Huawei Mate Xs in for review

Huawei introduced its updated Mate Xs foldable smartphone during an event in Barcelona that was supposed to be part of MWC 2020. Even if it feels like a decade ago, back when social distancing wasn’t a thing, it actually happened just two months ago. Now, the phone arrived with us where it will undergo our lengthy process of tests for the full review.

We already have a hands-on video and an actual hands-on review, but this time we get to spend more quality time with the Huawei Mate Xs putting it through our full review process. We'll examine its camera in detail, do all the benchmarks and give our thoughts on how the Huawei Mobile Services are doing.

The Huawei Mate X was the first-gen device, and the Mate Xs here should tell us how much progress the company made in the half-year between the market releases of the two phones. Huawei obviously likes its chances as it's selling the new phone virtually everywhere (aside from this one country that rhymes with Erica).

The Mate Xs comes with a 4,500 mAh battery and 55W SuperCharge power block in the retail box - this isn’t strictly new but remains the fastest available on Huawei phones and we can’t wait to test it and see how it stacks against other fast-charging solutions. The company advertises that it can give you an 85% charge in 30 minutes and we will definitely put these claims to the test.

Another improvement Huawei made with its second-generation foldable phone is the software - it comes with a modification of EMUI 10 that allows picture-in-picture apps, and some of them even can be opened twice with a certain feature called App Multiplier. The company reveals plenty of app developers are creating their products with this solution in mind, and Booking.com is already working in this direction - you can open two windows at the same time and easily navigate between them.

The Huawei Mate Xs is selling for €2,499, which is as high as smartphones go these days, not counting those coated in pure gold and precious stones. It might sound like a hard sell, but this is a novelty phone with plenty of unique features, not something you’d gift your mother for her birthday. Stay around for our verdict whether the Mate Xs is worth its massive price tag.