Skip to main content
Tech Radar Tech Radar TechRadar The source for Tech Buying Advice
Subscribe
RSS
(opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
Technology Magazines
(opens in new tab)
Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)
Why subscribe?
  • The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12.99
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)
  • News
  • Best
  • Reviews
  • Opinion
  • How To
  • Deals
  • More
    • Versus
    • Appliances
    • Audiovisual
    • Cameras
    • Car Tech
    • Computing
    • Coupons
    • Downloads
    • Entertainment
    • Fitness
    • Laptops
    • Phones
    • Smart Home
    • Tablets
    • TVs
    • Wearables
    • About Us
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • iPhone 15
  • ChatGPT
  • Wordle clues
  • Best phones
  • Best VPN

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Mobile Phones

Want more Huawei Mate X? Here are 30 new photos from every angle

By Matt Swider
published 27 February 2019

We let you tour the Huawei Mate X in detail

  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
Huawei Mate X foldable phone photos

Huawei Mate X foldable phone photos

The foldable Huawei Mate X is our best in show pick here at MWC 2019, and we got ample hands-on time with what feels like the future of smartphones.

It's pretty much a sci-fi dream gadget come to life. If you're looking for Mate X photos from every angle imaginable to better understand it, we've got the pics for you.

Folded, unfolded, front screen, back screen and that all-important Falcon Wing hinge – all the angles have been captured by our team on the ground. Let's take a tour.

Page 1 of 30
Page 1 of 30
How to unfold it

How to unfold it

Let's start with the Huawei Mate X folded up and its screens off, as if it just came out of your pocket – a pocket that no longer has money in it because you spent all of it on the Mate X. The phone is chunky when folded, but flat (especially when compared to the Samsung Galaxy Fold).

The fold feels secure thanks to a clasp that keeps the bent screen in place. You'll need to touch a button to release the screen from this locked state.

Page 2 of 30
Page 2 of 30
How to unfold it

How to unfold it

Here you can really see the folded Mate X screen in detail at the top. This has been the biggest problem in the development of foldable phones – making the wrap-around screen durable enough to bend so many times.

This photo shows the display doing an extreme 180 degree change of direction, forming an arch you wouldn't want to see on a normal phone or TV panel. Good news: Huawei says the curved screen has been stress tested in a lab to last 100,000 folds.

Page 3 of 30
Page 3 of 30
How to unfold it

How to unfold it

There's a tiny button on the Huawei Mate X grip, which also houses the triple-lens cameras, fingerprint sensor/power button, and the USB-C port.

Press this magic button and your dual-screen phone begins to unfold into an 8-inch tablet.

Page 4 of 30
Page 4 of 30
How to unfold it

How to unfold it

Open sesame. With the button pressed, you're able to manually unfold the phone thanks to a small spring mechanism that's inside the grip.

The folding process feels good. We were afraid to break the thing at first because displays are usually so delicate. But the Falcon Wing hinge makes this feel solid. 

Page 5 of 30
Page 5 of 30
How to unfold it

How to unfold it

This is the little-photographed back of the Huawei Mate X. It shows the Interstellar Blue color, as Huawei calls it.

You're not going to see much of this part of the Mate X, simply because you're going to be staring at the front-facing 8-inch screen on the other side.

Page 6 of 30
Page 6 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

Let's turn to that other side – this is the 8-inch screen in all of its glory. It's bright and colorful, as you can see, with a Super AMOLED display panel giving us the full tablet experience.

Page 7 of 30
Page 7 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

When folded up, the Huawei Mate X looks a bit thick for a smartphone in 2019, but the unfolded device is actually thinner than an iPad, Huawei reps boasted.

An iPad's thickness? Apple's gotten that down to 5.9mm thin, and that has felt perfectly alright in our hands. The Mate X screen measures just 5.4mm thin.

 

Page 8 of 30
Page 8 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

Here we tried to stand up the Mate X when it was unfolded in tablet mode. It doesn't have curved edges, but was too thin to try standing it up without worry. The Huawei rep held it in place for everyone's safety.

Page 9 of 30
Page 9 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

You can call this a 'camera bump' when it lays flat on a table because the three cameras are in the protruding grip. But, really, it doesn't mar the experience.

It reminds us of Lenovo 2-in-1 tablet (or the older Mac Magic keyboard) that has a thicker cylinder at one end. It may work in your favor with the screen tilted in your direction.

Page 10 of 30
Page 10 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

From this overheard perspective, the Huawei Mate X looks completely flat while laying on the table. You don't even notice the hinge.

Page 11 of 30
Page 11 of 30
The 8-inch tablet screen

The 8-inch tablet screen

Want an idea of how big the screen is? The 8-inch screen is roughly the same size (measured diagonally) as the iPad mini, which has a 7.9-inch display.

Page 12 of 30
Page 12 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

Let's get to folding this phone with the screen on. It's a little scary at first because you feel like you're breaking a tablet in half. The fact that it's really expensive is always on your mind.

Page 13 of 30
Page 13 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

It works. But maybe the most remarkable thing about the Huawei Mate X is that the pixels remain on until the screen is flat. They don't go dark when you apply a slight bend to the center.

Page 14 of 30
Page 14 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

And here it is: the Huawei Mate X screen folded in half and feeling like a smartphone. It looks like a large Huawei phone, with a 6.6-inch screen on this side.

Page 15 of 30
Page 15 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

We didn't have trouble standing the phone up when it was folded in half like this. Its thickness actually was a benefit, at least for snapping this photo.

Page 16 of 30
Page 16 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

One side has a 6.6-inch screen, and the other side with the grip has a 6.38-inch screen. It's thicker than a smartphone in 2019, but still feels like a phone.

Page 17 of 30
Page 17 of 30
Folding it back up

Folding it back up

The phone screen felt responsive when we touched it, and seems to run Android with a custom EMUI layer on top of it.

Page 18 of 30
Page 18 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

We can unfold it again, 'but first, let me take a selfie.' This may be our favorite part because you can see a live view from either side of the screen. Selfies use the main camera, too.

Page 19 of 30
Page 19 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

Here's a view of the current triple-lens camera. It's on the grip, which has a lot of functions: housing the cameras, fingerprint sensor/power button, some internals and the USB-C port. It also makes the phone easy to hold. 

Page 20 of 30
Page 20 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

We don't know a lot about the three-camera array that lines the grip of the Mate X. Things like megapixels, sensor size and aperture remain a mystery. 

From this photo, however, it seems to have a pretty normal field of view using the main camera. We were able to easily get two people into this shot without an issue.

Page 21 of 30
Page 21 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

We do see camera modes listed along the button. They currently include Photo (for normal photos) Night (for photos in low-light situations), Portrait (for bokeh), and Pro (for manual controls).

Page 22 of 30
Page 22 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

There also seems to be a More button on very bottom right spot. That could lead to several other camera modes. 

Page 23 of 30
Page 23 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

What about regular photos? Here's a Huawei rep taking a photo of me. Dismiss the pointing. I didn't need to do that.

What's interesting: You can see yourself when someone else takes a photo of you, which should help you frame shots, even when you ask a stranger to snap a pic. 

Page 24 of 30
Page 24 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

Ignore the jutting hand. I'm just holding a DSLR to capture what the Huawei rep saw on the larger 6.6-inch screen when he was lining up a photo of me.

You can see he got a live view too (a bit larger than mine) of what was going to be captured in the photo. So everyone wins.

Page 25 of 30
Page 25 of 30
Cameras

Cameras

And here it is. An enlarged version of one of the photos we took. It gives a much bigger view (for better or worse) of the snapshot.

This will make it easy to review photos, determine if you like it, and make edits. It's going to make a foldable phone the ideal handset type for photographers.

Page 26 of 30
Page 26 of 30
Watching video

Watching video

This is what it looks like to watching a 16:9 movie with the Huawei Mate X when it's expanded in tablet mode.

The screen aspect ratio makes it ideal for surfing the web and reading (like a Kindle), so for movies, you will have black bars at the top and bottom. When it's folded, you won't. It's closer to a theater-like 21:9 aspect ratio.

Page 27 of 30
Page 27 of 30
Watching video

Watching video

Here's the Huawei Mate X still playing the video while it's being folded up. It can seamlessly transition from playing a video in tablet mode to playing it on one side of the screen. 

Page 28 of 30
Page 28 of 30
The grip

The grip

Want a shot of the USB-C port? Here it is, along with a view of the grip. Huawei says that it's difficult to grasp an iPad (especially true using only one hand), so this grip makes a lot of sense on a tablet phone.

Page 29 of 30
Page 29 of 30
Diving into the hands-on

Diving into the hands-on

Here's our hands-on review of the Huawei Mate X on the slightly folded screen. It's a little meta and too good not to include.

As you can see, having the screen folded out makes surfing the web a lot easier when you're seeing so much of text and a web layout. Gone may be the days when you see a slimmed down mobile version of a website. The desktop experience is back again.

Page 30 of 30
Page 30 of 30
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
Matt Swider
Matt Swider
Social Links Navigation
See more Mobile phones news
  1. PSVR 2
    1
    PSVR 2 needs to change to outsell its predecessor
  2. 2
    Arrested Development isn't leaving Netflix after all
  3. 3
    Windows 11 just got loads of new features including one that iPhone owners will love
  4. 4
    New OLED material breakthrough could mean cheaper OLED TVs
  5. 5
    The Galaxy S23 Ultra's glorified stylus finally deserves to be called S Pen
  1. Sonos Beam gen 2 in front a TV, on a glass TV stand
    1
    It's no surprise Sonos wants to make wireless soundbars – if it doesn't, it's doomed
  2. 2
    Folding phones will be massive in 2023. Here’s why
  3. 3
    Microsofts latest layoffs could be the beginning of the end for ‘ethical AI’
  4. 4
    New OLED material breakthrough could mean cheaper OLED TVs
  5. 5
    Soul jump into March’s PlayStation Plus Catalog with this action-adventure game
Technology Magazines
(opens in new tab)
  • ●
Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)
  • The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews
From$12.99
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).

  • About Us (opens in new tab)
  • Contact Us (opens in new tab)
  • Terms and conditions (opens in new tab)
  • Privacy policy (opens in new tab)
  • Cookies policy (opens in new tab)
  • Advertise with us (opens in new tab)
  • Web notifications (opens in new tab)
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers (opens in new tab)

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.