Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsStylish, Lightweight, Great Screen But Average Battery Life
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2018
Ideally I'd like to give this 4.5 stars, with my only gripe being battery life. My main use of this computer is a little bit of data handling in Microsoft Excel and Rstudio, alongside watching movies and general internet browsing. I have so far found that on a single charge I can expect 3.5-4 hours of battery life whilst streaming movies (using ~70-80% brightness). This was a little less than what i was expecting, but never the less, I can make it work.
I had read reviews on issues with the back lighting of the keyboard and issues with the mouse pad, but as far as I am concerned both perform just as well and if not better, than my old Macbook Air. It is comfortable to type on, and i find that the mouse pad is responsive and easy to manoeuvre and for the three weeks that I have had this, I have had no issues with either aspect.
I had also read that i should expect it to get hot whilst charging or doing onerous tasks. I have not experienced this yet and have found the bottom of the laptop to never be uncomfortable, or even slightly uncomfortable even when doing intensive tasks. Another positive note is that with the lack of fans, this laptop is silent.
Another thing which is not necessarily a gripe on my behalf but something that others may want to be aware of, is the lack of ports on the laptop. If you've done your research you will note that it only has two USB C ports (one for charging) and one 3.5mm headphone jack. You do get a "matedock" which provides you with a couple extra ports, but is an additional thing you need to carry around. However, for my uses, 2 USB C ports is just fine and in no way effects my enjoyment of this laptop. So just be aware of this when you buy it.
The screen is excellent, it is bright and the bezels are very thin, making it stylish and enjoyable to do my day to day computer based tasks. The unit itself looks and feels professionally made, it feels solid whilst being incredibly portable due to how light it is. I have had no issues with the software and find that it runs smoothly and quickly. It would be nice to have a bit more RAM, but for the price I paid this was an incredible bargain, being more than $300 cheaper than a comparably spec'd Macbook/Surface.
Overall I enjoy using this much more than my old Macbook Air. I wanted something that looked as stylish, could perform moderately intense tasks and was as portable but with Windows and so far the Matebook X has been an excellent option.
