After launching its first foldable device in 2019, Huawei has now launched the all-new Mate X2, a successor to the original Mate X. As expected, the handset has undergone a radical redesign featuring an inward folding form factor. This time around, Huawei has followed Samsung’s approach and has added an external secondary screen for when the consumers want to use the handset in its folded form.
As far as the specifications are concerned, the handset is loaded with flagship-grade features including a 5nm SoC, 50 MP quad-sensor cameras, and a high-density OLED display.
Design and Display
Interestingly, the Huawei Mate X2 features a wedge-design. It is thickest at the end where the camera module is installed and slowly thins out as we move to the other end measuring only 4.4 mm. One of the main reasons for a thicker form factor at one end is the periscope camera. In the folded form it looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy fold with the matte finish and rectangular camera bump.
The internal display is an 8-inch OLED with an 8:7.1 aspect ratio, 2480 x 2200 resolution, 90 Hz refresh rate, and support for DCI-P3 color gamut. The external display, on the other hand, is a 6.45-inch OLED panel with a 21:9 aspect ratio, 90 Hz refresh rate, and a 240 Hz touch sampling rate.
According to Huawei, the internal display is the first with a “magnetically-controlled nano-optical layer”. This is just a fancy way of saying that the panel is optimized to minimize reflections and glare.
Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, the hinge mechanism allows the phone to be closed seamlessly. The company claims that it has used an advanced hinge design that has been created using Zirconium-based liquid metal and carbon fiber panels. Moreover, since most of the weight is concentrated in the thickest part, the phone can be easily closed by one hand.
Internals and storage
As for the innards, Huawei Mate X2 is powered by the Kirin 9000 chipset and unlike other Snapdragon and Exynos chips, this one is fabbed at TSMC’s 5 nm foundry. The chipset has four Cortex-A77 cores (one of which runs at 3.13 GHz) and four A55, plus a Mali-G78 MP24 GPU. For 5G compatibility, Huawei claims that it has carefully planned the antenna system so that the users will get a strong signal regardless of how they hold the phone.
In terms of storage, the device offers 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage. The software front is handled by EMUI 11.0 based on Android 10 although it will not come with support for Google’s apps or services, which is likely to severely limit its appeal outside of China.
Cameras
The smartphone boasts a quad-sensor camera setup at the back that has been co-developed with Leica. The main sensor is a 50 MP module with an f/1.9 aperture and support for OIS and 4K video recording. The primary lens is topped with an 8 MP periscope lens that offers 20x hybrid zoom and up to 100x digital zoom, a 12 MP telephoto sensor, and a 16 MP ultra-wide lens that doubles as a macro sensor.
The 16 MP front camera sits in a pill-shaped cutout on the secondary display.
Battery and Pricing
The system packs a 4,500 mAh battery that is backed by 55W Super-Fast charging using the supplied adapter.
The device will be available by 25th February and the base variant will cost $2,780/€2,300.
Specifications
- CPU: Octa-core (1×3.13 GHz Cortex-A77 & 3×2.54 GHz Cortex-A77 & 4×2.05 GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: Mali-G78 MP24
- Chipset: Kirin 9000 5G (5 nm)
- OS: Android 10
- Networks: Android 10, EMUI 11, no Google Play Services
- Display:
- Main: OLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 8 inches, 2200 x 2480 pixels, 8:7.1 aspect ratio, 90 Hz refresh rate
- Secondary: OLED capacitive touchscreen, 6.45 inches, 1160 x 2700 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio, 90 Hz
- Memory:
- RAM: 8 GB
- Internal: 256 GB, 512 GB
- Camera
- Primary: 50 MP + 12 MP + 8 MP + 16 MP
- Selfie: 16 MP
- Connectivity: LTE, USB Type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0,
- Fingerprint scanner: Yes (in-display)
- Battery: 4500 mAh (55W charging)
- Price: $2,780/€2,300
