Weeks ago, Samsung Mobile took the world by storm when it announced the World’s first foldable smartphone; The Samsung Galaxy Fold. That device however, officially has competition with Huawei, announcing its own foldable phone; The Huawei Mate X.
While both devices take different approaches to the foldable phone niche, we will be putting them head to head, for your reading pleasure.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with two screens. One on the outside and a much larger screen on the inside, while Huawei’s Mate X uses one screen on the outside in three different ways, as it shapeshifts depending on how you hold the phone.
How They Fold
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold is designed to swing open like a book to reveal a 7.3-inch AMOLED display as your double-page spread. When it is closed shut, a 4.6-inch HD Super AMOLED display lights up the front cover. Apps that are open on the front display will appear instantly on the larger screen inside as it is unfolded, with enough space for three apps to populate the display at once. Samsung says its hinge with interlocking gears can endure the stress of hundreds of thousands of openings.
The Huawei Mate X’s solution does seem like more of a technological achievement, at least at this early stage. Called the Falcon Wing Mechanical Hinge, the mechanism places the display on the outside of the fold rather than the inside to offer eight inches of edge-to-edge OLED screen real estate when opened flat. Once it is folded over, this is divided into a 6.6-inch display on the front and 6.4-inch display on the back. Pretty cool right?
Cameras
Huawei’s Mate X comes with three cameras developed with Leica. These cameras include a 40 MP wide angle, a 16 MP ultra wide and eight MP telephoto lens, wedged into a vertical camera bar on the back that doubles as a handle. This basically means the phone will need to be turned around to snap selfies when using the larger of the two folded displays, but the smaller display on the back should help you frame up the shot. Reports by Tech Radar however, claim there is a hidden fourth lens.
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold comes with six cameras. When the device is folded, there are three on the back consisting of a 16 MP ultra-wide, 12 MP wide-angle and 12 MP telephoto lenses, as well as a 10 MP selfie camera on the front. Opening the Galaxy Fold, reveals a 10 MP and 8 MP dual lens selfie camera on the inside.
Internal Specs – The Beasts Within
The Huawei Mate X comes with 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of internal storage, powered by Huawei’s speedy Kirin 980 processor with the battery capacity being 4,500 mAh. Split into two sections, Huawei claims the 55 W SuperCharge tech will bring the battery levels from flat to 85 percent in 30 minutes.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with 12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage and a fingerprint sensor. Its dual batteries amount to a 4,380 mAh capacity. It also comes with support for wireless charging for secondary devices, so you’ll be able to charge up other devices by placing them on the Galaxy Fold.
Prices
The Galaxy Fold will be available from April and is expected to retail for $1,980 (198,119 Kenyan shillings) while Huawei’s Mate X will retail for a staggering $2,600 (260,157 Kenyan shillings).
