Huawei Mate X2 A folding phone, but desirable
£2095 (est) / stuff.tv/matex2
■ This slender sliver is just 4.4mm thin in tablet state and feels lovingly made, with smooth glass curving into a polished metal frame that sits comfortably in the hand… and Huawei has even added a beautiful ‘Flipstander’ vegan leather case for easier perching, whether in phone or tablet mode.
■ Unfold the Mate X2 and the 8in tablet’s 2480x2200 OLED screen shines. With its size and 413ppi resolution, it’s larger and sharper than the 7.6in screen of the Galaxy Z Fold2, although its 90Hz refresh rate isn’t quite as smooth.
■ The same 50MP main camera from the Mate 40 Pro delivers fantastic detail, white balance and dynamic range, even when lighting isn’t ideal. For macro, the 16MP ultrawide lacks a little white balance but still grabs plenty of detail. Video is a steady 4K up to 60fps.
■ Yes, Google Docs, Drive, Maps, Play Store and Youtube (to name just a few) still won’t work. The Huawei alternatives are slick, but not to everyone’s taste. Still, it does have handy multitasking options with split-screen support.
■ It benchmarks better than a Snapdragon 865 phone, but worse than the latest Snapdragon 888s. You get an ample 4500mah battery and 55W fast charging, but no wireless option.
Tech specs
Screen 8in 2480x2200 90Hz OLED (unfolded), 6.45in 2700x1160 90Hz OLED (folded) Processor Kirin 9000 RAM 8GB Storage Up to 512GB OS Android 10 Cameras 50+16+12+8MP rear, 16MP front Battery 4500mah Dimensions 162x146x8.2mm (unfolded), 162x75x14.7mm (folded), 295g
Danger nerd
After a week of use, nothing about the Mate X2 left us too concerned about wear and tear. The flexible screen is plastic, but given it’s protected most of the time (when the phone’s shut), it seems pretty durable.
Zoomin’ highway
This phone puts other foldables to shame in zoom power. It has two telephotos, one with a 3x equivalent zoom and the other with a 10x equivalent. If you know camera-speak, that’s 17mm ultrawide to 240mm — mighty.
Huawei’s Mate X2 copies the flexible Samsung Z Fold2 but moves things on with a bigger screen, bolder cameras and a kickstand for watching telly