After the good reception of its range of affordable and high-end laptops, Huawei takes the next step and already has an entry-level desktop ready for the market.
The Huawei MateStation S is a risky bet in the days of the dominance of laptops, even in homes, but its out-of-the-box configuration, its compact design, and that it comes associated with a monitor and peripherals can give it a try. We have reviewed it to check its highlights and also where it needs to improve.
A compact desktop to “take out and use”
The consumer desktop market was completely overshadowed years ago by the all-in-one boom. Certainly, practically everything was advantageous, from the compact size to the design. But the price did not always accompany.
The options between the classic desktops, those that we do not want to play, were reduced almost to nothing. Always talking about clone equipment and not intended for the business market.
The Huawei MateStation S aims to find a static site in the home for work at home, studies, or standard navigation.
Huawei Matestation S General
The first argument it makes is obvious: its compact design. In total, the space it occupies is 8.6 liters, with a height of just over 30 cm and a width of less than 10 cm.
From the outset, it is surprising how compact the HUAWEI MateStation S is, both for the little space it occupies and how comfortable it is to carry from one place to another.
The weight also accompanies, with just over 4 kg. It is even a comfortable desktop to carry from one place to another. Or at least it will not be a problem for us to want to change your stay at any given time. As we will see, that the peripherals are wireless helps a lot to this.
Huawei Matestation S Compact Design
In the design of a desktop, access to ports is a vital element. This Huawei MateStation S offers basic connectivity on the front: audio connector, USB-C port, and one more USB-A.
The rest, numerous but basic, are at the back. There we find the standard audio inputs, an HDMI port, a VGA port, 4 USB-A ports (two of them 3.2 Gen1), an Ethernet port, and even a serial port, which gives us an idea that Huawei does not want to take its eyes off the enterprise market that may still need this connectivity.
Huawei Matestation S Rear Tower
In any case, we miss more current connectivity, especially USB-C type, because, as we will see, it is a device that supports a certain update of components as long as we connect to its interior space.
AMD Ryzen at the controls with the possibility of future improvements
AMD is the protagonist of the interior of this Huawei MateStation S. Specifically, and we must talk about its Ryzen 5 4600G processor (6 cores at 3.7 GHz and 12 threads), a very good choice to maintain a balance between performance and consumption / generated heat.
The technical sheet of the Huawei desktop is completed with 8 GB of RAM (DDR4 3200 MHz) as standard and the use of the integrated AMD Radeon graphics. RAM can be expanded by having one free slot available. There is also the possibility of adding a dedicated graphics card, but we will have to fine-tune a lot due to the size available and the power demand as the internal power supply is only 300 W.
The interior, compact, does not allow many extensions. The basic one of the RAM is direct since we have an available slot.
The Ryzen 5 more than delivers on a performance level for tasks that one thinks make sense in the purest consumer market and a broad job sector with no specific requirements.
In our performance tests, the Ryzen chip once again proves that it is the performance leader for multi-core power. The PCMark 8 tests left us figures of 4436 and 5490 in the Home and Work tests, respectively. Regarding the graphical aspect, the tests left us with a score of 2194 in the Fire Strike test and 4811 in the 3DMark Wild Life test.
An element inherited from the laptop’s world, which seems to us the weakest of its technical sheet, is the SSD. Not for speed, which complies with data of more than 3500 MB / s and 1100 MB / s in reading and writing, respectively, but incapacity. The only version available offers 256 GB NVMe as standard, a very small amount for a desktop computer.
Huawei Matestation S Cover Good
Wireless connectivity does not reach wifi 6, and we have to settle for wifi ac in addition to Bluetooth 5.0.
The case’s design uses the front as an air outlet, something that does not bother at all because the temperatures and the use of the fan are totally under control. The desktop operation, even in the most demanding graphics tasks, is completely silent.
A screen commensurate with the compactness of the tower
The Huawei MateStation S is associated with a pack that includes something logical: a monitor. Despite being a basic product at the level of specifications, its behavior is consistent with the use and motivations for purchasing the desktop.
But let’s start this part by talking about the monitor design. It is not complicated to assemble, it is done without tools, and it supports VESA support. The support, basic but resistant, admits some vertical inclination but nothing lateral or elevation. Its connectivity is also simple: a VGA port and another HDMI—no built-in speakers. The panel is 23.8 inches, offers a 1080p resolution with a brightness level of 250 nits and good contrast. It avoids reflections a lot, and its display is more than correct for its price. The best thing is the feeling of immersion, thanks to the fact that the frames are practically non-existent; it’s a great selling weapon.
Huawei Matestation S Monitor Frames
The Huawei MateStation S currently includes a standard wired mouse as standard, basic but in good working order, a gift pack that includes the analyzed screen, and a wireless keyboard that includes an integrated fingerprint reader. Such as Huawei Share technology.
The Huawei MateStation S is just destined for them. With enough power for non-specialized work, leisure, or study tasks, this desktop stands out for its completely silent operation, the small footprint, and the gift pack of the monitor and wireless keyboard; it is a ready-to-use option without the price skyrockets a lot.