company has to offer, never knew it was just the begining
Huawei new phone that rock the world.
"Foldable" is clearly the buzz -word of 2019. Well, that and 5G - a rather
confusing situation that has been causing some evident confusion among
manufacturers. Huawei clearly decided on a Pokemnon, "Gotta Catch 'EM All" approach to
the situation with the Mate X - a truly head-turning device that both rocks a foldable
display and what Huawei claims is the faster
5G connectivity around.
Having said that, "rocks" is kind of a misleading way to put things, since the Mate X is
far from a finished device ready for end-user markets. In fact, it falls
squarely in the prototype category for quite a few reasons. Not only did it stop
by and MWC with pretty much no hardware details, but
it was also showcased vary sparingly, mostly from a distance and often
even in a glass box.
This seems to be a common theme when it comes to this initial batch of foldable
display handsets. The Samsung Galaxy Fold got very limited exposure. Clearly
the tech just isn't ready for prime time quite yet - a slightly annoying fact
we've just had to deal with at MWC 2019.
Having said all thins, it should come as no surprise that
the Mate X, in its current form, fas mostly teases from a design standpoint, lacking
almost any particulars about hardware. Still, a first look is better than
nothing, so read on for a more in-depth look into
what could very well be the near mobile future.
Design
We still have a very limited pool of foldable display devices to use as reference points from a
design standpoint. The Samsung Galaxy Fold and a few scattered concept devices are hardly anything to go by. Especially
seeing how getting some actual hands-on time with any of them is nearly impossible at this stage.
That being said, we feel confident enough in saying that Huawei's first approach to the foldable
trend is radically different from Samsung's. If nothing else, Huawei has its panel on the outside surface of the device.
Whether or not that's a better approach overall still remain to be seen in the long run, but there are some particular
details that already stand out. First off, a panel on the outside is clearly more exposed. With this particular design, there will
probably be no way of handling the Mate X without you or some potentially harder
surface being in contact with a portion of the screen.
No big deal right? Just let Gorilla Glass or whatever flexible alternative there is handle that. Well, there is still
little info or any actual practical real-world experience
to go by when in comes to the durability of this new breed of foldable displays. From our brief contact with a few
our initial impressions are that the surface lack most of that hard glass feeling we have grown used to with Corning's Gorilla Glass offerings.
Instead It feels a bit more "silky", if that makes any sense. We are hesitant to outright call it plastic, though. But even so, the
feeling it gives off is not instantly confidence-inducing.
We'll just leave it at that for now, but it is worth noting that Huawei will be offering what it calls a "Full cover case" for
the Mate X. Whatever one might look like.
There might just be a power button, plus fingerprint reader combo somewhere on that segment of the phone as well, since Huawei
did mention it as one of the few Mate X specs details it shared. The side of the phone appears to have a volume rocker and a fingerprint reader
underneath. There is clearly a button beneath the camera arrangement as well, though in an admittedly odd location. Join us on the next page
for a run-down of the other hardware details we know about the Mate X.
