Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Review: A different kind of beast

Huawei has expanded its PaperMatte lineup of premium tablets with the new MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte edition: an even larger, more powerful iteration of its well-received MatePad Pro 12.2 PaperMatte.

The standout feature of this tablet is the huge, 13.2” OLED display that boldly ventures into laptop territory. This matte display is meant to deliver a natural writing and drawing experience, while reducing glare and reflections for an almost paper-like feel. This massive and intriguing display is mounted on a pretty impressive chassis – one that is as slim and light as the latest iPad Pro 13”. This in itself is a great achievement, especially at the MatePad 13.2’s price point.

At just 5.5mm thick and weighing about 580g, the MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte is an impressively sleek tablet. It features the same champagne-colored magnesium alloy frame and nylon fiber back as the MatePad Pro 12.2 PaperMatte, which I reviewed a few months back. These materials feel great to the touch, and perhaps more importantly – give off the impression of being quite tough and durable. I’ve been pretty careful at handling my unit, but I just have the feeling that the nylon fiber back will not scratch as easily as standard glass or metal.

What’s more, the materials Huawei has employed here have probably allowed it to keep the weight in check, which is important considering the size of the tablet. The screen bezels of the MatePad Pro 13.3” PaperMatte are even slimmer than those of the 12.2” tablet. This massive, 13.2” display, surrounded by the almost non-existing bezels, makes for a spectacular view – an immersive viewing experience in an overall footprint that isn’t really so outrageous.

The PaperMatte OLED display of the MatePad 13.2 is meant for hand-writing and drawing. The included M-Pencil 3 works like a charm. Responsiveness is very good, the feel is closer to writing on paper than it is when writing on a normal, glossy display, and pressure sensitivity works great. This tablet is simply awesome for hand-writing, and especially for drawing, thanks to the large canvas.

Meanwhile, the Glide Keyboard is a bit of a mixed bag. First, it’s a two part accessory: one part is a magnetic back cover that doubles as a kickstand, and a second part, which is the keyboard itself. The magnetic back cover is terrific – it is a very elegant way to protect the back side of the tablet from scratching, while at the same expanding usability, thanks to the versatile kickstand. I can only say good things about it.

The keyboard accessory itself is also great – no issues with the typing experience. However, the touchpad, although sizable, isn’t perfectly responsive. It feels somewhat laggy and erratic at times. Scrolling speed using the trackpad is way too slow, which wouldn’t have been a problem, if there was a setting to increase it. Since there is no setting, this makes using the trackpad more of a chore than a convenience. This is one area Huawei should absolutely fix in a future software update.

On top of that, attaching the keyboard part to the tablet is a bit fiddly – not the most convenient process. For the price, we can’t be too mad at Huawei, but some of the issues here can (and should) be addressed via a future update. Fingers crossed this will happen!

At 13.2 inches, the OLED PaperMatte display is the largest in the MatePad series. It offers a versatile 3:2 aspect ratio, 2880 x 1920 px resolution, and an ultra-fast 144Hz refresh rate.

Huawei's anti-glare PaperMatte coating is quite heavy – it is really matte and reduces reflections dramatically. The added benefit of this is the slight texture to the display, which makes writing on it with the M-Pencil 3 a very pleasant experience. It’s very close to a true pen-and-paper feel.

The downside of the PaperMatte coating is that, like any other matte coating, it takes away from the display’s contrast and color vibrancy, making for an overall duller look. Huawei is touting the sophisticated “flexible Tandem OLED panel” that’s used in the MatePad Pro 13.2, and you can tell it’s an awesome display. However, aside from the spectacular viewing angles, you won’t be able to experience the full beauty of this panel, because of the matte coating’s properties.

On the flip side, you get a great writing/drawing feel, way less smudging on the display (unlike any glossy panel), and lack of reflections. Alas, nothing is perfect in life – everything has pros and cons, and you just have to make your choice!

The camera system has been upgraded compared to the MatePad Pro 12.2. There’s a 50MP main camera and an 8MP ultrawide on the rear. I'm very impressed with the quality of both the rear and the front cameras. The front-facing 16MP camera is solid for video calls – it’s definitely an improvement over the 12.2” model – it delivers high detail level and pretty much zero noise.