Huawei has announced its successor to the Mate X foldable smartphone, the Mate Xs, with a Leica quad camera system and stronger hinge. The phone will launch next month, also for those outside of China, for EUR 2,499. It comes with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage, as well as Huawei's AppGallery.
Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu made the announcement, and other product introductions, during a press conference in Barcelona. The company also unveiled the Huawei MatePad Pro 5G, a flagship 5G tablet, and the Huawei WifiSX3 and Huawei 5G CEP Pro 2, new Wi-Fi 6+ connectivity systems, plus additions to its MateBook flagship laptop series and more about its app marketplace, the Huawei AppGallery.
Latest foldable smartphone has tougher hinge, more powerful camera
The Huawei Mate Xs foldable smartphone is similar to Huawei's first foldable in design, but comes with the new Falcon Wing hinge. In addition to the more sturdy hinge, upgrades have been made to the handset’s display materials, 5G connectivity and camera system. Namely, the flexible display now has a double-layer optical polyimide for better image clarity, colour and brightness. The phone also sports the Kirin 990 5G chipset and the Leica SuperSensing Quad Camera.
The Mate Xs offers a 40MP SuperSensing camera, 16MP ultra wide-angle camera, 8MP telephoto camera and a 3D Depth Sensing camera. The foldability of the device itself support a wide range of photographic use cases, the company noted.
Wi-Fi 6+ chipsets and router
Huawei also announced a new Wi-Fi 6+ chipsets. The Wi-Fi 6+ devices support 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band dual-concurrent (DBDC) data transfer and Huawei’s own dynamic narrowband technology for improved Wi-Fi speeds and signal coverage. The Wi-Fi 6 Gigahome 650 and Kirin W650 chipsets are designed to power next-generation connectivity on routers and smartphones, respectively.
The new Huawei WiFi AX3 series routers are equipped with the Gigahome 650 chipset, which allows it to support DBDC operations at speeds up to 3000 Mbps. When used in conjunction with a Huawei device that also supports Wi-Fi 6+, the routers can deliver better coverage and speeds than Wi-Fi 6 routers, the company said.
Huawei also launched the Huawei 5G CPE Pro 2, a new Wi-Fi 6+ router that it says is 30 percent more compact than its predecessor. Notable upgrades include support for up to 11 5G bands and Huawei’s Super Uplink technology, for better upload speed and latency.
New MatePad Pro 5G, Emerald green MateBook
The new MatePad Pro 5G tablet, meanwhile, also was unveiled, featuring a 10.8 inch HD display with support for a cinema-grade colour gamut. The lightweight tablet claims the world’s highest tablet screen-to-body ratio, at 90 percent. The device, running Huawei EMUI10, can connect to share content with Huawei smartphones through Huawei’s new share feature, Multi-Screen Collaboration.
The 5G version of the new tablet will be available from June in mainland China as well as markets across the Asia Pacific region, EMEA and Latin America. The 4G and Wi-Fi models will be available from April in Russia and Japan, as well as select Asia Pacific, EMEA, and Latin American markets. The 5G models will be priced from EUR 799 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and run up to EUR 949 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB.
There will also be Wi-Fi only and 4G models. The Wi-Fi-only versions will go from EUR 549 for the model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, to EUR 749 for 8GB of RAM and 256GB. The 4G versions will start at EUR 599 for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, to EUR 699 for 8GB for RAM and 256GB of storage.
Among other MateBook models revealed during the Barcelona event, the upgraded MateBook X comes with 10th generation Intel core processors. The model is available in the new Emerald Green colour and comes with a FullView display. It will launch in April from EUR 1,499 for the base Core i5 model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Meanwhile the new MateBook D Series targets younger people, with more budget prices but also Intel’s 10th generation chips. There are two models, one of 14 inches and the other with a 15 inch screen.
AppGallery wishlist
Finally, the AppGallery now offers Quick Apps, where users can access an app's functions without installation or taking up memory on the phone. There are over 1,700 Quick Apps available for its devices.
The AppGallery, designed as an alternative to Google Play services since Huawei faces a trade ban with US firms, has expanded to over 170 countries/regions and counts 400 million monthly active users, Huawei said. It's introduced a 'wish list' function for customers to say which apps they would like to be added to the AppGallery.
