(Update: We have hands-on pictures!) With the Mate X, Huawei presented one of the most beautiful folding smartphones last year. The company is now presenting the second generation, which combines the beautiful design with new features and better technology, but the price remains as high as ever.
Foldable display & Falcon Wing design
The heart of the device is clearly the 8-inch OLED display with its resolution of 2,480 x 2,200 pixels. If you fold the device, the design of which Huawei proudly calls the “Falcon Wing”, a display with a diagonal of 6.6 inches remains.
It remains to be seen whether the display, which is allegedly somewhat more robust than that of the Galaxy Z Flip, is more durable than the predecessor – in any case there is a warning in the packaging that is intended to protect against “incorrect” use.
Fast performance & 5G thanks to Kirin 990
The HiSilicon Kirin 990 provides the right performance, which is accompanied by a Mali-G76 GPU, 8 GB RAM and 512 GB flash memory. The latter can be expanded by up to 256 GB via an NM SD card.
The Mate Xs comes with two SIM slots, only one of which supports 5G. Huawei particularly emphasizes that eight 5G bands are compatible, which means that the device can be used in practically all 5G networks, but the chip is limited to Sub-6, and the faster mmWave standard is not required for the Mate Xs. There is also Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0.
The device is powered by two 2,250 mAh batteries for a total capacity of 4,500 mAh. With Huawei SuperCharge, the battery can be charged with up to 55 watts via USB-C. A fingerprint sensor has been integrated into the power button on the side.
Leica quad camera without zoom or monochrome sensor
The Mate Xs does not have a black and white camera or a periscope zoom, but there is a 40 MP f / 1.8 main camera, a 16 MP f / 2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, an 8 MP f / 2.4 telephoto camera and a ToF -Sensor. The main camera also functions as a selfie camera, all you have to do is fold the smartphone.
The camera should support a night mode, but Huawei is silent about the exact technology, such as the image angles of the lenses or the sensors used. As a small specialty, the company advertises the “Mirror Mode”, through which both the model and the photographer can see what is in the picture when taking a portrait.
Android 10 & EMUI 10 bring better multitasking
Huawei has not only updated the software to Android 10, but also added new multitasking functions that are very reminiscent of the Apple iPad Pro (from 671 euros on Amazon): Additional apps can be dragged in from the right edge of the screen and then either via a split screen or to be used as a floating window, information can be copied between apps using drag & drop.
You still have to do without Google services and apps, instead the company continues to advertise the Huawei App Gallery, which still offers a significantly smaller selection of software compared to Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Price & availability
The Huawei Mate Xs will come to Germany in mid-March with 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage at a price of 2,499 euros. A foldable protective cover is included.
