I tested the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 and loved its bright, paperlike display and smart productivity features but this tablet hero is undone by a single tragic flaw

Date:
Sun, 18 Jan 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Description:
Huaweis slate aced most of the tests I threw at it but there's one shortcoming that makes it miss the mark for me.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: two-minute review

The Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 is a mid-range tablet with a bright, paper-like PaperMatte display, a solid chipset, and a seriously capacious battery. It
has all the makings of a great tablet, right up until you come up against its fundamental flaw.

Lets put a pin in that for now. The display is seriously impressive, capable of exquisitely detailed images with its 280 ppi pixel density. Its also wonderfully bright, hitting a peak brightness of 1000 nits, and has
impressive color reproduction that rendered the nature videos I watched with wonderfully punchy hues.

Pretty much the only criticism I have of the screen is that its a little too easy to scuff. After a few sketching sessions with the Huawei M-Pencil Pro (sold separately), the display had a few light scrapes across it, something Ive not experienced when using the best tablets out there.

The performance of the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025s Kirin T92B Octa-core
processor and 12GB RAM is also genuinely impressive. While playing PUBG
Mobile at max settings, I didnt detect a hint of frame rate drops or latency, making it easy to take out my opponents. Meanwhile, no matter how many simultaneous apps I was running or tabs I opened, the tablet never seemed to experience any slowdown.

If you fancy lengthy gaming sessions or want to work on the go, the MatePad 12X 2025 offers a generous battery capacity of 10,100mAh. In practice, that was enough to stream 2.5K videos for almost nine hours straight, meaning you should have plenty of battery for a medium-haul flight or a full working day. And topping it up took hardly any time at all, thanks to its 66W charging
you should be able to go from 0% to 100% in around 75 minutes, which is fantastic.

Perhaps less exciting is the MatePad 12X 2025s design. While its razor thin
at 5.9mm and very comfortable to hold, it doesn't have the most adventurous styling, and it could be made of slightly more premium-feeling materials than its matte plastic. Both the included keyboard case and the M-Pencil Pro are well put together, though, with an ergonomic design and robust build.

Unfortunately, its time to return to that issue we put a pin in earlier. With ongoing restrictions around access to US-based apps, theres a real paucity of apps available on Huaweis devices. Much of the software youll want to use on
a daily basis, from Netflix to Google Docs, simply isnt available, really reducing the MatePads actual utility. In light of this, it's hard to
recommend the tablet, even with some excellent first-party apps like its GoPaint drawing app.

Id love to be able to give the MatePad 12X 2025 a glowing recommendation, as it has some real strengths. But the lack of mainstream apps available on Huaweis tablet puts it at a real disadvantage compared to other devices. Fundamentally, youll be better off considering one of the best Android
tablets instead. (Image credit: Future) Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: specs

OS

HarmonyOS 4.3

Chipset

Kirin T92B, Octa-core

RAM

12GB

Storage

256GB

Display

12-inch IPS (2800 x 1840)

Weight

555g

Battery

10,100mAh

Charging

66W wired

Cameras

50MP rear, 8MP front Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: price and availability Released September 19, 2025 Costs 499 Includes keyboard case but stylus is extra 39.99

Launched on September 19, 2025, the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 is available now in the UK. While its initial list price was 599, its already seeing reductions, with Huawei selling it direct for 499.

Unlike the Huawei MatePad 11.5 released in August 2025, the MatePad 12X 2025 includes Huaweis keyboard case in the box, which is definitely a nice extra
to have. Not included as standard is Huaweis M-Pencil Pro, but if you buy it along with the tablet, itll cost you just 39.99, rather than its 129.99 list price, making it a bit of a bargain.

In terms of colorways, you get just two options: the mint green that we
tested here and white. (Image credit: Future) Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: display Crisp, 280 ppi resolution Seriously bright Gets marked easily

I have to say that, for a mid-market tablet, the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025s display is pretty impressive. Its resolution can give the iPad Pro a run for its money: packing 2800 x 1840 pixels across its 12-inch screen, its capable of a 280 ppi pixel density, while Apples largest high-end tablet sits at 2752 x 2064 and 264 ppi. So while 4K videos didnt look quite as crisp as on my TCL C8K TV, I was still pleasantly surprised by how much detail the 12X could reveal.

The sheer brightness of Huaweis slate also made an impression on me. While
its 1000-nit peak brightness cant quite rival the iPad Pros 1600 nits, it leaves the iPad 11-inch (2025) quite literally in the shade with a brightness of just 500 nits. Putting the screen through its paces with some 4K BBC Earth videos on YouTube, I found its also capable of pretty punchy contrast and decent color reproduction. It might not be quite as lush and bold as the OLED displays of some slates these days, but its a looker nonetheless.

Its certainly helped in this regard by Huaweis PaperMatte screen tech. During most of my testing, I was using the MatePad 12X under bright, artificial lighting, and this thing just gulped down direct light, meaning I rarely had to worry about reflections marring my experience.

On top of this, the PaperMatte displays etched glass was a treat to interact with, giving the screen a pleasingly tactile feel. It doesnt feel quite as realistic to write and sketch on with Huaweis M-Pencil stylus as dedicated writing tablets like the Kindle Scribe or ReMarkable the nib slips more than Ive experienced with these rival slates but I still found it pleasant enough to sketch on. And at least this smoothness prevented the stylus from catching too much.

Really, my only criticism of the MatePad 12Xs display is how easy it is to mark. Ive only used it for a couple of sketches so far, and theres already a pronounced pen scuff visible on the screen when its powered down. These kinds of marks could easily build up over time, so if you were to buy the MatePad 12X, a screen protector would be a wise investment. Display score: 4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: design Just 5.9mm
thick Solidly built Not the most adventurous design

When it comes to its design, the Huawei MatePad 12X is inoffensive, almost to a fault. Theres nothing wrong with its matte plastic body or its two
colorways White and the mint-colored Greenery per se, but a metallic build might have helped it feel just a touch more premium.

Fortunately, it is well put together, feeling substantial and sturdy enough
in your hand while being light enough to hold easily. In fact, while its a shade heavier than the iPad 11-inch (2025), weighing in at 555g to 481g for Apples cellular model, its a little slimmer at the same time, measuring 5.9mm in depth rather than 7mm.

Huawei is reinventing the wheel here, but the MatePad 12Xs case is well designed. It follows the common mold of combining case, keyboard and stand
all in one, but is flexible enough to suit every situation I was using it
for. And its keys are pleasant to type on. Naturally, they dont have the satisfying thunk of deeper travel keys, but at least they offer enough feedback that I never found touch typing on them to be a challenge.

One small oversight here compared to rivals like the iPad 11-inch (2025) or Microsoft Surface Pro 12 (2025) is that the case doesnt include a trackpad. While Id normally class this as a nice to have, youll probably only miss it when you want to crank through a lot of productivity and professional uses. And here the Huawei MatePad 12X has much bigger issues that dwarf the lack of a mouse input. Design score: 3.5 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Huawei MatePad
12X 2025 review: software Excellent first-party apps Too few familiar apps available Some unnecessary bloatware

Look. We all knew we'd have to have the talk at some point. Most of you will be aware of the big challenge facing Huawei tablets by now, given theyve been ongoing for over three years at this point. But its almost impossible to review Huawei devices objectively without bringing it up.

As a result of the Federal Communications Commissions ban on Huawei in November 2022, many US-based brands no longer provide access to their apps on Huawei devices. Most notably, that includes the Google Play Store and full Google Suite, but it also affects the vast majority of apps youll be used to using.

Browsing the Huawei AppGallery, almost all of my go-to apps are absent. Spotify? Gone. Netflix? Gone. Facebook? Gone. Amazon? Gone. None of them are available as direct downloads. Although some are accessible as third-party APKs, this exposes you to potential security risks that downloading them directly wouldnt. Sure, the odd app like Uber will fire up a browser version so you can still book a ride, but youre still losing all the convenience that having an app installed on your desktop offers.

Inevitably, this also has a significant impact on the games that are
available on the MatePad 12X. I probably spend more of my life playing mobile games than is strictly good for me, and yet, aside from PUBG Mobile and Candy Crush Saga, I barely recognized any of the other games on the Huawei AppGallery. The few I had heard of were those games you see advertised online with ads that dont remotely reflect the gameplay, which didnt fill me with confidence about digging through the charts at random. (Image credit: Future)

Whats frustrating about this is that it's entirely out of Huaweis control
and, in fact, the apps it does control are well-made and offer great
features. For example, Huaweis GoPaint app is a pretty great drawing app for something just bundled in with an operating system, feeling a lot like if ProCreate came preinstalled on your iPad. Its packed with brushes and
blending options, and I had no end of fun whipping up watercolor-style pictures on it.

Likewise, Huaweis Notes app is seriously versatile. I could quickly create notebooks with every template I might need, from musical staves to SWOT analysis charts. Its handwriting-to-text feature isnt flawless, but given the chicken-scratch I produce any time I scribble by hand, it did a pretty commendable job.

Not every app that comes installed on the MatePad 12X feels this essential, though; theres still a lot of bloatware on this tablet. Im definitely over brands trying to cram icons onto the homescreen just to make their devices feel full-featured. Even when, as here, many are just suggested downloads rather than files taking up space, its pretty annoying to have your screen crammed with junk youre not interested in.

Ultimately, software continues to be Huaweis Achilles heel. Despite some bright spots, theres just not enough big-name apps on the MatePad 12X for me to shake the feeling that Im missing out on all the fun other people are having on their tablets. Software score: 2.5 / 5 (Image credit: Future)
Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: performance Decent chipset and RAM Handles multitasking without any slow down Games show no FPS drops or lag

The real shame about this lack of software is that, beneath the hood, the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 has some pretty decent power. Not only does it rock a Kirin T92B Octa-core processor, but it also packs 12GB RAM, the same amount
of memory as our pick for the Best Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus . But what does this all mean in the real world?

Well, first, I wanted to see how it fared with a range of productivity tasks. This wasnt easy without full access to Googles famously memory-hungry web apps, but I tried to open as many background tasks as possible. First, I loaded a couple of games and a couple of apps before opening the browser, where I opened a number of tabs, including Shein and Asos, several Reddit threads, a news site, and a 4K YouTube video. Once I started sketching in a free online photo-editing tool, I was pleased to see there wasnt any significant slowdown.

Broadly speaking, the same seems to be true of games. Loading up PUBG Mobile and setting the graphics settings to maximum, I didnt notice any significant FPS drops; every moment remained smooth and jitter-free. Meanwhile, there was no hint of lag or latency, making it easy for me to get the drop on most opponents I came across before they got me.

Using the Huawei M-Pencil Pro for various tasks, it became clear that its
well worth the extra spend. It was always comfortable and easily manoeuvrable in my hand, and never so light that it felt flimsy or insubstantial. While sketching on apps like the GoPaint app, it was super responsive there was no noticeable jitter or lag, and no obvious parallax between the stylus nib and the brushstrokes it created.

Probably the only area where the MatePad 12X 2025's performance is a little more mixed is its camera. Its crisp and captures plenty of detail, but not quite as much as Id expect from its 50MP lens. And while its not really fair comparing it to the iPhone 16 Pro Im used to shooting on, I did feel some of the photos were lacking in the HDR pop Ive come to expect. Ultimately, its
not a bad camera, but as with any tablet, I doubt its going to become your go-to snapper. Performance score: 4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: battery Huge 10,100mAh battery capacity Seriously fast 66W wired charging Can stream almost nine hours of 2.5K video

Huawei certainly hasnt skimped on the battery in the MatePad 12X 2025. At 10,100mAh, its not quite as epic as the OnePlus Pad 3, with its 12,140mAh,
but is pretty capacious all the same.

Trying to get a sense of how long it would last when really pushed, I set the MatePad 12X 2025 to stream continuous 2.5K videos and measured how much it depleted the battery. After seven hours, the battery had dropped down to 20%, suggesting that you should get around nine hours of continuous high-quality streaming from one charge. This is pretty competitive and not far off the 10 hours the iPad 11-inch (2025) offers.

Even better, topping it up is incredibly fast. Using a 100W charger which is plenty to hit the Huaweis 66W max I popped the Huawei on to charge for an hour. In that time, it charged 78%, meaning you can expect it to be fully charged after around an hour and 15 minutes thats a truly absurd charging time, given its enormous capacity.

All in all, this means youll get a lot of use out of the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 before it falls flat, and you wont have to wait long for it to spring back to life afterwards. Battery score: 4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Display

Bright, low-reflection screen with impressive pixel density. Colors and contrast are great, although some OLED screens pop more.

4 / 5

Design

Relatively unadventurous style but well-made, with a great keyboard case.

3.5 / 5

Software

Huaweis first-party software is decent, but the lack of well-known
third-party apps available make it hard to recommend.

2.5 / 5

Performance

Impressive performance, with its octa-core processor and 12GB RAM. Makes
short work of multitasking and gaming alike.

4 / 5 Buy it if

You want a bright, detailed display
With its shining brightness, super-crisp 280 ppi pixel density, and vivid colors, the MatePad 12X rocks a great screen and thats before you get to
that reflection-killing PaperMatte display.

Youre seeking good performance
Its not as powerful as an iPad Pro M5, but nothing I did could cause the MatePad 12X to break a sweat, whether I ran lots of simultaneous browser tabs or cranked game graphics up to maximum. Dont buy it if

You want access to most mainstream apps
If you hate the idea of being unable to access Disney+, Instagram, Spotify or Google Drive, youll find the limited number of apps available on the MatePad 12X to be a deal breaker. Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 review: also consider

Huawei MatePad 12X 2025

OnePlus Pad 3

iPad Air (2025)

OS

HarmonyOS 4.3

OxygenOS 15

iPadOS 26

Chipset

Kirin T92B, Octa-core

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Apple M3

RAM

12GB

12GB/16GB

8GB

Storage

256GB

256GB/512GB

128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB

Display

12-inch IPS (2800 x 1840)

13.2-inch 144Hz LCD (3392 x 2400)

11-inch / 13-inch LED (2360 x 1640 / 2732 x 2048)

Weight

555g

675g

460g / 616g / 617g

Battery

10,100mAh

12,140mAh

28.93Wh / 36.59Wh

Charging

66W wired

80W wired

Not disclosed

Cameras

50MP rear, 8MP front

13MP rear, 8MP front

12MP wide rear, 12MP ultrawide front

OnePlus Pad 3
If youre looking for a tablet with similarly awesome workflow skills as the MatePad 12X but without all the restrictions on apps, the OnePlus Pad 3 is an excellent choice. Its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset means it runs super-smooth, while multitasking features like the ability to divide the screen among three apps at once make it a productivity powerhouse. Read our full OnePlus Pad 3 review .

iPad Air (2025)
Yes, its a little bit pricier than the MatePad 12X 2025, costing from 599.
But in return, it gives you access to Apples lightning-fast M3 processor, which offers outsized performance for your spend. Meanwhile, its display is
at least as vibrant and contrasty as the MatePads, and it lets you access all the apps you love. Read our full iPad Air (2025) review . How I tested the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 Tested it over a week Completed multiple performance tests Ran battery draining and charging tests

I tested the Huawei MatePad 12X 2025 over the course of a week. To test out its software, I used all of its first-party productivity apps and multi-tasking features. I assessed the quality of its display by watching multiple 4K HDR videos and seeing how accurately it reproduced artwork in graphics apps.

To put it through its paces in terms of performance, I ran multiple apps simultaneously while opening a wide range of browser tabs, including video streaming and web apps, to see if I could detect any potential slowdown or performance issues. I also played multiple online games on max graphics settings to look for frame rate dropping and obvious lag.

When it comes to my personal experience, Ive been testing and reviewing gadgets for many years. Ive also spent a lot of my career using mobile
devices and laptops for productivity purposes, and Ive reviewed multiple graphics tablets, which has given me a lot of first-hand experience in assessing styluses and the color accuracy of displays. First reviewed:
January 2026 Read more about how we test



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/tablets/i-tested-the-huawei-matepad-12x-2025-and-lov ed-its-bright-paperlike-display-and-smart-productivity-features-but-this-table t-hero-is-undone-by-a-single-tragic-flaw


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)