Huawei Mate X is even more exciting than you think

To date, anyone who is interested in technology has probably heard of the Huawei Mate X, the incredibly expensive collapsible phone that, despite the launch of the second one, has been able to steal the show from Samsung Fold.

Mate X even managed to turn some skeptics into believers on the phone. But not me, I've always been optimistic about flexible display technology. Foldable screens do not like notches. It's not just another step towards a more ambitious goal, like a full-screen phone. Flexible displays have the power to transform the way people create and design entire categories of gadgets, including clothes and phones.

But after checking the Mate X, what surprised me the most is that, although it is a first generation technology in a space where there is still much to do, the Mate X was still more attractive in person than I thought. be.

However, before going further, all this comes with the warning that at least in the beginning, we must ignore how much it will cost. Yes, with a posted price of 2,300 euros (about 2,600 euros), the Mate X is incredibly expensive and does not justify under any circumstances to pay an extra 150% on phones like the Mate 20 Pro or Galaxy S10, which are already expensive devices. . High prices are common for new technologies. Consider that the Motorola DynaTac, the first mobile phone, was launched in 1983 and cost $ 4,000 – even before inflation. Bendy technology will be expensive at first, and if it succeeds, it will become more affordable.

So back to the device itself. From the moment I picked it up, the Mate X seemed far more substantial than its flexible folding screen design suggests. Much of this stability comes from the asymmetric body of the Mate X, which has a large bar on the right side that contains much of the tripe of the phone and a USB-C port, while serving as a stronger handle.

Even when you hold it in one hand and shake it, the screen does not really rock, and if you really try, you can bend the screen in the opposite direction of the hinge, it does not happen without provocation. Huawei also opted for a surprisingly classic solution that keeps the phone securely closed when folded in two: a simple button located under the three cams of Mate X.

This is a surprising addition; so many new phones are turning to simpler appearances (and some even boast of having no port at all). But it works. The click you hear when you close the Mate X screen leaves you with a satisfying audible mark that lets you know that its screen is closed.

Huawei has also worked on the Mate X software so that, whether you use the camera app, surf the web, or check your calendar, the transition between using half of the camera is the same. Foldable screen and full screen mode is relatively fluid. . Unlike Royole FlexPai, there are no graphical artifacts or jitter that appear during the transition between modes.

Meanwhile, in one-handed mode, the Mate X does not feel so different from a normal device. Thanks to the reinforced panels behind the screen, the screen does not have the same appearance as that present on the old Nintendo 3DS screens, and the way the screen bends to the side when It is folded gives almost the same impression as that obtained with modern phones with rounded 3D. showcases.

As for the screen itself, it looks really good The colors look rich and saturated. For people who like to take photos with a tablet or simply do not have a good view, being able to use the camera or display photos with the Mate X's full 8-inch screen is a real treat. For something that is essentially a pioneer of a whole new category of devices, this one does not seem to have the first generation frustrations of something like the dual screen. ZTE Axon M.

That said, Mate X still has to answer some very important questions, especially regarding the long-term durability of the screen. Last year, in November, when Samsung launched its Infinity Flex folding screen for the first time, the company focused on all the work done to create a new layer and a flexible OLED backplane. , an ultra-thin polarizer and even new types of flexible adhesive phone to survive thousands of turns.

Huawei made similar claims for the Mate X, but unlike Samsung, provided much less detail on how the Mate X's screen was made, or even on its origin. When I asked Huawei for more details about the origins of Mate X's screen, a spokesman only said that Huawei did not disclose the names of its suppliers. In total, only a few companies in the world can even create flexible screens. With Samsung, which is certainly not the company responsible for the screen Mate X, there are only a few possible suppliers, such as LG or TCL.

However, there is a scenario that suggests that even without Samsung's direct involvement, the Mate X and Galaxy Fold screens could be based on the same underlying technology. In late 2018, a Samsung supplier was arrested and charged with stealing a flexible screen technology and selling it to a Chinese display manufacturer. According to rumors, the presenter was on the other side of the transaction: BOE, a manufacturer deemed to have provided components for use on previous Huawei devices.

Not knowing the origin of the technology can be a concern for those who are concerned about sustainability, and there are signs that the Mate X might have problems. Huawei had a handful of Mate X, some of whom had a suspicious wrinkle in the middle of his screen. This challenged the truth of Huawei's claims of sustainability.

In some ways, the ride itself might not be a problem, because if you look at it from the front or at any angle other than the very sharp viewing angles, you can not really see the ride. The ride was not present either on all the Mate Xs I saw, although this is not very surprising, as some units have probably been used much more than others.

The other concern is that with the use of plastic instead of glass for the top protective layer on flexible screens, they could be more prone to falling by harmless objects like coins. or keys, objects that for several years posed a threat to modern smartphone screens. Anyway, until devices like Mate X and Galaxy Fold are available in the wild, we will not know how difficult flexible mobile phones are.

Huawei's claims about Mate X's alleged 5G capabilities, which could reach download speeds of up to 4.6 Gbps on a network of less than 6 GHz, are another small concern. If that were the case, that would be double the maximum download speeds that Qualcomm's X50 5G modem can achieve, albeit as an industry analyst. Patrick Moorhead highlighted on Twitteronly something operating on a 5G millimeter wave should be able to reach such fast transfer rates.

But even with the questions, what Huawei showed at the CMM with the new Mate X was still revolutionary. And even more than before, I'm convinced that, unlike 3D TVs and LaserDisc, devices with flexible displays are not just a fad. I just hope that by the time that folding gadgets become affordable, most problems will be solved by then.

The Mate X should be released in June, two months after the release of Galaxy Fold by Samsung.