Introduction
Due to the increasing number of people working from home, PCs and monitors have seen a renaissance in recent years. As a result, it was only natural that all-in-ones would receive more attention. More and more manufacturers are focusing on the form factor - PCs that combine a display, keyboard, and mouse while also simplifying your life.
In the all-in-one market, a few businesses have had considerable success. HP's Pavilion 24 and Apple's 24-inch M1-powered iMac are popular models, while Lenovo and Microsoft offer more upscale options in the Surface Studio 2 and IdeaCentre Yoga, respectively. There's no shortage of options, particularly in the middle of the all-in-one market.
Huawei's MateStation X is the company's first attempt, and it is priced in the higher end of the market. The Ryzen 5 5600H processor starts at £1,800, but the device we're testing is the top of the line Ryzen 7 5800H.
Aside from the processors, the MateStation X's price tag is justified by a premium viewing experience. It boasts a 28.2-inch IPS display with Huawei's popular 3:2 aspect ratio, a 4K+ (3840x2560px) resolution, 500 nits, HDR400 certification, and touch support, as well as a 4K+ (3840x2560px) resolution, 500 nits, and
Even better, you get a premium slim metal design, 512GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and a wireless keyboard and mouse set, the latter featuring a dedicated fingerprint button and an NFC-enabled Shift key.
Hardware and design
Any all-in-one must have a good design. It's supposed to be the focal point of your desk, the thing you'll be staring at for hours on end every day. And we believe Huawei has nailed the MateStation X's design. It's traditional as well as simplistic.
We have the Mystic Silver variant, however there is also a Spay Gray version. Not quite the young look Samsung is going for with its smart monitors, but it's not going to offend everyone.
The display's back is constructed of CNC-machined, sandblasted aluminium, while the base is built of solid metal. The computer hardware is housed in the middle column, which is made of aluminium and plastic and has airflow grilles on both sides. The front-facing three-speaker array is hidden behind an attractive machine-etched grille immediately above the base. Two 2W full-range speakers and one 10W subwoofer are included. There are four microphones on the MateStation X.
The audio quality is excellent. The MateStation X has more bass than other displays or laptops. The sound is richer and more rumbling; at its loudest, music from the MateStation X causes the desk to tremble somewhat. For an all-in-one device, this is more than adequate.
Two USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1, 5V/2A max. charging) and a power button are on the right side, while two USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 1, 5V/2A max. charging, DP1.2 (HBR2) IN/OUT), and a 3.5mm headphone jack are on the left.
The Huawei MateStation X's ports
The MateStation X sports Huawei's logo on the rear and just below the screen on the front. On the front, there are 8mm bezels all the way around the gorgeous display, which isn't quite as thin as Dell's. A 1MP 720p camera is located above the display. It's good for the occasional video call, but you should expect nothing less than mediocrity at this quality.
A wireless keyboard and mouse are included in the bundle. Both contain magnetic chambers for the provided batteries, making them incredibly convenient to use. If nothing else, the mouse is adequate. Its click isn't muffled, but it's not particularly loud. The mouse has no contours to make it more comfortable to use on a daily basis.
On the other hand, the keyboard is fantastic. It contains 104 keys, each with a distinct concave form (except for the space button, of course), making typing a pleasure. It's chiclet-style, with mechanical keyboard-style keys. The only criticism we have is that the arrow keys, while perfectly proportioned, have very little room on each side, causing unintended clicks on the Ctrl and 0 Numpad keys.
The fingerprint recognition is fantastic. We had no problems with recognition or responsiveness after setting up the print. It also supports Windows Hello.
There are no additional USB-C or HDMI cables included, only a single power cord. That's a shame because the MateStation X can theoretically be used as a standalone monitor. However, isn't it not a popular use case for all-in-ones?
In the MateView 28.2, Huawei offers the MateStation X display as a standalone monitor. The display comes with a variety of connectors, including a 65W USB-C port that can be used to connect to a USB-C device and charge it. On the MateStation X, such a port would have been fantastic.
We'd also want to see a few more connectors - there's no SD card slot or Ethernet port, so we had to rely on a USB dongle. However, this raises another issue: neither of the USB-C connectors is Thunderbolt. They only support USB 3.2 Gen 1, which is a far cry from USB 3.2 Gen 2's 10Gbps, USB Gen 2x2's 20Gbps, or Thunderbolt's 40Gbps. The MateStation X's access speed to external SSD drives, external monitors, and speedier SD cards is limited due to the lack of Thunderbolt.
The display stand is another significant distinction between the monitor and the all-in-one. The display can tilt from -5° to 18° and has a height adjustment of 110mm, but the all-in-one can only tilt by 20°. The absence of height adjustment is a major flaw, as you must modify your chair height to sit level with the display, which is essential for good posture.
is at the right arms' length distance from us, it's not really practical to reach out and touch it.
Another distinction between the all-in-one and the monitor is touch capabilities, which is available on the MateStation X but not on the MateView monitor. Normally, we consider having a touchscreen to be a great benefit, but not in this case. When the enormous monitor is at the right arms' length distance from us, it's not really practical to reach out and touch it.
Display
The 3840x2560px resolution on the 28.2-inch IPS LCD results in a pixel density of 164ppi. The display's 3:2 aspect ratio, which is uncommon in the monitor business, is a major selling factor. A normal 16:9 display has less vertical area. When compared to a 27-inch 16:9 monitor, the Huawei has roughly the same horizontal area but significantly larger vertical area.
The display boasts a 60Hz refresh rate, which makes it excellent for office or creative work but unsuitable for gaming (its resolution would also put a strain on the hardware). It includes the entire sRGB colour gamut as well as 98 percent of the P3 space. The display has HDR400 certification and can reach a maximum brightness of 500 nits. The contrast ratio is 1200:1. Despite Huawei's 5-layer AR coating, the panel is glossy and very reflective.
Huawei has included an easy-to-use Display Manager app. You can choose between P3 and sRGB modes, as well as adjust the screen temperature, which is divided into three categories: Default, Warm, and Cool.
The screen gets substantially more bright and contrast is increased when P3 is enabled. Colors are toned down and contrast is lowered in sRGB mode. Huawei claims to have a Delta E of less than one. In our tests, we discovered that the average Delta E in sRGB was 0.7, whereas it was 1.7 in P3 - anything under 2 is considered excellent.
The brightness is fantastic. At the centre, we detected a high of 551 nits, much over the claimed 500 nits. However, consistency is a problem. The brightness dropped by around 15% as you got closer to the boundaries. That's not something you'll notice, but it'll irritate professionals.
The handling of HDR isn't ideal. To begin, go to the Windows settings and enable HDR. Then, when you open an HDR video supported by Windows, you'll see a pixelated image. Extreme contrast and blown-out highlights This occurs when the display's HDR support exceeds the 400-nit limit. Manually lowering the brightness to 400 nits or down achieved the desired outcome, although the region outside the video is darker.
So we turned off HDR in the settings and merely watched the same films in SDR, which made little to no difference in the bright office where we used the MateStation X. If you use the Huawei MateStation X in a dark room, though, you'll be able to enjoy HDR to a far greater extent.
Performance
For testing, we have the most advanced MateStation X. This refers to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, a 7nm chip with 8 physical cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 3.2GHz, a boost clock of 4.4GHz, and a default TDP of 45W. The integrated AMD Radeon Graphics with an 8-core 2.0GHz processor handles graphics instead of a standalone GPU.
The processor is combined with a 512GB SSD and 16GB of DDR4 3.2GHz RAM. AMD's latest 6000 series processors are finally appearing on a few laptops, but we won't see their desktop counterparts until 2022.
To evaluate the Ryzen 5800H's performance, we did a few CPU tests. This is a competent processor, particularly when it comes to multi-core activities. The Ryzen chip does not match Intel's 12th generation or Apple's M1 CPUs in single-core performance, but it excels in multi-core.
Even more impressive, the MateStation X was barely audible under load and seemed to have a decent thermal design. We put the machine through a stress test for around 30 minutes to see how it would handle it. The fans were on all the time, although they were barely loud (around 40 decibels).
The CPU plummeted to roughly 3.3GHz a minute into the stress test and stayed there the entire time. The column that houses all of the computer components and cooling fans got heated, but we couldn't tell because it was concealed beneath the display.
You'd never know the MateStation X was under stress if you were sitting at regular arm's length from it.
Even though it doesn't push the limits of PCIe 3.0, the NVME drive is fairly fast.
The disparity in speed between the two USB-A drives and the two USB-C drives is something we noticed and expect to be an issue with our equipment. Although Huawei claims that the ports are identical - USB 3.2 Gen 1, 5V/2A max. charging - we found that the USB-A ports were speedier when we tested a 95MB/s SD Card with a USB 3.0 card reader and a Samsung T7 external SSD. When connected to USB-C, the maximum sequential write and read speeds were around 40MB/s and 38MB/s, respectively; when connected to USB-A, the speeds were more than doubled at 94MB/s and 88MB/s, respectively. We tested each of the USB-C and USB-A ports separately and found consistent results. We also attempted to update the
The MateStation X uses Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac/ax with 2 x 2 MIMO antennas and Bluetooth 5.1 for communication. There were no signal issues, and the reliability was excellent. We only wish the MateStation X had an ethernet connector built in.
In terms of software, the MateStation X ships with Windows 11 and Huawei's superb PC manager programme. It combines driver updates with other features, such as a convenient reset, to enhance the Windows experience.
Huawei has always had outstanding device integration. The MateStation X can connect to and control your Huawei phone or tablet from the desktop. You can transfer files from your phone to your computer, but not all files are supported, and you can't use the phone while the transfer is in progress.
The all-in-one can be used as a screen extension for a tablet or laptop when connected to another Huawei device. If the other device has NFC, all you have to do is tap it to the right Shift key on the MateView X' keyboard and follow the instructions.
However, because these functions are limited to Huawei devices, we'll classify them as specialised and move on.
To summarise, the Huawei MateStation X is a capable and trouble-free computer. It readily does day-to-day chores and can even handle professional photo editing and prosumer-level video editing if you take the necessary measures, such as using proxies or scaling down footage to 1080p when editing.
Should you purchase it?
The Ryzen 5 5600H variant costs £1,800, while the Ryzen 7 5800H model costs £1,900/€2,200. In a market already crowded with less spectacular but more inexpensive devices, that's a pricey proposition. You're seeking for the absolute greatest all-in-one available at this price, and money isn't an issue. If you want an all-in-one with a great display and capable technology, and you value design over cost-effectiveness, the MateStation X is the way to go.
However, we believe that building your own computer or purchasing a powerful laptop and pairing it with Huawei's outstanding MateView panel is a better option. It's essentially the same display as the MateStation X, but without the touchscreen and with the crucial height adjustment.
Pros
A large touchscreen display is available.
Brightness of 500 nits, HDR-ready at 400 nits
The 3:2 aspect ratio provides for more use in the same space as a 27-inch monitor. Excellent colour fidelity right out of the box
Excellent performance, fans were mostly inaudible, and the heat was kept under control.
For the size, good speakers with good bass.
Excellent design, high-quality keyboard with fingerprint recognition
Cons
Expensive
No SD or Ethernet ports, and the lack of Thunderbolt HDR support is difficult and unintuitive.
Mouse is average.
The webcam resolution is only 720p.
Display is quite reflective.
At the time of writing, Huawei's monitor costs €530, allowing plenty of room to build a PC or buy a laptop.
The MateStation X impressed us with its appearance, display quality, and quiet and energy-efficient operation. However, constraints like as the port selection, lack of Thunderbolt, Ethernet, and an SD card slot, as well as the price tag, make this a difficult purchase.
