Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2: A stunning tablet with a big problem

Huawei has recently launched the MatePad Pro 13.2, a large and powerful tablet with an OLED screen, a new Kirin 9000S chip, and Harmony OS 4. But is it worth buying, especially when it lacks Google support? Let’s find out.

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## Design and build

The MatePad Pro 13.2 is a huge tablet with a 13.2-inch display, but it’s surprisingly thin and light. It’s only 5.5mm thick and weighs around 580g, making it comfortable to hold for long periods. However, it’s not very premium, as it’s made of plastic and glass fibre, unlike the iPad Pro or the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, which use metal and glass. The tablet also doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor, but it does have a secure facial recognition system, thanks to the notch on the screen that houses a 16MP camera and a ToF 3D sensor.

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## Screen and speakers

The screen is the highlight of the MatePad Pro 13.2. It’s a 13.2-inch OLED panel with 2,880 x 1,920 pixels, 1B colors, and 144Hz refresh rate. It’s bright, sharp, colorful, and smooth, making it ideal for watching videos, playing games, and browsing the web. The tablet also has six powerful speakers with Huawei Sound enhancement, which deliver loud and clear audio quality.

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## Performance and battery

The MatePad Pro 13.2 runs on the Kirin 9000S, a new chipset from Huawei that features an 8-core processor, a 4-core GPU, and 5G support. It also comes with 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The tablet is fast and responsive, handling multitasking and heavy apps with ease. However, the battery life is not very impressive, as the tablet only lasts for about 8 hours of active use, and takes about 40 minutes to charge from 0 to 85% with the 88W fast charger.

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## Cameras and software

The MatePad Pro 13.2 has two cameras on the back: a 13MP main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. They are decent for taking photos and videos, but nothing to write home about. The front camera is better, as it can take selfies and make video calls with good quality. The biggest problem with the MatePad Pro 13.2 is the software. The tablet runs on Harmony OS 4, Huawei’s own operating system that replaces Android. This means that the tablet doesn’t have any Google services or apps, such as the Play Store, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, etc. You can try to install them using third-party solutions, but they may not work properly or at all. You can use Huawei’s own AppGallery or Petal Search to find some alternative apps, but they may not have all the features or functions that you need or want.

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## Conclusion

The Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 is a beautiful and powerful tablet with a stunning screen and great speakers. However, it’s also expensive, and it doesn’t have Google support, which limits its usability and functionality. Unless you are a die-hard Huawei fan or you don’t care about Google apps, you may want to look elsewhere for a better tablet experience.