Huawei demoed its first folding phone, the Mate X earlier this year, but it didn’t promise any specific launch date. Samsung famously had to delay its Galaxy Fold review for months after some early hardware failures. Huawei seemed to hang back and watch the mess unfold, but now it’s going to launch the Mate X next month. However, the company has only promised a China release so far.
The Mate X has one large screen instead of two like the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It folds outward to reveal a tablet-like 8-inch display. If you want to use the Mate X in “phone mode,” the flexible display folds around the back, and the back half turns off. That leaves you with a phone form factor with about 6.6-inches of usable screen on the front of the device.
Samsung says one of the reasons it went with the inward folding design was to protect the delicate plastic-covered OLED. We’ve seen just how fragile that display can be, too. It had to redesign the Fold over the summer to address durability issues, and some units have still failed because people put too much pressure on the flexible display while closing it. The Huawei mate X leaves the flexible display exposed on the outside of the device at all times.
The mate X was demoed running Google apps in early 2019, but the company won’t be able to run Google software on the final product unless it can get off the US government blacklist.
The Mate X has Huawei’s custom Kirin 980 ARM chip and a Barong 5000 5G modem inside. Huawei says its launch plans revolve around carriers, and it has Chinese partners lined up to sell the 16,999 yuan (around $2,400) device starting on November 15th. The company notes that it is open to launching the Mate X internationally, but that depends on carriers that can support its preferred 5G bands.
Huawei’s troubles with the US government will make any international release more difficult, though. In May, the US government added Huawei to the Commerce Department’s “Entity List.” That prevents US firms from sharing technology with Huawei, and Google was among the first to cut ties. That means Huawei can’t get any new devices certified for Google apps, which are essential on Android phones
outside of China. The company launched its new Mate 30 Pro without Google apps, and the Mate X will be the same if it ever comes to other countries.
Now read:
- US Government’s Huawei Ban Will Probably Go Into Effect Next Month
- Mysterious Google App Installer for Huawei Mate 30 Has Already Vanished
- Huawei Announces Refreshed P30 Pro with Android 10
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