Huawei beats Samsung with gap-free foldable, but there's one major flaw

Raymond Wong Feb. 22, 2021 Design The Mate X2 looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie. It's a shame the foldable is missing one important feature.

Huawei's just announced the Mate X2 and *rubs eyes* yes it looks like Samsung's Z Fold 2 . Huawei

The second-gen foldable ditches the original Mate X/Xs's exterior foldable display for one that folds inwards. Smart move for more protection. 🎥: Huawei

Turns out this design was not a good idea.

Using a new "Falcon Wing Design," the Mate X2 has an 8-inch (2,480 x 2,220) OLED display that folds in half. 🎥: Huawei

90Hz The refresh rate for the foldable display. 🎥: Huawei

The 90Hz OLED screen on the outside measures 6.45 inches (2,700 x 1,160).

So basically: Huawei made a larger Galaxy Z Fold 2. Raymond Wong / Input

Less visible crease?

Huawei says the Mate X2's special hinge "creates a water drop-like cavity for stowing the display when the device is folded." Sounds a lot like the curling display on the disastrous Motorola Razr . Huawei says the hinge design is also good for blocking out dust and dirt. 🎥: Huawei

Here's the patented waterdrop display and hinge mechanism. 🎥: Huawei

Huawei is touting the design as gap-free unlike Samsung's foldables, which have a narrow gap when folded. 🎥: Huawei

Or it could just be a lot of marketing fluff. This close-up of the Mate X2's display surfaced after the announcement and... yikes that looks like a double crease . FoldUniverse

SPECS:

• 5nm Kirin 9000 chip • 8GB of RAM • 256GB / 512GB of storage • 4,500 mAh battery Huawei

The Mate X2's got a ton of cameras:

• Main: 50-megapixel f/1.9 + OIS • Ultra-wide: 16-megapixel f/2.2 • Telephoto 1: 12-megapixel f/2.4 with 3x optical zoom + OIS • Telephoto 2: 8-megapixel f/4.4 with 20x hybrid zoom and 100x digital zoom + OIS • Selfie: 16-megapixel f/2.2 🎥: Huawei

No Google Play Services

This is the unfortunate downside to Huawei phones. Since getting banned by the U.S. government in 2019, Huawei has not been able to offer Google Play services on its phones outside of China. 🎥: Huawei

“Due to government restrictions, Google’s apps and services are not available for preload or sideload on new Huawei devices.” Google SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

The Mate X2 runs EMUI 11.0, which is based on Android. Huawei says it'll be one of the first phones to be get its own Harmony OS, which appears to also be based on Android according to ArsTechnica . 🎥: Huawei

Without Google Play services, the Mate X2 has little appeal outside of China.

LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images

$2,785 The starting price for the 256GB Mate X2.

2/25 The day the Mate X2 drops in China and when you'll be able to import one (if you must have it). Huawei

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SPECS:

No Google Play Services

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