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Huawei is still aiming for foldable smartphones but, as we already knew, with the Mate X2 presented today it goes in the opposite direction to its predecessors, because this time the screen folds inwards. Yet Huawei does not want to forget its origins, given that the Mate X2 also has an external screen on the front, like Samsung's Z Fold 2.
Although the Mate X2's internal screen is a single folded piece, one could almost say that this year Huawei's foldable display has three.
An entirely new fold, and HarmonyOS arrives in April
The large folded internal screen that can open like a book measures a total of 8” and has a resolution of 2,480 x 2,200. The outer and front one boasts 2,700 x 1,160 pixels on 6.45”. Both are OLEDs with a refresh rate of up to 90Hz.
The Mate X2 has a brain composed of Huawei's Kirin 9000 SoC, already seen on the Mate 40 Pro, which will use 8 GB of RAM and will be able to choose between 256 GB and 512 GB denominations, at least in China. The battery is 4,400 mAh and you can take advantage of the 55W fast charge.
The interface is EMUI 11.0 which is based on Android 10, but of course it still does not have direct support for GApps and Google services, taken away from it by the commercial ban of the former US president Donald Trump's administration. However, Huawei did know during the presentation that the Mate X2 will be among the first phones to be updated to Huawei's operating system, HarmonyOS, and already starting in April.
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The back — the only part of the phone that doesn't have a screen — houses four cameras. The main camera is a wide angle with a 50 MP sensor – most likely the same as the Mate 40 Pro. Then there is a 16 MP ultra wide angle which finds the company of a 12 MP tele 3x optical, and there is a another tele camera, an 8 MP “SuperZoom” with 10x optical zoom. The front camera is a 16 MP detached from the edges of the screen.
Philosophy à la Galaxy Z Fold 2, however...
Unlike what one might think, the external front screen is mainly responsible for the paradigm shift in the use of the Mate X2; more than the internal crease, which however is certainly the most striking feature.
Having a "normal" external screen, large and ready to use for daily use of the smartphone, allows the internal one to be dedicated to specific tasks that expressly require the user to open the Mate X2. In this, the philosophy of Huawei foldables hasn't changed much, because they have always allowed the use of part of the screen folded externally like that of a traditional phone. But now everything is more "robust".
The internal fold, like the Samsung Fold, allows for greater care of the 8" screen, which on paper is more fragile and needs more protection.
The most important difference compared to the Z Fold 2 is that the Mate X2 does not leave space between the two screens when closed, as Samsung's phone does.
Mate X2 will be available for purchase in China on February 25 in denominations of 256 GB and 512 GB at the (converted) price of around 2,500 euros and 2,750 euros respectively. Nothing is known yet about the European launch and availability.
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