The word “incredible” gets thrown around a lot in the tech world. During the iPhone 11 launch, for example, it was used precisely 39 times. Yes, we counted. Each shiny new bundle of screens, circuits and lights promises to be more revolutionary than the last and it’s almost impossible to choose among the wave of specs, marketing and ads. The Huawei Mate Xs, however, makes things simple – it’s truly, genuinely, incredible.

It's not the first folding phone – we’ve seen attempts from Samsung, Motorola and even Huawei before – but it’s the first device that’s properly nailed what a folding phone should be. This isn’t an overpriced prototype that sacrifices performance and convenience merely to boost the tech cred of early adopters. The Mate Xs is an incredible phone in its own right, that just so happens to effortlessly unfold into a tablet.

The double-sided smartphone

The reason for this triumph lies in its design. When closed, the Huawei Mate Xs’ screen is folded back on itself. In this guise, it’s just like a regular smartphone, with the rear section of the screen turned off to preserve battery.

Press the screen release button on the rear, though, and it instantly unfolds, seamlessly transforming into a miniature tablet. It’s an incredibly satisfying process, but one that takes some getting used to. The concept is so alien that I initially felt like I was going to snap it in half with each opening. After a week though, it’s become second nature. Whatever engineering witchcraft Huawei packed into the hinges appears to be doing its job.

Once unfolded, you’ve suddenly got an eight-inch tablet in your hands and you realise how suffocating regular smartphones feel. Websites aren’t cramped. Articles and books are a pleasure to read. Videos and memes fill your vision, rendered in bright, punchy colours, thanks to the plastic OLED screen. Emails are no longer a chore and you can run different apps side by side for more productivity. We’ve found ourselves almost exclusively using the Mate Xs in its tablet form, only folding it away when slipping it into a pocket or replying to messages one-handed while on a daily try-not-to-go-insane self isolation walk.

Are there any downsides? At £2,200 this things costs five times more than our current car’s worth and its plastic screen is nowhere near as scratch resistant as a regular glass one. Despite the included bumper cases that offers some protection, if you slip this into your pocket with some keys or sand, you could very well be faced with some agonising scrapes. As a result, we’ve been insanely precious with it, keeping it unfolded on tables and while charging. If this extra care sounds like too much hassle, then this probably isn’t the device for you.

Beneath the surface

Unlike the Motorola Razr, which is essentially a mediocre phone crammed into an innovative, nostalgia-laden body, the Mate Xs has absolutely zero compromises. It’s running on Huawei’s most powerful 5G processor (the same one found in its 2020 flagship P40) and is packed with some of the company’s best camera hardware to boot.

On the rear, housed in a binder-like strip, you’ll find three cameras – 40MP, 16MP and 8MP – letting you take wide, ultra-wide and telephoto shots respectively, with 3x optical zoom and 5x hybrid zoom to boot. The end result is a versatile phone that takes superb shots across all conditions, whether it’s a bright sunny day or a dim pub. Huawei’s night mode continues to impress too, turning dark gloomy scenes into bright, well-exposed images before your eyes.

The best part, though, is that these top-end cameras can also be used for selfies and video calls. You’ll have to fold the screen over, but once you do you’ll be able to frame your shots on the phone’s rear. You can even show a subject a live preview of what they look like when taking portrait shots, letting them strike that perfect IG pose without going through countless test shots.

On the battery front, you’ll find no compromise either. Despite having a much larger screen when unfolded, the Mate Xs easily lasts a day, thanks to a generously sized 4,500mAh battery, which is cleverly split into both halves of the device. When you do need a top-up, the included 65W charger juices up the battery to 85 per cent in just 30 minutes, which has come in incredibly handy, to the point where I no longer bother plugging it in at night.

The elephant in the room

The Mate Xs, as with all new Huawei phones, has one major weakness: the lack of officially supported Google apps, which includes the Google App Store. Huawei’s own AppGallery is constantly growing, but there’s no denying that its offering pales in comparison, especially with crucial apps such as Google Maps, Citymapper and Uber missing from the roster. Despite Huawei working with developers and pumping money to incentivise more apps being created and ported over, there’s still far too many missing apps to make the Mate Xs, or any Huawei, an easy recommendation.

There are a couple of workarounds though. Huawei’s Phone Clone app ports over apps from your old phone at the press of a button. This won’t include Google apps such as the Play Store however, which means you can’t easily find and install new apps.

The second option is to use sites such as apkmirror to download individual Android apps manually. This is a fair amount of hassle and you can never guarantee that apps installed in this manner are secure or free from malware.

The third option, and the one I opted for, was to spend around 30 minutes following a couple of online tutorials to sneak Google services and apps onto the phone itself. Once completed, the Mate Xs is transformed into a fully-fledged, regular Android device, with the Play Store, automatic app updates, Google apps and more all accounted for. The only thing that doesn’t work is Google Pay, which isn’t a dealbreaker for me.

Huawei Mate Xs verdict

If you want the best folding phone right now, the Mate Xs is absolutely the king. It’s far more elegant than the bulkier Samsung Galaxy Fold, which has a much smaller external display when closed, it trounces the Motorola Razr’s power and camera capabilities and has almost twice the screen real estate of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip.

Having said that, it’s also the most expensive option by a considerable margin. Plus, you’ll be compelled to baby it, to ensure it remains in pristine condition. And then, of course, there’s the app problem. If you’re not willing or able to put in some work to load Google’s apps and services, then you’ll be paying a lot of money for a folding smartphone that currently can’t reach its full potential.

If you’re willing to put some work in though, you’ll have one of the best pieces of tech out right now and one that will turn heads for months, even years, to come.

From £94 per month. three.co.uk

Now read

Apple MacBook Air: The greatest hits

iPad Pro: So much more than a laptop

HP Elite Dragonfly: An incredible laptop made for a boss