Huawei launches its own iPad Pro, calls it MatePad Pro

Image: Huawei/Weibo

Huawei’s not that hot in the U.S. these days, but the company is doing its best to mimic a very well-known U.S. company: Apple. 

Just yesterday, Huawei launched a very Apple-like smart speaker called the Sound X. And on Tuesday, the company followed up with a tablet that looks very similar to Apple’s iPad Pro. 

In typical Huawei fashion, the MatePad Pro — as it’s called — is not just a cheap knockoff; in fact, in some ways it’s more powerful than Apple’s original. Engadget Chinese has the details, and they include a 10.8-inch LCD screen with a 2,560×1,600 pixel resolution, 540 nits of brightness, and a tiny, 4.9mm bezel. 

The device is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 990 chip and comes with 6/8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of storage. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera, a 7,250mAh battery with 40W fast charging (wireless and reverse wireless charging are also supported), and four speakers with Harman Kardon branding. 

Accessories include a magnetically attached stylus and keyboard (which looks very much like Apple’s Smart Keyboard). 

On the software side, the MatePad Pro comes with Android 10 but, alas, no support for Google Apps due to the U.S. trade ban imposed on the company. 

The price starts at 3,299 yuan ($469), with the pen and the keyboard sold separately. Pricier versions add more RAM, storage and LTE support, and some get the pen and the keyboard included in the box. 

The Huawei MatePad Pro is currently available in China; international availability is unknown at this point.