Huawei MatePad 11.5 S 2026 review: a midrange contender

Upon unboxing, the tablet comes with accessories that complete the PC-like experience, including the Smart Magnetic Keyboard, Huawei M-Pencil (3rd Generation), and a Bluetooth mouse. It also includes access to upgraded WPS Office 3.0, which features a desktop-style interface.

The box also contains the usual paperwork, a 40W USB-C charging brick, and a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.

SCREEN AND DESIGN
A personal favorite feature of the tablet is its 11.5-inch Ultra-Clear PaperMatte Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) with 2.8K resolution and the sleek green back design.

For a reporter who works in a variety of settings, especially outdoors, the tablet’s 2.8K LCD display remains reasonably visible even under strong sunlight conditions, thanks to its 1,000 nits max brightness.

The display also supports a 144Hz maximum refresh rate, making navigation—especially on the home screen—buttery smooth.

For eye comfort, Huawei says the display features anti-glare and anti-reflection technology and reduces sparkle by up to 50%. Based on my usage, the display remained comfortable even during long hours of work.

As for design, the tablet retains the sleek all-metal unibody of its predecessors. I appreciate its slim 6.1 mm, 515 g form factor, as it meant I no longer had to carry a bulky backpack for my usual work setup.

 BATTERY AND PERFORMANCE
 Another key advantage of the Huawei MatePad 11.5 S 2026 is its battery performance. Its 8,800 mAh battery easily lasted more than a day of moderate usage during my week of testing.

As of this writing, I used the device for four hours of continuous work, and it only consumed 30% of its battery.

It also supports 40W SuperCharge, allowing the battery to reach full charge in around 85 minutes.

In terms of performance, the tablet is powered by the Kirin T92 SoC (Hexa-core) and runs HarmonyOS 4.3. On paper, HUAWEI claims the device is capable of seamless multitasking and can run MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games without overheating or drastic performance drops.

In real-life usage, multitasking was a breeze, especially for multimedia and productivity tasks, pumped up by the device’s ample RAM. 

PC-LEVEL PRODUCTIVITY
 The standout feature Huawei aims to highlight on this device is its PC-level productivity, thanks to its inclusions right out the box.

The Smart Magnetic Keyboard, powered by Huawei NearLink for seamless connectivity, is modestly clicky and very responsive when typing. Its unique design also allows the tablet to transform into different modes for various scenarios, including laptop, split, and studio forms.

Meanwhile, the M-Pencil (3rd Gen) supports 10,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity and promises ultra-low latency for a natural writing experience, also powered by NearLink.

On my experience, taking notes during meetings or coverages has never been more satisfying thanks to the PaperMatte display, which, as the name suggests, mimics the texture of paper. It works best with Huawi Notes, featuring AI handwriting enhancement and note replay.

For creative users, the pen pairs with the Go Paint app, responding very well to user strokes and offering a suite of tools to sketch ideas.

FINAL VERDICT
The Huawei MatePad 11.5 S 2026 is definitely a bang for your buck, especially when you take advantage of the introductory bundle.

The MatePad 11.5 S 2026 has an introductory price of P29,999 (originally P31,999) for the 12GB + 256GB storage model, along with freebies worth P19,896 as part of the first-sale bundle, available until March 22. The device is availabe at the Huawei Online Store, Lazada, and Shopee.

If you are someone who’s always on the move, this tablet is likely to fit your workflow as well. — Edg Adrian A. Eva