Both the HUAWEI MateBook 14 and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i are great notebooks. They are both portable and they pack a powerful Intel processor inside and of course, they are in the same price range so if you’re picking between the two then you might want to consider our review comparison of these two notebooks. Both notebooks are slim and they are powerful enough for most office and productivity usage especially now that a lot of us are working or studying from home and our notebooks have become our main toolfor everything that we need to jumpstart and finish our day but in these days, specs and a powerful device for work isn’t enough as our devices has been getting smarter and smarter so having smart features are a must-have as well.
Design
First, let’s discuss the design and build of these two notebooks. Both of these notebooks come with a premium and solid material with both notebooks featuring a solid metal build quality but the HUAWEI MateBook 14 features a more minimalistic look and with a premium rounded edges and for me, that looks a lot better.
For the ports, the HUAWEI MateBook 14 comes with 1x USB-C port that can also be used for charging, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1x HDMI, and an audio jack inside while the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i comes with 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2x USB 3.1, microSD card slot, and an HDMI port so basically, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i has advantage when it comes to ports.
When it comes to the security of the two notebooks, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i relies on the IR Camera for face unlock via Windows Hello while the HUAWEI MateBook 14 relies on the fingerprint scanner and honestly, I find the fingerprint scanner more convenient these days especially that we’re wearing masks even when indoors and outside.
As for the sound, the Lenovo comes with Dolby Atmos Speaker system while the HUAWEI MateBook 14 comes with downward speakers and it does perform pretty well and it’s loud enough for most usage including for watching movies on Netflix. As for the charger, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i comes with a typical charger while the HUAWEI MateBook 14 comes with a brick charger which is more efficient to bring and can fast charge your other Huawei devices.
As for the keyboard, both comes with chiclet style keyboard with the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i and typing on it was just fine but typing on the HUAWEI MateBook 14 was just better for me due to the keys’ size and the response was quite good and there’s decent space for the keys as well. As for the touchpad, the HUAWEI MateBook 14 also gives me a bigger and better space so I can have a more productive usage of it.
Display
The display is where we get two different devices. The HUAWEI MateBook 14 features a 2K FullView Display with 3:2 aspect ratio with a 2160×1440 resolution while the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i with a 16:9 resolution at 2560×1600 resolution. While the resolution might be higher on the Yoga Slim 7i, I still prefer the 16:10 aspect ratio of the HUAWEI MateBook 14 as this one is more productive and I can have taller windows when multitasking on the display of the notebook which is better for work.
Performance
As for the performance, both notebooks comes with Intel processor inside with both notebooks coming in with 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor and also Iris Xe Graphics. Some of the cool features that you can get with 11th Generation Intel Processor includes a better performance vs. the previous generation and also WiFi 6 for better connectivity. We also tried different casual and light games on both notebooks and they’re very decent enough for work and also for light gaming.
The HUAWEI MateBook 14 however does have an advantage when it comes to RAM so loading larger office files on this notebook won’t be a problem on this. It will also give you a slight advantage in gaming too as your notebook can handle more compared to the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i. For cooling, the HUAWEI MateBook 14 also comes with two HUAWEI Shark fins along with two heat pipes and it does offer cool temps for the notebook without too much noise.
While a lot of its hardware and its specifications does have a small differences and a lot of similarities, the main thing that set the HUAWEI MateBook 14 apart from the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i is the cross-device collaboration. Yes, Windows 11 does might have a device collaboration with Android but it’s not as good as the ecosystem of Huawei.
In our usage of the HUAWEI MateBook 14, I did enjoy the ecosystem of the notebook along with my Huawei MatePad 10.4 and also my Huawei Mate 40 Pro. The HUAWEI Super Device feature is a great addition to the Windows ecosystem and it has greatly increased my productivity on the notebook as I can connect my Huawei smartphone and tablet seamlessly.
With HUAWEI Super Device, you can cross collaborate with your other devices including mirroring your smartphone’s display, sending files, and even using the tablet as your external monitor or even using the notebook as your main control for your tablet.
In my usage, my productivity in my workflow has increased drastically due to having a dual monitor on the Huawei MatePad 10.4 and I was able to transfer files including photos and videos from my smartphone to my Huawei MateBook 14 via drag and drop.
I was also able to answer calls and texts directly from my HUAWEI MateBook 14 which gives more time to focus on my work and since I can connect my HUAWEI MatePad 10.4 to my MateBook 14, I can control the tablet with my touchpad and keyboard of the notebook to open and navigate on apps on the tablet. If you have a MateView monitor, you can also wirelessly connect to it.
The HUAWEI Super Device definitely can help you in your productivity because your existing smartphone or tablet can be used as an additional display and you can transfer files easily and without problems unlike other devices. If you’re thinking of running mobile apps on Windows, that’s possible now as well but with our experience of the HUAWEI Mobile App Engine, apps tend to run better and faster compared to Android Subsystem for Windows. That’s why games and apps loads better and more optimized on the HUAWEI MateBook 14.
Verdict
Both devices are great and they have their own strengths. Both are powerful enough for office and productivity and they do have a some similarities but what sets the two notebooks apart is the smart features of the HUAWEI MateBook 14. Multi-device collaboration has been easier and better with HUAWEI Super Device as I was able to connect my other devices seamlessly and I’ve been more productive with it.
The HUAWEI MateBook 14 and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i are on the same price range and if you want to get a HUAWEI MateBook 14 now, you can get it for only Php 59,999.
If you want to get one, you can purchase the Huawei MateBook 14 at the Huawei Online Store and if you want to get a more affordable MateBook, you can purchase the Huawei MateBook D15 at the Huawei Online Store as well.
