Huawei today announced its own smartphone with a folding display, the Mate X. Unlike Samsung’s entry, it looks polished and ready.
“The Huawei Mate X’s revolutionary form factor is achieved by Huawei’s relentless effort in R&D,” Huawei CEO Richard Yu said in a prepared statement. “It represents a voyage into the uncharted. As a new breed of smartphones, the Mate X combines 5G, foldable screen, AI, and an all-new mode of interfacing to provide consumers with an unprecedented user experience. The Huawei Mate X will be the first key for consumers to open the door to 5G smart living.”
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
The announcement is a blow to Samsung, which announced its Galaxy Fold last week ahead of MWC, formerly called Mobile World Congress. The Fold looks impressive when unfolded, but the external screen is relatively tiny and has massive bezels. I predicted this would be the case, and that Huawei and other China-based tech giants will continue to out-perform Samsung going forward.
The Mate X, by comparison, seems like a complete product that is read for the market today. Its display measures 6.6-inches when the device is folded and it expands into a tablet-like 8-inch form factor when opened. Unlike the Fold, the Mate X has a single screen on the outside of the device, not a small exterior display and a separate, larger internal display. This design also allows Huawei to use the same LEICA camera system for both the front and rear of the device.
The Mate X is also outfitted with 5 Gbps 5G connectivity and is powered by a massive 4500 mAh battery with fast charging capabilities.
dontbe evil
<p>waiting for apple to invent it … oh wait :D</p>
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#406984">In reply to tsangmanfai:</a></em></blockquote><p>don't try to show facts to iSheeps, they bring you down to their level and beat you… funny that they call these prototypes, when they're the final model and will be on sale soon</p>
provision l-3
<p>I was looking at the hands on pictures at Cnet and it looks a bit more clunky/clumsy than the pictures here and the U.I. running on the front and back when it is folded seems a bit wonky to me. Overall I feel like this and the Fold feel way more prototype-y than well polished products. This one is also $2600 dollars which is just a mere 700 dollars more than the fold. So much for Paul's theory that Huawei will wipe the floor with Samsung on the price front. </p>
BrianEricFord
<p>This is clearly a more thoughtful design than the Fold — would be hard for something NOT to be, frankly — but I have the same expectation when it comes to durability that I had for the Fold: It’ll be terrible.</p>