Recently the Huawei Mate X received TENAA certification and the listing revealed the final specifications of the device. Apparently, the tablet phone hybrid has been a modified a little bit. The Mate X was launched back in February during the MWC and the company had initially planned to release it in summer.
However, after the Samsung Galaxy Fold debacle, Huawei decided to put the release on hold to buy itself some more time to conduct a thorough inspection of the phone. More ever, June wouldn’t have been the best of times to release the device, as the company was going through a difficult phase after being blacklisted by the U.S. government.
It appears that after a review, the company has decided to make the device a little bit lighter, which is a welcome change as foldable devices are bulkier than your regular phones. Beyond that, it’s not known if being lighter will increase the durability of the device in any way. When the Mate X was first launched, some outlets had reported that the phone felt a little stiff when it was folded and unfolded so maybe shedding some weight will make the whole process smoother.
Of course, this is just a speculation and concrete information will be provided by Huawei when the Mate X is released officially. In the initial announcement, Huawei had said that the tablet phone hybrid weighs 295 grams, with the battery of course, and now the TENAA listing says that the cell has a capacity of 4400mAh, which perhaps explains why the phone weighs 287 grams now. Previously, the phone was said to pack in a 4500mAh battery.
It is also worth noticing that when the Mate X was first unveiled, the company had said that it will be available in one memory configuration with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space but the TENAA listing mentions three variants, one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory, one version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB internal memory, and one model with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal memory. The proprietary NM card will still support up to 256GB.
Other than that, all the specifications remain the same, which means we are still looking at a Kirin 980-fueled device with an 8-inch display. When folded, the screen will measure 6.6-inches for the front display and 6.38-inches for the back panel. Such a setup will negate the need for two camera systems, allowing the main setup, which has three units, to serve as both as a rear camera system and a selfie shooter.
The Mate X is also 5G ready, thanks to the company’s Balong 5000 modem. This gives the phone an edge over the Galaxy Fold, which only supports 4G LTE. Of course, this comes at a price, as compared to the Galaxy Fold, which costs $1,980, the Mate X is priced at $2,600 and the maxed out variant will probably retail for a higher price.
Whether consumers will be prepared to pay this price is a different story altogether, especially after the Fold incident. Apparently, Samsung itself is gearing up to make an out folding device, so perhaps the Mate X will be far more refined than the Galaxy Fold and not undergo the same problems. The Mate X is expected in September and given that the device has been given a go-ahead by TENAA, an official announcement might be made in August.