Huawei's Mate Xs 2 is excellent in some ways but these don't make up for deficiencies in other places. The phone's build is one area we have few complaints, even though the company's very upfront about its fragility. The downsides are the same afflicting all of Huawei's smartphones - the software is a chore and some key components are underpowered at this price point.
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Design
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Performance
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Battery
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Camera
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Price
So you’ve decided that a folding smartphone is a device that you need in your life. Finally, there’s a choice. You can have Huawei’s Mate Xs 2 folding handset or you can drop some cash on Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 4. The latter’s review will be along shortly. Today’s all about Huawei.
The Huawei Mate Xs 2 will set you back R40,000, unless you give the company a R1,000 deposit. If you do, you can score a R5,000 discount on the final price. This is a weird bit of marketing intended to spark the sort of uptake Netflix demands from new shows or it’ll send them to the farm. Will it work? Eh… that’s no for us to say. Assessing the Mate Xs 2? That’s something we could do all day.
Making a new Mate
Purely as a physical device, the Mate Xs 2 is great. It’s not perfect — the screen is always exposed, even in the supplied case. The fact that it opens out from behind instead of clasping over the screen means the screen’s always in the firing line. And then there’s the hinge system.
The Mate Xs 2 feels best when it’s closed. It’s a touch irritating that the rear screen doesn’t turn on when folded, but it’s a sturdy piece of tech. Open it up by touching the button holding the thing closed and you’ll note how firm the hinge is. Mechanical effort is needed to unfold the screen. Even then, it doesn’t quite lock into place when it’s doing its impression of a Kindle Oasis.
The rear panel when it’s open is tough and sturdy. We’re really quite sorry that’s not the side facing the outside world. It looks like it could take a bit of damage and still work fine. But then the comparison between this and Samsung’s Fold lineup would be close enough to take to court, so we’re left with a flexible, outward-facing screen.
The best bits?
The screen is arguably the best part of Huawei’s newest foldable. The foldable OLED screen measures 7.8in, made up of 2,200 x 2,480 pixels, when it’s open. It is bright, colours pop, and dark sections really let you know there’s an absence of light. In other words, it’s performing the basic functions any OLED screen worthy of the name will.
When folded, the screen measures 6.5in over 1,176 x 2,480 pixels. OLED performance is the same, just smaller. But the concerning bit about the way Huawei’s phone opens is that it’s only usable completely folded or unfolded. There’s no in-between usage possible unless you’re using a partially-folded screen as a prop for your phone’s camera. Even in this instance, the phone’s only functional in one position. That is, with the camera arrangement at the top of a vertically-standing smartphone.
The other specs cover the spectrum from decent (8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage) to underpowered (the Snapdragon 888 4G chipset). There’s no 5G support. It’s not Huawei’s fault, there are geopolitical issues at work here. Even so, the price tag would justify the fastest internet speeds possible and you’re not getting those here.
No need for light
Even the camera, an area Huawei historically performs well, is a mixed bag. There’s nothing wrong with the triple-camera setup. A 50MP main, 13MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto combine to pull off some excellent shots. Low-light performance is decent enough to keep most camera-happy users… well, happy. It’s even possible to shoot yourself using the rear cameras and that normally-dormant rear OLED panel as a viewfinder — but that bit’s a chore that really should be simpler to arrange. It’s almost more trouble than it’s worth to try and snap a 50MP selfie.
And then there’s the battery, which isn’t terrible for a phone as thin as the Huawei Mate Xs 2. Still, it’s just 4,600mAh. Perhaps the fact that there’s no 5G inside the phone helps its stamina — a little silver lining there. Still, we’d have preferred a larger battery. There’s loads of screen to power. Even with OLED, it’ll run down the battery before you get to the end of a workday (assuming you spend all day watching videos).
Huawei Mate Xs 2 verdict
Huawei’s first folding phone to actually launch in South Africa is worth checking out. But there’s a ‘but’ here. But… you need to have the money to spare. If you’re after utility rather than curiosity, no matter how well built it is, you should opt for one of Samsung’s foldables instead. Sure, you could drop R40,000 on the Mate Xs 2, or you could just buy a R20,000 smartphone and a R20,000 tablet and you’ll have the same basic functionality. Huawei’s folding-under display complicates matters in a way you have to work around rather than in one that serves you. Which is a shame, because it’s a decent phone. Given some 5G and a full suite of Google support, it might have been a splendid one.