Hauwei’s new $2,800 foldable phone copies Samsung’s Galaxy Fold line

• The Huawei Mate X2. It looks just like a Galaxy Z Fold 2. [credit:
  Huawei ]

Huawei isn’t going to let a minor inconvenience like US sanctions stop it from designing new phones. Today, the company announced the next device in its flagship foldable-smartphone line: the Huawei Mate X2. While 2019’s Mate X (X1?) was an innovative-but-impractical form factor with a single wraparound display on the outside of the phone, the Mate X2 follows Samsung’s lead and goes with a book-style foldable with a rigid phone screen on the outside and a foldable tablet screen on the inside. It looks just like a Galaxy X Fold 2 but with a few interesting design evolutions.

Huawei spent a lot of time saying the Mate X2 was better than the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, pointing out bigger interior and exterior screens as well as a smaller hinge area with slimmer bezels on the front. One area Huawei didn’t make a comparison on is the price, which starts at a whopping $2,784, while the Galaxy Fold 2 is a mere $2,000.

The exterior screen is a 6.45-inch, 2700×1160, 90Hz OLED, while the interior screen is an 8-inch, 2480×2200, 90Hz OLED. Both of these are bigger than the Fold 2, which has a 6.2-inch outside display and a 7.6-inch inside display. Huawei’s work to slim down bezels looks impressive, and it really feels like the company got the aspect ratios right. Huawei managed to fit a bog-standard 21:9 display on the front—it looks like a normal smartphone from some angles. The interior display is nearly two 21:9 display put together, with what Huawei called a “8:7.1 aspect ratio.” It’s hard to say what the interior aspect ratio “should” be, since Android tablet apps are nearly nonexistent, but at least this will be good for split-screen app usage.