Huawei Mate 20 X hands on: is this the return of the "phablet"?

Years ago, when Samsung launched the first-ever Galaxy Note phone, featuring a 5.3-inch screen, which seemed huge by 2012 standards, the term "phablet" was popularized. This denoted an unusually large device called simply a smartphone, but more compact than a tablet. However, over the years, phone screens have grown and grown. Nowadays, we consider that a 5-inch armored device is "compact" and the flagship products often push the display diagonals beyond the 5.5-inch dot, which was once considered " great. "

Thus, the term "phablet" has somehow disappeared. But the latest Huawei Mate 20 series might well bring him back. Specifically, we are talking about the Huawei Mate 20 X – a huge smartphone with a 7.2-inch screen.

Designed to be a dream device for mobile gamers and media enthusiasts, the Mate 20 X certainly has attractive qualities. We had a little time with the phone, here's what we think!

Design

Yeah, even with the ultra-thin 2018 standard glasses, the Mate 20 X is still a big handset. Its 7.2-inch screen has a wide-angle aspect ratio of 18.7: 9 and it sits up and down the device, with just a small notch of "drop of dew 'on the top of the screen, which keeps the camera selfie.

Compared to an already big phone – the Galaxy Note 9 – the Huawei Mate 20 X is definitely bigger, wider, a little heavier and a little bit thinner (0.65 mm / 0.03 inch). His back is curved and we appreciate his ergonomics – it's far better to have a soft, rounded back against the palm of the hand than the rectangular shape when we're talking about a phone of this size.

Like the other new members of the Mate 20 family, as well as most other high-end phones this year, the Mate 20 X features a glass bottom that allows wireless charging. However, Huawei has thought of users who hate the smearing of fingerprints and the slippery qualities of a shiny glass. Some color options on the new Mate 20 phones have a "Hyper Optical Pattern" finish on the back, giving the surface a dull feel. The soft touch reduces grease stains and makes the phone less slippery, as the feeling of "wetting" is greatly reduced.

Make no mistake, however, it's still a two-handed phone. Fortunately, the Huawei user interface is configured with one hand, which reduces the display area and allows you to operate the device while one of your hands are busy carrying groceries. But a huge phone body is still a huge phone body. This is not a long-term solution, but an option to quickly type something with just one inch. Oh, you better get jeans with deep pockets.

Display

The OLED screen located at the front displays a resolution of 1080 x 2244 pixels, which extends on a diagonal of 7.2 inches. Some purists will laugh at the fact that it is not a resolution of 1440 x 2960, since the screen is bigger and it can actually benefit extra sharpness. However, the 1080p that we get here still compensates for a density of 345 pixels per inch. It's still pretty neat and always sharper than the standard Retina of the iPhone XR, 326 pixels per inch. Some users will understand that Huawei has not exceeded the resolution goals, which means that its resources, such as the graphics processor and battery, will not be solicited much.

We were pleasantly surprised by the color calibration of the OLED panel. Although we can not claim to be accurate from the hectic environment of the show, we certainly found that the colors were grounded and not aggressive with their saturation.

Performance, accessories

The Huawei Mate 20 X was widely sold as a gamer phone. It is positioned right between the Mate 20 and the Mate 20 Pro. It has a giant screen and is the only one of the three sport stereo speakers. However, it does not have any of the advanced features of the Mate 20 Pro, such as 3D face scanning, glass fingerprint scanner or a curved screen, which allows it to be less expensive. Well … relatively cheaper than the top guy.

But rest assured, no other corner has been cut. The Mate 20 X is still powered by the Kirin 980 – Huawei's home chip and the first 7nm SoC on an Android smartphone – 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space.

Given the limited time spent with the device, it works well – pretty good – with no visible slowness or freezing. A new technology Huawei Supercool, which mixes graphene and liquid for cooling, promises that the phone will not heat up and will not be strangled while playing on it for a long time, however, we can not tell if it's the case for the moment.

And – as if comparisons of notes were not enough – there is a new Huawei M-Pen, which will work specifically with the Mate X. Unfortunately, we did not have access to this accessory in the room. exhibition and it's a separate purchase. However, Huawei claims to have 4096 levels of pressure and, among the very limited materials we have seen, it could well be a serious competitor for Samsung's pen spot for the Samsung S Smart Pen.

In addition, Huawei will launch a controller for the Mate 20 X. This is a unique clip that attaches to the left side of the phone and provides a D-pad and an analog pad. that you can control your character in the shooters a little more easily, while using your right thumb on the screen to aim.

It should also be mentioned that the Mate 20 X has a gigantic battery of 5000 mAh. Huawei promises 6 1/2 hours of constant play or 23 hours of video playback with a single charge, which is pretty impressive. Of course, we would like to pass the phone to our own tests and see if the claims hold up.