Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Review: A different kind of beast

The standout feature of this tablet is the huge, 13.2” OLED display that boldly ventures into laptop territory. This matte display is meant to deliver a natural writing and drawing experience, while reducing glare and reflections for an almost paper-like feel. This massive and intriguing display is mounted on a pretty impressive chassis – one that is as slim and light as the latest iPad Pro 13”. This in itself is a great achievement, especially at the MatePad 13.2’s price point.

Huawei’s 13” tablet can be purchased at less than £1000 in the UK (about $1266). Effectively, it’s sold at £850 thanks to an immediate £150 discount by Huawei. The cool part is this not only gets you the tablet in a beefy 512GB storage / 12GB RAM configuration, but also the Glide Keyboard accessory (keyboard plus touchpad and kickstand cover), as well as the M-Pencil 3 stylus, which is a pretty sweet deal.

What’s more, the materials Huawei has employed here have probably allowed it to keep the weight in check, which is important considering the size of the tablet. The screen bezels of the MatePad Pro 13.3” PaperMatte are even slimmer than those of the 12.2” tablet. This massive, 13.2” display, surrounded by the almost non-existing bezels, makes for a spectacular view – an immersive viewing experience in an overall footprint that isn’t really so outrageous.

The PaperMatte OLED display of the MatePad 13.2 is meant for hand-writing and drawing. The included M-Pencil 3 works like a charm. Responsiveness is very good, the feel is closer to writing on paper than it is when writing on a normal, glossy display, and pressure sensitivity works great. This tablet is simply awesome for hand-writing, and especially for drawing, thanks to the large canvas.


Meanwhile, the Glide Keyboard is a bit of a mixed bag. First, it’s a two part accessory: one part is a magnetic back cover that doubles as a kickstand, and a second part, which is the keyboard itself. The magnetic back cover is terrific – it is a very elegant way to protect the back side of the tablet from scratching, while at the same expanding usability, thanks to the versatile kickstand. I can only say good things about it.

The keyboard accessory itself is also great – no issues with the typing experience. However, the touchpad, although sizable, isn’t perfectly responsive. It feels somewhat laggy and erratic at times. Scrolling speed using the trackpad is way too slow, which wouldn’t have been a problem, if there was a setting to increase it. Since there is no setting, this makes using the trackpad more of a chore than a convenience. This is one area Huawei should absolutely fix in a future software update.

On top of that, attaching the keyboard part to the tablet is a bit fiddly – not the most convenient process. For the price, we can’t be too mad at Huawei, but some of the issues here can (and should) be addressed via a future update. Fingers crossed this will happen!

Mate Pad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Display

PaperMatte giveth, PaperMatte taketh

At 13.2 inches, the OLED PaperMatte display is the largest in the MatePad series. It offers a versatile 3:2 aspect ratio, 2880 x 1920 px resolution, and an ultra-fast 144Hz refresh rate.

Huawei's anti-glare PaperMatte coating is quite heavy – it is really matte and reduces reflections dramatically. The added benefit of this is the slight texture to the display, which makes writing on it with the M-Pencil 3 a very pleasant experience. It’s very close to a true pen-and-paper feel.

The downside of the PaperMatte coating is that, like any other matte coating, it takes away from the display’s contrast and color vibrancy, making for an overall duller look. Huawei is touting the sophisticated “flexible Tandem OLED panel” that’s used in the MatePad Pro 13.2, and you can tell it’s an awesome display. However, aside from the spectacular viewing angles, you won’t be able to experience the full beauty of this panel, because of the matte coating’s properties.

On the flip side, you get a great writing/drawing feel, way less smudging on the display (unlike any glossy panel), and lack of reflections. Alas, nothing is perfect in life – everything has pros and cons, and you just have to make your choice!

Mate Pad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Camera

The camera system has been upgraded compared to the MatePad Pro 12.2. There’s a 50MP main camera and an 8MP ultrawide on the rear. I'm very impressed with the quality of both the rear and the front cameras. The front-facing 16MP camera is solid for video calls – it’s definitely an improvement over the 12.2” model – it delivers high detail level and pretty much zero noise.

Mate Pad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Performance

Under the hood, the MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte runs on what's considered to be the Kirin T92 chipset, an upgrade from the Kirin 9000S in the 12.2-inch model. It’s paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Huawei doesn't like to reveal too much details about its in-house chips, but at the end of the day, the actual performance is what matters most.

The Kirin chip in the MatePad Pro 13.2 handles generic tasks very smoothly. The user interface of the Harmony OS 4.3 system runs exceptionally quickly and fluidly. However, Huawei is still playing catch-up in terms of raw performance, as the Kirin T92 is still far behind the latest Snapdragon or Apple M-series chips. For general productivity, media consumption, and digital art, the performance should be more than sufficient, but power users looking for the absolute best performance may feel the limitations.

Mate Pad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Software

HarmonyOS 4.3 runs the show, and as always, the lack of Google services is something to consider. While Huawei’s App Gallery has accumulated a solid roster of apps over the last few years, many mainstream apps still require sideloading or workarounds, which won’t be ideal for everyone.

However, for users who are at least somewhat tech-savvy, working around the software restrictions isn’t that complicated. Standard Google accounts work more or less out of the box thanks to the microG Google Mobile Services open-source integration. Google Workspace business accounts prove to be a tougher nut to crack, but definitely not impossible, especially if you’re willing to substitute some official Google apps with third-party solutions.

Another problem when it comes to Huawei’s products is we don’t know how many major software updates the MatePad Pro 13.2 (2025) is going to receive. Unlike some of the competition, Huawei hasn’t openly committed to a longer device maintenance window for its devices. This is why we generally tend to expect about 2 years of updates from Huawei.

MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Battery

This is a huge tablet, and it has an equally impressive, 10,100mAh battery. This is the same battery capacity as in the MatePad Pro 12.2 However, perhaps due to the larger display, battery life isn’t as great as on the 12.2 PaperMatte. It’s by no means bad, but it definitely isn’t category-leading.

With support for 100W super-fast charging (you do get the 100W charging brick in the box), The MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte is one of the fastest-charging tablets on the market. A full charge takes about an hour and a half, which is a huge plus for anyone using the tablet extensively throughout the day.

PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:

Mate Pad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Audio quality

Audio quality is a definite strong point, with a six-speaker setup that provides loud and immersive sound, even a bit of bass. While it still doesn’t replace a good pair of headphones or external speakers, it’s more than capable of delivering pleasant media consumption and video calls on its own.

Summary

The MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte is a strong challenger in the oversized tablet space.

With a massive display and great audio in a unique and likable design, the MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte has that special sauce that makes it a noteworthy option. This is doubly true for users on the lookout for a large tablet, and especially those who'll be doing a lot of hand-writing or drawing.

However, the added size makes it less portable than usual for a tablet, and the software limitations remain a key consideration. If you’d like a matte display for digital art, note-taking, or outdoor use, and can work your way around the software roadblocks, the MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte is a great option to consider.