Unveiled Huawei's Second Foldable Phone 'Mate Xs'... Price 3.3 Million KRW

Online Public Event Held Amid COVID-19 Impact
Similar Design to Mate X but 360,000 KRW More Expensive
Huawei's Own OS Installed Instead of Android
Global Launch Next Month...Will It Shed the 'Domestic-Only Foldable' Stigma?

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Huawei has launched its second foldable phone, the 'Mate Xs.' It features enhanced foldable display and hinge durability, and is equipped with Huawei's own OS (operating system).

On the 24th (local time), Huawei held an online product launch event in Barcelona, Spain, unveiling the 'Mate Xs.' While Huawei released the Mate X only in China last November, this model will be sold globally. It will be released next month, priced at 2,499 euros (approximately 3.3 million KRW), which is 360,000 KRW more expensive than its predecessor.

Huawei emphasized that it focused on improving the display and hinge durability of the Mate Xs. The Mate Xs display consists of four layers: two layers of polyimide attached with transparent adhesive on top, a flexible OLED display underneath, and at the bottom, a polymer layer acting as a cushion and a layer connecting to the main body. Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip, it is made entirely of plastic materials. The hinge is made of zirconium alloy and features the 'Falcon Wing Hinge,' which is 30% more durable than the previous model.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, explained, "By applying double-layer optical polyimide, durability has improved by 80% compared to a single layer. The manufacturing cost is three times higher than gold due to the premium material."

The Mate Xs is a foldable phone that folds the display outward, unlike the Galaxy Fold. It must be folded by pressing a button on the back of the phone. When unfolded, the screen size is 8 inches, and when folded, the front is 6.6 inches and the back is 6.38 inches. The AP is Huawei's self-developed 5G integrated chip, the Kirin 990, with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

The Mate Xs has the same four camera lenses as its predecessor: a 40-megapixel main camera, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera, an 8-megapixel 3x zoom telephoto camera, and a 3D depth sensor on the rear, with a 32-megapixel front camera. The battery capacity remains the same at 4500mAh.

The Mate Xs runs on EMUI10, Huawei's own OS developed based on the open-source version of Android. Users must download apps from Huawei's own app store instead of the Google Play Store.

Foreign media pointed out that the Mate Xs shows no change in form factor compared to its predecessor and that concerns about durability remain. Although the product is released globally, the fact that it uses Huawei's own OS instead of Android is also a barrier.

CNBC stated, "Samsung Electronics adopted a new clamshell design form factor for the Galaxy Z Flip, but the Mate Xs sticks to a style similar to the Galaxy Fold. Concerns about foldable phone durability still exist, and it is uncertain whether Huawei's new foldable phone can withstand the test of time."

The Verge noted, "Unfortunately, Huawei remains on the US trade sanction list, so it cannot use Google apps or services, and users cannot access Google Play."

Meanwhile, Huawei had planned to unveil the new product at the Mobile World Congress (MWC2020) held in Barcelona, Spain, but the event was canceled due to concerns over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), leading to an online launch event instead.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.