What you need to know
- Huawei is releasing its Mate Xs 2 foldable phone in the U.K.
- The phone will be featured with its white colorway and priced at £1699.99.
- Preorders for the phone run from August 21 to September 11, with its full release beginning September 12.
Huawei's latest flagship foldable phone, the Mate Xs 2, is finally getting its U.K. release. This outward folding phone, according to Huawei, "leverages its strengths of being ultra-light and ultra-thin, ultra-flat and ultra-reliable, to bring consumers the best experience."
The U.K. launch of the Mate Xs 2 features the white colorway, priced at £1699.99. Preorders will run from August 31 to September 11, with the full U.K. release starting on September 12. Huawei also informs that those who preorder the Mate Xs 2 will receive its Watch GT 3 Pro for free. This 46mm watch will be available in black or brown while supplies last.
Creating a foldable phone so thin and light is why Huawei is deeming this phone to be the pinnacle of "art meets technology." The Mate Xs 2 weighs only 255g which was something previously only achievable through a non-foldable phone. Even the new Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 weighs a bit more at 262g. Huawei has taken the extra step to use new, innovative light materials such as ultra-light glass, aerospace-grade titanium, and ultra-light, high-grade steel for the phone's structure.
We weren't sure if Huawei would release its Mate Xs 2 device outside of China when it was first released in April. That said, it came to a couple of European countries shortly after, and we're happy to see it expand its availability as the phone is quite the upgrade from its predecessor, the Mate Xs.
Even though its design is quite different from some of the best foldable phones, the Huawei Mate Xs 2 has a conventionally-sized 6.5-inch 120Hz OLED display while closed. When fully unfolded, everything opens up into a 7.8-inch display with a clear 2480×2200 resolution. However, keep in mind that since the phone folds outward, its screens are always exposed, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which folds inward like a book.
The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 888 chipset with 4G capabilities, unlike the Fold 4's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Huawei has also struggled with its U.S. relationship, and those issues have transferred into not receiving Qualcomm's 5G modems to improve its foldable phone. That might make its pricing a bit difficult to justify.
Huawei's Mate Xs 2 features a triple camera lens array on its back. The foldable's True-Chroma Camera system contains a 50MP lens, 13MP wide-angle lens, and an 8MP telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom. The front-facing punch hole camera on the front of the device comes in at 10MP.
The device also comes with 8GB of RAM, which can be paired with either 256GB or 512GB of internal storage. The phone can also come with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal space.
One area in which Huawei's Mate Xs 2 may hold strong over Samsung's Fold 4 is its battery life, with the Mate Xs 2 sporting a 4,600mAh battery. The phone also features 66W fast-charging over the Fold 4's 25W charge and 4,400mAh battery.
