Go over Samsung, Huawei foldable smartphone is a true prodigy

Just after the announcement of Samsung's first collapsible smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, Huawei is turning the corner with the Huawei Mate X. Huawei takes a totally different approach from Samsung's: put the screen on the screen. ;outside. rather than the interior, which has many advantages and disadvantages.

But first, the specifications. The Mate X has a huge 2480 × 2200 8-inch OLED screen that wraps around the phone's body. When it's open, it's a bigger screen than the Galaxy Fold, which is only 7.3 inches. When it is closed, the Mate X's 8-inch screen splits into a 2480 x 1148 screen section of 6.6 inches at the front and in a 2480 x 892 section. 6.38 inches at the back. You can choose from the front or back screen: the two dwarf screens, the ridiculous screen of 4.6 inches on the front of the Galaxy Fold.

The faults displayed by Huawei's folded screens are due to a vertical camera bar running along the back of the phone. This camera contains three cameras: a 40 MP main camera, a 16 MP wide angle lens and a 8 MP telephoto lens, an LED flash and a power button. It's also the only 11mm thick phone section that gives you both a device storage slot and larger parts, such as the USB-C port at the bottom and a fingerprint reader. lateral digitals. There is still no room for a headphone jack, though.

For internal components, you get all kinds of Huawei parts. A Huawei Kirin 980 SoC powers the device with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. 5G support is not optional and is provided by Huawei's new "Balong 5000" modem. Huawei even pushes its own memory card format to expand memory. Instead of the standard MicroSD card, Huawei's "Nano Memory" (NM) cards from Mate X support a proprietary card format that matches the dimensions of a nano SIM card. The idea is that Huawei can create a dual SIM tray and that the second card slot can be used for a SIM card or a memory card. Other phones already have a MicroSD combo and a second SIM tray, but Hauwei says his Nano cards are 45% smaller than an SD card.

There is a battery in each half of the phone, and together they total 4500mAh. The Mate X will perform an incredible fast charge of 55 W with the included charger, which leaves the realm of smartphones and is a charging system for laptop. Huawei says that the phone can go from 0 to 85% in 30 minutes and we believe it.

The advantages and disadvantages of the design of the exterior screen

Thus, the Samsung Galaxy Fold puts the screen inside the device and opens as a book, while Huawei places a wraparound screen outside the camera. # 39; s device. Which design is the best? Of course, we would need to spend a lot of time with both devices to make an informed decision, but we can make some assumptions in advance based on the information provided so far.

In theory, Huawei's design seems much simpler and cheaper, while Samsung offers many additional components everywhere. Samsung's internal screen means you can not see it when the phone is closed. It therefore has a second external screen. Huawei's outdoor display means you see it when the phone is open or closed. So you only need one display.

Huawei's design means it can also get away with its triple-function cameras. Once closed, you can point the camera towards something in front of you and use the front screen as a viewfinder. For selfies, flip the phone over and use the back screen that is right next to the cameras. When they're open in tablet mode, the cameras always make you face for things like video chat. Huawei has three cameras on the camera bar, but these are just additional shooting modes. If he wanted to, he could get away with one goal. Samsung, by contrast, has cameras all over. There are cameras at the front, cameras at the back and cameras inside the camera. Since the company does not know which screen you want to use a camera with, it places them on virtually any surface of the phone.

I would like to be able to support this "simpler and cheaper" theory with a really lower price for the Huawei Mate X, but the $ 80 Galaxy Fold seems to be an absolute boon in comparison. The Mate X is sold at an incredible price of $ 2600 (€ 2,299), although the two devices are not quite comparable. The Galaxy Fold price tag, worth nearly $ 2,000, is for the 4G version, while the Mate X comes standard with the 5G, not to mention the big screen. The Fold will also have a 5G version, but we do not know how much it will cost.

Nevertheless, if we ignore the differences between products and consider these two designs as competing theories for the future of the smartphone, the design of Huawei's exterior screen looks much simpler. Problems arise when you consider sustainability issues with the display.

Today, all phones have a screen on the outside, but they are protected by a scratch resistant glass. Since glass is not flexible, a flexible screen can not be covered with glass. These flexible displays are made of plastic, and plastic stripes. The Huawei website actually describes the Mate X as having a "soft screen", which does not sound very bad scratches. On the Galaxy Fold, the inner plastic screen is protected when the device is closed. On the wraparound display of Mate X, you're always place the scratch-off plastic screen face down on a table. The display is just everywhere, so it's inevitable. The screen will have to slide on a table when you take it, and it will crush against the pieces of sand and (if you are a monster) the keys of the car in your pocket. It seems very difficult not to damage this screen.

The other problem is to know what the screen looks like when it is open. As these screens are flexible, they are not necessarily flat when you open them. The Royole Flexpai, which has a similar wrap-around exterior display, actually has a small wrinkle when it's open. A screen tightly wrapped around a folded phone will have a little slack when it's opened, and managing it is a challenge. Huawei is trying to mitigate this phenomenon by offering a billboard that can "bend and stretch", as well as a patented hinge that expands upon opening. The design of Samsung has the advantage of being as close as possible when it is open. When the screen is closed, the screen is a little soft, but you do not use it then.

What one design wins over another comes back to the market to decide. The collapsible $ 2600 Huawei will be emptying the portfolios in the middle of the year.