Huawei's Matebook X Pro Is A Svelte Surface Book With A Hidden Webcam For The Paranoid

An upward-facing webcam is easily the most controversial feature of the Huawei Matebook X Pro.

- Mark Hachman

Huawei’s Matebook X Pro is what happens when designers boil down Microsoft’s Surface Book line to its essentials, sprinkling a bit of paranoia on top for extra flavor.

Huawei’s flagship notebook improves upon the Huawei Matebook X that the company launched last year. Now with a 3,000x2,000-pixel display that takes after the Surface Book line, the 13.9-inch notebook will be sold in three configurations, with prices beginning at 1,499 Euros ($1,845 USD). Huawei will ship it to North America this spring, the company said.

Three features distinguish the Matebook X Pro. First, the company is offering a discrete graphics option within a 0.57-inch (14.6 mm) form factor—not ultrabook-thin, but not as chunky as the 0.9-inch thick Surface Book 2, either. Huawei also achieved a 91-percent screen-to-body ratio, which helps pare down the bezel to create something that looks close to an edge-to edge display. But that design feature also comes at a cost: Huawei removed the webcam and placed it underneath a function key on the keyboard.