Some Huawei laptops in China come with Deepin Linux rather than Windows OS

Huawei is having problems with its smartphones and also its laptops as it is blacklisted in the US and US companies cannot do business with the firm depriving it of features that it presently uses.

	1 of 2

Huawei developing alternatives for US-based products

For its smartphones Huawei has been using Google's Android operating system (OS). It can still use the system but only the open source version that lacks key features and important apps that the proprietary system had. Huawei has developed its own Harmony OS but so far is used only in smart TVs. It is not clear yet if it will be developed for smart phones.

In the case of Huawei laptops Huawei had been using Windows 10 another US product by Microsoft. However, in China it is now replacing Windows 10 by Deepin Linux a Chinese release of Linux. There are numerous Linux versions most of them free.

Huawei laptops using Deepin Linux

Three different laptops are appearing in China with Deepin Linux installed: MateBook 13, MateBook 14, and MateBook X. As there is no Windows licence to pay the models are from $ 42 to $94 dollars cheaper than those with WIndows 10 installed.

A recent article notes: "Huawei's MateBook products are available outside of China, though Huawei has made no announcement of making Linux versions available in the West. The Matebook series is well-received by reviewers, though—as is practically the case for the entire PC industry, to some extent—the products follow Apple's design footsteps quite closely. "

Deepin Linux

Wikipedia describes Deepin as follows: "Deepin (stylized as deepin; formerly known as Linux Deepin and Hiweed Linux[5]) is an open source operating system based on Debian's stable branch. It features DDE, the Deepin Desktop Environment, built on Qt. As of version 15.10 it also uses dde-kwin, a copy of KDE Plasma's window manager.[6] The distribution is praised for its aesthetics in various reviews, while in the past also having been criticized for using a statistical tracking service in its App Store, which was removed in July 2018."

As with most versions of Linux, Deepin Linux is free. The system is not new. It has been around since 2004. It is often used for desktops. The Deepin was based upon Ubuntu until 2015 and is now based on Debian.

Installing Deepin Linux

Deepin Linux has long been available for installation. It can be installed alongside WIndows 10 in a dual boot system as can other Linux distributions. I have one of my computers that has both Windows 10 and a version of the more common Ubuntu Linux system. When I boot up the system a screen appears that allows me to boot into Windows 10 or Ubuntu. In some cases there may be problems with compatibility. I have not had any issues.

A detailed account of how to dual boot Deepin Linux with Windows 10 can be found at this site. The ISO file required can be downloaded at the sites listed here. The Google Drive site is said to be one of the faster downloading sites.

At present, the Huawei laptops that run Deepin Linux are only released in China. Even if they are not released elsewhere people who want to try the Linux system could always create a dual boot system with WIndows 10 or simply try them without installation. Some Dell computers already come with a version of Linux installed. The ten best Linux systems for laptops including Deepin are listed and reviewed at this site.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Huawei releases Matebook X Pro updated laptop

The Huawei Matebook X Pro was released last year. According to an article by Dan Seifert it has the right mix of performance, portability, ports and price.

Seifert wrote another article in May last year praising the laptop when it was released: "Fortunately, the MateBook X Pro has completely and thoroughly exceeded my expectations. While it is not a perfect laptop and it has a couple of faults that will stop some from considering it, it is still the best laptop I’ve used all year. That makes it my new recommendation as the productivity and entertainment laptop to buy right now."

This year's update MateBook X Pro.

The new updated version was just announced but will not be available until later this year. It still has the same basic design an number of ports. However, it has a slightly faster processor, an upgraded graphics card, as well as an upgraded Thunderbolt 3 port. There is now an option for 1 TB of storage.

Huawei also announced a cheaper lower tier model which has a lower-resolution display, weighs more, along with some other concessions. It will also be available later on in the year.

Little visual differences between new model and last year's

The Huawei logo on the two are different. The Huawei logo on the new version is now just the word mark not the full logo as on the 2018 model. Seifert notes: "Otherwise, this is the exact same laptop, complete with a 13.9-inch, 450 nit, edge-to-edge 3000 x 2000 pixel touchscreen; full size keyboard with 1.2mm key travel; fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button; and 2.93 lb weight. The two USB-C and one USB-A ports remain, though the Thunderbolt port has been upgraded to a full four lanes of bandwidth, which Huawei says is capable of supporting external GPUs like Nvidia’s RTX2080."

There are two processor options the Corei5-8265U or the Core i7-8565U. Huawei claims these are ten percent faster than last year's processors. The X Pro comes with 8GB or even 16GB of RAM. Storage can be from 256 GB and now 1TB. The Core i7 version has Nvidia's MX250 discrete graphic a bit better than the 2018 MX150 GPU.

The MateBook 14

Despite being the lower tier model, the Matebook 14 has quite a few of the same qualities as the premium MateBook X Pro — but it is heavier.

Huawei says the two models will be released on global markets first before coming to the US in late spring. The MateBox X Pro will cost 1,599 euros or about $1814 US for the Core i5 model with 8GB RAM and 512 GB storage. The Core i7 model with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB storage will cost 1,999 euros or about $2,266 US. It remains to be seen whether these laptops will find a market at such high prices.

The MateBook 14 will start at 1,199 euros for the Core i5 model or about $1,359 US dollars. The Core i7 model will cost 1,499 euros or $1,699 US. The US pricing will be revealed later.

Previously published in the Digital Journal