Huawei introduces three new P60 flagship phones and the Mate X3 foldable
Huawei today unveiled its new flagship P60 line of photography-centered phones and its foldable Mate X3. There are three models in the P60 series including the P60, the premium P60 Pro, and the P60 Art. The latter uses a unique design to create a different look for the rear camera island. All three P60 models carry a 6.67-inch LTPO OLED display with a resolution of 1220 x 2700 (FHD+) and a 120Hz refresh rate. The displays are protected by Huawei's Kunlun glass.
The Huawei P60, P60 Pro, and P60 Art share much of the same hardware
The P60, P60 Pro, and P60 Art all sport an under-display fingerprint scanner. All three also have a 48MP sensor backing the rear-facing primary camera using RYYB (Red, Yellow, Yellow, Blue) sensor design to replace the traditional RGB (Red, Green, Blue). This delivers higher-quality images. Once again, Huawei is equipping the sensor with f/1.4-f/4.0 ten-speed variable aperture with automatic scene-based switching. The main camera will also record 4K video.
The P60 and P60 Pro both use the same 13MP sensor for the ultra-wide angle camera while the P60 Art uses a 40MP sensor for its ultra-wide camera. While the P60 sports a 12MP telephoto camera capable of 5x optical zoom, the P60 Pro and P60 Art are equipped with a 48MP telephoto camera that supports 3.5x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. The P60 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 modified to work with LTE signals only.
Color options for the P60 and P60 Pro
The P60 series also includes support for satellite messaging in China only. In areas where there is no cellular connectivity, users will be able to send and receive text messages using Beidou satellites. While both the P60 and P60 Pro are powered by 4815mAh batteries, the former charges at 66W and the latter at 88W. The P60 Art uses a 5100mAh silicon-carbon battery. All three models have the latest version of Huawei's own HarmonyOS 3.1 operating system pre-installed.
Color options for the P60 and P60 Pro include Feather Purple, Feather Black, Emerald Emerald, and a limited Rococo White. The P60 Art will be offered in Blue Sea and Quicksand Gold colors. The P60 is priced at CNY 4,488 ($657) for the model with 128GB of storage and runs up to CNY 5,988 ($877) for the 512GB variant. The P60 Pro starts at CNY 6,988 ($1,023) for the model with 256GB of storage and costs CNY 7,988 ($1,170) for the 512GB version.
The Huawei Mate X3 is thinner and lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max
The P60 Art is available with 512GB of storage for CNY 8,988 ($1,316) and the model sporting 1TB of memory is priced at CNY ($1,610). Sales in China for the P60 and P60 Pro will start on March 30th while the P60 Art will launch on April 7th. Pricing and availability for the global models will be announced later.
Huawei compares the Mate X3 with the iPhone 14 Pro Max
The Mate X3 is Huawei's latest foldable and it closes inwardly like the Galaxy Z Fold 4. It features an external screen weighing in at 6.4 inches and opens to reveal a 7.85-inch display. Both screens sport a 120Hz refresh rate and the phone closes completely flat without any gaps. In fact, at 5.3mm thin, the phone, when closed, is thinner (and lighter) than the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The Mate X3 also supports texting via satellite connectivity in areas where there is no cellular connectivity.
The resolution of the external screen is 1080 x 2504 with a tall and thin 20.9:9 aspect ratio. The larger tablet-sized display has a 2224 x 2496 resolution and an aspect ratio of 8:7.1 which is pretty darned close to being a square.
The Huawei Mate X3
The Mate X3 carries the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC which also is modified to work with 4G LTE signals only. In other words, there will be no 5G connectivity on this or any other Huawei phone for the foreseeable future. The camera array includes a 50MP primary camera, a 13MP ultra-wide, and a 12MP periscope camera capable of 5x optical zoom. There are also a pair of 8MP selfie cameras.
Huawei did add IPX8 water resistance to its foldable phone allowing it to be submerged in up to 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) of fresh water for as long as 30 minutes. Keeping the lights on is a 4800mAh battery that charges at 66W (wired) and 50W (wireless).
Pricing for the Mate X3 starts at CNY12,999 ($1,900) for the model with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. With 512GB of storage, the price is CNY13,999 ($2,050), while the 1TB variant is tagged at CNY15,999 ($2,340).
Things that are NOT allowed: