Huawei Debuts Matebook E 2019 Always Connected Windows 10 2-in-1 With Snapdragon 850
2-in-1 convertibles based on Qualcomm's PC-centric Snapdragon Mobile Platforms have been few and far between up until this point. Qualcomm and Microsoft kicked off the "Always Connected" Windows 10 PC initiative back in late 2016 with the Snapdragon 835 and followed up with the Snapdragon 850.
This weekend, we're learning of a new entry into the sparse field with the Huawei MateBook E 2019. Huawei's first ARM-based laptop comes with some pretty impressive specs. The thin and light machine has a 12-inch 400-nit display with a resolution of 2160x1440 and it has a kickstand to hold up the tablet portion (Microsoft Surface style). You can also attach a keyboard to the MateBook E 2019, which turns it into a productivity workhorse for mobile professionals.
Powering the MateBook E 2019 is a Snapdragon 850 SoC, which features an octa-core Kryo 385 CPU paired with an Adreno 630 GPU. Huawei is giving customers the option to equip the machine with either 4GB or 8GB of RAM (LPDDR4X) and a 128GB or 256GB SSD. As you might expect for a modern 2-in-1, there's 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 onboard. And given its "Always Connected" classification, the Snapdragon 850 includes a built-in Snapdragon X20 Category 18 LTE modem that's good for 1.2Gbps downlink speeds (150Mbps uplink).
Other features include NFC, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, fingerprint reader and stereo speakers with Dolby Atoms audio support. Perhaps most impressive is that the power-efficient Snapdragon 850 coupled with the 36.3 WHr battery means that the MateBook E 2019 can last up to 20 hours per charge. The machine will reportedly be available in China starting next month; there’s no word on availability in other global markets.
So far, ARM-powered Windows 10 machines have been praised for the light designs and battery life, but performance has been somewhat lacking -- even with the more powerful Snapdragon 850. However, Qualcomm hopes to squash any concerns about performance with the Snapdragon 8cx Mobile Platform, which should be shipping in systems later this year. Qualcomm is targeting performance comparable to Intel's 8thgeneration Core i5 processor while consuming a fraction of the power.
