At its MWC 2019 event in Barcelona, Spain, China-based Huawei has finally launched its much-awaited foldable smartphone, dubbed Huawei Mate X. Apart from being Huawei’s first foldable smartphone, it is also the company’s first 5G smartphone.
The company is touting the device as the “world’s fastest foldable 5G phone”. It will compete against the South Korean phone maker Samsung’s Galaxy Fold which was announced just a couple of days ago.
The Huawei Mate X features three screens — a 6.6-inch front screen with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 2,480 x 1148 pixel screen resolution, a 6.38-inch rear display with a 25:9 aspect ratio and 2,480 x 892 pixel screen resolution, and an 8-inch tablet “FullView” screen with 8:7.1 aspect ratio and 2,480 x 2,200 pixel resolution that works when the device is fully unfolded.
Various usage modes of the foldable smartphone are enabled a sophisticated Falcon Wing Hinge, which supports the outward curve of the screen, allows the device to be bent and fixed fluidly into a variety of angles.
Under the hood, the Huawei Mate X is powered by the company’s own Kirin 980 flagship chipset along with Balong 5000 multi-mode 5G modem and packs 8GB RAM with 512GB internal storage. The Balong 5000 comes with a quad 5G antenna design to enable downlink speeds of up to 4.6 gigabits per second, which is “Sub-6G” level and approximately 10 times as fast as 4G.
The narrow bar on the back houses three Leica camera sensors and a power button. It also has a fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the home button. The same set of camera sensors doubles up as the front-facing snapper as well.
Huawei says that it made the device for one-hand usage and thus, the bar is also curved, providing grip for easy handling. The device is fuelled by a 4,500mAh battery which comes with support for Huawei’s new 55W SuperCharge technology that can charge the device to 85 percent capacity in only 30 minutes.
The smartphone will be available in Interstellar Blue color. While the company has not revealed the pricing of Huawei Mate X, it has said that the phone will be released in the summer. As for the pricing, the device will start at €2,299.
Huawei Mate X Specifications
- CPU: HiSilicon Kirin 980 octa-core processor
- RAM: 8 GB
- Internal Storage: 512 GB
- Operating System: Android 9 Pie
- Display: 6.6-inch front screen (2,480 x 1148 pixels), a 6.38-inch rear 25:9 display (2,480 x 892 pixels), and an 8-inch 8:7.1 display (2,480 x 2,200 pixels)
- Camera: Triple camera setup that doubles up as front-facing snapper also
- Other: 5G connectivity, Fingerprint Scanner
- Battery: 4500 mAh with 55W Huawei SuperCharge support
Huawei Mate X Pricing and Availability
- Price: €2,299
- Availability: Mid 2019
