Huawei Mate X2 vs Galaxy Z Fold 2 hands-on comparison

A few weeks ago Huawei announced their folding Huawei Mate X2, and the biggest question is of course how it compares to its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Today we have the answer with Ben’s Gadget Review posting a hands-on video of the two handsets in action.

Interestingly Ben was pretty clear that the Huawei Mate X2 was the better device, being thinner, with a better screen aspect ratio, better zoom with its periscope camera and a larger, less crease-prone screen.

The big fly in the ointment was of course the lack of Google Play Services, but Ben notes for the technically proficient there are ways to sideload this.

The Huawei Mate X2 features an 8-inch main OLED screen (2,480 x 2,200) and an external OLED display (2,700 x 1,160), both of which support a 90Hz screen refresh rate. Powering the foldable smartphone is Kirin 9000 coupled with 8GB of RAM. The foldable will be available in two storage variants — 256GB and 512GB. For the power source, Huawei’s Mate X2 will depend upon a 4,500mAh battery, which can go zero to 50 percent in roughly 20 minutes, thanks to the 55W fast charging support.

Talking about cameras, the foldable device features a quad rear camera setup — a 50MP RYYB main camera (with OIS), a 16MP ultra-wide shooter, a 12MP 3x telephoto lens (with OIS), and an 8MP 10x periscope zoom camera (with OIS). For taking selfies, Huawei has added 16MP front cameras in a punch-hole on the display of the foldable. Other features include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, an IR blaster, NFC, USB-C.

The Mate X2 is based on the EMUI 11, which is based on Andriod 10.

The Huawei Mate X2 costs 17,999 yuan (~$2,785) for the 256GB model, while the 512GB variant is priced at 18,999 yuan ($2,940).