Last month at its Unpacked event, Samsung announced the Galaxy Fold, a phone that folded out to become a tablet. It’s a marvel of engineering, making the Korean company the first major manufacturer to reveal a foldable phone. That same week, Chinese manufacturer Hauwei knocked the air out of that announcement, with an arguably better-designed foldable phone of their own, The Huawei Mate X.
The principle difference between the two is that the Galaxy Fold has separate screens. As a candy-bar style phone, it has a screen, with the device opening up like a book to reveal a larger screen on the inside. The Huawei Mate X has a single screen that serves as a display for the device in phone mode, which then folds out to function as a tablet screen. The Mate X seems more sophisticated, dynamically shapeshifting depending on how the device is being held. Because of its design and its arguably better hinge the Mate X can lie flat – something the Galaxy fold won’t be able to do.
According to Huawei Boss Richard Yu, the company had a design that was very similar to Samsung’s, but they scrapped it because it was “not good.”
“I feel having two screens, a front screen and a back screen, makes the phone too heavy,” Yu told Business Insider, speaking about the Galaxy Fold. “We had several solutions, but we canceled them. We had three projects simultaneously. We had something even better than that, killed by me.”
“It was bad,” he added.
While they’re both clever bits of engineering, there are still major trade-offs inherent in foldable phones – the most obvious one being the use of plastic polymer over glass. They’re also unbelievably expensive. The Mate X costs an eye-watering $2600 or 2,299 Euros. The Galaxy Fold is significantly cheaper, coming in at $1,980 in the US and 2,000 Euros. That’s the price of a small second-hand car – for a gimmick of a phone.
Last Updated: March 4, 2019
HvR
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
That Hauwei Mate X must hold the world record for the number of ways that it can be dropped to guarantee a smashed screen.
G8crasha
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
I didn’t expect the Huawei boss to say Samsung had a better design anyway.
G8crasha
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
I didn’t expect the Huawei boss to say Samsung had a better design anyway.
Magoo
March 4, 2019 at 12:44
1 Mobile foldover, or a bazillion Chicken foldovers… Decisions decisionomnomnom too late
Pieter Kruger
March 4, 2019 at 12:51
Yeah Huawei, but where will my finger grip go…..?! Think dammit, THINK!
HvR
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
That Hauwei Mate X must hold the world record for the number of ways that it can be dropped to guarantee a smashed screen.
Admiral Chief
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
I asked Llew, he said it was more than 7 ways
Admiral Chief
March 4, 2019 at 12:09
I asked Llew, he said it was more than 7 ways
Pariah
March 4, 2019 at 12:10
Actually, just one way: “If it’s dropped”.
Admiral Chief
March 4, 2019 at 12:15
“eye0watering” indeed
Pariah
March 4, 2019 at 12:15
Just like the phone’s price, that word has one too many 0’s.
Admiral Chief
March 4, 2019 at 12:15
The only thing that needs more 0’s is my salary, on the left side of the comma comma comma chameleon
Kromas
March 4, 2019 at 12:16
I don’t see myself using this type of phone any time soon. The Idea is nice behind it but I already have toughmate covers around my phone with triple protective gorrila glass sheeting on the screen and yet still seem to crack the screen every single time it drops.
justlikemo
March 4, 2019 at 12:38
get LifeProof your phone will never break again, if you have an iPhone, support for certain Samsung models.
Kromas
March 4, 2019 at 13:12
I don’t particularly do well around iPhones and Samsung has good hardware but decided to bog it down with bloatware so I generally buy other phones. Still good info to know and will look into it.