Huawei announced the MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 during an event in Berlin on 29 June, both offering 16-inch displays and premium, slim designs.

How do they compare though? The Huawei MateBook 16s sits above the MateBook D16 in terms of specs, but what do you compromise and which is the better option for you? 

Here are the two laptops stacked up against each other to help you work out which might be the right one for you.

Design

  • MateBook 16s: 351 mm × 252.9 mm × 17.8 mm, 1.99kg, Space Grey
  • MateBook D16: 356.7mm × 248.7mm × 18.4mm, 1.7kg, Mystic Silver or Space Grey

The Huawei MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 both feature metal unibody designs and premium build qualities, though the MateBook 16s is the more striking of the two devices.

The Huawei MateBook 16s has a 17.8mm thickness and weighs just shy of 2kg at 1.99kg. It is finished with a precision ceramic sandblasting process and it offers a lovely symmetrical design with speaker outlet holes positioned either side of the keyboard, while a track board sits beneath.

The MateBook 16s comes in Space Grey only and it offers super slim bezels around its large display.

The Huawei MateBook D16 meanwhile, is slightly thicker than the MateBook 16s at 18.4mm, though it is lighter at around 1.7kg. It also comes in two colour options of Mystic Silver and Space Grey, and it offers a keyboard with 1.5mm High Key Travel. 

Its trackpad is positioned slightly off-centre to the left but like the MateBook 16s, it too offers a metal unibody for a premium finish and it also has super slim bezels around the display.

Both the MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 have a fingerprint power button. The D16, however, also has the benefit of a full number pad to the side of the main keyboard, which the 16s doesn't have. 

Display

  • MateBook 16s: 16-inch FullView, 2520 x 1680, 3:4 aspect ratio, 1.07 billion colours, 10-point multi-touch
  • MateBook D16: 16-inch FullView, 1920 x 1200, 16:10 aspect ratio

Both the Huawei MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 come with the company's FullView display, and both offer a 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio so they are squeezing quite a lot of screen into their footprint.

The MateBook 16s has a higher resolution at 2520 x 1680 pixels, delivering a pixel density of 189ppi, while the MateBook D16 has a 1920 x 1200 resolution that results in a pixel density of 141ppi. Both have Low Blue Light eye protection, but the MateBook 16s is the more advanced display with 1.07 billion colours and support for 10-point multi-touch. The MateBook 16s also claims to offer a colour accuracy rating of ΔE<1.

The two devices also offer different aspect ratios, with the MateBook 16s offering a 3:4 aspect ratio and the MateBook D16 offering a 16:10 aspect ratio, both stepping away from the traditional 16:9. The 16s also has touchscreen capabilities, for scrolling and pinching to zoom. 

Hardware

  • MateBook 16s: 12th Intel Core H Series up to i9-1200H, Xe Graphics, 84wH battery
  • MateBook D16: 12th Intel Core H Series up to i7-12700H, Iris X graphics, 60Wh battery

Both the Huawei MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 run on the 12th Intel Core H Series Processors. The MateBook 16s features up to i9-12900H, with models starting at i5-12500H, and it has a high performance mode of 54W. It also offers Iris Xe Graphics. 

The MateBook D16 features up to i7-12700H, with models starting at i5-12450H and it has a high performance mode of 40W. In terms of graphics, the MateBook D16 offers Iris X or Intel UHD Graphics. 

The MateBook 16s has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and a choice of 512GB or 1TB SSD. The MateBook D16 has a choice of 8GB or 12GB LPDDR4x RAM and 512GB SSD.

Both the MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, along with a HDMI port. They also both feature a full-feature USB Type-C port. The MateBook 16s also has a Thunderbolt 4 port and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. The MateBook D16 has one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, another USB-C port and a USB 2.0 port.

When it comes to battery, the MateBook 16s has an 84wH battery with a 90W adapter in the box, while the MateBook D16 has a 60Wh battery and a 65W adapter. Both come with support for Huawei’s SuperCharge fast charging technology.

Features

  • Both: Super Device, Smart Conference, Fast Nearby Connection

Both the Huawei MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 run on Windows 11 and both have a number of features on board, including the ability to connect them to a Huawei MateView using a cable or wirelessly. They also both offer a Collaborate Mode, Mirror Mode and Extend Mode that makes using the laptops with a Huawei tablet more useful. You can also use them both with a Huawei phone.

The two laptops also offer a feature called Smart Conference that offers an AI Camera and AI Sound to make online meetings better. The AI Sound uses on-edge dual-microphones to pick up sounds within five metres and there’s an AI noise cancellation algorithm to reduces echo. 

There's also Sound TrueVoice that is designed to eliminate the interference of ambient noise while enhancing the human voice and Sound TrueHD is designed to capture every detail of the human voice. 

When it comes to the AI Camera, both the MateBook 16s and the MateBook D16 have a 1080p camera with an 88-degree field of view. There are features including Virtual Background, that allows you to customise a background and apply it to any video call software, as well as Eye Contact that adjusts the camera to the user’s line of vision. 

There's also a feature called FollowCam, which like Apple's Centre Stage, sees the screen adjust to the subjects position in real time, making sure you are always centre of the screen, even if you move around.

Both the MateBook D16 and the MateBook 16s support fast nearby connection too, meaning that when compatible Huawei devices, like FreeBuds 4, Huawei Bluetooth Mouse (2nd Gen) or Huawei's Ultrathin Keyboard are placed in close proximity, a pop up will appear for easy pairing.

Price

  • MateBook D16: From £749
  • MateBook 16s: From £1299

The Huawei MateBook D16 starts at £749 for the bottom model, while the MateBook 16s starts at £1299 for the bottom model.

The i7 model of the MateBook D16 costs £999, while the i9 model for the MateBook 16s costs £1499 so there's quite a big price difference here.

Conclusion

The Huawei MateBook 16s is the more expensive of these two devices being compared here, and it is also the more advanced device, with a better display, a step up in power and RAM and a larger battery, as well as more storage options. Huawei's pitching this as a creator's machine, that's ideal for photo editing and work where power and colour accuracy are important. 

It also has a slightly more uniformed design and extra features like better colour accuracy and a couple of extra ports. The MateBook D16 will be the better option for some though - particularly for office work - still offering a large screen but in a lighter build, an extra colour option and many of the same features as the MateBook 16s.