Huawei MateView review: a 4K monitor for a modern home office

In this Huawei MateView review, I'll cover everything you need to know about this 4K monitor from its price and design to its display and performance. 

Having the perfect workstation at home is more important than it’s ever been before. As more and more companies are looking towards hybrid working, you might be considering giving your office a bit of a refresh. 

The best 4K monitors can be used for precise creative tasks like photo editing, illustrating or design, for general office work like word processing or spreadsheet management, or even for gaming once the day is done. They’re versatile, high-quality displays that will give you the very best experience possible from your computer. 

When you hear the name Huawei, monitors aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. They’re trying to change that with their new flagship monitor, offering ultra high definition in a modern, minimalist package. 

 Huawei MateView review: price and availability 

Available soon from the Huawei UK store and elsewhere, you’ll be able to buy the monitor for £599.99 so it sits around the upper-mid-range point in comparison to the rest of the 4K monitor market. We haven't heard anything about whether this will be available in the US or Australia yet. 

Huawei MateView review: design and display

A 28.2inch IPS monitor with a seriously sleek design, the Huawei MateView will fit in well with modern, minimalist decor. A screen-to-body ratio of 94% means the display is almost bezel-free, with three of them being only 6mm wide. The aluminium square stand and base are coated in matte silver giving it a smart and elegant aesthetic. It is the best looking monitor I’ve seen to date.

Something that makes it a little bit different is the 3:2 aspect ratio which you don’t see too often, I like it as it means there’s plenty of screen space for working on, you can see your entire project or word document laid out in front of you without everything looking small.

You can adjust the height and tilt of the screen, there’s no swivel or rotation, though. On bottom of the frame you'll find the Smart Bar which is used to adjust the display's settings using touch controls. Slide your finger along it to navigate the menus and tap to confirm your choice. It’s a great way around fiddly buttons, although it wasn’t always responsive and the bar does take some getting used to. One thing to note is that the display offers very limited display settings in comparison to other monitors. 

Sitting on the base is an NFC connection point if you have a compatible Huawei smartphone. It lets you really easily project your screen onto the monitor. You can also wirelessly project from a Windows PC although it won’t deliver on speed as much as a wired connection will, and you’ll only be able to project in 2K resolution.

The wired connectivity includes a USB-C which supports data transfer and 65W charging to keep your devices topped up, two USB-A 3.0, an HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort and a 3.5 mm headset and microphone 2-in-1 jack, all of which are located on the side of the stand making them very easily accessible. You can plug your mouse and keyboard directly into the monitor saving you from having wires crisscrossing everywhere, there’s no cable management on the back which ruins the simple aesthetic somewhat. It's also worth bearing in mind that only the USB-C and MiniDP can make use of the full 60Hz refresh rate. 

Huawei MateView review: performance

The Huawei MateView has a resolution of 3840 x 2560p with 1.07 billion colours and 98% DCI-P3 colour gamut, covering 100% sRGB. That’s really impressive, creators will rejoice over the level of colour accuracy and depth although admittedly the clarity could be improved on. 500 nits peak brightness is plenty to bring out every inch of detail, the screen also has a matte coating so can be seen even in bright light. 

For anyone who will spend hours upon hours looking at the display, it has an Eye Comfort mode with TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker-Free certification which adds more of a yellow tinge to the screen. Without it, a screen headache started to creep in after a couple of hours, once I switched it on that wasn’t so much of an issue. 

Two 5W speakers are built into the monitor, I wouldn’t rely on them to play music or watch TV but for quick audio or video calls they’re fine. There are also built-in dual microphones which is a really handy feature you don’t often see, it makes calls much quicker and easier to set up.

Huawei MateView review: verdict 

All in all the Huawei MateView is an impressive 4K monitor with a really elegant design, anyone who cares about the aesthetic of their home office will love its minimalist, slim build. You detailed image quality with loads of depth and plenty of ways to connect, even if there is only one USB-C port. 

It is a little on the pricey side, and without a Huawei smartphone, you won’t be able to fully make the most out of all of its features, but even despite that this monitor has plenty to offer to professionals. 

Huawei MateView review: also consider 

The Philips Brilliance 329P1H is a similarly priced monitor built for professionals. It’s got a 32-inch display and is sure to help boost productivity. What’s really great about it is that there's an integrated HD webcam. It may not be as sleek as the Huawei MateView but it performs just as well. 

If it’s a versatile monitor you’re after then the Samsung M70A Smart Monitor will be a great choice. Unlike other 4K monitors, it offers Smart TV functionality built-in. So you can use it for work and then in the evening it doubles up as a television. There’s built-in Wi-Fi and plenty of ports to connect to it as well. 

•  These are the best gaming monitors