Using Huawei’s new “paper” tablet as a travel journal

The great innovation that the Matepad Paper brings to the mass market is undoubtedly that of being an E Ink screen device with an application system just like the one we have on our smartphones and tablets. And the very same apps. There is even a pre-installed WPS Office package, and by connecting a Bluetooth keyboard I used it like I would have done with a normal tablet when I needed to write a somewhat complex email and didn’t have my laptop with me. Although the device claims a remarkable refresh rate for the technology used, E Ink obviously slows down the process. The Paper model comes with several built-in apps, while others can be downloaded from the AppGallery - Huawei’s own application store. And with a little bit of fiddling, you can eventually add a store like Aurora to install even more apps. Please, always bear in mind that these apps were not designed for this type of display - TikTok videos look as if someone put a black and white filter on them, and Instagram in greyscale is almost incomprehensible. One almost has to wonder about the sense of it all - it feels more like “I would like to but can’t”, rather than a tablet that wants to make E Ink its forte.

The Paper has a full file system and an application to navigate it, as well as a mail and calendar application. They can make all the difference at work, but also for keeping track of hotels and plane or train itineraries, as in my case – I turned the MatePad Paper into the perfect diary for a trip involving stops of a couple of days at most, and a plethora of information on flight times and hotel names to be neatly marked.  What is certainly a useful option, though limited by a design not made for this kind of display, is the possibility to install (after a bit of fiddling, as you won’t find them on the AppGallery) both Kindle and Kobo. If you have a library there, or some magazine subscriptions like the New Yorker, you can read them directly on the Paper.

For the MatePad Paper, Huawei has built a complex interface similar to that of a traditional tablet, although adapted to the particular specifications of a device that is not so normal (or at least, not yet).  The overall result is a bit confusing. The fans of completeness and super devices that can do anything with a little bit of fiddling will be happy with it, but when it comes to the experience of a normal user, perhaps much less would have sufficed. Certainly, Huawei has never been a fan of “less is more”...

How do you write and draw on MatePad Paper? Let’s start with drawing. It is not bad at all, with the obvious limitation of only using black and white and greyscale. The tools are a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, a pencil and a felt pen, with three colour options (black, white, and grey) and three thickness levels. The responsiveness of the screen is remarkable and there is basically no lag whatsoever. Having all the options at your fingertips, without the inconvenience of the Remarkable’s submenus, makes drawing fun and fast. The absence of colour is a limitation that can become a stimulating quality. In short, I haven’t had this much fun drawing since Pictionary - in my case, I have mostly drawn elaborate maps to find my bearings in Nha Trang and Hanoi or the former prison island of Con Dao.

Compared to the reMarkable, writing on the Paper is worse. The screen feels more slippery, the stroke is less accurate. The reason is simple and it is the stylus. Huawei’s M Pen is a tool in every way similar to those we are used to using on tablets, which however do not glide on the surface as softly as the reMarkable’s stylus, or even one of the cheaper alternatives, such as Staedler’s Noris Digital - pens that have a fine, soft tip, with a certain degree of elasticity, capable of perfect friction on the screen, in certain cases - or for certain hands – perhaps better than writing on paper. Huawei’s M Pen slips off and consistently worsens handwriting – for example, mine, already mediocre in itself, worsened by years of little practice as it was replaced first by mechanical keyboards and then by the intensive use of digital ones on smartphones. Not that any of this has made it impossible to take notes on the go or write on the drawings and micromaps I made for my Vietnam trip. But it was not as pleasant an experience as I would have liked. If I had to write something, I always ended up preferring to use my phone, whereas on reMarkable I repeatedly sketched out articles for Domus by handwriting them. I mean, Huawei, it’s all well and good, but if you want to make a tablet that really gives me the sensation of writing on paper, just change this stylus!

The reading experience on the Paper goes through two different applications. The first is the bookstore, with a fairly basic catalogue of books – I looked for Museo Animale by Carlos Fonseca, certainly one of the summer cult books in Italy (published by Sellerio in May, and available in all the major Italian digital stores), and it was not there. Instead, there was a list in which a book on animals by Michela Vittoria Brambilla ( Berlusconi’s former darling, minister of tourism and champion of animal rights for the Italian centre-right a few years ago) stood out.   On the other hand, there is the application for reading books, which certainly deserves praise for its clean interface and minimalist approach – here less is more without the possibility of contradiction, chapeau. However, the experience is still quite basic. This is where an alternative app can come to the rescue. Especially if it is specifically designed for an E Ink screen like KOReader, which behind a certain hostile organisational complexity and the usual, unnecessary overabundance of options hides an unexpected freshness and ease of use, which is completely lacking in alternatives designed for “traditional” tablets and smartphones.

The MatePad Paper is light, and more agile than its same display size competitors. It comes with a folio case, which however comes off a little too easily, and does not hold the stylus firmly enough, which magnetically hooks onto the side of the device, only to get lost even in the slightest untidy backpack. This actually happens with all tablets - the magnetic stylus attachment is more of a fad than a safety feature, we’ve all come to realize. The battery lasts very long, in a fortnight I charged it once, maybe twice. The backlight proved to be essential on the Reunification Train at night and planes. The choice of multiple screensavers and a whole host of options Huawei has equipped the device with shows great care and attention and makes the user experience more enjoyable. And there is still plenty of room for improvement, or to perhaps launch a “pocket” version, perhaps foldable, which would be really useful for on-the-road notes to alternate with beach (or jungle) reading.

There is a basic design issue that could be debated at length. Huawei could have chosen to build a device from scratch, creating interfaces and applications just for the E Ink display, a bit like reMarkable did – but instead they preferred to build only the essentials. For example, they could have designed a hybrid calendar between handwritten notes and digital appointments, or games designed specifically for this display, which certainly has a lot of potential, even if watching YouTube on it is a weird experience. Instead, the choice has been maximalist, almost like a five-year plan: Harmony has been dropped onto the device as if from above, adapting what we are accustomed to as far as possible, and then emphasising those areas in which the device excels – which are basically notes and reading. Leaving us wondering what a technology giant might do if it really did think up a different product, based on E Ink technology, from scratch. Maybe we will see. In the meantime, I praise the Paper for its versatility, although perhaps it lacks something in which it truly excels. The question of whether to leave for the holidays with pen and paper next year remains.