There’s been a lot of foldable news already in 2023, and that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Today, Huawei took the wraps off its new Mate X3, a successor to the Mate X2 which was widely regarded as one of the best folding phones you could buy (assuming you lived in a market where it was being sold).
The Mate X3 seems to improve many of the areas that Huawei was already succeeding in, such as the design. The device ships with a body that’s just 5.3mm thick when unfolded and 239 grams light, bettering the 6.3mm thick, 263-gram Galaxy Z Fold 4 from Samsung. This makes it one of the lightest and thinnest foldables you can buy.
The hinge has been improved with a multi-stop design, allowing you to fold the Mate X3 however much you want in order to prop it up. Huawei also sealed the device enough to achieve an IPX8 water resistance rating.
On the front is a 6.4-inch 2504×1080 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the inner screen is 7.85-inches with a 120Hz and a 2496×2224 resolution. For those keeping track at home, that’s bigger than the 6.2-inch and 7.6-inch screens on the Z Fold 4, so the reduced weight and thickness are certainly welcome.
Another standout design element is the rear camera housing, which is simply gigantic. It packs a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (with macro mode), and a 12MP f/3.4 periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom. The two selfie cameras are both 8MP f/2.4 shooters, and you get a slew of softwares features to boot like night mode, AI scene optimization, 4D Predictive Focus, additional audio controls, and more.
Under the hood, you’ll find Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor (minus the traditionally standard 5G support) and up to 1TB of internal storage with an option to expand it via microSD card (a rarity in smartphones nowadays, let alone foldables). There’s a 4,800mAh to power the device equipped with Huawei’s 66W SuperCharge technology, as well as 50W wireless charging.
The phone runs Android like always, and as has been the case for years, there’s no support for Google apps due to ongoing sanctions with the U.S. This is’nt a big deal for those in China since Google isn’t around anyway, but for those who take advantage of the device’s international launch in the next couple months, the lack of Google apps might be a serious dealbreaker.
Foldables are going to have a big year, and it’s clear that Huawei is here to play with one of the nicest-looking folding phones you can get. If you’re interested in picking up a Mate X3, Huawei is pricing it at ¥12,999 yuan (or around $1,903). It’s launching this week in China and in other markets like Munich on May 9th.
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