Huawei Mate X2 review

Video quality

The Mate X2 can record video at up to 4K@60 fps across pretty much all of its cameras. Except for the selfie cam, which tops out at 1080p and the typical limitation of the ultrawide to 30fps. There is no 8K support whatsoever, which we frankly don't see as a real downside, given that in its current state, 8K is mostly a useless flex on a smartphone that brings about extra inconvenience with little to no benefit.

Anyway, options are kept to a minimum as far as video recording goes. You only get a set of resolution and aspect ratio selectors, as well as a frame rate one. Plus, a toggle to enable HEVC and same on some storage space with more efficient compression, if that is your thing. We do wish that there was a way to disable stabilization in some way.

Anyway, starting with the main camera - its 4K video output is crisp and clean. Definitely flagship-grade. Colors are on point, and it's all recorded at a bit over 40 Mb/s on an AVC stream, with stereo 48kHz AAC-LC audio.

Videos from the ultrawide have a bit more to criticize. Most notably, the extra noise in the frame. Their color profile is tangibly different from that of the main camera, as well. Everything is a bit less vibrant. We don't necessarily hate the look, though. It is a bit more natural.

The 3x telephoto camera honestly managed to blow us away. Its video output is crisp and very detailed. The colors are also amazing. The frame is very stable, and noise is kept to a minimum.

In contrast, the 10x periscope was rather challenging to use for video. Not only because of the wobbliness, despite the presence of OIS, but also due to its generally less-impressive capture quality. It is still usable, though.

We might not like that there is no way to disable stabilization on any of the cameras, but it does come in handy for walking shots. Again, the main and ultrawide cameras are the two that are usable in this scenario. The 3x and 10x zoom cameras are still wobbly when walking, especially the latter. Then again, we aren't quite sure why anyone would want to walk and shoot at a 10x zoom.

Here is a playlist of stabilization samples from the Mate X2:

Selfie video looks good at 1080p. Dynamic range is a bit limited, but nothing outrageous for the hardware at hand. Definitely usable for vlogging.

Plus, if you are motivated enough, you can use the main cameras on the Mate X2 for vlogging as well. You do have to mount the unfolded behemoth on some kind of rig to achieve that, though.

Rounding off the video quality section, we have some frames from the Mate X2 shooting our studio posters in the video compare database.

Huawei Mate X2 against the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 and the Huawei Mate Xs in our Video compare tool

Low-light camera quality

The Huawei Mate X2 is overall a competent low-light photographer. Starting with the main camera, in particular, we get low noise, plenty of detail and solid light-source and glare handling. A flagship-grade experience.

Huawei Mate X2 main camera (1x) 12MP, low-light samples

There is also a dedicated Night mode on top of that. It generally succeeds in brightening up the scene a bit, but that often comes the cost of a noticeable amount of added noise. Plus, results are quite inconsistent from shot to shot, with some ending up outright unusable. That's gets extra annoying since the Mate X2 takes a long time to capture Night mode shots. The phone automatically sets its exposure time based on the surrounding lighting conditions and often tends to go pretty high, in the 7 to 10-second range. Especially on the ultrawide cam. There are a few good seconds of processing and saving at the end of that exposure time as well.

Huawei Mate X2 main camera (1x) 12MP, Night mode low-light samples

Overall, Night mode can be beneficial at times but needs extra work to improve its consistency and usability.

Huawei Mate X2 main camera (1x) 12MP, selfies low-light

Speaking of the ultrawide camera, it really shows its limitations in low-light conditions. To be fair, though, at least the shots aren't overly noisy.

Huawei Mate X2 ultrawide camera (0.6x) 16MP, low-light samples

The ultrawide hence stands to gain a lot more through Night mode and indeed does net a nice overall boost in detail and clarity if it all works fine.

Huawei Mate X2 ultrawide camera (0.6x) 16MP, Night mode low-light samples

The 3x telephoto continues to impress even in tough light conditions. You can definitely see the sharpening algorithm working extra hard in some of the shots, but the results are still very pleasing.

Huawei Mate X2 telephoto camera (3x) 12MP, low-light samples

The 10x telephoto does struggle quite a bit with both getting and maintaining focus. If you put in the effort to get the right shot, though, it generally holds up, considering the zoom level.

Huawei Mate X2 telephoto camera (10x) 12MP, low-light samples

Here is Night mode on the two telephoto cameras as well.

Huawei Mate X2 telephoto camera (3x) 12MP, Night mode low-light samples

Huawei Mate X2 telephoto camera (10x) 12MP, Night mode low-light samples

Selfies in low-light often come out a bit soft for our taste. Luckily, Night mode does improve on them quite a bit. It also doesn't take nearly as long to get a Night mode selfie as it does a regular photo.

Huawei Mate X2 selfie camera (1x) 16MP, low-light samples

Huawei Mate X2 selfie camera (1x) 16MP, Night mode low-light samples

Finally, we recorded a few low-light 4K video samples with the Mate X2, which you can check out in the below playlist.

As far as observations go, the main camera, as well as the 3x telephoto, put out solid performance once again. The ultrawide holds up well, too, except for the elevated noise levels.

The 10x periscope camera struggles for a number of reasons. It struggles to get focus, deal with noise and light within its limited dynamic range and even when balanced on a rai, its footage is shaky due to the sheer level of zoom at play.