The HUAWEI MatePad 11.5 S (2026) sacrifices battery for premium hardware

The entry-level pill house is usually essentially the most thrilling value tier to take a look at. It’s the place that pulls essentially the most consumers and has essentially the most competitors. Apple, Samsung, and loads of different manufacturers have extremely aggressive inexpensive tablets, and also you, the client, are confronted with extra selection than ever earlier than. A type of selections in Europe is HUAWEI’s MatePad 11.5 S (2026). So, let’s check out HUAWEI’s new MatePad 11.5 S mannequin to see if it’s the perfect hardware you will get for below £350.

HUAWEI stored it easy this time round. It’s barely thicker than its larger brother, the MatePad 12 X (2025), at 6.1mm, and is enclosed with aluminum, which drops the load barely to 515g. It’s comfy sufficient within the hand, although it doesn’t really feel notably luxurious. HUAWEI doesn’t promote any water or mud resistance, nor does it point out something in regards to the sturdiness of the glass. General, the design and construct are passable for its class.

One space the place HUAWEI didn’t minimize corners is the show. It’s simply essentially the most spectacular a part of the pill, and its matte end is one thing I want was featured extra generally on different tablets. It’s a 2,800 × 1,840, 144Hz IPS show that basically punches means above its weight class.

The anti-reflection is unbelievable, making direct inside lighting a non-issue. And the added texture from the nano-level etching course of makes for a really analog really feel when utilizing the M-Pencil Professional (accessible individually). It even makes utilizing the pill outdoors way more comfy by diffusing any oncoming reflections. Lastly, it additionally alleviates the sparkly impact that’s susceptible to sure matte shows. 

An space the place some value was saved is the battery. The pill has an 8,700mAh battery that may be charged at 40 watts. It’s definitely serviceable; it’s across the similar capability because the Galaxy Tab S11 at 8,400mAh. Nevertheless, the MatePad boasts a 2.8K 144Hz show, which is a tall ask for a battery of this measurement. I discover this interprets to about 5 hours streaming 480p YouTube via the browser.

The Kirin 9000WE CPU powering the pill has eight CPU cores and, together with its 8GB of RAM, it held up simply nice with some 4K drawing in GoPaint. I used to be impressed by the audio system, too. There are 4 of them across the system, and so they produce a stunning quantity of bass and quantity. I did discover the mids and highs are much less pronounced, which made media content material a little bit muddy, nevertheless it wasn’t distracting sufficient to pose a difficulty.

That is the way you construct a pill keyboard. It provides £100 to the pill, which is steep, however I prefer it rather a lot. For starters, it connects just by magnetism to the again of the system. It then mechanically costs and connects with Bluetooth, permitting it for use wirelessly as properly. 

However my favorite half is that the backplate and the keyboard are held collectively by magnets, so while you take the keyboard off, you continue to have the kickstand for the pill, or you may lay it flat on a desk for writing, assuaging the annoyance of the digicam bump. It’s nonetheless lacking a trackpad, however apart from that, it’s the most effective pill keyboards I’ve tried.

The M-Pencil Professional has some unbelievable specs and makes the Galaxy S Pen look weak compared. The M-Pencil Professional has 16,384 ranges of stress sensitivity, and rotate, double-tap, button, and pinching features. I might solely get the pinch characteristic to work about 30% of the time, however the remainder are all pretty dependable.

The obvious problem right here is the value. The M-Pencil Professional could be bought individually for £129, which is a major addition to the value. For that motive, I don’t suppose anyone shopping for this pill needs to be trying on the M-Pencil Professional. There are many extra budget-friendly stylus options that definitely get the job completed, whereas retaining the value down.

As you in all probability already know, HUAWEI gadgets are incompatible with the Google and Microsoft suites, which makes it troublesome for a North American like me to correctly combine the pill into my workflow. When you want these apps, then you definitely shouldn’t be contemplating the MatePad 11.5 S, however in the event you don’t, you’ll be glad with the accessible software program. The included HUAWEI Notes app has an expertise approaching the likes of Goodnotes on iPad, which prices £20, and GoPaint rivals Procreate, which is once more a paid app on the iPad.

Must you contemplate shopping for the MatePad 11.5 S 2025?

At £319, the MatePad 11.5 S is packing some spectacular hardware, particularly the show. College students, commuters, and workplace employees who don’t wish to seize a Galaxy Tab S or iPad Air are going to be thrilled that you may get this high quality of show and drawing expertise on another system. However a tool is barely nearly as good because the software program it runs. HUAWEI’s Android-based model of Concord OS is designed (not by selection) for a market of people that don’t depend on generally used apps within the West. And whereas there’s lengthy been the promise of an Android-less platform in Concord OS Subsequent from HUAWEI, that rollout has but to increase to all international markets.

In fact, even when Concord OS Subsequent does roll out globally, it’ll nonetheless imply that builders should individually commit to creating their apps supported, resulting in additional app selection restrictions, which is already the most important ache level of utilizing the system. Nevertheless, that doesn’t change the truth that the drawing expertise on the MatePad 11.5 S is implausible, and I like how spectacular it was for outside utilization because of the matte show.

I feel it’s well worth the cheap asking value, although while you issue within the keyboard and stylus, it begins to get a little bit expensive. However in the end, you’ll must resolve whether or not you may abdomen the price of time spent making your favourite apps work or transferring to thoroughly new ones. When I’m utilizing a pill day by day, the browser and the notes app are 95% of my screentime, and I think anyone else buying this pill can be the identical. If that’s you, this system delivers.