Foldable phones have been a hot topic in the rumor-sphere lately. While Samsung has been mentioned numerous times, other companies also started popping up. Among them was Huawei, who all but confirmed that it'll have a foldable phone to present at MWC when it released its official invitation for the event.
It was teasing a phone that folds outwards... and that phone is a reality! It's called the Huawei Mate X and it is now official.
Design and display
As mentioned, the Huawei Mate X folds out on itself, meaning its display wraps around the outer sides of the handset when it is in a folded state. When unfolded, it's not one uniform slab — it's a 5.4 mm (0.21 in) thick tablet with an 11 mm (0.43 in) bulging strip located in the rightmost part of its back. It works sort of like a handle, giving you more meat to hold on to, and also houses the phone's triple camera sensor. When it folds, the "back" display meets with the bulge to make for a uniform shape all around, giving you an 11 mm (0.43 in) thick handset.
When the phone folds, both its slabs fit snug to each other, with no gap in-between. This has been achieved with a super-sophisticated hinge down the middle — Huawei named it the Falcon Hinge —, which consists of 100+ different pieces.
Both screens are active when the Mate X is in a folded state. This allows you to spin it around and use either side, depending on your needs. The larger portion, we'll call it "the front", has a 6.6-inch diagonal, while the "back" display is smaller, measuring at 6.38 inches. When you unfold it, you get a large, 8-inch, 2480 x 2200 display. And yes, it's AMOLED.
Hardware and connectivity
5G is the new buzzword at this year's MWC and the Mate X sure does support it! Huawei boasted top speeds, allowing you to download 1 GB in three seconds. That is, of course, if your carrier offers the speeds needed. Huawei prepared for future protocols by making the Mate X compatible with both NSA and SA architectures. The latter is not yet implemented, but will be the one we will eventually jump on when 5G comes about. It even supports dual SIM cards to boot!
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Under the hood, there is a Kirin 980 SoC running the show. This is a homemade chip, which powers the Mate 20 Pro. Built on a 7 nm process and capable of hitting speeds of up to 2.6 GHz, it's a pretty competent, fast, and energy-efficient chip, which will deven though2019, eventhough it's a 2018 model.
The whole thing is powered by two batteries, housed in the two halves of the device. Together, their capacities make for a 4,500 mAh juicebox, which should keep the lights on for quite a while. Especially with Huawei's excellent power management, which impressed us on the Mate 20. It'll also top up pretty fast with a 55 W Huawei fast charger, which will charge the phone up to 85% in 30 minutes!
Camera
The Huawei Mate X sports a triple camera on the back, developed in partnership with Leica. Just like on the Mate 20 Pro, we have one telephoto, one wide andgle, and one ultra-wide-angle here. This means you get all the nifty features, from Portrait Mode to action cam-like wide-angle shots. And, since the Mate X folds to have a display on its back, you can use the main camera as a selfie shooter, too!
Price and release date
The Huawei Mate X will be available sometime towards the middle of 2019 and will cost... are you ready for this? Really?
€2,299. This translates to $2,600. Well... any takers?
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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.
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