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Meet Huawei Mate X, Welcome to the future?

OPPO
Infinix
Back in Barelona, Huawei wowed the world by introducing the Mate X. It's a phone and a tablet in one, a foldable device!
Meet Huawei Mate X, Welcome to the future!
Meet Huawei Mate X, the futuristic device to beat?

First off, the Mate X is the not the first foldable phone in the world. That distinction belongs to the Royole FlexPai phone in China. Samsung also launch their own version of a flexible device, the Galaxy Fold.

But right off the bat, the design of those two doesn't look as promising as the Mate X in my opinion.

Why? It doesn't have the thick bezels of the FlexPai and the thick body when folded of the Galaxy Fold.

So, with the Mate X, we could be looking at the next great evolution of phones.

Meet Huawei Mate X

 Composite materials
Composite materials

The body of the phone is mostly made out of advanced composite material. We do not know what type of material is this, but it is not metal and not glass. Fortunately, it still feels quite premium and durable.
View of the Falcon Wing design, mic, and slots
View of the Falcon Wing design, mic, and slots
USB-C, mic, and speaker
USB-C, mic, and speaker
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Unlocking button

Huawei made this futuristic foldable device possible by using a cleverly-crafted flexible OLED screen and the Falcon Wing design.

Clever hinge design!

It is stretchable hinge design that allows the phone to be folded seamlessly with no visible gap in the middle. Huawei claimed that it is a durable design that ensures that the screen will not over stretch while folding or bulge in unfolding. There is a lock that holds the fold firm.

It folds outwards instead of inwards. The design looks aesthetically great, but the display is always exposed. 

We unsure if its screen is not prone to scratches. Remember, on phone mode, the other side of the phone is also a screen. That part of the display might get scratches when you put your phone on rough surface.

There is no mention of Gorilla Glass protection yet. Corning is still working on an ultra-thin type of foldable glass protection.

Huawei's hinge design the foldable phone quite slim at 11 mm. Yes, the Mate X is thick versus most modern phones, but it is considered as slim versus other foldable phones such as the Galaxy Fold with 17 mm thickness when folded.

The company also said that it can withstand a lot of folds for years. But, who really knows. Only time will tell.
Big 8-inch screen
Big 8-inch screen

Going to the main highlight, the first thing that you will notice with the Mate X is the screen. When on tablet mode, it has a single 8-inch bright OLED screen with sharp 2480 x 2200 resolution at 414 ppi.
Side by side with the MediaPad M5 lite
Side by side with the MediaPad M5 lite

On tablet mode, the screen is big, but it has a handy and easy to hold design. It is also noticeable that it has way bigger screen-to-body ratio than most traditional tablets.
Phone mode
Phone mode

When folded, it transforms into a smartphone with a 6.6-inch display with 2480 x 1440 at 435 ppi.

When on phone phone you will see that it has a curve edge at left and cleverly hidden earpiece on top for calls together with other sensors. There's no notch on top, there is no need for it anymore.

It is also way bigger than the 4.7-inch phone mode of the Galaxy Fold. The screen at the back is off while on phone mode. It will only turn on when you will use it.
Back view on phone mode
Back view on phone mode

At the back, it has a 6.38-inch screen with 25:9 screen ratio. You will also find the triple Leica camera setup at the back. It features a 40MP f/1.8 RGB sensor + 20MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle + 8MP f/2.4 OIS telephoto sensor.
Selfie using the Leica triple cam? Why not?
Selfie using the Leica triple cam? Why not?

Since it doesn't come with a front camera, you can use the triple-cameras and the screen at the back of the phone to take selfies. It will allow you take selfies with the same quality compared with your normal photos. Since Huawei's camera system has an ultra wide-angle lens, you can even use it to take groufies.

Sadly, we failed to get camera samples as the device we had a chance to hold is still on prototype stage.

The rest of the features


Nearly everything about the Huawei Mate X screams flagship. It runs with the 7nm Kirin 980 chip with Dual-NPU for AI, 8GB RAM, 512GB expandable storage, and 4,500mAh battery capacity.

The 4,500mAh battery is made out of a two batteries to power the phone. It also has a 55W SuperCharge safe charging solution. In comparison, the Mate 20 Pro only comes with 40W fast charging. The closest competition for the 55W of Mate X is the 50W SuperVOOC of OPPO R17 Pro.

Huawei said that it has up to 600 percent faster charging speed versus the iPhone XS Max.

Another thing, the Mate X is one of the first 5G capable devices in the world. It used the 7nm Balong 5000 5G modem with multi-mode 2G/3G/4G/5G support. It is said to be the only 5G modem for phones with support for 2G to 5G. Other are using two chips, one 5G modem and one 4G multi-mode modem.

Huawei also said that it is the fastest 5G chip in the world with up to 4.6 Gbps of download speed.

By the way, the Mate X also has two speakers to provide stereo audio on the go.
We browsed our site using the Mate X
We browsed our site using the Mate X

It boots with Android 9.0 Pie OS with EMUI 9.1 skin on the top. So far, it works well with most of the basic apps such as the internet browser. With its different screen aspect ratio, not all apps are compatible yet.

What are the advantages of a foldable device?

Simple, it adds versatility and maybe even productivity to users. You can use it on tablet mode when you need a big screen to view things and you can use it as a phone if you need a more compact device.

More powerful hardware could be crammed inside due to its bigger form factor versus traditional phones.

Huawei Mate X Specs

Display: 8-inch-inch curved OLED screen w/ 2480 x 2200 resolution at 414 ppi, 6.6-inch 2480 x 1440 at 435 ppi folded, 6.39-inch 2480 x 892 at 412 ppi back
CPU: 2.6GHz 64-bit Kirin 980 octa-core processor w/ Dual-NPU
GPU: Mali-G76 MP10 w/ GPU Turbo 2.0
RAM: 8GB LPDDR4x
ROM: 512GB expandable via NM card slot up to 256GB
Camera: 40MP f/1.8 RGB sensor + 20MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle + 8MP f/2.4 OIS telephoto sensor w/ 4D predictive focus, AIS, and dual-tone LED flash
Battery: 4,500mAh w/ 55W SuperCharge
OS: Android 9.0 Pie w/ EMUI 9.1
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), 5G, Bluetooth 5 BLE, aptX HD, OTG, NFC, dual-band GPS, dual SIM (hybrid)
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic, pressure
Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, 384K/32-bit HiFi DAC, USB-C, stereo speakers, Colors: interstellar blue
Dimensions: 161.3 x 146.2 x 5.4 mm (unfolded), 161.3 x 78.3 11 mm (folded)
Weight: 295 g
Price: TBC

Quick thoughts

Arguably, the Huawei Mate X has the best foldable phone design implementation in the market yet.

It is a first generation product, but it looks more refined than most competing gen 1 foldable devices.

Yes, we know that it is far from perfect. As a matter of fact, Huawei is still refining some of its above-mentioned weaknesses before they make it available to the market.

BUT, those nitpicks won't stop us from being impressed with what Huawei accomplished so far.

It is still considered as a niche product though. But let's hope that it matures well. It has the chance to be the future of mobile phones.

In Europe, the Mate X will be available in interstellar blue color in mid-2019 for EUR 2,299 or around PHP 137K.

Huawei said that they will also make it official in the Philippines, but we do not know the exact local price and date of availability yet.

We will keep you guys posted. What do you guys think?
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