Huawei’s Mate X2 advances foldable phone design, but unfortunately will be tough to buy outside of Asia.
Foldable phones still aren’t quite mainstream, but Huawei’s new Mate X2 looks like it may just be real competition for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2. Announced via livestream earlier today, the Mate X2 represents a major departure from previous Huawei foldable phones. The company has shifted from an outward folding design to an inward folding design that places the Mate X2’s 8-inch 2480 x2200 foldable OLED display on the inside of the device. On the outside, there’s now a secondary 6.45-inch 2700 x 1600 OLED screen, with both interior and exterior displays featuring 90 Hz refresh rates. The Mate X2 shares the same basic design as Samsung’s pricey foldable, though the Galaxy Z Fold 2 sports a superior 120 Hz refresh rate. But Huawei deviates in a few interesting ways. The first big change is something I really wish Samsung had done. On the inside, Huawei doesn’t include a selfie camera, so there’s no notch or hole-punch camera to distract from that huge flexible screen. That might seem like a bold call for some—especially with the way social media is right now—but considering that you can still take a selfie with the cam above the exterior display, that means when it’s open, your attention is on that big, full screen experience, right where it should be.
