Huawei isn’t going to let a minor inconvenience like US sanctions stop it from designing new phones. Today, the company announced the next device in its flagship foldable-smartphone line: the Huawei Mate X2.
While 2019’s Mate X (X1?) was an innovative-but-impractical form factor with a single wraparound display on the outside of the phone, the Mate X2 follows Samsung’s lead and goes with a book-style foldable with a rigid phone screen on the outside and a foldable tablet screen on the inside. It looks just like a Galaxy X Fold 2 but with a few interesting design evolutions.
Huawei spent a lot of time saying the Mate X2 was better than the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, pointing out bigger interior and exterior screens as well as a smaller hinge area with slimmer bezels on the front. One thing Huawei didn’t compare is the price, which starts at a whopping $2,784, while the Galaxy Fold 2 is $2,000.
The exterior screen is a 6.45-inch, 2700×1160, 90Hz OLED, while the interior screen is an 8-inch, 2480×2200, 90Hz OLED. Both are bigger than those in the Fold 2, which has a 6.2-inch outside display and a 7.6-inch inside display. Huawei’s work to slim down bezels looks impressive, and it really feels like the company got the aspect ratios right. Huawei managed to fit a bog-standard 21:9 display on the front—it looks like a normal smartphone from some angles. The interior display is nearly two 21:9 display put together, with what Huawei called a “8:7.1 aspect ratio.” It’s hard to say what the interior aspect ratio “should” be, since Android tablet apps are nearly nonexistent, but at least this will be good for split-screen app usage.
The folding action of the Mate X2 looks like a cross between Samsung’s Fold 2 and the Moto Razr. From the Fold, we have internal, behind-the-screen gears for the hinge action. From the Razr, we have a hinge that results in a teardrop display fold when closed, instead of a hard crease. Just like in the Razr, there are two foldaway support plates to the left and right of the hinge. They swing out of the way when the device closes up, allowing the phone to close without crushing the display. Huawei says the device closes without a gap. More
By Ron Amadeo https://arstechnica.com/
