You’ve heard the hype, you’ve seen the images and videos, the next generation of smartphones has landed. Branded ‘foldables’ these 3 new devices have high tech foldable screens and a wealth of high-end hardware. While Apple is still using notches, Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi have taken us to the next level!
Huawei Mate X
The all-new foldable phone from Huawei will cost around $2,569 (€2,299) with a ship date of the 2nd half of 2019. Buy it directly from the Huawei online store as well as online retailers. In the UK Vodafone and EE have currently confirmed that they will sell the Mate X.
Hardware boasts Huawei’s top processor the Kirin 980, 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is expandable via Huawei’s Nano memory. This phone is not just foldable, it is 5G, in fact, Huawei claims it is the world’s fastest 5G phone. This super powerful hardware, of course, makes the phone very very fast, apps will load immediately, all screen transitions are instant and flicker free and multitasking has no effect whatsoever on performance. Batterywise the Mate X has 4,500mAh more power than all of its rivals but only time will tell the real staying power due to the screens sucking power quickly.
The Mate X promises a truly great user experience demonstrating that folding screens on mobile devices are the new thing to have. The build quality is high end and the speed of the phone promises to be very fast.
Samsung Galaxy Fold
Let’s start with the delay, yes it’s true a week before launch Samsung delayed the launch of the Galaxy Fold. Issues with the display are said to be the main problem, we are told Samsung will announce the new release date in ‘coming weeks’.
That said, the first thing you notice about the Galaxy Fold is its build quality. The way it folds in particular, it is smooth and gives a satisfying click into place. If this smooth action lasts over time, the result is yet to be seen. The price comes in around $2000 so longevity should be paramount at this price tag. Samsung has stated that the Galaxy Fold is built to last.
The Fold has 2 screens: a 4.6inch Super AMOLED HD+ outer display and a 7.3inch Dynamic AMOLED QXGA+ inner display. The phone does feel much bulkier in your pocket than any other flagship phone.
One issue we found with the display is the visible fold line is the middle of the screen. If you look directly at the screen it isn’t so visible, but look from the side and the line is clearly visible.
Hardware wise a Snapdragon 855 processor, with a massive 12GB RAM and 512GB storage. The large amount of RAM is said to be needed to aid multitasking.
The Galaxy fold does look impressive, but we are not sure it is as good a buy as the Huawei Mate X promises to be.
Xiaomi Mi Flex
We’ve all heard that Xiaomi is busy building their own version of a foldable smartphone to challenge both the Huawei Mate X and the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Xiaomi Mi Flex’ design and fold are quite different from every other foldable on the market.
It has a selfie front facing camera embedded into the display, along with the fingerprint scanner also embedded beneath the OLED 6.5-inch display. The display once unfolded extends to a massive 10-inch display the size of many tablets. Dual speakers are also mentioned to ensure a great film and gaming experience.
Hardwarewise the processor is an Octa-core 2.2GHzSnapdragon 855, 6GB/8GB of RAM and 128GB/256GB of storage. A Micro SD card also enables storage to be expanded up to 512GB. Long battery life is promised via a 4200mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Mi Flex release date is planned for mid 2019.
Maybe not your first choice amongst the other 2 foldables here, but the Xiaomi Mi Flex is surely worth consideration.
