As it stands, the Huawei Mate X2 is the company’s third foldable device since the first Mate X came out in 2019, followed by the Mate Xs in 2020. The Chinese tech firm has learned a lot from these gadgets. But it also picked up some cues from its competition, notably Samsung and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which it references a lot during its virtual launch yesterday, February 22.
Huawei looks like it’s paid better attention to the Galaxy Z Fold line and decided it wanted to improve on what Samsung offers. We love close competition in tech, especially since it means we get better products out of it.
What are the most exciting things about the Mate X2? We find out below.
Bigger, better displays
Huawei revamps its foldable design with the Mate X2. It now has an inward folding screen, similar to Samsung’s foldable devices.
The inner screen is an 8.01-inch OLED display with a 2,200 x 2,480 resolution and an 8:7.1 aspect ratio. Richard Yu, Huawei’s CEO of consumer business, said during the presentation that this aspect ratio is the “gold standard for foldable phones.”
Aside from having a slightly bigger inner screen than the 7.6-inch display on the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Huawei earns extra brownie points from us for getting rid of a camera in this bigger screen, allowing you to enjoy the larger display without any distractions.
While it might have a slower refresh rate over the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s 120Hz on its main panel, Huawei manages to offer the 90Hz refresh rate on both the inner and outer screens. (The Galaxy Z Fold 2’s external screen only has the standard 60Hz refresh rate.)
The Mate X2’s outside display is also slightly larger than the 6.2-inch screen of Samsung’s offering. At 6.45 inches, it’s another OLED panel with a 2,700 x 1,160 resolution and 21:9 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio is new for Huawei, but it’s been implemented by Sony on its phones. And this aspect ratio mimics the widescreen format of movie theaters.
No gaps, flatter screen, minimal creases
Huawei has learned from its mistakes and its competitors regarding the creasing and gaps in these foldable devices. With its new “Multi-dimensional Hinge Design,” it folds and flattens seamlessly without a gap between the display and the hinge.
It has a waterdrop-shaped cavity inside that stows away the display, so you hardly see the gap from the outside, too. An intricate dual-spiral structure helps this mechanism to work. That structure uses high-intensity steel to make sure it doesn’t easily break.
This design also allows for minor creasing, with surface flatness improved by 40%.
The Mate X2 sports what Huawei calls a “Seamless Foldable Design.” When the device is laid flat, it has a wedge-shaped look. Huawei intentionally made one side thicker than the other to accommodate the camera module on one side. And then it tapers off as thin as 4.4mm on the other end.
Another benefit of this design is it flattens the Mate X2 when open. And when it’s closed, the thickness of the Mate X2 is uniform on both sides. You’ll notice from the image below that there’s a minimal gap between the folded screen.
New eye-catching colors
The Mate X2 is available in classy black and white. But now, there are also Crystal Blue and Crystal Pink options. You can probably guess what our favorite color is.
Promising photo capabilities
The Mate X2 has an impressive set of cameras that haven’t been available on foldables yet. It has the Mate 40 Pro’s 50-megapixel Ultra Vision Camera with f/1.9 aperture and optical image stabilization. That’s paired with a 16-megapixel, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera and dual telephoto sensors for up to 10x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom. The selfie camera in front isn’t as impressive as the rear cameras, but it’s still a 16-megapixel shooter with a wide-angle lens.
Decent yet handicapped internals
We say handicapped because of its viability beyond the Chinese market. Huawei spent some time talking about the Mate X2’s Kirin 9000 5G chipset (which also powered the Mate 40 series), but Yu didn’t speak much about its operating system. As far as we know, it will come with EMUI 11 based on Android 10 out of the box, but still without Google apps or services. He mentioned that the Mate X2 is one of the first Huawei devices to get its HarmonyOS update in April. The Mate X2 also comes with 8GB of RAM, dual SIM support, and either 256GB or 512GB of internal storage.
The Mate X2 will come with smart features that take advantage of the large screen and allow for better multitasking, including Smart Multi-Window, Floating Window, App Multiplier, and App Bubble.
If Huawei decides to offer the Mate X2 outside of China, the lack of Google Services might hinder potential buyers from getting this foldable device.
Where is it available and how much?
Perhaps that last issue won’t be as crucial if Huawei decides to release the Mate X2 in China only. Yu didn’t talk about availability outside of his home country.
So, for now, we know the 256GB Mate X2 costs CNY 17,999 (around USD 2,783 or PHP 135,172), while the 512GB variant is priced at CNY 18,999 (USD 2,937 or PHP 142,678). Both will be sold in China starting February 25.
Are you hoping for Huawei to sell the premium Mate X2 where you are? Let us know on social media!