Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 review: Doodler’s delight

Huawei has released a lot of tablets this year, and with each new model that crosses my desk, I seem to dub it the best Android tablet for illustration and digital art. Now, the MatePad Pro 12.2 has arrived, and it’s gunning for that title yet again.

So, what makes these tablets so good for doodling, you may be wondering? It’s a combination of Huawei’s ultra-low-latency NearLink stylus, the textured anti-glare PaperMatte display options and Huawei’s exclusive GoPaint app – which is basically a clone of the extremely popular (and iOS-exclusive) Procreate.

With this latest slate, Huawei is bringing dual-layer tandem OLED tech and a PaperMatte finish together for the first time. There’s also a massive battery, fast charging, loads of speakers and a new thoughtfully designed keyboard cover. It’s off to a promising start.

However, this is a Huawei product, and, unfortunately, that comes with some baggage. There’s no access to Google services without workarounds, and you won’t find the latest Qualcomm chip here either. Is this tablet still worth considering? I’ve been using it for the last week in an attempt to find out.

Design, Build & Accessories

• Unique Golden Silk finish
• 5.5mm thick, 508g
• New Glide keyboard and M-Pencil

With a 12.2-inch display onboard, it’s no surprise that the MatePad Pro 12.2 is a fairly sizeable tablet. Thankfully, the use of slim, symmetrical bezels keeps the size in check, while it’s fairly lightweight and so portable enough to take on the road.

Huawei says it’s the lightest 12-inch tablet ever, tipping the scales at just 508g without accessories. For reference, Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro weighs in at 579g, while Samsung’s 12.4-inch Tab S9+ weighs 581g. There’s not a massive amount in it, but for what it’s worth, it feels dense and premium without being a pain to carry.

My sample has Huawei’s new Golden Silk finish on the rear, and it’s a unique look that I’m sure will divide opinion. It has a matt, paper-like texture to it, plus a pattern of interwoven lines that become visible as the light hits it. The back of the device looks and feels a bit like fancy wallpaper. Personally, I think the darker Black finish is slightly more appropriate for a ‘Pro’ device, but it’s nice to have options.

The back of the device looks and feels a bit like fancy wallpaper

On my sample, the side rails have a matt golden finish that’s quite grippy and doesn’t pick up fingerprint smudges. There’s a combination fingerprint reader and power button on the top side, a volume rocker on the right and a USB-C port on the base. Elsewhere, you’ll find lots of small holes for the tablet’s vast array of speakers and microphones.

The MatePad Pro 12.2 can be purchased with an optional new keyboard cover called the Glide Keyboard, and it’s a massive design change compared to previous iterations. It’s all one piece, rather than being a separate kickstand and keyboard section, and this means you get a much more robust hinge as part of the package.

Most designs use a kickstand on the rear of the tablet to adjust the angle of the screen, while the keyboard section can flop about with no resistance. This means they work great on a desk, but they’re really difficult to use on your lap. The new Glide Keyboard works more like a traditional laptop – you can freely adjust the angle of the screen and it’ll stay where you put it.

There are two pre-set magnetised positions for the tablet to sit at, and you get a decent range of forward motion on the hinge using either one. Neither can tilt backwards from their starting point, but instead, you can move the tablet forward, leaving only the trackpad accessible in what Huawei calls Studio mode.

The hinge has a hidden compartment for storing your M-Pencil, behind where the tablet sits, and it’ll charge when it’s stowed in this location. It’s a much more secure solution than magnetically attaching the stylus to the side of the tablet, where it can easily pop off and get lost when you put it in a backpack. However, if you prefer, it still attaches and charges in that location, too.

This new keyboard is much nicer to type on than traditional designs – it has very natural feeling spacing, a stiff and rigid deck and a good amount of key travel. My only complaint is that there’s no delete key, so you have to use function and backspace together.

The large trackpad works flawlessly, and overall I’m extremely impressed with the Glide keyboard. There are a few downsides, though. 

The new hinge design sticks out further than the tablet when folded down, increasing the overall footprint. It’s also a lot heavier than a typical keyboard cover, which negates some of the weight savings of the tablet itself. It’s about 420g for the keyboard cover alone, or 928g for both combined. Not exactly lightweight, but still lighter than most laptops.

Screen & Speakers

• 2.8K 144Hz Tandem OLED display, PaperMatte option
• 2000 nits peak brightness
• 8 speakers and a 3.5cc rear chamber

Arguably the biggest upgrade with this model is the dual-layer tandem OLED display, similar to the latest iPad Pro models and the Honor Magic 6 RSR.

If you’re not familiar, this tech essentially doubles up on OLED panels to achieve a higher brightness output with less stress on the individual pixels. The result should be a display that lives three times longer than a traditional OLED and has a much lower risk of burn-in when maxing out the brightness levels.

The big difference here is that the technology has been combined with Huawei’s PaperMatte display tech for the first time. So you get a massive 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a speedy 144Hz refresh rate, up to 2000 nits of brightness and a luxurious anti-glare coating that looks and feels like paper. There’s also no notch or cutout in this display, as Huawei has managed to squeeze the front-facing camera into the slim bezel. 

If you’d prefer, you can opt for a traditional glass coating, and that might be the way to go if you want the best black levels for indoor viewing. Personally, though, I absolutely love the PaperMatte finish. It makes the tablet infinitely more usable outdoors, as it almost completely eliminates distracting reflections. At the same time, it’s extremely smudge-resistant, has a velvety feel on your fingertips and adds some much-needed friction to the stylus tip when you’re doodling.

I absolutely love the PaperMatte finish…it almost completely eliminates distracting reflections

HDR content looks gorgeous on this display. The shadows are dark and detailed, and the highlights are eyeball-searing. As mentioned, the regular glass screen will give you slightly deeper blacks, but I think the low reflectivity of the PaperMatte display is a worthwhile trade-off. 

There are some software limitations to be wary of, though. I watched most of my HDR content through YouTube, which isn’t available by default and had to be sideloaded. The same goes for Netflix, but the lack of a Widevine L1 certification means you’re stuck with SDR streaming. So, while the display looks gorgeous, you’ll need to investigate carefully if the services you use play nicely with Huawei’s OS.

When it comes to audio, Huawei is swinging for the fences again. You get a whopping total of 8 speaker drivers, combined with the brand’s largest ever rear cavity speaker chamber for a more full-bodied sound. 

The result is an astonishingly loud sound output, and an impressive amount of bass, considering this is a tablet that’s just 5.5mm thick. The audio quality comes close to rivalling budget Bluetooth speakers, and you certainly won’t need to grab your headphones to enjoy watching content around the house.  

Specs & Performance

• Likely Kirin 9000S chipset, but not confirmed
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB Storage

When asked what chip is inside the MatePad Pro 12.2, Huawei declined to comment, but GSMArena has it listed as the Kirin 9000S. Whatever the case may be, it’s undoubtedly one of Huawei’s own Kirin chips, likely similar to the one found in the Pura 70 Ultra. My sample has this mystery chip paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

US sanctions prevent Huawei from using many of the latest and greatest chips, so whatever is in here, it’s not likely to rival the latest and greatest from Qualcomm or MediaTek – and that’s probably the reason behind the coyness.

Despite that, the tablet performs well in use. I never noticed any slowdowns or stuttering, even during heavy multitasking. Huawei has done well to optimise its software for the platform and the result is a tablet that feels snappy and responsive at all times.

Huawei has done well to optimise its software for the platform

Our benchmarks show that the MatePad Pro 12.2 is behind the competition, but it’s not awful in computational workloads, falling just shy of Google Tensor G4 performance in Geekbench 6. However, in GPU-heavy benchmarks, the gap quickly widens. It’s certainly not the top option for gamers.

That said, in the real world, the MatePad Pro 12.2 can run most games without issue. To my surprise, Genshin Impact on high settings remained completely playable at 30fps. There was the odd slowdown during an intense battle, but it’s not awful.

Stick to the medium preset and you can enjoy a solid 60fps experience. You’re not likely to find a game where you can take full advantage of the speedy 144Hz display, though.

Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2 PaperMatte Edition benchmarks

Cameras

• 13Mp f/1.8 main – 4K 30fps video
• 8Mp f/2.2 ultrawide
• 16Mp f/2.2 selfie – 1080p 30fps video

Tablets usually have pretty mediocre cameras, and unfortunately, the MatePad Pro 12.2 is no different.

The front camera is decent enough for video calls, but it’s not likely to wow anyone. There’s no autofocus and the FOV is a little tighter than I would have liked. It’s a pretty small sensor, so it gets noisy in the dark, but stick to well-lit areas and it’ll get the job done.

Around the back, you get a 13Mp main camera and an 8Mp ultrawide. The main camera is the best, but it’s still unimpressive. It does, at least, have reliable autofocus and it supports 4K video recording at 30fps. It’s worth noting that there’s no optical image stabilisation, and the electronic stabilisation isn’t the best, so you’ll need steady hands to make the most of this feature.

The front camera is decent enough for video calls, but it’s not likely to wow anyone

For some reason, Huawei has added a 10x zoom button to the camera UI, but I would refrain from pressing it. The results are so pixelated that they look like were taken with a GameBoy.

The ultrawide is about as basic as they come, and there’s some barrel distortion at the edges that gives it a bit of a GoPro look. It’s there if you need it, but unless you’re scanning a QR code or you’re on a video call, you should probably pull out your phone instead.

Battery Life & Charging

• 10,100 mAh battery pack
• 14 hours of video playback/380 days standby time
• 100W fast charging

The MatePad Pro 12.2 has a massive 10,100mAh battery, and the brand claims this can give you up to 14 hours of video playback on a charge. Huawei also advertises exceptional standby time: apparently, it can last for over a year while sitting idle, then wake up again within 12 seconds.

Having only had the tablet for a week or so, I couldn’t put that standby time to the test, but I’m glad to hear some work has been done in that area. Tablets, more so than most devices, tend to be used intermittently, and nothing’s more frustrating than picking up your slate to find that it’s drained itself in the drawer.

Ironically, that scenario would be less of a pain with this tablet, as it supports lightning-quick 100W fast charging. The charger comes supplied in the box, and it’s enough to take you from fully flat to fully charged in under an hour.

Throughout my testing, the battery life has been phenomenal. I’m not the sort of person who uses a tablet for a full workday, but with a few hours of browsing, illustrating and content-watching most evenings, I found I only needed to charge once a week. 

Throughout my testing, the battery life has been phenomenal

Software & Apps

• HarmonyOS 4.2
• Exclusive GoPaint and Huawei Notes apps
• No Google service support

This tablet has impressed me in almost every area so far, but it’s the software where things get complicated. Huawei’s products don’t have access to Google services by default, there’s no Play Store, and you have to rely on Huawei’s App Gallery instead.

My online life is very much tied to Google platforms like Drive, Gmail and YouTube, so a device without those services is all but useless to me. I’m sure many of our readers feel the same way. Thankfully, there are numerous workarounds to get these working. 

The most seamless is a combination of the MicroG Project and the Aurora Store. You have to be ok with a bit of work, but once everything’s done, you’ll have Google’s apps running almost natively. You can expect some minor bugs and oddities from time to time, but for the most part, I have had no issues running apps this way.

Tech-savvy people who don’t mind jumping through a few hoops can make this tablet do anything that any other Android tablet can do

In short, this means tech-savvy people who don’t mind jumping through a few hoops can make this tablet do anything that any other Android tablet can do. However, those who are looking for a simple plug-and-play solution should steer well clear.

Aside from Google-related frustrations, HarmonyOS 4.2 is a well-laid-out and easy-to-navigate skin. It runs very smoothly and I think the aesthetics are quite refined, too. It is still based on Android 12, which is strange, but Huawei has added so many of its own features that you might never notice.

HarmonyOS plays very nicely with other Huawei equipment, and it can automatically recognise nearby devices for quick pairing and file sharing. I love that I can just magnetically attach the keyboard or stylus and the software will pop up a notification asking whether to connect or not. It’s all very streamlined.

The biggest advantage of this OS, though, is an app called GoPaint. Huawei developed this app specifically for its tablets, and it’s almost an exact replica of Procreate. No points for originality, but it’s what the people want.

If you aren’t familiar with it, Procreate is an iOS-exclusive digital painting/illustration app, and it’s so well-liked that it’s the sole reason a lot of artists buy an iPad. With GoPaint, Huawei tablets provide an almost identical experience for Apple ecosystem avoiders.

Huawei is continually improving GoPaint, too. There are now over 80 different brush settings, adjustable flow rates, more support for imported brushes and additional canvas and paper-textured surfaces. All of this, combined with Huawei’s incredibly low-latency stylus, makes for the best digital painting experience on an Android device.

Huawei’s Notes app is extremely feature-packed, too. It’s not something I use as much, but if you like taking handwritten notes, it’s among the best. New features included single-tap split-screen note viewing, and the ability to replay recorded audio in sync with your written notes.

Price & Availability

The Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2-inch PaperMatte Edition is available to purchase now in the UK, both directly from Huawei and via third-party retailers such as Amazon.

It’s also available in select European regions, but as usual, you won’t be able to buy it in the US.

It’s available in two varieties, you can opt for the Black version with 256GB storage and the Glide Keyboard included for £699.99, or you can choose the Gold model with 512GB of storage and the Glide Keyboard for £799.99.

If you order directly from Huawei, there’s an introductory offer that slashes £100 off the price and also nets you a free Huawei M-Pencil 3rd Generation. The M-Pencil is normally sold separately for £129.99, so it’s a pretty cracking deal.

The MatePad Pro 12.2 is very competitively priced, especially compared to the only other dual-layer OLED tablet on the market, Apple’s iPad Pro. A 13-inch model will set you back £1,299 in the UK, and it doesn’t come with a keyboard or stylus. The same goes for Samsung’s Tab S9+, which starts at £999 without accessories. If you want to check how those compare, have a read of our guide to the best tablets.

Should you buy the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2?

There’s a lot to love about the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.2, especially if you’re a digital artist.

It has one of the brightest and most impressive displays of any tablet, and that’s only elevated by the velvety coating. The battery life is exceptional and it charges quickly. The upgraded keyboard cover is one of the nicest that I’ve come across, and of course, there’s the exclusive GoPaint app and lag-free stylus.

However, on the flip side of that, you get a slower-than-average processor, an old version of Android and you’ll need to tinker to get any Google apps working. You don’t get full-quality Netflix content, either. Casual users will get more for their money elsewhere.

The hardware is excellent, and certain aspects of the software are too, but there’s a lot of baggage when you choose a Huawei tablet. For the right person, one who mainly cares about having a great tool for illustration and art, this is an excellent tool that’s easy to recommend. However, everyone else should probably look at a tablet from another manufacturer.

Specs

• Kirin 9000S chipset (unconfirmed)
• 12GB RAM 
• 512GB non-expandable storage 
• 12.2-inch, 2800 x 1840 dual-layer OLED display with matt coating 
• 144Hz refresh rate 
• 10,100 battery 
• 100W fast charging (charger included)
• 13Mp f/1.8 main camera
• 8Mp f/2.2 ultrawide camera
• 16Mp f/2.2 selfie
• 8 speakers 
• HarmonyOS 4.2
• 271.3 x 182.5 x 5.5 mm
• 508g (tablet only)