While many brands have been actively competing in the small tablet segment, Huawei has rarely made moves in this area. Even though the company released several tablets in 2025, there had been no news about a compact-sized model—until now.
This doesn’t mean Huawei has overlooked users who prefer smaller devices. Instead, the brand has taken a more measured approach, focusing on developing a premium small tablet that delivers a top-notch experience for those who value portability.
The result is the Huawei MatePad Mini, the company’s first-ever 8.8-inch flagship compact tablet, and the culmination of years of refinement.
In the small tablet market, Huawei sets itself apart with the MatePad Mini by creating a “different kind of Mini”—one that combines lightweight portability with impressive software and hardware capabilities:
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Ultra-compact design: The thinnest and lightest small tablet in Huawei’s history, measuring just 5.1mm and weighing 255g—barely heavier than some large smartphones.
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Stunning display: An 8.8-inch flexible OLED Cloud-Clear soft light screen, boasting 2560×1600 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 300Hz touch sampling rate for smooth visuals.
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Powerful connectivity: Supports an independent SIM card for calls and texts, while also featuring Lingxi communication and two-way Beidou satellite messaging.
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Seamless hardware-software synergy: Runs on HarmonyOS 5.1 for a secure, smooth, and smart experience, and is compatible with the Huawei M-Pencil Pro for creative versatility.
Design and Build
The Huawei MatePad Mini introduces a fresh approach to its body, screen, and battery structure. At just 5.1mm thick and weighing 255g, it feels exceptionally light and effortless to use one-handed in daily scenarios.
Despite its slim profile, the device is reinforced with a load-bearing beam design and aviation-grade high-strength steel. This significantly boosts both tensile and yield strength, ensuring the tablet is tough, durable, and resistant to bending or pressure even when carried around.
Its shell is crafted using glitter yarn and 3D brocade fiber technology. The review unit we received comes in a sleek “Snow White” finish, featuring a subtly matte texture that reduces glare and resists fingerprints.
The camera module stands out with watch-like engraved detailing, enhancing its premium look, while the flash is positioned just below the dual cameras.
On the bottom edge, you’ll find the speaker, Type-C port, microphone, and a dedicated SIM card slot—signaling that this compact tablet supports standalone communication.
Up top, the earpiece, speaker, and power button are positioned, while the volume rocker is placed separately. The mid-frame, built from lightweight magnesium alloy with a smooth curve, not only improves aesthetics but also contributes to the device’s slim, refined feel. Just below the volume button, a magnetic strip allows for stylus attachment.
Rounding it out, the MatePad Mini comes bundled with a 66W charger, delivering rapid charging performance.
Screen
For a compact tablet designed for entertainment, the quality of the display is absolutely crucial.
The first thing you’ll notice when holding the Huawei MatePad Mini is its sleek, compact form factor. But it’s when you power it on that the real magic happens—the expansive view offered by the 8.8-inch flexible OLED cloud-clear soft light display is nothing short of stunning.
With a 16:10 golden ratio and ultra-narrow 2.99mm bezels, the screen maximizes visual space, delivering an immersive experience whether you’re watching movies, streaming shows, or browsing through photos—far beyond what a smartphone can offer.
Color performance is equally impressive. Thanks to HDR Vivid support, the display renders a broader color gamut and richer dynamic contrast, making every detail in bright and dark scenes stand out with clarity.
The screen’s biggest strength lies in its cloud-clear soft light version, which leverages nano-etching technology to tackle reflection issues at the root. This minimizes glare and reduces interference from ambient light. Whether you’re outdoors in bright sunlight or indoors under artificial lighting, content remains crisp and easy to read—helping to significantly reduce eye fatigue during prolonged use.
On top of this, the screen carries SGS Low Visual Fatigue 2.1 Gold Label certification and TÜV Rheinland Global Eye Protection 3.0 certification, ensuring both comfort and safety for your eyes.
Nano-etching also creates a fine, paper-like texture on the display surface. When paired with a stylus, it provides just the right level of resistance, closely mimicking the feel of handwriting on real paper.
Finally, with its 120Hz refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling rate, the MatePad Mini achieves ultra-low delays—screen tap latency of just 45ms and swipe latency of 82ms. The result is a silky-smooth, responsive experience across all scenarios, from reading and writing to gaming and browsing.
Communication Capabilities
The Huawei MatePad Mini is Huawei’s first tablet equipped with Lingxi communication and full cellular network support.
To enhance connectivity, the internal antenna layout has been optimized—compressed within the compact body to deliver stronger and more reliable signals. Whether the device is held horizontally or vertically, it intelligently switches to the antenna not being covered by the hand, ensuring a stable connection and faster speeds.
The SIM card slot, accessible with a card pin, features a compact single-card design where the SIM is inserted from the back. Once installed, the tablet automatically detects base station signals, enabling normal use of mobile data.
Beyond data, the MatePad Mini also supports voice calls. Thanks to its top-positioned earpiece, calls can be made or received just like on a phone—offering clear audio without relying on speakers or headsets.
AI-powered call functions further enhance the experience, with features like missed-call prevention, anti-spam, customizable greetings, automatic voice-to-text recording, and more.
For added safety, the tablet also supports two-way Beidou satellite messaging. In areas without ground network coverage, it can send both text and images via satellite—an essential tool for emergency communication.
Stylus
The latest stylus delivers 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity, supports tilt and side rotation, and works seamlessly with three interchangeable pen tips: drawing, micro-writing, and writing.
Simply bring the stylus close to the tablet, and a pop-up connection window appears—allowing you to pair instantly with a single tap.
The stylus offers deep integration with the tablet: press the button on its end to activate AI Xiaoyi, or double-tap when an input cursor is active to launch speech-to-text. Just speak into the stylus for fast voice input—without needing to raise your voice for the device microphone.
A gentle pinch on the pen body activates its built-in micro motor, providing precise haptic feedback and instantly pulling up the rotary menu. From there, you can quickly access features like shorthand, one-click excerpts, global annotation, and smart art selection. Each app provides its own tailored menu for a smooth workflow.
Additionally, the stylus supports star flash positioning. Using your tablet or smartphone, you can locate it within a 50-meter range—even down to the exact floor level—helping ensure it never gets lost.
Software
Huawei Notes
Huawei Notes is Huawei’s in-house professional note-taking app and a key component of its light office ecosystem. Designed to work seamlessly with a stylus, it allows users to capture text, handwriting, voice, images, and more anytime, offering a fresh paperless creative experience tailored for creators and professionals alike.
The app supports real-time AI handwriting optimization. By enabling the feature and adjusting correction parameters, handwriting can be automatically refined during pauses—no manual circling required. Different parameter settings deliver varying levels of polish, as shown in the four “Is it a person?” examples that illustrate the adjustments across the same font.
To further boost productivity, Huawei Notes includes planner templates such as fitness and travel schedules, along with functional stickers, customizable covers, and a range of digital paper styles—meeting diverse creative and organizational needs.
Another standout feature is AI key-point extraction, which captures core keywords during voice recording and generates structured, personalized summaries afterward. This saves users from spending excessive time organizing meeting notes.
Perhaps the most eye-catching update is the “boundless canvas”. When creating a new note, selecting this option removes size limits—the canvas expands infinitely as content grows. Combined with a compact tablet and stylus, this feature lets users freely jot down ideas as they come.
Born to Draw
Since the debut of Huawei’s self-developed Shengshenghuihua app in August 2024, it has gained wide acclaim and sparked a surge of interest in digital painting on tablets. With each iteration, its professional-grade creative tools have continued to evolve.
The highlight is a 3D oil-painting brush that replicates the texture of real paint. By adjusting parameters such as highlights and shadows, it recreates the layered depth and tactile feel of oil brush strokes.
The latest update introduces an animation feature. By arranging drawings into layers and enabling the function, layers automatically convert into animation frames. Users can tweak frame rate, onion skin visibility, and playback modes to bring illustrations to life.
Additionally, the app includes an AI-powered smart color card tool. Simply selecting an image generates a color palette instantly, helping artists maintain consistent styles and even build a personalized color system for their work.
Huawei Reading
The standout addition in the latest Huawei Reader update is AI eye-tracking page turning. When using the Huawei MatePad Mini one-handed, readers can simply gaze at the designated bottom-screen area and shift their eyes upward to flip pages automatically.
In practice, the feature proves highly reliable, with almost no false recognition. It frees the other hand completely—whether on a crowded subway or while relaxing in bed, users can enjoy effortless, immersive reading without the need to swipe the screen.
Another valuable tool is split-screen reading, allowing an article to display on one side while notes appear on the other for immediate annotation and summarization. For learners studying dense textbooks or literary works, this “read-and-note” mode greatly enhances efficiency and comprehension.
Battery
The Huawei MatePad Mini comes with a 6400mAh high-capacity battery that delivers up to 9.5 hours of use under dynamic battery life testing. It is paired with a compact and portable 66W Huawei Bingtang universal charger for fast and convenient charging.
In daily use, when used as a primary device similar to a smartphone, the MatePad Mini easily lasts a full day without needing to recharge. Even after a typical workday, around 10% of battery remains available.
When the battery is critically low, the device automatically switches to a low-power emergency mode. Remarkably, even at just 1% battery, it can still support more than 15 minutes of emergency calls, over 10 instances of code display for payments, and at least 6 code scan payments—ensuring essential communication and payment functions remain available in urgent situations.
During our test, with the device at 1% battery in emergency mode, we connected the bundled charger and activated Turbo mode by long-pressing the screen center while charging. The results were impressive: the battery reached 19% in 10 minutes, 40% in 20 minutes, 58% in 30 minutes, and fully charged to 100% in just 60 minutes.
Another highlight is Huawei’s intelligent power preservation technology. Once the battery reaches a full charge, it automatically powers down to prevent wear, allowing the battery to maintain its health for up to three years. This means the MatePad Mini remains ready to use whenever you need it—even after being idle for long periods—without worrying about battery drain.
Verdict
Huawei’s move into the compact tablet market takes a distinctive path—focusing on differentiated competition and a user-first design philosophy. With four standout strengths—its ultra-thin build, Cloud Clear Soft Light Display, Lingxi Communication, and HarmonyOS AI—Huawei has redefined what a small tablet can offer.
For movie and TV lovers, the 8.8-inch flexible OLED Cloud Clear Soft Light screen, paired with AI-powered eye-motion page-turning, delivers both comfort and convenience.
For business professionals on the go, features like Lingxi Communication, Huawei Notes, and seamless cross-device collaboration ensure productivity anytime, anywhere.
For creative minds, the HUAWEI M-Pencil Pro stylus and the Tianshenghuihua app transform ideas into tangible works of art.
For families, the long-lasting battery and lightweight entertainment experience make it versatile—serving as both a kid-friendly animation device and a portable screen for parents’ work needs.
With its “super mini” approach, the Huawei MatePad Mini sets itself apart as a flagship in the small tablet space—an ideal choice for anyone seeking responsiveness, portability, and effortless companionship.