Huawei’s MatePad Air Z went on sale in China on 29th September 2026. It is a 12-inch tablet aimed at students, and it starts at about USD 450 or KES 58,000. The Air Z has an LCD screen. Huawei’s MatePad Air (2026), the model above it, has an OLED screen and starts at about USD 670 or KES 87,000.
The question is whether the Air Z is a new tablet or the 2025 MatePad Air with a new chip. On Huawei’s own spec pages, it appears to be the second option.
How it compares with the 2025 tablet
The MatePad Air Z comes as two models: a standard model and a cheaper Enjoy Edition. Both match the 2025 12-inch MatePad Air on screen, thickness, weight and cameras, and on the 10,100mAh battery rating. They add a new chip, Bluetooth 6.0 and HarmonyOS 7, the newest version of Huawei’s operating system. Huawei’s headline claim is 22% higher overall performance than the 2025 tablet.
| MatePad Air Z | 2025 12-inch MatePad Air | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 12-inch IPS LCD, 2800 × 1840 (280 ppi), 30Hz to 144Hz | Same |
| Peak brightness (bright light or HDR, battery above 50%) | 900 nits | 1,000 nits |
| Chip | Kirin T93S (standard soft-light model) or T93SD | Not named by Huawei |
| Memory | 8GB or 12GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 128GB or 256GB | 256GB or 512GB |
| Battery | 10,100mAh typical (rated 10,000mAh) | Same |
| Charging | Up to 66W; 66W charger on the standard model, 40W on the Enjoy Edition | Up to 66W |
| Rear camera | 50MP, 1080p video | 50MP, 4K video on the soft-light version only |
| USB | USB 2.0 | USB 3.1 Gen 1 with a separate cable |
| Bluetooth | 6.0 | 5.2 |
| Body | 5.9mm, about 555g | Same |
| Software at launch | HarmonyOS 7.0 | HarmonyOS 5.0 |
| Software update promise | Not announced | Not announced |
Versions and prices
Only the standard MatePad Air Z has a 66W charger in the box and a rear LED flash. The MatePad Air Z Enjoy Edition has a 40W charger and no flash. It is also the only version with 128GB of storage.
Both versions offer a soft-light screen. This is glass etched so it scatters reflections, which cuts the glare from lamps and windows. Huawei sells the same idea on its overseas tablets as PaperMatte. Etched glass can look grainy, a shimmer called sparkle. Huawei says the Air Z’s soft-light screen shows 50% less sparkle than the one on its 2024 12-inch MatePad Air, in its own lab test.
So if you study under a ceiling lamp or by a window, the soft-light versions are the ones worth the extra cost. That is about USD 90 or KES 11,600 on the standard model and about USD 45 or KES 5,800 on the Enjoy Edition. The Enjoy Edition has soft-light only in its 12GB configuration.
| Version | Memory and storage | Soft-light | Colours | CNY | About USD | About KES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MatePad Air Z Enjoy Edition | 8GB and 128GB | No | Moonlight Silver | 2,999 | 450 | 58,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Enjoy Edition | 8GB and 256GB | No | Moonlight Silver | 3,499 | 520 | 68,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Enjoy Edition | 12GB and 256GB | No | Nebula Pink, Moonlight Silver | 4,199 | 630 | 81,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Enjoy Edition | 12GB and 256GB | Yes | Nebula Pink, Moonlight Silver | 4,499 | 670 | 87,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Standard | 8GB and 256GB | No | Coral Orange, Island Blue, Space Grey | 3,699 | 550 | 71,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Standard | 8GB and 256GB | Yes | Coral Orange, Island Blue, Space Grey | 4,299 | 640 | 83,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Standard | 12GB and 256GB | No | Coral Orange, Island Blue, Space Grey | 4,399 | 660 | 85,000 |
| MatePad Air Z Standard | 12GB and 256GB | Yes | Coral Orange, Space Grey | 4,999 | 740 | 97,000 |
The 2025 12-inch MatePad Air launched in August 2025 with a list price of about USD 460 or KES 60,000 for 12GB and 256GB. The Air Z’s standard 12GB and 256GB model costs about USD 190 or KES 25,100 more. The cheapest Air Z costs about the same as the 2025 tablet did, at about USD 450 or KES 58,000. But it has 8GB of memory against 12GB, and 128GB of storage against 256GB.
Huawei pitches the MatePad Air Z at students. Its assistant, Xiaoyi, can turn notes into flashcards on command. It can also transcribe a lecture as it plays and summarise it. The M-Pencil Pro stylus, which is sold separately, can act as a dictionary pen.
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