Huawei's new foldable smartphone, the Mate X, will be available in South Africa in mid-2019. This according to Likun Zhao, VP for Huawei consumer business group Southern Africa, who was speaking to journalists at an event in Johannesburg today.
Zhao said that South Africa will be in the "first wave" of countries to get the phones in either June or July this year.
The smartphone was officially announced at Mobile World Congress 2019, in Barcelona, Spain last month just days after rival Samsung announced the Galaxy Fold. The Mate X is 5G-enabled and opens seamlessly from a 6.6-inch screen to an 8-inch tablet.
Journalists in Johannesburg were amongst the first people in the country to handle the device which is 5.4mm thick when open and under 11mm when folded.
The device's recommended retail price will be EUR2 299 (R37 700), before tax and import fees, for 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Both Huawei and Samsung said at their separate foldable phone launches that they believe flexible screens are the future of smartphone technology and would revolutionise both productivity and entertainment experiences on a mobile device.
The Mate X is differentiated from the Galaxy Fold by how it folds. The Mate X features the Falcon Wing Mechanical Hinge with one high strength, flexible OLED panel that wraps around it and folds with the screen on the outside. The Galaxy Fold opens like a book with the big screen on the inside and has a second smaller screen on the front when the phone is closed.
When it officially launches the Mate X will be available in just one colour, interstellar blue, and will come with a cover to protect it.
It has a Leica triple-camera system on the back of the device but no front camera. However selfies are still possible when the phone is folded by simply flipping the device over and changing the mode to the back screen.
The device has a 4 500mAh battery and a new 55W "SuperCharge" capabilities which charges the device to 85% in just 30 minutes.
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