Huawei Mate X: Foldable Fantasia… and a Price Tag That’s a Whopper
Picture this: you’re strolling in Barcelona, the air buzzing with tech hype, when a sleek black box pops open on stage. Inside? A screen that’s bigger than a flat‑screen TV in an 8‑inch beast, but it folds like a pancake. That’s the Huawei Mate X, the brand’s splash into the foldable marketplace.
What Makes This Device Stand Out?
- Screen size wizardry – 8″ when open, 6.6″ when you close it like a pocket‑phone.
- No annoying notch – Huawei went full “side‑cams” so the front stays crisp.
- Touch‑fingerprint nu‑huh – The sensor sits on the side, inviting you to raise a thumb while you’re on the move.
- Falcon‑wing hinge – Oh yeah, they actually named it. It’s the hinge that lets the screen really slide.
- Industrial design pop‑up – The seam is visible, and it’s the same seam that makes the phone feel surprisingly stiff when folded.
Compared With Samsung’s Galaxy‑Fold
Samsung’s primo was headquartered in South Korea and hit the market about five weeks earlier. Huawei’s Mate X is the taller, slightly slimmer rival – when closed it’s a thin, flat silhouette that actually feels like a decent pocket‑sized goggle.
Price? It’s a Splash‑in‑the‑River!
When the keynote tee‑off was declared, the Mate X’s launch price shot up to €2,299 (about £1,996). The room went quiet. Light‑hearted “wow” came with a pinch of “Ouch!” The company’s own consumer chief, Richard Yu, abandoned any hint of self‑deception by admitting the price is “very expensive” and promised a future that will make the coin drop.
2019 Mobile World Congress: Security vs. Showmanship
BBC’s tech correspondent Rory Cellan‑Jones gave a weary, almost sarcastic overview: “Security concerns about Huawei’s 5G kit are a shadow hanging over the whole of this year’s Mobile World Congress. But the firm was determined in a confident, even arrogant press conference to convey that it’s now the leading innovator in smartphones.”
Turns out the company had their own drama of being the ‘big dog’ of creativity, while the global tech community kept a cautious eye.
Will 5G Make the Folded Humble? (An analyst’s take)
Ian Fogg of Opensignal weighed in: “Both foldable phones are 5G‑capable and they leap out of the conventional smartphone designs that have stuck around for the last decade. 5G is arriving on regular‑designed phones too, at lower prices, and even faster. That means more folks will experience 5G’s benefits this year than the novelty of an expanding display.”
Humor, Quip, and a Few Licks of Reality
- “If this is competition, it proves Huawei nailed industrial design on its foldable.”
- “Huawei: Can I copy your homework? Samsung: Yeah, just change it a bit so it doesn’t look obvious.”
- “When the price was unveiled, attendees winced and chuckled.”
In the end, the Mate X can be seen as a bold statement: Huawei is not just a mobile manufacturer; it’s a brand daring to play vendors’ dream chases. Whether the foldable craze will beat the price‑objection tooth or bounce against it takes the future—a plausible hand‑shake or epic tip‑toe between innovation and cost.
