MANILA, Philippines – Huawei’s 2nd foldable will be released globally, the company announced Monday, February 24. 

The Huawei Mate Xs, the follow-up to the Huawei Mate X, features improved specs but retains a similar form. The original only came out in China, but this one may be reaching international markets this time. 

It will have Huawei’s flagship system-on-a-chip, the Kirin 990, which boasts integrated 5G as opposed to the original’s Kirin 980, which required a separate 5G modem. Improvements to the build quality have been made as well, with the Xs screen sporting 4 layers to make it more durable. Two top layers and one bottom layer sandwich the flexible OLED in between. Huawei also says that the hinge has also been improved to make it tougher and at the same time, smoother to use. 

The hinge and the screen are the 2 most important design components in today’s foldables. Recent history has shown the vulnerability of these parts. Last year’s Samsung Galaxy Fold had a screen that broke after a few days of use by reviewers while the more recent Motorola Razr X’s hinge had shown some weakness. 

It also runs cooler, said Huawei, demonstrating a cooling design that now bridges the two folding portions of the device. 

Aside from these, most of the specs are roughly the same with the original Mate X. It will have 8GB RAM, 512GB of storage, a 4,500 mAh battery with 55-watt fast-charging, and the same quad-array camera setup (40MP standard, 8MP tele, 16MP ultrawide, 3D depth camera). Like late 2019’s Mate 30 Pro, the Mate Xs will also be shipping with Huawei Mobile Services instead of Google Mobile Services, and open-source Android 10 given the company’s ongoing presence on the US Entity List. 

The device is slightly more expensive than the original. It’s set to launch at $2,499, compared to the original’s $2,400 price tag. – Rappler.com