Huawei launched the MatePad Paper Collector’s Edition a couple of weeks ago. This brand-new package includes a genuine leather case and stylus. The MatePad feels more luxurious since the old back platting has been removed and now has a leather backing. This makes it easier to grip and does not leave fingerprints. The original M-Pen was silver, but they changed the colour scheme to white.
There have been some changes with the internal hardware too. It now comes with 6GB of RAM to keep things speedy and robust; there is also 128GB of storage for all your PDF Files and other digital content. You can sign up with a data plan and take advantage of the new LTE internet access that is now available.
One of the benefits of buying the Matepad Paper is that the company is firmly behind it for the long term. Since the device was released last year, countless firmware updates have introduced new functionality and solved bugs. This is a seriously good e-note, there are thousands of reviews of it online, and it is more popular than the Kindle Scribe.
The MatePad Paper features an E INK Carta HD display panel with a 10.3-inch screen and a resolution of 1448×1072 with 227 PPI. It has an impressive 86.3% screen-to-body ratio. There is an anti-glare solution and 32 levels of brightness, so it should be readable both at night. There’s also a built-in wise refresh rate, which automatically adjusts to help conserve battery life. This product is geared towards taking notes and freehand drawing. It will come with a suite of apps to make this possible. It ships with Huawei’s M-Pencil stylus that has 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity and just 26ms latency; it’s designed to simulate the experience of pen on paper accurately.
Underneath the hood is a Kirin 820E 5G with three 2.22 GHz Cortex-A76 cores and three 1.84 GHz Cortex-A55 cores; it also has a Mali-G57 6-core GPU. There is a whopping 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. You will have access to Wi-Fi 6+, Bluetooth 5.1 and the fingerprint sensor built into the power button and a total weight of 360g. Continuing Huawei’s push to connect all its devices as seamlessly as possible, you can click the MatePad Paper on the company’s laptops, PCs, tablets and phones. Huawei says the tablet will appear like a USB drive, and you can drag and drop your notes and annotated PDFs across to your laptop. If this is not your jam, you can use the USB-C port to transfer content to and from the MatePad. It is powered by a 3625 mAh battery and supports 22.5 fast charging; if you plug it in for 1.5 hours, you get six days of use. If you want to keep it secure, there is a fingerprint scanner. The dimensions are 6.65mm thick and 182mm wide, weighing 305 grams. T
his device is running HarmonyOS, which is Huawei’s answer to Android. It provides a slick operating system, and the company has already issued several firmware updates to introduce new features, such as a floating navigation bar and fixed a few bugs. It is nice to see that they are standing behind this tablet. HarmonyOS is an Android fork to sideload your favourite Android apps or alternative markets.
Huawei has a digital bookstore with titles available in a dozen languages. They have several popular books but aren’t available in every language. I recommend sideloading your favourite digital bookstores, such as Kindle, Kobo, or Nook or an unlimited subscription service, such as Scribd. Of course, you can also read library books via Libby, Hoopla or Cloud Library. There’s a Notes app installed and a few options, including paper styles, pen types, font colours, and text boldness. You can convert handwriting to text ready to copy and paste into an email.
You can buy the MatePad Paper Collectors Edition from the Good e-Reader Store for $899.99.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
