Huawei MateView Review: A Marvellous Minimalist 4K Display
During its new product introduction conference on May 19, Huawei welcomed a new member to its Huawei MateView monitor family. Professionals will like the Huawei MateView’s wireless primary color display, while gamers will appreciate the MateView GT’s curved screen display and immersive audio-visual experience.
Huawei Mate phones, tablets, laptops, and displays are all part of the Mate line. With a simple design, a 4K + super large screen with a high-color quasi-primary color display, Smart Bar touch interaction, intelligent wireless connection, and more, the Huawei MateView display is a professional display device that keeps the company’s full-scene connectivity gene. Huawei is a relatively new player in the display business. Aside from providing more options for consumers, the Huawei MateView encourages the advancement of the display industry to new heights.
Price
The MateView with wireless projection has an official MSRP of £599/US$730, and a model without wireless projection has an official MSRP of $620. Although it is not currently available in the United Kingdom or the United States, it is available in select areas through the Huawei shop.
It’s difficult to see how this makes financial sense when you could get equal capabilities, plus a lot more, and global support for $49.99 by getting a Chromecast with Google TV. When compared to any third-party streaming stick that allows casting or Apple AirPlay transmissions, Huawei’s restriction to only particular devices makes it the weakest option.
In addition, when compared to an equivalent 4K display, the MateView is expensive, with a 28in model from Samsung, LG, or other well-known brands costing approximately half as much.
Display and Design
The Huawei MateView is a 28.2inch IPS display with a seriously slim appearance that would go nicely with modern, minimalist decor. With a screen-to-body ratio of 94%, the display is practically bezel-free, with three of them measuring barely 6mm in width. The matte silver finish on the aluminum square stand and base gives it a sophisticated and beautiful look. It is one of the most attractive monitors available today.
The screen may be adjusted for height and tilt but not for swivel or rotation. The Smart Bar is located at the bottom of the frame and is used to alter the display’s settings using touch controls. To traverse the menus, slide your finger along it and tap to confirm your selection. It’s an excellent solution to avoid finicky buttons, albeit it wasn’t always snappy, and the bar takes some getting used to. One thing to keep in mind is that, in comparison to other monitors, the display has relatively limited display options.
If you have a Huawei smartphone that supports NFC, there is an NFC connection point on the base. It allows you to project your screen onto the monitor with ease. You can also project wirelessly from a Windows PC, albeit the performance will be slower than with a cable connection, and you’ll only be able to project at 2K resolution.
A USB-C port provides data transfer and 65W charging to keep your devices charged, as well as two USB-A 3.0 connections, an HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort, and a 3.5 mm headset and microphone 2-in-1 jack, all of which are conveniently situated on the side of the stand. Although you can plug your mouse and keyboard straight into the monitor to avoid having wires crisscrossing all over the place, there is no cable management on the rear, which detracts from the otherwise clean design. It’s also worth noting that only the USB-C and MiniDP connectors can support the full 60Hz frame rate.
Specifications and Features
When compared to the bulk of display products, everything about the MateView is a little strange. It has a peculiar aspect ratio and resolution, and the manner the OSD is accessed is also unusual. The size is even smaller than the previously mentioned 28.2in.
We’re all familiar with 16:9 ratio displays, but a 3:2 ratio hasn’t been widely employed by TV, movies, or any other video format, with the exception of some Apple products and camera sensors. Some laptops, such as the Surface Laptop 4, do use it.
Although you can plug your mouse and keyboard straight into the monitor to avoid having wires crisscrossing all over the place, there is no cable management on the rear, which detracts from the otherwise clean design. It’s also worth noting that only the USB-C and MiniDP connectors can support the full 60Hz frame rate.
Because it is greater vertically than 3840 x 2160 pixels (aka 4K) and less than 5120 x 2880 pixels (aka 5K), the panel resolution of 38402560 is not generally used (aka 5K). This resolution falls in between the two commonly used standards, resulting in a 4.5K resolution. Huawei calls have a resolution of 4K+.
The majority of displays have a row of buttons or a small joystick for control. With a strange rubbery touch area under the center of the screen, Huawei designers went their own way. This device, known as the ‘Smart Bar,’ was designed to serve as a menu slider control and a button to choose alternatives, or so the theory went.
A single tap is required for selection, while two taps are required to decline or exit. If only it worked as easily as that.
Performance
This display’s overall performance is mixed, with some aspects excelling and others falling short of expectations. This screen has exceptional brightness and contrast, and in testing, it came near to attaining 500 nits of brightness and exceeded Huawei’s claimed 1200:1 static contrast levels.
On the other hand, these figures show that the brightness drop-off from the center to the edges of the screen is far too great. The bottom right of the panel is at least 19 percent dimmer than the center, decreasing a 500 nits brightness output to closer to 400 nits, regardless of brightness settings. The other corners are less affected, but they are all at least 10% darker than the center.
While the OSD does not allow for Gamma adjustment, tests revealed that the factory setting is very identical to the 2.2 line. Overall, this is a fantastic screen, and if Huawei could create a better lighting array for it, it could be truly outstanding.
Verdict
The MateView appeared to be something special at first glance, but it proved to be less than ideal in a few areas, owing to some deliberate constraints set by Huawei.
It’s unclear why it couldn’t offer this screen via Miracast or another widely available wireless projection technology. Welding it so tightly to Huawei wireless projection technology reduces the number of prospective customers and makes it less beneficial to those who already have some but also own other brands.
The MateView may be the appropriate screen for folks who have a lot of Huawei gear. Still, when connecting a Google Chromecast into the monitor, the integrated wireless input option falls short.
A more practical choice would be to purchase the normal MateView and add your wireless connectivity, as it has the same superb color gamut, brightness, and contrast. But the main problem is that you can get two 4K displays from a respected manufacturer for less than one MateView. Those panels will almost certainly include VESA mounting, variable sync, and even HDR10 support.
For this solution to gain acceptance, it must be significantly less expensive and less picky about the wireless video streams it will accept.
Lewis McCoy is a professional Software Developer, an avid technical writer, a magazine contributor, and the publisher of guides at canon.com/ijsetup. She hopes to teach people about software in the digital world through her writing.
Source: https://lewis457mccoy.blogspot.com/2021/08/huawei-mateview-review-marvellous.html