The admittedly quiet foldable phone market has a new competitor: the Huawei Mate X2 is the company's latest foldable phone, and even without the constant comparisons during the phone's launch, this phone is obviously a rival to the Samsung Galaxy Z. Fold 2 Announced in a YouTube video, the Huawei Mate X2 comes with the best specifications and a very high price, the details of which we will explain below. The video is from a launch event held in China, but with English subtitles; this implies that the phone will remain loyal to the Asian country for the time being, but could get a global release at some point. Costing CNY 17,999 (around €2,785, €1,985, AU$3,530) for 256GB of storage and CNY 18,999 (around €2,940, €2,095, AU$3,730) for 512GB, this is an expensive smartphone, if these conversions happen to be roughly similar to global launch prices, it will beat the prices of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which costs $1999 / £1799 / AU$2999 for 256GB.
Huawei Mate X2 specifications
Unlike the Huawei Mate Xs, the Mate X2 has a screen on the inside when folded, with a secondary screen on the outside. The Galaxy Z Fold also uses this design. The main screen measures 8.01 inches in diameter, with a 2480 x 2200 resolution, and the exterior measures 6.45 inches diagonally with a 2700 x 1160 resolution; both have 90Hz refresh rates. The smaller outer screen is divided by a hole-punch cutout that houses two cameras: 8MP and 16MP units, the latter with an ultra-wide lens. The main cameras are located in front of this outer screen and consist of a 50MP main periscope, 10MP periscope (for 10x optical zoom), 12MP telephoto (for 3x optical zoom) and a 16MP ultra-wide snapper. The Huawei Mate X2 has a 4.500mAh battery (it could be argued that seems rather small for a foldable phone) as well as 55W charging. There's a Kirin 9000 chipset, which should ensure some battery efficiency and also provides compatibility 5G. There are also two SIM slots. At the launch event, Huawei made sure to address the two main design elements of the foldable phone, the hinge and the display. The hinge was apparently designed to be as small as possible; in fact, when closed, there is no gap between the two sides of the screen, unlike most competing devices. Also, the crease of this fold would be reduced by 40% when the phone is opened, although it's probably still somewhat noticeable. The two `` sides,'' so to speak, of the Huawei Mate X2 have slightly different thicknesses, and the phone has a progressive shape. It measures 4,4 mm thick at its thinnest end, although we don't have the exact measurement at its thickest side; this design allows the phone to remain slim, while ensuring there is enough room at its larger end for the camera module. This has two advantages: first, when the phone is closed, it is said to be completely smooth. Second, the phone's center of mass is on one side, which apparently makes the phone easier to hold in one hand. The Amazon Kindle Oasis e-reader has a similar design philosophy, and it works well there. In China, the phone is available in four colors: pink, blue, white and black. We're still waiting for global availability, but in China, the Mate X2 goes on sale on February 25. If and when the Huawei Mate X2 goes on sale elsewhere in the world, we'll let you know. We just hope it is more affordable than the Chinese price.