After all, the Huawei Mate X, announced today, is a bit like a rare Picasso painting.
For starters, its gorgeous.
Not pretty thats a bit diminutive.Gorgeous.
And yes, a bit like a Picasso, its arse-clenchingly expensive.
The Mate X is theLe Reveof phones.
But perhaps, given whats on offer, it can justify its steep asking price.
The first is an 8-inch tablet mode.
This is an almost perfect square, with an 8:7.1 aspect ratio, and a 2,480 x 2,200 resolution.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Youll primarily use this for taking selfies.
Its completely flat, and snaps together with a satisfying click.
When unfolded, the Mate X measures 5.4mm thick, which is marginally thinner than the iPad Pro.
This contains the phones three cameras, including one using Leicas hardware.
This wasnt a surprise.
The same configuration has appeared on all of Huaweis phones since theP20 Pro.
It would be weird if Huawei cut corners here on such a groundbreaking gadget.
Youll notice that there isnt a dedicated front-facing selfie camera on the phone.
Thats because the three primary camerasarethe selfie cameras.
To take a picture of yourself, you just need to fold the phone and flip it over.
Huaweis premium phones are regularly ranked as having the best cameras on the market.
Huawei says there isnt a camera bump on the Mate X.
This is welcome news, both in terms of look and feel, as well as overall durability.
The latter is something that the company has focused on, announcing a specially-designed protective case with the phone.
5G, battery, and Performance
Its important to remember that Huawei isnt just a phone maker.
Its got fingers in a whole host of pies, including SoC design.
That being said, the base phone comes with 512GB of storage.
Even the most enthusiastic film-hoarders are unlikely to use all that.
It has two cells which, in total, measure up to a respectable 4,500mAh.
In terms of software, the Mate X runs Android 9.0 Pie.
For context, this is about 300 ($340) more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
Its about 800 ($908) more expensive than the priciest iPhone.
Theres an undeniable allure in being among the first to have something.
Secondly, prices will inevitably go down.
Perhaps not for this phone, but certainly for foldable phones in general.
In the grand scheme of things, 2,300 phones will be seen as an aberration more than anything.
Yu failed to mention any plans to release the Mate X in the United States.
The company seldom launches phones in the US.
Huawei says that the Mate X will be released halfway through the year.
Sadly, it wasnt more specific than that.
I guess well just have to wait and see.
Clickhereto see TNWs latest coverage from Mobile World Congress.
