With the current Covid-19 pandemic situation in Singapore, it looks like working from home (WFH) will be the norm for a while. And still might be the case for the foreseeable future.
This is when a good monitor is important. Instead of slouching over your office laptop, a monitor lets you sit upright and look at your working documents without straining your neck and shoulders. A good monitor like Huawei’s latest MateView monitor might be of invaluable help.
SPECS
PRICE: S$998, available in Lazada and Shopee
SIZE: 28.2 inches
RESOLUTION: 3,840 X 2,560 pixels
REFRESH RATE: 60Hz
PORTS: 2 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A 3.0, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x miniDP, 1 x 3.5mm audio port
WEIGHT: 6.2kg (with stand)
DESIGN
The Huawei MateView is one of the most beautiful and stunning monitors in the market and frankly speaking, a design masterpiece. In fact, you can fool people into thinking that former Apple design honcho Jony Ive designed this monitor.
It has an all-aluminium casing that stretches from the rear of the monitor to the stand. It looks minimalistic but yet elegant. You would mistake it for an Apple monitor, if it sits in an Apple Store.
The display panel and stand are connected via a a sleek stainless steel hinge. This hinge allows you easily to change the height and tilt the angle of the display panel with the push of a finger.
Not to mention, the MateView features a genius design with its touch-sensitive Smart Bar sited at the base of the display panel. Most monitors have those rear joy-sticks or directional buttons that are difficult to control.
With the Smart Bar, you can easily change settings like input source with swipes and taps. For example, you tap once to confirm an option, double tap to go back, swipe left and right to adjust volume or brightness. This is just so much more intuitive than those traditional controls.
The stand also has a pair of front-firing speakers built into it, as evident by the speaker grilles on its front. At the rear of the stand, there is a mini-DisplayPort, a HDMI port and a USB-C port for power supply.
Furthermore, there are two USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C port (for both connectivity or charging), an audio jack and the power button located conveniently on the right side of the stand.
PERFORMANCE
Most importantly, the MateView features a near bezel-less 4K+ display panel with 3:2 aspect ratio. As a result, it has a resolution of 3,840 x 2,560 pixels giving you more screen space instead of the usual 3,840 x 2,160 pixels.
For example, you can have more content displayed when browsing web pages when you scroll down. In addition, video editors can have their main video screen in 16:9 aspect ratio with more of their editing suite below.
Not to mention, the MateView is said to be professionally calibrated to provide greater colour accuracy. It can display 1.07 billion colours covering 98 per cent of the cinema-standard DCI-P3 colour gamut and 100 per cent of sRGB colour gamut.
FOR
+ Stunning sleek design
+ Gorgeous display
+ 3:2 aspect ratio offers more screen space
+ An array of ports and connectivity options
AGAINST
– Expensive
– Refresh rate only 60Hz
– Not for gamers
I am not a video editor, but I used to edit photos in my past life as a professional photographer. And it is a joy to edit photos with the MateView knowing colours are true to life. Plus, the display has an anti-reflective coating to ensure you can see the details and not yourself.
If you have a Huawei smartphone or tablet, the MateView got several tricks up its sleeves. At the base of the stand, you will find a NFC logo. This is where you can connect compatible Huawei smartphones with the monitor quickly and effortlessly. For example, just tap a Huawei P40 Pro on NFC logo and you can have the smartphone’s screen mirrored on the MateView.
Similar to Samsung’s DeX desktop mode, some compatible Huawei smartphones also has a EMUI desktop mode when you connect them to get a desktop-like operating system on the MateView. And you can do so either via wireless NFC or wired USB-C connection.
You can also wirelessly project your laptop to the MateView, as long as it supports Miracast. And you can choose to either mirror the laptop’s screen or extend the screen.
That said, you can also connect any laptop or desktop to the MateView via wired connection like USB-C or HDMI. For instance, I tried plugging a M1 MacBook Pro to the MateView using the USB-C cable and it works perfectly either as an extended display or a mirrored display.
On the downside, the MateView’s display panel only has a refresh rate of 60Hz. So you are a gamer, you might want to look elsewhere for those gaming monitors with a high refresh rate of at least 144Hz.
To be honest, the MateView’s hefty price tag is quite prohibitive. This is especially so when normal monitors can be as cheap as $200 or less. However, those colour-accurate monitors used by photographers and videographers can go for more than $2,000. And they do not have the half the sleekness and capabilities of the MateView.
VERDICT
Apart from its hefty price tag and the Huawei MateView is magnificent and sleek monitor to have. Whether you are a content creator or spreadsheet specialist, this monitor will definitely be a superb addition to your WFH setup and greatly improve your productivity.
RATINGS
FEATURES: 9/10
DESIGN: 9/10
PERFORMANCE: 9/10
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8/10
OVERALL: 9/10 [SGEEK Editor’s Choice]
