BARCELONA—It's been less than a week since the Samsung Galaxy Fold was announced in California, but it's already facing stiff competition from Huawei, which opened Mobile World Congress here with a 5G folding phone called the Huawei Mate X.
The Mate X features a single display that folds in half. In handset mode, the primary display measures 6.6 inches with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio; resolution comes in at 2,480 by 1,148. There's also a 6.38-inch back display with a 25:9 aspect ratio. A small left ledge on the rear display houses the Leica-tuned camera sensors and other components.
Unfolded, the Mate X becomes a full 8-inch tablet with a resolution of 2,480 by 2,200; the ledge turns into an ergonomic grip that sits on the back of the phone.
When folded, the sleek and polished Huawei Mate X is 11mm thick. In tablet mode, it's thinner than the current iPad Pro, coming in at just 5.4mm. On the right side of the phone, there's a power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, along with a volume rocker. The bottom is home to a USB-C port.
Huawei claims the Mate X is the world's fastest folding 5G phone, but that's not a difficult claim to make since it's the only folding 5G phone that's been announced thus far. Still, its specs are impressive. It features a top-of-the-line Kirin 980 processor along with a Balong 5000 5G modem with quad antennas. The company claims the phone can get downlink speeds of 4Gbps and a 1GB movie will download in just three seconds.
The Mate X is powered by a 4,500mAh dual battery. Huawei also added a new feature to its folding flagship called SuperCharge, which charges the phone at 55W for 85 percent power in a half hour.
At launch, the Huawei Mate X will be available in Interstellar Blue. Pricing and availability were not announced, though it's expected to be released later this year in China and possibly other parts of Asia. It's unlikely to be released in the US.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold, which arrives in April, starts at $1,980.