Testing the Mate X, Huawei's first folding phone, in Barcelona.
Juan Garzon / CNET
The Huawei Mate X is a very special phone that opens the door to imagine a little what cell phones will be like in the future or at least what they will be like in the coming years.
As we have reported, this year several folding phones will go on sale, which integrate a flexible screen and want to function not only as ordinary cell phones, but also as small tablets.
The Huawei Mate X, which made its debut at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, has been stealing a lot of attention from Samsung's flip phone, theGalaxy Fold and even his inflexible little brother (Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus Y Galaxy S10E) by offering probably one of the most attractive designs we've seen on a device of its caliber.
14 cool things I learned from the Huawei Mate X:
- There will be two versions of the Huawei Mate X: one version of the Mate X will offer 5G through the sub-6GHz spectrum, while another unit will offer 5G through mmWave (millimeter wave) and sub-6GHz. That means they have different components.
- The battery life would be similar to that of other recent Mate series phones.
- The most expensive components of the Huawei Mate X are the screen, the folding system (hinge, etc.) and the components to make it compatible with 5G networks.
- Huawei does not lose money with the Mate X, but claims to have a similar profit range than it has with other phones.
- The flexible OLED screen is not from Samsung, but although Huawei confirmed this, it did not mean what the manufacturer was.
- The cameras of the Mate X will be similar to those of the Huawei P30.
- The place where the screen is folded sells after time and makes the screen not completely flat.
- Huawei is working to make the cell phone last at least three years, supporting it being folded and unfolded at all times.
- The 6.38-inch screen does not reproduce the same content, but is divided to offer the same aspect ratio as the other. In this way, the upper part will show other information, such as the time and weather (Huawei is still working to define this).
- The folding system is stiff, but feels more fluid and solid than that of theRoyole Flexpai.
- By using it as a cell phone and rotating it, the device uses the gyroscope to detect which side you use to turn it on and off the other.
- Huawei plans to also offer a system to lock the screen to one side (such as blocking the interface from rotating on a cell phone), or also to turn it on when you need it (for example when you are lying down).
- The interface works well, but you can only have two apps active at the same time on the screen, instead of three like the Galaxy Fold.
- Your screen is covered in plastic, not glass.
- Although it has dual SIM card slot, only one card offers 5G compatibility.
Watch this:
Huawei Mate X: Huawei's first foldable phone …
1:54
CNET and CNET in Spanish are in Barcelona with all the details of the Mobile World Congress in this city.
