Huawei Mate Xs: Everything you need to know

Huawei has just announced the Mate Xs, its latest foldable flagship smartphone. As the name implies, this is an upgraded version of the Huawei Mate X that was unveiled exactly a year ago.

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Mate Xs has a single flexible screen that unfolds outwards and it remains unchanged from the original Mate X. When it’s folded, you get a large 6.6″ “phone” display that pushes a 2480×1148 pixels resolution in a 19:5:9 aspect ratio while the rear gets a 6.38″ display area that pushes a 2480×892 pixels resolution in a 25:9 aspect ratio. When unfolded, the Mate Xs provides a larger 8″ fullview display that pushes a resolution of 2480×2200 pixels.

The screen still has a plastic layer but Huawei has implemented a double-layer optical polyimide which is said to be 80% stronger than a single layer. The screen still has a noticeable crease but the surface feels more solid than its predecessor.

To improve its folding mechanism, the Mate Xs now uses a redesigned falcon-wing hinge that uses over 100 interlocking parts. Similar to the original model, you’ll need to unlock the hinge by pressing the dedicated unlocking button on the rear. On the sides, you’ll get a volume rocker button and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

Under the hood, the Mate Xs runs on the latest Kirin 990 5G which is the same unit that’s powering the Huawei Mate 30 Pro 5G. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. For improved cooling, the device also features a “Flying Fish Fin Cooling System” that uses flexible graphene with microscopic crevices which allows it to fold and cover the full surface area. The Huawei Mate Xs also offers the widest worldwide 5G band support including both SA and NSA networks.

Out of the box, it runs on Android 10 with EMUI 10 and Huawei has added a seamless multi-window interface with drag and drop features. You can run a maximum of three apps simultaneously with two apps side by side and another app as a floating window.

In the camera department, it also carries over the same Leica co-engineering quad-camera setup from the Mate 30 Pro series. It gets a 40MP f/1.8 main camera, an 8MP telephoto shooter with 3X optical zoom, a 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 3D depth-sensing camera. The device also gets optical image stabilisation as well as AI-assisted stabilisation.

There’s no dedicated front camera and if you need to take a selfie, you’ll have to use the rear cameras along with the rear display as a preview screen.

Powering the Mate Xs is the same 4,500mAh battery capacity but Huawei claims that you can get 21% longer battery life compared to the previous Kirin 980 powered version that uses a separate Balong 5000 5G modem. The device supports 55W SuperCharge fast charging via USB-C and you can get up to 85% charge in just 30 minutes. However, it is a pity that the Mate Xs doesn’t offer stereo speakers considering this is a large screen multimedia device.

The Huawei Mate Xs is officially priced at 2,499 EUR (about RM11,332). The foldable device will be shipped with Huawei Mobile Services and this means you’ll get Huawei’s AppGallery instead of Google Play Store. According to Huawei Malaysia, the Mate Xs will be available in Malaysia from 20th March 2020.

Related reading