Huawei MatePad 12 X (2025) vs iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025)
74
out of 100
VS
82
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 12-inch Huawei MatePad 12 X (2025) (with HiSilicon Kirin T92B) that was released on September 19, 2025, against the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025), which is powered by Apple M3 (iPad) and came out 7 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Huawei MatePad 12 X (2025)
- Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
- Delivers 57% higher peak brightness (909 against 579 nits)
- Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
- Supports higher wattage charging (66W versus 20W)
- Compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Much smaller footprint: 18% more compact case (76.6 vs 93.5 square inches)
- Weighs 61 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025)
- Has a 1 inch larger screen size
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 6400 MHz
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3044 and 1507 points
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 12 inches | 13 inches |
| Resolution | 2800 x 1840 pixels | 2048 x 2732 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 4:3 |
| PPI | 279 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 144 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (30-144 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 1000 nits | 600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 86.8% | 86.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.9% |
| PWM | Not detected | Not detected |
| Response time | 23 ms | 36 ms |
| Contrast | 1115:1 | 1214:1 |
Screen space comparison
iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025)
13″ (4:3 ratio) = 81.1 in2
MatePad 12 X (2025)
12″ (3:2 ratio) = 66.5 in2
~22% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 270 mm (10.63 inches) | 280.6 mm (11.05 inches) |
| Width | 183 mm (7.2 inches) | 214.9 mm (8.46 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.9 mm (0.23 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 555 g (19.58 oz) | 616 g (21.73 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Green | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 494 cm2 (76.5 inches2) | 603 cm2 (93.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.59/5) |
Visual size comparison
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (50th and 30th place)
Android Tablet Ranking (#36th place)
iPad Ranking (#8th place)
Performance
| Chipset | HiSilicon Kirin T92B | Apple M3 (iPad) |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 4050 MHz |
| CPU cores | - | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - | - 4 cores at 2.75 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.05 GHz: |
| Manufacturing | - | TSMC |
| Lithography process | - | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | - | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | HiSilicon Maleoon 920 | Apple GPU 9-core |
| GPU shading units | - | 1152 |
| GPU clock | - | 1380 MHz |
| FLOPS | - | ~3179.5 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 3426 | 45545 |
| Single-core score | 1507 | 3044 |
| Multi-core score | 3973 | 11749 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | - | 770486 |
| GPU | - | 1024172 |
| Memory | - | 312462 |
| UX | - | 657090 |
| Total score | - | 2764210 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [4 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 70% |
| Graphics test | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2695 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 39 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 52 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 38 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 28 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 10356 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | HarmonyOS 4.3 | iPadOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 30 GB | 23 GB |
| OS updates | - | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 10100 mAh | 10340 mAh |
| Max charge power | 66 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 40 min) | Yes (50% in 70 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:35 hr | 2:30 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | - | 09:17 hr |
| Watching video | - | 13:08 hr |
| Gaming | - | 07:13 hr |
| Standby | - | 170 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6144 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | LED | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | - | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 8 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Pixel size | - | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4608 x 3456 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.4 |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | - | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Type of SIM card | No | eSIM |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | - | No |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 6.0 | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2025 | March 2025 |
| Release date | September 2025 | March 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $799 |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Gyroscope - Ambient light sensor |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Yes, 20 W |
Further details
Notes on MatePad 12 X (2025):
- The PaperMatte Display is optional.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad Air 13" (2th Gen, 2025) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: < 1