Huawei is really digging the foldable space. The Chinese tech giant has unveiled the Mate XS foldable smartphone as a successor to last year's Mate X. The all-new Mate XS foldable is like a twin to the original Mate X, but not with some improvements to make it more sturdy and powerful.
When MWC 2020 event in Barcelona, Spain, was cancelled, a lot of companies relying on the global events had to make changes to their plans. Huawei was one of the many brands to have chosen an online presentation to go ahead with the launch plans as scheduled. As a result, the world witnesses the Mate XS.
Huawei appears to have spent the last year working towards bettering the Mate X so the Mate XS is more refined than the company's first attempt at foldable smartphone. The Mate XS and Mate X bear an uncanny resemblance, sharing the same screen, design and cameras, but Huawei has made some improvements where they are due.
Mate XS vs Mate X
Just by looking at the Mate XS and Mate X, it is hard to tell them apart. But one must get the phones in hand to see the difference.
Huawei Mate XS sets itself apart by feature a new Falcon Wing hinge, which the company claims is more robust. There's a quad-layer construction for the screen and two layers of polyamide film underneath the OLED display. But the improved hinge doesn't make the crease go away completely - something that has haunted the Samsung's foldable phones.
Besides the improved hinge, the Mate XS is powered by the latest Kirin 990 5G chipset. As for the Mate X, it also came with 5G support through a Kirin 980 chipset. There's also a redesigned cooling system to be accommodated in the folding portion of the device.
The Mate XS, like other phones in the Huawei portfolio, doesn't run Google's apps and services. The Mate XS comes with EMUI 10 based on Android 10 with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). Users can run three apps on the big screen at the same time.
The rest of the specs and features remain unchanged. The Mate XS, much like the Mate X, features a 6.6-inch screen, which transforms into an 8-inch one. In folded state, the phone has two displays, and the one of the back with 25:9 aspect ratio doubles up as a viewfinder when you want to take a selfie.
Speaking of cameras, the Mate XS comes with a 40MP f/1.8 aperture primary lens paired with an 8MP f/2.4 secondary shooter with OIS and a 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide snapper. The ToF lens gives better edge detection while shooting in portrait.
Finally, the smartphone is powered by a 4,500mAh battery with 55W fast-charging support.
Mate XS pricing and availability
Another thing that's different from the Mate X, is the pricing and availability. The Mate XS is priced at €2,499 for 8GB+512GB model. Unlike its predecessor, the Mate XS will be available globally starting next month, but the exact timeline of the release is still unclear.
