Earlier today, reports were circulating around that the Samsung Galaxy Fold is perhaps finally ready for launch, although these rumors were later laid to rest by the company’s Czech and Slovakian spokesperson. However, those looking to buy a foldable phone need not despair, as the Huawei Mate X has apparently been cleared for a release by the Chinese regulator TENAA, which means it might be launched soon.
Per the listing, the Mate X has the model number TAH-AN00 and it has been categorized as a 5G device which will be underpinned by a 2.6-GHz chipset with 8 CPU cores, which is the company’s home-brewed Kirin 980 silicon. It is worth mentioning that since the Mate X was announced during MWC, most of its specifications are already known, such as the fact that it will be possible to juice up its gigantic 4400mAH battery in no time with the help of the company’s 55W SuperCharge technology. The new listing just serves as a confirmation of sorts and indicates an imminent release.
Moving on, the Mate X is going to sport an 8-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2,480×2,200 pixels. There is no secondary screen here, since unlike the Galaxy Fold, this is an outward folding device, so an external display is not needed. Weighing 287 grams, the phone is quite bulky, but then again this is no ordinary phone so this doesn’t come as a surprise.
The phone’s dimensions are listed as 161.3 mm x 146.2 mm x 11 mm and the only color option mentioned is Star Blue, but it will likely be available in other variants too. The listing reiterates that the Mate X will have a quad-camera setup, which will also act as a selfie camera. The camera system will consist of 40 megapixels, 16 megapixels, and 8-megapixels cameras and there will also be a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor for collecting depth information.
The phone will come pre-installed with the Android 9 Pie and it will be available in three memory configurations, including a version with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard memory, a model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, and a maxed-out variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. The storage capacity can be expanded with Huawei’s proprietary 256GB NanoSD card.
The listing also says that a USB-C headset, a USB-C data and charging cable, and a leather case will be bundled in with the Mate X. Lastly, the phone will feature a conventional fingerprint reader and not an in-display type.
The Mate X was initially slated for a June release, but Huawei put the phone on hold until September out of fears that it might end up like the Galaxy Fold if it is not thoroughly tested. However, prior to that, when Samsung first postponed the release of its foldable phone, the Chinese company had said that it will stick to its original launch schedule.
Thus, it’s likely the tablet phone hybrid was actually delayed because of Huawei’s tiff with the U.S. and now that things seem to be cooling off, the company has decided to proceed with the launch. The phone might first be released in China before making it to other countries and it is expected to cost nearly $2,602.