Despite the cancellation of global mobile conference Mobile World Congress, following coronavirus fears, tech companies including Huawei are still forging ahead with phone releases. Today, the Chinese tech giant unveiled its new folding smartphone, the Huawei Mate Xs, as a follow up to last year’s Mate X.
The new Mate Xs looks relatively similar to its predecessor with the same outward opening structure. Size-wise, it is also the same – there is a 6.6-inch screen on the front, with a 6.38-inch screen on the back. This opens out to an 8-inch screen in total when unfolded.
So what’s new with Huawei’s new folding phone? Improvements have been made to the durability of the Mate Xs screen, presumably following the issues the likes of Samsung and Motorola have had with their first-gen folding phones. The Mate Xs’s display now features a double-layer optimal polyimide offering enhanced image clarity. In addition, the mechanical hinge has been updated too – Huawei says it is now made up of zirconium-based liquid metal to offer improved robustness and durability.
The cameras on the Mate Xs have been updated too to the standard of the P30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro released last year. There are three lenses: a 40MP lens, 8MP telephoto lens and 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens, along with a time of flight sensor for decent portrait and low-light photography. Huawei says this adds up to the “world’s best selfie camera” given the foldable form, which is a fair claim to make.
Like last year’s Mate X, the new Huawei folding phone also features two batteries on either side of the device which total 4,500mAh in power, and 55W fast charging which will charge the device from 0 to 85 per cent in only 30 minutes. In addition, the phone comes complete with Huawei’s new 990 chip, so it will support 5G.
Despite the flashy design and engineering skill that has gone into this device, you probably won’t be buying it. Following the announcement of the Mate X at last year’s MWC, with an eye-opening €2,299 price tag, Huawei never brought the device to Europe because of a trade battle with the US which prevents it from using Google’s Android software. The Chinese company recently launched a limited-run of its Mate 30 Pro smartphones in the UK and Europe, however, these devices rely on Huawei’s own operating system and not that of Android, so there aren’t as many apps and services available to use on the device, though it’s investing a lot of money to try and change this.
It is possible to get around this by “sideloading” Google apps – this is when you install apps on a device that hasn’t gone through the right certification process. However, Google’s legal director for Android and Play, Tristan Ostrovski, published a post last week to say that sideloaded Google apps “will not work reliably” and are “not available to preloads or sideload on new Huawei devices,” because of the US government restrictions.
“Sideloading Google’s apps also carries a high risk of installing an app that has been altered or tampered with in ways that can compromise user security,” added Ostrovski.
If you do still want to fork out for the Mate Xs, then it will cost more than last year’s version: €2,499. Huawei’s head of consumer Richard Yu says the device will be on sale in March but didn’t confirm in which regions the company will be selling the new phone.
Huawei isn’t the only tech company unveiling new phones this week despite the lack of MWC action. Japanese tech conglomerate Sony revealed its first 5G phone, the Sony Xperia 1 II this morning, and RealMe, a spin-off of Oppo, also launched a 5G smartphone named the X50 Pro.
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