- [Michael] This video is sponsored by HelloFresh.
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(soft music)
So this episode of "Into the Fold"
was going to be a traditional first impressions video.
But then something happened
to the foldable phone I carry every day.
Something that made me wonder
whether the Huawei Mate X2 might just be
a preview of the future of foldables.
(upbeat music)
Now, when I first heard that Huawei
was following up its first foldable design
with something that looked an awful lot
like a Samsung folding phone,
I'll admit,
I was a bit disappointed.
I just thought, "Isn't it a little bit early
"in foldable development for the industry
"to be coalescing around one or two form factors?"
But frankly, it had to happen.
I said as much when I covered Huawei's original Mate X
in the first episode of "Into the Fold"
As ambitious as that design was,
material science just hasn't yet
given us a screen
that's both flexible enough to fold
and durable enough to double as a defacto phone casing.
And yes, I will come back to this.
Now, while the Mate X2
looks a lot like Samsung's Fold 2,
there are more differences than you think.
Stand the Mate up alongside the Fold
and you'll see that Samsung's phone
still resembles a diving board
with its tall 25 by nine aspect ratio,
while Huawei has gone with a wider 21 by nine.
What does that mean to you?
When the Mate X2 is closed,
it better approximates a conventional smartphone.
It's a bit easier to type on
and it solves some of the scaling problems
I've found on some apps on the Fold 2.
Instagram.
Now, whether it's better overall,
depends on personal preference.
See, from my perspective,
going to the full width of a 21 by nine phone
and adding the Z-depth and weight
of a foldable means that
Huawei basically made the Mate X2
tougher to use one-handed.
And if you're gonna use two hands,
you might as well unfold the thing
and use the main display.
So for me,
the Fold 2 still strikes the better balance
even if it doesn't look as nice as the Mate X2.
Inside, Huawei's main screen
is nearly half an inch bigger on the diagonal
than Samsung's
with about 10% more pixels per inch as well.
Refresh rates are different too.
The Fold 2 has the slightly smoother screen inside
while Huawei takes the cake on the cover.
And of course, the more obvious difference
is the Mate X2's utterly uninterrupted canvas
made possible by the absence of an internal camera.
Tally this one up as another decision
I'm siding with Samsung on.
Yes, the outside camera should suffice for selfies,
but now that video calling is more popular than ever,
I like that Samsung gives me
the option to take those calls on the larger screen.
A screen that can hold itself open
at any angle you like.
On the Mate X2,
you have to take your video calls outside,
which just seems like a big sacrifice
to ask people to make when your phone costs
as much as this one does.
(indistinct) the deletion of wireless charging
and the use of glossy glass
instead of Samsung's satin.
Now, fortunately,
Huawei respects that cost in other areas
that Samsung totally whiffed on.
If you saw my Fold 2 review,
you'll remember I took him to task
for not including any accessories
beyond the charger in the box.
On the flip side,
the Mate X2 comes with the best complimentary case
I've seen in years,
maybe ever.
It looks great.
It solves for the slippery glass problem.
And it offers a convenient kickstand,
which works whether the phone's open or closed.
That's taking care of your customer.
And it's something I hope Samsung emulates
with the Fold 3.
Huawei also kept in mind
the importance of being ergonomic.
The Mate X2's casing is divided diagonally,
which means that when you open it,
the phone takes on the wedge-like form of a doorstop.
That design choice pushes its center of gravity
toward the thicker side,
making it easier to hold one hand up
like the similarly asymmetric Kindle Oasis.
And when it's closed,
the same design allows the phone to collapse
to a thinner profile
than the Fold 2.
In the process,
eliminating the gap between halves.
It's an elegant, beautiful implementation,
which given Huawei's design history
is really no surprise.
Now, what did surprise me,
speaking of Huawei's history,
is how these cameras stacked up.
See, this far,
Samsung has recycled cameras
from previous generations of phones
for its Fold family.
But Huawei threw almost everything it had
into this monster camera module,
including a Periscope telephoto camera.
That means that while the Fold 2
can only get you this close to the freedom tower,
even then with quite a lot of grain,
Huawei can take you hundreds of feet closer.
They Mate X2 also has an easier job in low light
at least where the wide angle lens is concerned.
Less noise, better colors.
The surprising part comes in
where the shots from the Samsung
tend to be the pics I prefer.
For one thing, the Huawei missed focus
a lot of the time,
which really shouldn't be happening
at this price point.
And for another,
I wasn't always happy with Huawei's color processing.
You can really see that in these sunset selfies.
In one set, Huawei does a better job
with the portrait effect,
but not in the other.
And in both cases,
it's definitely misrepresenting my skin tone.
So I hear you're asking,
if this is the possible future of foldables,
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True story.
The night before I was to edit this video,
I was doing what I've done almost every night
since I bought the Galaxy Fold and Fold 2.
I was laying in bed reading on the Kindle app.
And I noticed as I drag my finger across the display,
barely discernible rough patch
under my fingertip that had not been there before.
When I woke up the next morning
and micro-fibered away a week's worth of fingerprints,
my fears were confirmed.
My Fold 2 had spontaneously developed
a length of tiny cracks in the display,
perfectly following the trough of the flex point
where the ultra thin glass folds over itself.
No, I didn't drop it.
No, I didn't freeze it.
I didn't bake it.
I didn't beam it through a dubious transporter.
It just happened,
seven months into my ownership.
And frankly, it wasn't a surprise.
Since the Fold 2 and its sibling
the Galaxy Z Flip have been on sale,
reports of similar cracking incidents
have been a fairly common sight
on some of the subreddits I follow.
Now, this is speculation,
but to me, it seems like fatigue fractures,
which is supported by the fact that
the Fold 2 is the phone I've been using
literally every day,
while my other two foldables
are mainly weekend and off hours phones.
Now, fortunately,
when you buy a foldable from Samsung,
you do get something called premier service
on top of the standard warranty.
And as this video goes live,
I'm actually in the process of sending my phone in
to get repaired.
That's partly why I do this series, folks,
showing you what it's like to own a foldable
even when that reality is inconvenient or painful.
I'll tell you how premier Samsung service was
on an upcoming episode of "Into the Fold"
and make sure you're subscribed to the Mr. Mobile
so you don't miss it.
What does all this have to do with the Mate X2?
Well, you may have noticed that
not all foldables bend quite the same way.
While Samsung tends to prefer
a narrow and deep gutter groove,
Motorola's Razr line kind of
spreads the fold across three smaller creases.
Over in the laptop world,
the ThinkPad X1 Fold
from Motorola's parent company, Lenovo,
does something similar,
but with firmer material and support structure.
And the Huawei Mate X2's double helix drop hinge
seems to have more in common
with the Motorola and Lenovo approach
than Samsung's.
Huawei is deservedly proud
of that hinge mechanism
going so far as to compare it
to the strength of one of the safest cars in the world,
cue the fake applause.
- (speaks in foreign language)
(applause)
- [Michael] I do miss ridiculous phone launch events,
I got to say.
But anyway,
the real story isn't actually in the hinge,
it's in how the screen folds.
Just like on the Razr,
Huawei's display curls up
into a water drop shaped cavity
that results in a much gentler curve
than the harsh bend of the Samsung approach.
To be clear,
I have no evidence
that Samsung's tight radius crease
is what caused the fracture on my Fold 2.
And in any event, the materials are different.
Huawei uses this more traditional plastic
compared to Samsung's ultra thin glass.
Plus, we don't know how well
the Mate X2 display will age.
After seven months,
My Motorola Razr 5G review unit
is nowhere near as smooth
as it was when I first unboxed it.
It's actually getting quite distracting.
So I'm not saying Huawei's approach
is some kind of silver bullet sure thing.
But when combined with
the other advantages of the Mate X2,
the lower profile, the complete closure,
that ergonomic asymmetry,
that addictive snap the phone makes
when you open or close it,
it all makes for a package that
I think will heavily inform the future of foldables.
That's good news for we foldy folks
who like to buy these things,
but not great news for Huawei,
which due to fraught relations
between the US and China
is still unable to offer
the full range of Google apps or mobile services
on the Mate X2 or any of its other phones.
Yeah, that means that even though
it's somewhat easier to find
the apps you need on Huawei phones these days,
I still can't recommend the Mate X2
to anyone in the States
who needs reliable access to Gmail,
Google maps, et cetera.
And who doesn't wanna source their apps
from APK sites
instead of the Google Play Store.
But the Mate X2 is a fresh reminder
that the foldable world
needs the kind of innovation
that companies like Huawei can bring,
especially given the recent departure of LG
from the mobile space.
I hope to see Huawei's wears
make a return to the West someday.
In the meantime,
I'm sure foldable manufacturers
the world over are taking notes
on what the company produces.
This video was made after six days
with the Mate X2 review sample provided by Huawei.
After I sent my Fold 2 off for service,
I contacted Samsung for comment
concerning its display failure.
And if the company offers one,
I'll include it in the description.
As always, neither Huawei nor Samsung
was given editorial input
or an early preview of this video
nor did either company pay anything for this coverage.
And finally,
if you enjoyed this video,
there's a whole playlist of other
"Into the Fold" episodes.
Check them out at the Mr. Mobile on YouTube.
Until next time,
thanks for watching
and remember to stay safe
and mask up when you're around others.
As you stay mobile, my friends.
(upbeat music)