2019 was the year when the first foldable phone was announced. Samsung launched the first model with the Galaxy Fold, and now there is a new foldable phone Samsung Galaxy Z Flip available now. Huawei announced the Mate X in early 2019, but now Mate X was discontinued and only the second generation and optimized Huawei Mate Xs is available for sale. The Motorola Razr also joins the product range to compete. If you plan to get the foldable phones, you’d better prepare 3000USD or more on the table. The foldable phones are at high price range now.
Since the Huawei Mate Xs and Samsung Galaxy Fold are the the top two models, we will compare the two foldable phones to see which is better on design and performance. Hope this will give some advice to the potential buyers.
Huawei Mate Xs vs. Samsung Galaxy Fold: Specifications
| Samsung Galaxy Fold | Huawei Mate X | |
| Display size, resolution | 4.6-inch Super AMOLED; 7.3-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED | 6.6-inch (2,480x1,148 pixels); 6.38-inch (2,480x892); 8-inch OLED (2,480x2,200) |
| Mobile software | Android 9.0 with Samsung One UI | No Android on the Chinese model |
| Camera | 12-megapixel main, 16-megapixel ultra wide-angle, 12-megapixel telephoto | 40-megapixel main, 16-megapixel ultra-wide, 8-megapixel telephoto |
| Front-facing camera | Two 10-megapixel, 8-megapixel 3D depth | Same as above |
| Processor | Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 | Kirin 980 processor |
| Storage | 512GB | 512GB |
| RAM | 12GB | 8GB |
| Expandable storage | No | No |
| Battery | 4,380 mAh | 4,500 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Power button | Power button |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C |
| Special features | Foldable display, wireless charging, fast charging, 5G in select countries | Foldable display, fast charging, 5G |
| Price off-contract (USD) | $1,980, £1,900, converts to AU$2,800 | 16,999 yuan, converts to $2,400, £1,830 or AU$3,546 |
Huawei Mate Xs vs. Samsung Galaxy Fold: Design and Feel
The fact that Samsung grabs the display on the inside and is glass on the outside makes the Galaxy Fold appearing more valuable in the hand. In addition, the Galaxy Fold is more compact when folded and is also more comfortable to hold when opened (but both are almost the same weight). Since the display size is enough for me, we find the feel of Samsung better.
The folding mechanism on both models is good, although we have to say that it works a bit “lighter” with the Galaxy Fold. With the Huawei Mate Xs you have to exert some pressure to open and close the display. You could also operate the fold with one hand.
The workmanship is good on both devices, the keys have good pressure points and nothing wobbles. But since the Galaxy Fold is easy to use and more comfortable to hold, the point goes to Samsung
Huawei Mate Xs vs. Samsung Galaxy Fold: Display
The quality of the two displays is great in both cases. Both have built very solid OLED panels, but missing the current standard at 90 or 120 Hz. But the colors are good; they are both bright and have very good viewing angles. In that regard, I would give both a point.
But this is exactly where the difference comes: The display from Huawei Mate Xs is on the outside and that from Samsung on the inside. There you can argue whether this is a good idea with the Mate Xs, because plastic displays scratch faster, but this difference is even more noticeable.
When folded, the Huawei Mate Xs is a much too big, thick and heavy smartphone. The small external display of the Galaxy Fold is too small for almost everything.
Considering this, we will give the point to the Huawei Mate Xs, even if we never expect to put such a expensive display on the outside if we wanted to use my smartphone for many years.
Huawei Mate Xs VS Samsung Galaxy Fold: Software
Actually, we would have thought that this point goes very clearly to Samsung, since the Huawei Mate Xs comes without Google apps. But there are two things that should be mentioned here and where we have to criticize.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold has only had Android 10 this week. This is not necessarily acceptable for a model for 3000USD after this time.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold is recognized by apps as a normal smartphone. So the apps are often just stretched out. However, the Huawei Mate Xs is recognized as a tablet, which means that many apps are available when opened with a special tablet view.
For many users, if without Google apps, you can’t do many things such as Email, banking app or Google apps.
By the way, one thing must to be mentioned: The performance of the Huawei Mate Xs was really not good for some third-party apps. I compared that to the Huawei P40 Pro, which has similar hardware (Kirin 990) - no problems.
Huawei Mate Xs VS Samsung Galaxy Fold: Camera
In this category - roughly speaking - the hardware from 2019 will compete against each other. Means: A mixture of Huawei P30 Pro and Mate 30 Pro competes against the Samsung Galaxy S10. Samsung has not installed a bad camera, but it’s clear that Huawei was ahead in 2019.
In addition, with the Huawei approach, the main camera can also be conveniently used as a front camera. Samsung is only superior to Huawei in the videos, but since photos are more important to many users, this point goes to the Huawei Mate Xs.
Huawei Mate Xs VS Samsung Galaxy Fold: Price
If we consider the prices of both models, then you have to put in almost 2500 USD for a Samsung Galaxy Fold and almost 3000 USD for a Huawei Mate Xs. That's a lot, no question at all, because the development was expensive.
You can get the Galaxy Fold every now at lower price, but it is also older. But the price difference of almost 700USD is quite large, so this point goes to Samsung.
Huawei Mate Xs VS Samsung Galaxy Fold: other features
The fingerprint sensor is located on both sides and is fast, both are available with 5G, both are not IP-certified due to the design and it was difficult for me to find a unique selling point that makes one of the models stand out. But then we found a standard feature.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold has stereo speakers on the side. So if you turn the device while watching a video, you have the sound from the left and right and honestly: It is great for media consumption.
Stereo speakers are a standard feature for smartphones that cost over 1000USD in these days. So the point goes to the fold.
Huawei Mate Xs VS Samsung Galaxy Fold: Conclusion
When opened, they are great fun reading and consuming things. As of today, you will consider one more time to buy a foldable for 2500USD or more, but if the models are now more stable, lighter and thinner and have all the features of the normal flagships, you can imagine it.
Actually, we also tried the Galaxy Z Flip, we have to say: this category (Fold and Mate Xs) from Foldables will be better because it brings more display space.
For a successor we would only wish that the outside display is bigger and Android better adapted and the notch on the inside can be replaced with a hole like the Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note10+ or Galaxy S20.
It's a pity that Huawei will have a tough time against Samsung without the Google apps in this very special category. Otherwise it could have been an exciting duel between the two giants.
As the first 5G mobile phone from Nubia, the RedMagic 5G from the Chinese manufacturer ZTE is primarily geared towards gaming and (according to the name) supports the new 5G mobile communications standard. The Nubia's flagship RedMagic 5G will go on sale globally starting April 21.
The heart of the Nubia RedMagic 5G is the new Snapdragon 865, which is cooled down by active liquid cooling for maximum performance. It is supported by an Adreno 650 GPU and a 5G modem with SA + NSA dual-mode operation. Depending on the model, there are four different combination for storage: 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM, 12GB RAM + 128GB ROM, 12GB RAM + 256GB ROM, and 16GB RAM + 256GB ROM, of course, the prices would be higher on the large capacity. A 4,500 mAh battery is responsible for the power supply, which can be quickly charged with a maximum of 55 watts.
In terms of specs, the RedMagic 5g features a 6.65-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate, with a follow-up response time of 14.9ms. It also gets a sliding response time of 45ms and a click response time of 32.2ms. The phone sports the latest Snapdragon 865 chipset paired up with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It comes with latest L-shaped cooling pipe and also gets new Active Liquid-Cooling with Turbo Fan 3.0 which is claimed to be 200 per cent cooler from previous RedMagic smartphones. The new cooling technology has also increased the airflow volume by up to 30 per cent and features multilayer thermal graphite as well. The specs seems much better than the other 5G phones from ZTE such as ZTE Axon 11 5G and Axon 10 Pro 5G.
First of all, the 5G mobile smartphone starts in China. However, it should also be available globally in April 2020. And now the Red Magic 5G phone is available in China for sale and the price is in middle range, not cheap and also not too high. Converted from the China prices, the smaller model in black and red with 8 GB RAM and 128 costs just under 600USD, the best one with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB memory is over 800USD.
The RedMagic 5G phone provides many colors for the users such as Black, Mars Red, Cyber Neon, Transparent. They all look very cool and fashion. The RedMagic 5G will be made available in EU (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) and Australia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Macao. We will keep update on this ZTE 5G cell phone.
The Chinese manufacturer ZTE has presented its new 5G smartphone Axon 11 5G. Initially, the device will only be available in China. However, it is quite possible that the ZTE Axon 11 5G will also be available in other countries or areas in the foreseeable future.
Snapdragon 765G SoC chipset
Unlike the predecessor ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G cell phone, the second generation 5G cell phone ZTE Axon 11 supports 5G dual-mode (SA and NSA), and the new 5G smartphone also supports LTE Cat 20 and other older mobile radio standard. As SoC, the manufacturer relies on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, which has so far been used in a few devices such as Xiaomi Redmi K30 5G, Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G, OPPO Find X2 and Realme X50 5G etc... Depending on the model, 6 or 8 GB RAM and 128 or 256 GB internal memory are available.
The battery is 4,000 mAh in size and can be quickly recharged with 18 watts with new energy. Other features include Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, Hi-Res Audio with DTS: X and a fingerprint scanner in the AMOLED display. This measures 6.47 inches in 19.5: 9 format and represents a resolution of FHD + with 2,340 x 1,080 pixels. The 90 Hz display in the curved design is slightly rounded at the edges and also has a waterdrop notch in the top center, which has a selfie camera with 20 megapixel resolution and an aperture of f / 2.0.
Quad camera on the back
A quad camera setup is installed on the back of the 159.2 x 73.4 x 7.9 mm and 168 g ZTE Axon 11 5G. Its four lenses work with 64 megapixels (wide angle with f / 1.89 aperture), 8 megapixels (ultra wide angle with f / 2.2 aperture), 2 megapixels (depth sensor with f / 2.4 aperture) and 2 megapixels (macro with f / 2.4 aperture) .
The ZTE Axon 11 5G with its equipment belongs to the upper middle class. As told before, the ZTE 5G phone will initially only be launched in China. However, it could be bought from online stores. The price is not expensive for the version with 6 and 128 GB. The larger version with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage will cost more but not yet available now. This ZTE 5G phone is a budget one if you want to change 4G phone to 5G.
Here now, the new ZTE Axon 11 SE 5G is available with MediaTek MT6873 Dimensity 800 5G Chipset and cheaper price. We will compare the ZTE Axon 11 and Axon 11 SE 5G in future.
To compete with the Chinese mobile phone manufacturers in middle range smartphone, Samsung introduced two new 5G smartphones to the market: Galaxy A51 5G and Galaxy A71 5G. The two new devices differ primarily by 5G, but not only in this way from the LTE versions. We had introduced the mid-range 5G cell phone from Samsung Galaxy A90, which is a powerful competitor to other 5G phones from Huawei, OPPO, VIVO and Xiaomi. Now the two new Samsung 5G phones brings more opportunity to occupy market share for Samsung worldwide.
The Samsung Galaxy A51 5G is said to cost just under $500, according to Samsung, which is a mid -range 5G smartphone for the money. An octa-core processor with a rate of up to 2.2 GHz works inside the phone. It is supported by either 6 or 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. If required, this can be expanded by up to 1 TB using a microSD memory card. The power supply is provided by a 4,500 mAh battery, which is slightly larger than the 4G Galaxy A51. It can be charged with a maximum of 15 watts via USB Type-C.
The front camera sits in a central hole in the 6.5-inch display with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 pixels. It has a resolution of 32 megapixels. Samsung uses a quad camera on the back. The main sensor has a resolution of 48 megapixels. There is also a wide-angle camera with 12 megapixels and two sensors for macro shooting and depth information, each with 5 megapxels.
The differences between the Samsung Galaxy A51 5G and the Galaxy A71 5G are not too big. The display is somewhat larger at 6.7 inches, but has the same resolution. The CPU and RAM as well as the internal memory are identical. The battery is also the same size, but can be charged even faster with 25 watts. In addition, the camera setup on the back of the device is slightly better. Here the main sensor has a resolution of 64 megapixels, while all other sensors have identical specifications. The price is a little higher around $ 599.
Here now the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G is available for sale in the USA and will be available in China in April. When will the Galaxy A51 5G be available is unknown yet.
Before we get started, we should tell you can still install Google apps on the device, but that's not really safe. But Huawei will have to go without Google in the long run anyway. Today we will have a test of this new Huawei 5G smartphone: Huawei P40 Pro.
Huawei P40 Pro Specifications:
These are not all specifications of the Huawei P40 Pro. On the Huawei official website, you can get more information about the Android smartphone.
At the beginning of 2020, we was afraid that all flagship phones would get bigger, but Huawei hardly changed anything with the P40 Pro. It feels similar to the Huawei P30 Pro. That doesn't mean it's a particularly light and compact smartphone, but we find it a lot more comfortable than the latest new Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.
The processing is of course clear again and the design is now a bit "rounder" because the glass on the back and front has also been bent at the top and bottom. Incidentally, the display was not bent there. But we have to say that the difference compared to the P30 Pro is not big and it feels very similar. We tested the P40 Pro in silver color, which is one of the most beautiful colors on the market. The camera hump is now a bit bigger, which unfortunately has a small disadvantage. The camera hump is not quite as wide, but just as high, thick and sharp-edged as the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. That could have been solved a little more comfortably for my taste.
The display of Huawei P40 Pro made a very good impression in the first impression and we were also completely satisfied in the test. It doesn't quite come close to the current Samsung panel with 120 Hz, but it's not that far away either. FHD+ doesn't bother too much, by the way, it is criticized in this price range.
The front camera is very good, but the hole is too wide. There is a front camera and an infrared sensor designed to optimize unlocking in poor light. Face unlock works great too, but it's still a 2D scanner and not a 3D scanner. If you are already installing such a wide hole, then please use a camera that enables a 3D scan of the face.
But apart from that, we was very satisfied with the display, it delivers good colors and viewing angles, is pleasantly fast at 90 Hz and there is a thin bezel. It's not the best OLED display on the market, but it's good enough for a flagship in this price range, and luckily not bent as much as the Mate 30 Pro.
The highlight of the P series is the camera and that will also be the case in 2020. Huawei has improved the video quality and it still does not come close to Apple and Samsung, but it is no longer a weakness (like last year). In addition, there is finally 4K with 60 fps. The quality should be enough for most.
However, Huawei has put the focus back on the photos and there is now a new sensor with 50 megapixels. This sensor is damn good and takes extremely sharp pictures, even in poor lighting conditions without night mode.
The difference to the P30 Pro is not serious (which speaks for the P30 pro), but the P40 Pro has made another leap. The pictures with 5x zoom are also very passable.
Too bad that the 10x optical zoom is only available in the Huawei P40 Pro Plus, that would have been a unique selling point. The 10x hybrid zoom is also good. The 5x zoom of the Huawei P40 Pro is frankly a bit too much.
The front camera takes very good pictures, as we have already mentioned and the ultra-wide shots can also convince. With portrait photos, the Huawei P40 Pro recognizes the outlines very well thanks to the ToF sensor, but we also found in the test that the object in focus often looked a little blurred. Huawei would have to add a software update.
Huawei has installed one of the best cameras on the market and shows that Samsung cannot deliver better pictures with twice as many megapixels. We think the sensor from Huawei is clearly better.
The Huawei P40 Pro offers excellent battery life. The competition has now built bigger batteries in their flagships, but Huawei gets more out of the 4200 mAh than Samsung out of 5000 mAh. The P40 Pro is again a long-distance runner, despite the 90 Hz, which drain the battery a little faster.
Nothing has changed with fast charging, as in 2019 there is the option for up to 40 watts, which is easily enough. It charges wirelessly with up to 27 watts, which is also enough. The Plus model, which comes in June, offers Qi with up to 40 watts and is the current leader on the market.
Huawei has of course given the P40 Pro reverse charging again, so you can also charge other Qi models wirelessly on the back of the P40 Pro.
Over the past few years, we have gradually become warm with EMUI and EMUI 10.1 is also a step forward.. In addition, the performance is right, because the Huawei P40 Pro is very fast, there is nothing to complain about.
But you know what is coming: The Google services are missing. No Google Play Store, no YouTube app, no Google Pay, no banking app in the AppGallery, no Android Auto, everything is missing. Some apps can be found through other stores or downloaded APK files, but to be honest it is tedious. Those who rely on Google and Co. will not be happy with the P40 Pro.
We tried to get the best out of it, but that's not enough. You don't just have to look for some apps somewhere on the web, you also have to check for updates and install them manually. And if there is a deal like Monument Valley 2, then you are unlucky with the Huawei P40 Pro.
This didn't bother me so much with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, and the Huawei Mate Xs which is a smartphone for a very small target group. With Google apps, that would have been an excellent flagship.
Huawei P40 Pro Conclusion
In summary, the Huawei P40 Pro has the best hardware on the market. It hasn't gotten bigger, it has a great display, it has an excellent camera, and it still has a good battery life and almost everything else you would expect in an Android flagship.
However, for many users, you couldn't use it in everyday life without Google apps. Only those who can completely do without Google apps and the selection of the Play Store can access here without hesitation.
If it weren't for the problems with the US government, the Huawei P40 Pro would again be one of the best Android smartphones on the market. But the software is decisive in the end and if you don't want to collect APKs and do without things like mobile payments via Google Pay, this is unfortunately wrong.
The Huawei P40 Pro with Google services would be a very clear purchase recommendation, but without it things look a bit different. Other 5G smartphones are not much worse (or sometimes better). The P40 Pro is going to have a hard time of it in 2020.