Huawei Mate Xs 2 Review

Huawei introduced a chain of foldable phones with original Huawei Mate X, that accomplishes something extraordinary and is now followed by the Huawei Mate X2. This extraordinary phone series folds the opposite way to the popular Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, means the display wraps around the outside of the body when folded. Already exhibited by the Mate Xs 2’s predecessor, this unique, wraparound foldable design has various benefits which include a slender body, a bigger tablet screen, and a great front display in smartphone mode. That competes with 25:9 cover screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Z Fold 3 that is quite narrow.

Also Read: iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Regardless of its benefits, in any case, there’s no avoiding the fact that an external folding screen is more at risk of damage than an inner-folding screen. Moreover, it has no Google services or 5G, and is more expensive than the Z Fold series.

Huawei Mate Xs 2 specs at a glance:

Body: Unfolded: 156.5×139.3×5.4mm; folded: 156.5×75.5×11.1mm; 255g.

Display: 7.80″ Foldable OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 2200x2480px resolution, 10.15:9 aspect ratio, 424ppi; folded display: 6.50″, 1176x2480px, 19:9 aspect ratio.

Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 4G (5 nm): Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3×2.42 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A55); Adreno 660.

Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS; NM (Nano Memory), up to 256GB (uses shared SIM slot).

OS/Software: HarmonyOS 2.0.

Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, Laser AF; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 120˚; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/2.4, 81mm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom.

Front camera: 10.7 MP, f/2.2.

Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/960fps; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps.

Battery: 4600mAh; Fast charging 66W, Reverse charging.

Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; Infrared port.

Price and availability

Huawei Mate Xs 2 price in Pakistan is Rs. 449,999 and it was launched in May, 2022. This is the 8 GB RAM and 512 GB internal storage variant of Huawei which is available in Black and Violet colours.

Design

The Huawei Mate Xs 2 when unfolded is quite thin, 5.4mm across its body. That’s even slimmer than the 6.4mm Galaxy Z Fold 3. the Mate Xs 2. When Mate Xs 2 is in completely open state, it looks like a small tablet which shuts quite smoothly.

The new model’s weight is  only 255g, which is hardly heavier than an iPhone 13 Pro Max (240g). The Mate Xs 2 actually returns when unlatched from shut to open, thus doesn’t offer the range of folding angles  accessible on Samsung’s foldables. Its Falcon Wing pivot isn’t intended to be half-open.

Display

The flexible display turns both into tablet screen and the phone screen, which implies that when in phone mode, the back of the phone is also partly screen. The screen is 7.8 inches when open, and 6.5 inches when closed. This is helpful in certain instances but the shortcoming is that foldable screens are generally delicate.

Rear: The phone’s rear, on the flip of the screen, is a cross-hatch textured fiberglass material, and the rest of the frame has no buttons and ports.

Front: Huawei claims to have improved the durability of the display having a four-layered system that feels more like glass than the more distorted Mate Xs. It has a 120Hz OLED screen with a pixel density of 424 pixels per inch.

Controls: On the right side, there is a thick strip with USB-C port, a volume rocker and power button which doubles up as a fingerprint scanner along the side, and the cameras on the back.

Cameras

Huawei’s known for its incredible camera technology with a 50MP main camera with an f/1.8 lens which provides dynamic results. The other 8MP telephoto camera with a 3.4x optical zoom, matched with an f/2.4 lens, also gives great results and a 13MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 lens, struggles with good results at night.

Front Cam: Most prominent is the punch-hole selfie camera on the phone’s display. This intrudes on the premium screen design but it does work much better. You will not need to open it up for video calls or to take a selfie. The photography results are just fine though.

Video Cam: The Mate Xs 2 records video up to 4K60 with its main and ultrawide rear cameras. The tele is capped at 4K30, though a zoomed in 4K60 mode is accessible as well. There’s no 8K recording capability.

Performance and software

Huawei’s Mate Xs 2 and the entire series runs EMUI, Huawei’s layer over Android, which of course has no access to the Google Play Store and Google Play services. However, investing heavily in its AppGallery, Huawei features Petal Search, which allows you the access to most of the apps like Disney Plus, Netflix, and Instagram etc.

The phone’s processor is Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 4G, a 2021 flagship processor with 5G disabled. This does affect the overall performance of phone as compared to other premium phones.

Battery and charging

The phone’s battery is a 4,600mAh cell, with the phone charging at up to 66W. Huawei’s folding flagship also misses out on wireless charging, however, its slightly larger battery than the Z Fold 3 is a great support.