Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 tablet is fast, beautiful and pricey

Aad Munsterman and Rob Coenraads

A while ago you could read the review of the Huawei MatePad 11.5”S Papermatte Edition on pcactive.nl. This striking 11.5-inch tablet has interesting specifications, HarmonyOS control and an attractive price. How is the new MatePad Pro 12.2 Papermatte Edition different and better? You can read it in our review of the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 inches.

Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2
The dimensions of this beautiful tablet are 271 x 182 x 5.5 mm and it weighs about 508 grams. When unpacking, you will immediately notice the matte PaperMatte screen, which allows you to read the tablet like a colorful, reflection-free newspaper. The 12.2-inch tandem OLED screen has a resolution of 2800 x 1840 pixels and an image refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. Tandem OLED screen? Yes, a tandem OLED screen uses 2 OLED panels on top of each other (tandem) and combines the ‘light’ of the pixels lying on top of each other for an extra bright screen. This brightness can reach a maximum of 2000 nits with an infinite number of exact colors and ensures a particularly beautiful display.
It is also noticeable that the matte screen has no reflections or is anti-reflective and has a paper-like structure, hence the name PaperMatte. You also feel a light structure, which is certainly pleasant when using the touch screen. When writing/drawing with a pen on the screen, it appears that you are working on paper.

Specifications and performance
A HiSilicon chip in combination with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage memory and the HarmonyOS 4.2 operating system give the tablet a flashy processing speed. There are two cameras on the back (13 MP and 8 MP wide-angle), while the front camera is ideal for video calls: in Full HD it delivers 60 frames per second and at 4K it is still 30 fps. By the way, the front camera is nicely incorporated into the screen edge (bezel). This means you no longer have a camera in the screen, a nice solution. The sound comes from 4 speakers on the short sides and sounds fine; the 39Wh battery offers sufficient capacity and thanks to the included 100W charger you can charge this tablet nice and quickly.

Software
HarmonyOS can handle Android and a number of apps are already installed by default, including those for creativity. For example, the GoPaint drawing app is great for getting creative. Furthermore, the Notes app works well: if you write something down with the pen, it ‘translates’ it well into text.
For additional apps you have to rely on the Huawei AppGallery, which has less app selection than we are used to and lacks the Google apps. An option is to use web versions of missing apps, open source initiatives such as microG or the Aurora Store with a very wide range of apps or the already installed Petal Search. By the way, it may be the case that with the update to HarmonyOS Next it is no longer possible to use Android apps, which would be a real shame….

Conclusion
It works well with the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 inch tablet, especially in the combination with pen and keyboard. And as (almost) always, Huawei devices have great hardware: the screen is impressive. Unfortunately, being dependent on the Huawei store and other app stores can be a limitation and the recommended retail price is (somewhat) on the high side.

Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 with 12GB RAM / 512GB storage
Recommended retail price: €849.99, with keyboard and Pencil €999.99
+ nice screen
+ excellent performance
– no Google Play Store
– price