Stylish Foldable Phone.
The Mate Xs 2 continues to innovate to deliver beautiful style in this evolving form factor.
Huawei continues to innovate by investing in research and development for its mobile devices in order to attract consumer interest. This year in 2022, Huawei launched two foldable smartphone models, the P50 Pocket and the Mate Xs 2. The Mate Xs 2 breaks new grounds as the thinnest and lightest foldable phone, weighing 255 grams and 5.4mm when unfolded.
The leather textured back reinforces an opulent indulgence while the metal middle frame appears flushed when unfolded, which makes the Mate Xs 2 look stunning. I like to keep the phone unfolded most of the time to show it off, only to fold it when I have to keep it in my pocket.
The new-generation double-rotating hinge which Huawei calls “Falcon Wing” is improved to deliver full-angle consistent length control, resulting in a much flatter display with no visible surface creases. As the phone unfolds, the excess surface slides and tucks to the left of the panel underneath the frame. The outward folding design risks casual damage to the display panel, so Huawei has included a PU case that covers the rear when folded so that the phone gets protection like a normal smartphone. The well-designed case allows the Mate Xs 2 to be unfolded easily without removing the case completely
A foldable phone is clearly all about the large display, and the Mate Xs 2 comes with premium specs. It’s 7.8-inch 2480 x 2200 display achieves a high 120Hz refresh rate, P3 wide colour gamut, and 1.07 billion colours. With 424 PPI pixel density, images appear big, bright, and sharp, and as the day goes by, you will find it harder to go back to the fold-up display size.
Furthermore, in the unfolded mode, multi-window interactions make multitasking a breeze. Just drag the window to the upper left corner for a split-screen display or the upper right corner for the floating window. Drag and dock the floating window into the split-screen mode, and vice versa.
The absence of Google Mobile Services (GMS) is no deterrent for Huawei. Its OS has matured so much that the phone has replacement apps for all the Google-branded apps, like email, maps, cloud storage, health tracking, video and audio. Still, one could feel somewhat alienated from other Google users and could face some challenges sharing content over Google Photos or Google Drive. Third-party apps that use Google API will also have problems working with Huawei smartphones.
But the camera system on the Mate Xs 2 makes it worthwhile to switch. It offers versatility in shooting from 0.7x wide to 30x telephoto. During shoots, the camera switches from one lens to another for seamless capture. The 50MP True-Chroma camera delivers the best image quality and performance, handling low-light conditions with ease. The telephoto lens is natively 3x zoom, hence at the 30x setting, the image quality appears heavily pixelated and lacks details compared to the P50 Pro which can get up to 100x digital zoom.
Battery performance is an important factor, and the Mate Xs 2 comes with a 4600 mAh capacity split into 2 cells. While it seems small for a smartphone with such a large display, the included 66W SuperCharger can charge the device up to 90% in just 30 minutes.
We have tested out the Huawei Xs 2 camera and here are the three shots:
Rating: 4.5
We say: It is one of the most good-looking, lightest and thinnest foldable phones to own.
S$2,598
Technical Specifications
Processor Snapdragon 888 4G
CPU Octa-core, 1 x Cortex-X1@2.84 GHz + 3 x Cortex-A78@2.42 GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55@1.8 GHz
GPU Adreno 660
Operating System EMUI 12
Display 7.8-inch 2480×2200 OLED up to 120Hz
RAM+ROM 8GB + 512GB, NM SD card up to 256GB
Rear Camera 50MP f/1,8 True-Chroma Lens, 8MP f/2.4 Telephoto Lens, 13MP f/2.2 Ultra-Wide-Angle Lens
Front Camera 10.7 MP Selfie Camera (Wide Angle, f/2.2 aperture)
Connectivity WLAN 802.11a/gb/g/n/ac/ax 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2 support SBC, AAC, LDAC, USB 3.1 Gen 1, NFC
Battery 4600 mAh
Size Unfolded: 156.5 x 139.3 x 5.4mm; Folded:11.1mm (thick)
Weight 255 g
