Yeap, that’s no typo. Huawei’s new and improved sequel to their first foldable mobile device is here in Singapore for more than the price of two entry-level iPhone 11 Pro Max units.
The Mate Xs will be available islandwide come March 21 at the cool, cool price of $3,788 at all Huawei Concept branches, various consumer electronic stores, as well as selected M1 and StarHub outlets. For Singtel subscribers or anyone else who’s understandably staying away from crowds these days, there’s always Lazada and Shopee. 
Huawei’s Mate Xs: A Sneak Peek at the Foldable Future
Why the Mate Xs matters
It’s not just another phone. After all, you might not know about the Mate Xs’s predecessor – Huawei’s first‑ever foldable that stayed hidden in China. Yet that little cousin earned a lot of praise for being the most solid “phone‑tablet hybrid” out there, beating Samsung’s wobbly Galaxy Fold by a comfortable margin.
Hands‑on on the Mate Xs
- Design: Sleek and compact when folded, it unfolds into a vivid display that feels almost like an iPad.
- Performance: Powered by a 6 GHz A15‑like processor, running smooth and snappy, even with heavy apps.
- Camera: The dual‑lens setup grips daylight like a cat catching a laser pointer – no more squinting.
- Battery: A respectable 4000 mAh that keeps up with a full day’s worth of gaming, scroll‑through‑infinite‑Pinterest‑like habits.
Compared to the rest of the foldable crowd
The Mate Xs steps ahead by matching the foldable performance of now‑discontinued Samsung units and dodging the common pitfalls that plagued others. The release demonstrates that folds can be less fragile, more aesthetic, and yes, not a gimmick.
What’s next for Huawei?
While the Mate Xs may currently be the star of the self‑penned foldable scene, only time will tell if Huawei continues to push the envelope and keep the phones absolutely foldable.
The first thing that I noticed was the hefty 300g weight, a bold ‘screw you’ to lighter contemporaries. This was explained by the fact that the device packs two batteries — one on each half of the screen that totals up to 4,500mAh in capacity. 
Then, of course, there’s the display itself. Folded, the main screen is 6.6-inches and is perfectly useable on one hand like most other smartphones. Click a release button on the back and the screen unfurls into its full 8 inches, with the user interface seamlessly expanding and contracting according to the movement. 
Here’s where you can see that Huawei’s foldable form factor is a lot more practical than Samsung’s concept. For the Galaxy Fold, users can only properly operate the device when it’s fully open in tablet mode. The Mate Xs, on the other hand, is perfectly useable whether its folded or not. One could still read and write messages, browse the web and do other smartphone-y tasks in its clasped state. Need more screen estate to watch videos or do some online shopping? Just stretch the whole thing out. 
A pragmatic approach for sure, but one that brings up questions about durability. Exactly how scratch-resistant will that wraparound display be over an extended period of time? Huawei boasts that the screen has a protective layer of aerospace-grade material that costs way more than gold by weight, while a refined version of their hinge mechanism apparently minimises the crease in its folded screen. 
Be that as it may, the crease is still pretty obvious, especially when I started handling the device in my hands. There’s also the fact that the OLED display is made of pliable plastic, so it doesn’t feel as smooth as the regular glass screens we’re all used to. There’s definitely a bit more friction while swiping on the phone and the likelihood of leaving visible fingerprints goes up a notch. 
The wraparound display would also mean goodbye to just leaving the device flat on the table, lest you’d want to risk scratching the plastic. Huawei has a solution (sort of) in the form of a bendy bumper case that’ll raise the screen off surfaces slightly. 
An all-screen design relegates the Mate Xs’ Leica quad-camera array into a single row on the back. It’s four lenses — a 40-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera, an ultra-wide 20-megapixel camera and a time-of-flight sensor. I didn’t get to properly test the shooters out, but from the brief playtime, the quality of photos are still very Huawei, i.e. impressively sharp and vivid. 
Selfie Game Changer: The Big Bang of Cameras
The real kicker is that this phone will let you take official selfies using the cartridge‑size main camera suite, not that flimsy front trick‑lens. Imagine the backside of the phone folding over to become a secondary display that doubles as a viewfinder—it’s like having a personal photo‑journalist hanging around the back pocket.
- Full‑powered main camera for those cramming‑last‑minute shots that actually look good.
- Folded display that lets you see your scene in real time while you’re on the move.
- Humorous twist: It’s a clever double‑feature, so you never have to choose between a good viewfinder and a camera.
Of course, I have to talk about the lack of Google apps. The trade war between the US and China doesn’t show any sign ending, and users of the Mate Xs (or any future Huawei phones) will continue to be hampered by the absence of Google Play Services. And without essential mobile apps like Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Maps, the $3,788 entry fee makes the device a tough sell, even if the company’s own AppGallery is slowly building up steam. 
Also, do you actually need a foldable phone? Is there an urgent need for a pocketable tablet? While the likes of Samsung (and other firms that invested heavily in pliable screens) may disagree, the truth is that the majority of consumers today are still very much happy with their non-foldable phones. The Mate Xs is cutting-edge for sure, but right now, I don’t think the general population and their wallets are flexible enough to let Huawei’s latest and greatest into their fold.
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