixel density as a conventional 27-inch 4K monitor.
Huawei says the slim-bezel chassis delivers an impressive 94 percent screen-to-body ratio, while the overall style feels distinctly fruit-themed. That’s perhaps no surprise given that Huawei’s MateBook laptops, which also sport 3:2 aspect screens, pay significant homage to Apple’s MacBook portables.
The MateView looks like a strong performer on paper thanks to 98 percent claimed coverage of the DCI-P3 digital cinema color space and true 10-bit color. It’s also well-specified when it comes to productivity-related features. Perhaps most significant is the inclusion of USB Type-C connectivity complete with 65W of device charging. So, you can drive this monitor with a single cable while charging your laptop and connecting peripherals. If you’re a notebook user, USB-C is the way to go, it’s just so slick and easy. DisplayPort (of the mini variety) and HDMI are also included but note that HDMI is limited to 50Hz.
There’s also wireless display mirroring with support for laptops and smartphones, including keyboard and mouse support. The catch? Wireless phone connectivity is only compatible with Huawei handsets and the wireless PC interface is limited to 2K resolution. As for audio, Huawei says the dual integrated speakers serve up theatrelevel sound (that’s an exaggeration, they are merely adequate), while the dual microphones dampen ambient noise.
But what of the main attraction, image quality? The 4K-plus resolution and 3:2 aspect is certainly great for viewing documents and webpages, with less need for scrolling. With almost 10 million pixels, this is a high-DPI experience, and fonts, in particular, look superb.
It’s no surprise the default calibration matches that of a current Apple MacBook pretty closely, but it looks great in Windows, too. Color presets include DCI-P3 and sRGB, but notably not Adobe RGB. This isn’t a pro-level content creation panel, but it’s still capable of some fairly serious work.
Less impressive is the overall panel punchiness, especially given its 500 nits panel rating. That’s partly down to an opaque anti-glare coating that reduces contrast and softens the image quality.
While we prefer some kind of antiglare coating over glossy-style screens, this Huawei needs a better compromise between reducing reflectivity and maximizing contrast. The pixel response, rated at 8ms, won’t win any awards, but it’s good enough for a non-gaming remit. HDR is supported thanks to DisplayHDR 400 certification, but it isn’t a true HDR display and lacks local backlight dimming.
Ultimately, the appeal of the Huawei MateView hinges on that 3:2 aspect ratio. The panel quality is good, albeit compromised by a poorly chosen antiglare coating. So, the question is whether the taller aspect suits your workflows. If viewing three or more documents or webpages in parallel is your thing, you’ll want something wider. But if more space top and bottom is what you’ve been craving, the Huawei MateView will be a blessed relief. It’s not perfect, but it is a welcome alternative to what has become the widescreen norm.
VERDICT 8 Huawei MateView
TALL GUY Intriguing 3:2 aspect ratio; strong feature set.
FALL GUY Poorly chosen anti-glare coating; aspect not ideal for intensive multi-tasking.
$ 800 consumer.huawei.com