Huawei 5G folding phone could take on the Samsung Galaxy X in 2019

First rumored back in July, Huawei has taken its first public step towards its foldable phone future, with company CEO Richard Yu confirming development of a bendy handset at its Mate 20 launch event this week, as reported by Digital Trends.

"We are working on foldable phones,” Yu stated to select international media attending the event. "Foldable 5G phones.”

Huawei has spoken about the potential of foldable handsets and its plans for 5G phones in the past, however, this is first time the Chinese phone maker has publicly linked the two in a concrete way. 

5G-funk

While Huawei has invested heavily in 5G infrastructure over the last year, the telecommunications giant has been frozen out of 5G deployments in key markets, including the US and Australia over concerns that the company may be subject to extrajudicial directions from the Chinese Government. 

Discussions surrounding a foldable Huawei phone previously hinted at a possible 2019 release, however, Yu was unwilling to offer a set timeframe for the device, telling Digital Trends that "Maybe sometime we will launch that, but not this time.”

While we wait for the foldable future, we've gone hands-on with Huawei's latest handsets, the Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro and Mate 20 X, and have come away quite impressed in each instance. 

Stephen Lambrechts
Senior Journalist, Phones and Entertainment

Stephen primarily covers phones and entertainment for TechRadar's Australian team, and has written professionally across the categories of tech, film, television and gaming in both print and online for over a decade. He's obsessed with smartphones, televisions, consoles and gaming PCs, and has a deep-seated desire to consume all forms of media at the highest quality possible. 


He's also likely to talk a person’s ear off at the mere mention of Android, cats, retro sneaker releases, travelling and physical media, such as vinyl and boutique Blu-ray releases. Right now, he's most excited about QD-OLED technology, The Batman and Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga.