Huawei MateBook is ready to take on Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro

MWC 2016 may be barely under way, but the announcements are already pouring out thick and fast. As well as smartphones and smart car dongles, you can expect to see plenty of laptops and tablets, and one of the first to vie for your attention is the impressive-looking Huawei MateBook.

Clearly aimed as a rival to Microsoft's Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, the MateBook is a 12-inch hybrid tablet running Windows 10. Weighing in at just 640 grams, and measuring a mere 6.9mm thick, the tablet has an optional keyboard cover and stylus. Powered by an Intel Core M3, M5, or M7 processor Huawei claims 10 hours of battery life for the MateBook.

It's not just the processor that you can choose. Huawei is offering the MateBook with either Windows 10 Home or Pro, kitted out with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and storage ranging from 128GB to 512GB SSD. The volume rocker features a fingerprint reader as with some Huawei smartphones, so logging into Windows 10 is little more than a finger press away. But it's the screen that Huawei is particularly proud of. The Chinese company says it occupies 84 percent of the device, and it has a resolution of 2160 x 1440.

The optional stylus, the MatePen, has 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, offers shortcuts via two customizable button, and can last for up to 100 hours between charges. The keyboard case is a cut above average, as it includes a glass trackpad and features what Huawei is referring to as "near-notebook" key travel.

The MateBook is set for launch later in the year priced from $699 to $1599. The MatePan will cost $59, the keyboard cover $129, and a dock will also be available for $89.