[Official] Huawei Matebook X Pro Owners Lounge

This is a thread to discuss your shiny new Matebook X Pro and share helpful information with fellow owners.

 

Got my Matebook X Pro, i7 8550U/MX150/16Gb/512Gb. The MX150 in this laptop is the slower 1D12 variant or the "Max-Q" version. It is around 20 to 25% slower than the regular MX150, although from my experience, still quite a capable GPU.

From completely powered off this thing boots up very fast. Placing my finger on the power button and pressing it down, it quickly reads my finger print and I'm at the desktop ready to work or play in around 6 seconds (you don't need to hold your finger on it for more than one second).

DPC latency is fine, no issues whatsoever. I run Ableton and the Matebook has no issues running it with complex projects with many tracks, samples and synths being used. It's definitely a viable laptop for music production and Ableton looks sexy as hell on this awesome screen.


The keyboard is an absolute joy to type on, quiet and comfortable with a very nice amount of travel.

The touch screen is one of the best I have ever seen and experienced and I really love the 3:2 aspect ratio. I wish more laptop makers would adopt this. The extremely thin bezels are impressive and a sight to behold.

Also running games at lower resolutions with similar aspect ratios on this screen still looks stellar. For example, Running 1280x800 on this screen still looks sharp. This is an excellent gaming advantage as we can run games at lower res with better settings and high frame rates while not having it look bad like it does when lowering resolution on say a 1080p panel.

This laptop does get quite hot. In a 26c ambient temperature room, it Idles around 50c and can get up to the low 80s under heavy loads like running Battlefront II for extended periods of time. The keyboard gets warm and the metal part above the keyboard gets uncomfortably hot to the touch. The MX150 hovers in the low to high 70s. The bright side is that this laptop doesn't appear to thermal throttle. Under heavy loads for long periods of time with high temps, gameplay remains smooth.


EDIT: after the tweaking mentioned below, the Temps shown above no longer go above 77c in any category.

The SSD is the Toshiba XG5. Writes are weak but apparently this is due to a Windows update issue that causes this particular drive to have much slower writes than it should.


I know some of you will be interested in how the Matebook X Pro will perform with an eGPU setup. As I don't have an eGPU I can't really say, however, I came across this excellent post about it at reddit in which a guy with the exact same model as mine does some in depth testing with his eGPU (GTX 1080Ti) and finds some interesting and surprising results. Here is the link to that thread for those of you who are interested in this laptop and eGPU. https://www.reddit.com/r/Huawei/comments/8niq84/matebook_x_pro_i7_3d_mark_scores_razer_core/

So far I am really loving the Matebook X Pro, but the heat is bothersome. While the CPU and GPU never get near their danger zones I worry about the other components that are packed closely to them. I have tried undervolting but I was only able to manage -0.085v on the core and cache and -0.050v on the iGPU. This hasn't done much to reduce temperatures though, I had only gotten a 1c to 2c reduction from that. So far I haven't been able to get access to the MX150's voltages, and can't undervolt it.

Update: I have decided to keep this laptop. It's just awesome to have this kind of power in a less than 3 pound package. I have found that running games but keeping it in "better performance" mode instead of "best performance" mode and setting the maximum processor state to 99% in the power settings to run all 4 cores at the stock 1.8Ghz results in around a 5c decrease in temps on my system. CPU now gets to a max of 77c over prolonged periods of heavy gaming in a 27c ambient temperature room and the MX150 gets to 76c. I'm quite happy with those temps and very happy with the performance.

 

Can you post some screenshjots of the temps under load? Have considered one of those matebook X but unsure about the temps. I realize they are not high end performers, but nevertheless pretty portable with insane batterylife.

 

That is a sexy little beast, though what they did with the webcam is a letdown. Not that you'd do a ton of gaming with this thing, but if you use the function keys often, I have to imagine hitting that switch will be a problem.

 

I bought one, it's pretty rad

 

I just got my i7 version yesterday; so far so good.

The only issue I've run into is that out of the box, I was getting well over 3000 mb/s reads and 1200 mb/s writes. However, after updating Windows to KB4100403, my write speeds have dropped to just over 450 mb/s.

Evidently, it's a known issue. So, if you value write speeds, hold off on updating Windows until there is a solution.

 

I've updated my second post with a bit of info.

 

I have the i7 mtebook x pro. Also have an Aorus 1080 box arriving in the mail tomorrow hopefully. Looking forward to testing it out.

 

Nice!

Let us know how the setup goes, as well as the performance.

 

Yeah, got it to play nice with the matebook finally. Sort of disappointed in my 3DMark Firestrike scores (like 8600 combined score). Keep in mind this is running it with the internal laptop display not an external monitor, so the video is being sent back through the 2 lane channel. I suspect I will get maybe a 30 percent performance boost if I switch displays. This can also cause frame rate fluctuations (4 to 5fps dips quite often). I haven't had time yet to hook it up to a display, will do that later tonight. The Aorus Box is pretty awesome though. Super small compared to my Alienware amplifier and super quiet. In fact, its so quiet I think maybe its not running at full throttle. The Aorus Enginge software doesn't seem to be working right. I'm gonna tinker some more. wishing the i7 matebook had 4 lanes in the TB3. Does the i5 matebook without the MX150 have 4 lanes? Have 2 weeks to play with the Aorus Box or send it back.

 

I have no idea if the i5 has 4 lanes, no one has mentioned anything anywhere on that yet unfortunately. Also, you can fix a stuttering issue when using an eGPU by disabling the MX150 in device manager. From what I've read in another forum, using an external display resulted in the guy getting an approximately 35% performance increase.

 

Got 4457 in time spy (not overclocked) using the built-in display. This compares with someone using the new Razer Core X and a 1080ti with a matebook x pro i7 who got 4716 on Time Spy using the built-in display as well. So I think I have it working right.

 

Installed latest thunderbolt 3 drivers, did the aorus box firmware update, frame rate dips, micro stutters or whatever seem to be gone. Getting good playable rates with rise of the tomb raider at 1920x1200 on high and overwatch, while using the built in display. So leaning on keeping the box.

 

Running from the Aorus box to my Sony 4K tv I get 12888 firestrike (not overclcked) which is great!

 

Time Spy scored a 5198

 

Nice scores!

 

yeah, so about a 15 percent decrease using the laptop display with time spy. also, switching the display resolution down to 1920x1080 and running the programs at that resolution makes a big difference. Overwatch plays much smoother if I do that extra step rather than keep the resolution at 3000x2000 (even if in fullscreen mode the game is running at 1920x1080). Wish I could get powerstrip to work with this laptop, its a nice little program that will automatically switch the display resolution for each program I assign.

 

Running 1920x1200 is a better fit for the 3:2 aspect ratio and will look more sharp and without the black bars.

 

Yep, running at 1920x1200. Again, really happy with the Aorus box now. It's much, much, much smaller than the Alienware amplifier, I'm sure is at least twice as small as the Razer core x. But I get just a few hundred points shy of my Razer Blade Pro 2016 with this thing plugged into my matebook x pro.

 

Yeah the Aorus box is the best out of them IMO due to the smaller footprint. If I didn't already have a desktop I'd get one.

 

Is the fan constantly running on your computers? Mine never shuts off and while it's not super loud it's def. noticeable.

 

It's not on mine.

 

Could someone post screenshot from Cinebench R15
Single Core - Multi Core - OpenGL

 

https://i.imgur.com/ilOzTB5.png

I had an earlier run of single core that was slightly faster at 172. If you can't view the image for some reason here are the results in text:

OpenGL 72.85fps
CPU (multi core) 643
CPU (single core) 169

 

Thanks, Bullhonkie. I cropped and reposted your screenshot


After receive my laptop I will post here my results (Cinebench R15) as well

 

Hello, I am considering to buy the i7 version of this laptop and would appreciate some user experience.

1. I don't play games. Does this laptop get warm and the fan becomes noisy when you play 4K videos such as those in YouTube?
2. Under normal productivity (MS Office) work, does it get warm and can you hear the fan noise?
3. Can user upgrade the internal SSD to 1TB SSD (Samsung NVMe?)
4. Anybody succeed in installing Ubuntu Linux 18? What works and what don't work?
5. Anybody succeed in installing Hackintosh? What works and what don't work?
6. Anybody used it with Caldigit TS3+ dock?

Thanks

 

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and made and account just to discuss this laptop (just unboxed it Thursday). Sorry for the huge post, but I’m waffling on exchanging my unit or returning it and research the issue I’m having. If it’s a problem other people notice, I want to raise awareness for other buyers. You can skip to the tl;dr at the bottom to get the gist of the post.

So far, I can say that I really like the laptop with the exception of two things: it seems to heat up quite a bit (which I can live with, but makes me a bit nervous long-term) and a frame rate issue I'm having with the built-in display on my unit.

For the latter issue, I first noticed some stuttering when trying to play a Youtube video at 60 hertz; I also then noticed that scrolling, moving windows, etc seems to be jerkier than one would expect with a 60 Hz panel. This happens at any resolution video, and any display resolution/scaling factor I set through Windows. The jerkiness seems to happen with both Firefox and Chrome when using the built-in Intel graphics, and is also present when playing Overwatch at a variety of game and display resolutions.

I thought this might be a configuration issue, so I tried the following to troubleshoot:

1. Update Windows, Intel and Nvidia drivers to the latest version. Reboot, reboot, reboot.
2. Turn off battery saving options, enable “max performance” through Windows
3. Turn off self-refresh through the Intel driver settings
4. Turn off all optional image enhancements in the Intel driver settings
5. Turn off power-saving options in the Intel driver settings
6. Turn off all the power-related settings in the Nvidia driver settings and set to max performance (though the MX150 should be out of the loop except for gaming)
7. Rebooted several more times
8. For gaming, I tried various combinations of settings in Overwatch (resolutions, vsync, etc)
9. Turned the panel resolution down to 1920x1080, then 1920x1200.
   

After all this, the issue is still present and the display does not seem to be 60 Hz to my eyes (but Overwatch reports it hits a solid 60 FPS). I did a side-by-side comparison with my desktop and it’s 60 Hz monitor—Youtube, Overwatch, video, etc look way smoother. Finally I tried the UFO test on both and the notebook panel stutters and blurs for the “60 Hz” strip. Again, I tried various display resolutions that the iGPU should handle fine.

Also: I installed Manjaro Linux and noticed the stuttering effect when playing video with MPV and doing virtual anything.

Only thing I have NOT tried is plugging in an external monitor, which I expect to run at 60 Hz given the beefy hardware.

Tl;dr: built-in panel seems to have a crap frame rate. Has anyone noticed this issue on their unit?

I otherwise love this notebook (except for maybe the heating issue I could tolerate); but as it stands, I paid a lot of money and am disappointed with the frame rate / stuttering issue.

 

@laptop_desktop :

1. 4k Videos use the iGPU (Intel) for decoding and rendering (I tested this), so if you don't play games or do CAD/CAM, 3D software, CUDA, etc, you can forego the model with the Nvidia. I'm playing a 4k video just now and it's not too warm and the fan isn't noticable (out of sleep mode). However, it seems to kick on and stay on you're doing work on the device.
   
2. I didn't try MS Office on this, but I remember the fan kicking on and the unit warming up slightly when having a bunch of browser tabs open for a while. The fan is a bit loud in a quiet room (it will annoy you if you don't like fan noise), but not too bad with background noise, headphones, etc. When gaming, the fan goes full tilt and the unit gets almost uncomfortably hot; like, the keyboard is tolerable, but it's uncomfortable to touch the bottom of the unit or above the keyboard. This concerns me a bit as to the longevity of the device. Finally, an Amazon reviewer noted an air gap between the fan and heatsink, which is kind of stupid and inefficient.
   
3. Yes, other users on the web have reported that you can upgrade the SSD to a different M2 PCIe SSD. However, the bottom of the laptop has tiny allen wrench screws that you are unlikely to have on hand. Someone also said it was a general pain to get into the notebook to replace it (though I haven't cracked my open yet). I'm also not sure if M2 sata SSDs will work.
4. I installed Manjaro successfully and upgraded it to the latest kernel, etc. Everything I tried so far works: WIFI, graphics, touchpad, most keyboard keys, etc. HOWEVER, the laptop straight up freezes if you try to switch to a virtual terminal. It also froze on me when trying to shutdown (I suspect when going from the desktop to a VT); it's possible the freezes are avoided with nomodeset. I have not tried sleep mode or much of anything else yet. The NVidia card should work with Bumblebee NVidia xrun, etc if you're in either Wayland or X, but I have not tested yet as this might need some fiddling of settings. Liliputing tried Ubuntu specifically and did not notice any major issues: .
5. Have not tried. The bios seems like a pretty standard UEFI.
6. Have not tried.

 

Update, I found a Reddit thread on the slow refresh rate--a bunch of other users were having this issue:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Huawei/comments/8om6wg/matebook_x_pro_slow_refresh_rate/

Seems that other people noticed this when Panel self-refresh was turned on the Intel settings, which didn't seem to help me.

However, I just tried the UFO test ( https://www.testufo.com/) again with the unit unplugged from the power adapter, and video is smooth now. As soon as I plug it in (with the test running) the video becomes noticeably stuttery. Unplugging it makes it smooth again. This is really bizarre, but points to a configuration issue or bug somewhere.

At least I know it isn't the panel now and feel better about my purchase. I'll keep digging and see if I can find out how to fix this.

 

All right, I fixed it!!

Turns out I only disabled panel self-refresh for battery mode. Everything is smooth now, including 4k video and Overwatch.

Here are instructions so random Googlers know exactly how to fix and not waste their time like I did .

How to Fix Choppy Frame Rate on Huawei Matebook X Pro
1) Right click on desktop and open Intel Graphics Settings:
https://imgur.com/a/Xo6us48

2) Go to Power settings:
https://imgur.com/a/VkyaRwB

3) I personally don't like my refresh janky, so I disabled panel self-refresh for all power profiles:
https://imgur.com/a/MQX4IqX

Notice " On Battery" is selected on the left. Cycle through all power plans in " Change Settings for the Plan" and click "Disable" under "Panel Self-Refresh". On the left side of the window, select "Plugged In". Again, cycle through all the power plans and disable "Panel Self-Refresh". At the bottom right corner of the window, click "Apply". Note: it is necessary to do this for both "On Battery" and "Plugged In" since, for example, "Maximum Performance" in "On Battery" is a separate profile from "Maximum Performance" in "Plugged In". Also note that "Panel Self-Refresh defaults to on for profiles. This is illogical for Maximum Performance and a bad default.

With that solved, I think I will be keeping this laptop as I love everything else about it.

I'll post with an update on my Linux experience once I mess around with it again.

 

I believe the solution to your stuttering screen issue is to go into the Intel control panel, find an option called "Panel Self Refresh" and turn it off.

EDIT: Nevermind I see you solved the issue, I hadn't read your follow up before I posted the response to your first post.

 

Does the Thunderbolt 3 port support full 4 lanes?

 

It does not. However if you're gaming on an external monitor, there is no problem. It's only when using the built in monitor that there is a significant bottleneck, which results in around a 25% to 30% performance reduction.

 

Got my i7 model this week.

SO, I think the question must be asked...

What can we improve? Repaste? Better thermal pad for the GPU? What else?

 

What if it breaks? Where would you go for warranty repairs in the USA? Are parts available? How is their tech support?

 

From what I've read around other forums, re-pasting hasn't helped. Maybe a better thermal pad for the GPU could help. I personally haven't bothered with either of those as I have gotten my temperatures under control already and I'm very happy with them.

 

No response to my post above and i'm afraid that means nobody knows. I don't want to buy something that i'll have to return to China to be repaired, or with a tech support number that nobody answers.

Actually i did order the i7 model 2 days ago and it is supposed to be shipped out on July 8 (they moved it up from Aug), but the order is still cancelable.

 

Huawei offers a one year warranty with the device. I also see they have service centers in the US and Canada so I'm sure some potential problems could be fixed in North America, but I don't know for sure.

I would say that If you are worried about possibly having to ship it to China, then don't buy it.

 

I was simul-posting what I've found out about this both here and on the "what notebook should I buy" forum but it looks like my posts here have been removed. Updated info on this is on my thread on the latter forum. In light of what I was told by the Huawei tech I canceled my order.

 

I recently got the i7. This morning, after working on my laptop for 1 min, I got a blue screen with a Then the laptop said boot fail. I pressed esc and the laptop rebooted. Now it's working fine again. Should I be worried?

 

You'd need to test it out more. But if it happens again, it's probably a defective unit and it would be best to return it to where you got it from and get a new one sent out to you.

 

Thank you for your informations about that device currently, i´m think of going to this device from my Sony SVS13 - need more power and it´s great to have an option for gaming a little bit during coffee break

So what can i expect for gaming on that device with lower version of 150 mx chipset? Set lower resolution seems necessary but what can i run? Read about overwatch, what do you guys think about WoW or SWTOR?

Thank you and have fun with your devices

 

I'm also having this same issue... Every now and then I randomly get a black screen with a BOOT FAIL [OK] box despite the computer already up and running and seemingly working fine. It's happened multiple times now and it's driving me crazy. No idea how to fix it through software - is it a hardware issue? Any advice? I bought this online at the MS store - can I just walk in and return it?

 

Yes, I had this happen and hoped it would be a one off glitch, but it's now happened 4 times in the space of a couple of days using the device. I can't seem to find any OS/software fixes for it, so it may be a defective unit? I'm planning on returning mine to the Microsoft store which really pains me as it's a beautiful device that I've really enjoyed using.

 

Newbie to this site. I am planning on getting the i5 matebook x pro and 1070 auros gaming box and saw this thread while I'm researching if they are compatible. I'm glad that someone has done and actually using both device already but I just have some few questions:

1. Can you provide the step or website on how to update the TB3 driver?
2. How to update the auros box firmware update? any link you can share or steps?
3. Did you have to update your bios or you only had to update the TB3 driver and the auros box firmware and nothing else for it to run smooth?
4. After you updated questions 1 and 2, is it just a plug and play anytime?

Hope to hear from you. Sorry that I have alot of questions but hoping that you would give time to respond. Thank you!

 

I decided to return the one that kept giving me BOOT FAIL <OK> messages every now and again, as it just can't be trusted and there was nothing on the software/OS side I could do to fix it.

I'm now using the second machine I purchased, and so far so good, although I did have to do the trackpad rattle fix, which was easy but annoying to do on a brand new $1.7k machine. Will keep you posted on whether the boot fail problem happens on this machine, but quality control seems to be pretty poor based on my experience with these two

 

It could be a number of things, like a bad Windows install (can sometimes happen at the factory) or could be a faulty SSD or bad driver install/corrupt driver. If you want to save yourself the hassle of troubleshooting, just send it back to Microsoft and get a new one.

 

I returned it to the Microsoft Store yesterday, although they didn't have any stock to do an exchange, so I had to take a refund.

So far so good on the second machine I purchased at the same time. Not a single BOOT FAIL problem in a couple of days of using it, so at least I got one that seems solid. Gonna have to go back on the waiting list for the second one again.

 

Can anyone confirm is dota 2 is playable? preferably 1080p all graphs can be low
i7 model with mx150 naturally

 

Has anyone found a way to connect two external monitors?

The included MateDock adapter has VGA and HDMI, but if you plug in a VGA cable it blocks part for the HDMI port. So clearly not meant to be used at the same time. I also bought a StarTech Thunderbolt dock with dual DispalyPort, but when connected, only one display is detected. Both ports on the adapter work, but only one at a time. I'm wondering if it is a limitation of the machine.