There has been plenty of rumours pointing toward HUAWEI moving toward their very own developed Harmony OS. They say 2021 is the year they will jump into their own Operating System (OS). According to the launch as well, we can expect to see the first smartphones with Harmony OS by April 2021.
But the launch is not about HUAEI’s upcoming smartphone interface. It is about a certain replacement for the elusive HUAWEI Mate Xs of 2020. Welcome to the HUAWEI Mate X2.
The HUAWEI Mate X2, as you would have guessed, is the HUAWEI Mate Xs. Funnily enough, it does not look anything like a replacement for the HUAWEI Mate Xs. It resembles a certain foldable flagship from its competitor, to be fair.
That may not necessarily be a bad thing though. That sort of standardises a foldable smartphone format that everyone can agree on. While it does lack a little innovative flair, it also means that we know what to expect from a certain type of devices in the future.
The HUAWEI Mate X2 is now a dual display wielding device instead of a single foldable display beast. It makes a little bit more sense in terms of device handling as well with this type of inside-outside display layout. It also justifies the pricing a little bit better than before. You are now paying for two displays instead of one.
While the HUAWEI Mate X2 looks like a “Me Too” device, HUAWEI has made every inch of improvement they think a foldable smartphone like its type should have. For one, visually, the 6.45-inch display is a proper Full HD display at 2,700 pixels by 1,106 pixels. Inside, you get an 8-incher with 2,480 x 2,200 pixels on board, that’s more than 1440p and almost square.
But that is not all, the front display is a 90Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling display worthy of any games you throw at it. It is an actual usable display that is not too narrow to enjoy, or too tall to work with. It looks like a proper smartphone display you can enjoy. The internal display is a fast-moving 90Hz refresh rate display too with 180Hz in touch sampling for near instant response times.
The device is not even that thick to begin with. The HUAWEI Mate X2 is only 14.7mm thick at the thickest when it is folded. There also seems to be no gaps when you fold the device, it is a flush device and looks like it will feel like a single device. When you unfold it, it is 8.8mm at its thickest point. We say that because the device is designed as a wedge and to be heavier at the bottom plate of the device. That is also the only way for the device to be completely evenly squared when you fold it.
Powering the device is a HUAWEI Kirin 9000 System on a Chip (SoC). It is also the same one that we can find in a HUAWEI Mate 40 series. Alongside the powerful SoC you also get 8GB of RAM to work with.
Unlike its rival, the HUAWEI Mate X2 only packs two camera modules, both outside the device. This way, the 8-inch internal display remains undisturbed and full. Out the front display then is a 16-Megapixel selfie camera. But there is also a quad-camera set up at the back that fires at 50-Megapixel, 16-Megapixel, 12-Megapixel, and 8-Megapixel.
The 50-Megapixel main camera is the same ones you will find on the HUAWEI Mate 40 series as well, so you are not getting anything less than the best. You get a single ultra-wide camera with the 16-Megapixel. The two others are zoom lenses at 3x optical zoom factor (12MP) and a 10x optical zoom factor (8MP). As with any modern flagship you can record videos at 4K resolution.
To cap it all off, the EMUI 11 device runs on an internal 4,500 mAh battery. That battery charges at 55W at the maximum. That is good news considering that it also supports 5G and WiFi 6+. Of course, it charges via USB Type-C.
The biggest question is now, how expensive it will be. The HUAWEI Mate X2 will be available in China 25th February, 2021 onward and will come with a charger out-of-the-box. The get to choose between 256GB or 512GB variants at CN¥ 17,999 (MYR 11,270*) and CN¥ 18,999 (MYR 11,896*). There is no word yet on when the device will get to Malaysia. We are expecting them to mention the device’s local availability to be mentioned closer to the global launch of the HUAWEI P50 series. Still, keep watch of this space. For more information, you can head to HUAWEI.
*Approximately based on conversion rate of US$ 1.00 = MYR 4.04 on xe.com at 24/02/2021