Over the past month or so the big news in terms of foldable phones has been increasing hype around the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, with a first-look video showing us just how slick the new folding phone is set to be.
However, as has just been confirmed on Chinese social media site Weibo, in the background of this hype train a deadly new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 rival has been waiting to strike, with the Huawei Mate X2 folding phone priming for an assault.
The Huawei Mate X2, which can be partially seen below in the official Weibo teaser reveal, now is set to be let off the chain on 22 February, 2021, which is the day before Mobile World Congress Shanghai kicks off, which is the biggest annual phone show in China.
And, excitingly for folding phone fans, it looks like the Huawei Mate X2 is going to deliver a radical new design.
The official teaser reveal image of the Huawei Mate X2 folding phone.
That big design change? As can be seen in the above teaser reveal image the folding screen is this time positioned on the inside of the device, rather than on the outside like the Huawei Mate X and Huawei Mate Xs.
The release of the Huawei Mate X2 will not only be well timed in the face of fresh competition from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, but also for the Chinese phone maker itself, with the original Huawei Mate X delayed and then never released, and the following year's refreshed Huawei Mate Xs never getting released in many territories world wide.
This lack of widespread release for any foldable from Huawei was almost certainly impacted by the United States trading ban on the firm, which saw it unable to use the official version of Android on its devices from May 2019. And, with the original Mate X built to use Android, this clearly impacted on its successors.
Fast forward to now and the Mate X2 looks like it could be the first widely released folding phone from Huawei, with the device set to use the firm's Harmony OS, which reports have indicated is built largely on Android 10.
Thanks to the rapid development over the past few years of Huawei's own app store, though, with the majority of big-name apps users in the west are used to now available, there seems to be a real change that we could see the Mate X2 on western shores.
And, being honest, here at T3 we think that would be a great thing. Right now Samsung is basically the only phone maker in the world turning out widely-available quality folding phones, so some serious competition from Huawei would be very welcome. It would also give users more choice in the marketplace, and more choice should always be sort after.
As to what a Huawei Mate X2 with a folding screen on the inside could look like, right now our best look yet comes courtesy of this first look design video.
Here's hoping we get a show-stopping Huawei Mate X2 reveal on February 22 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 gets a serious rival to battle it out against. Naturally, T3 will be looking to go hands on with the Mate X2 as soon as possible, so be sure to check in to T3.com later for our official take.
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