Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone review: "thin" new limits, the new trend of folding phones

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Huawei has already launched a number of foldable smartphones, including the Huawei Mate X, the first Huawei Mate X with an outward-facing screen, the Huawei Mate X2 with an inward-facing screen, and the Huawei P50 Pocket, a compact flip phone.

The latest Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone is another story, and in terms of design and hardware, I think it looks better than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 foldable phone. Not only is it thinner and lighter, but it also has an IPX8 waterproof rating. In theory, this means that the Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone can be submerged under still water for up to 1.5 meters for no more than 30 minutes.

When it's closed, it looks and feels like a regular straight smartphone, and there's no thigh gap when the Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone is closed. It's just over 11 millimeters thick when folded, and the panel is a slim 5.3 millimeters thick when unfolded.

On the outer screen, the Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone comes with a 6.4-inch 120Hz LTPO OLED panel that pushes Full HD+ resolution and looks like a regular flagship smartphone. It even features the super-tough Kunlun glass found on the Huawei P60 Pro.

When unfolded, you get a larger 7.85-inch OLED display that also features a 120Hz refresh rate. Unlike earlier foldable phones, including the new Honor Magic Vs, the flexible screen on the Huawei Mate X3 feels more durable and creases are barely noticeable.

My fingers are crossed that it appears Huawei has added a new material similar to Samsung's ultra-thin glass. But what's even more striking is the build quality, including the hinge and frame around the screen. I think this feels better, even if it's different from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

In terms of the foldable user interface, the Huawei Mate X3 can run two apps horizontally or vertically side-by-side. Best of all, you can run two more floating apps, so a total of four apps can run simultaneously.

But I must say that multitasking is still not as seamless as on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold series, and it has a steeper learning curve to learn how to snap apps side-by-side. This is where Samsung has the advantage as it has a static "desktop-like" docking station that makes multitasking a breeze.

Similar to the Huawei P60 Pro, it's powered by the previous generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which unfortunately only supports up to 4G. it comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. If you need more storage, the Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone still supports Huawei's proprietary Nmcard expansion card up to 256GB.

For photography, the Huawei Mate X3 foldable phone has a sizable camera bump with a trio of cameras, including a 50MP f/1.8 main camera, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle shooter, and a 12MP f/3.4 periscope telephoto lens with optical image stabilization.

The phone also features XMAGE technology, which is similar to the technology found on Huawei's P60 series. There is also an 8MP display selfie camera on the internal and cover display.

Unlike the Honor Magic Vs we recently tried, the Huawei Mate X3 also comes with Flex Stop, which is a similar feature to Samsung's FLEX mode. You can unfold the Huawei Mate X3 at various angles, which helps prop it up for taking selfies or group photos or making video calls.

You can even take selfies with the main camera by turning on the selfie mode and making the housing display a fully functional viewfinder with a working shutter button that can be triggered by sound or a smile.

Despite its slim profile, the Huawei Mate X3 manages to pack a massive 4,800mAh battery, which is pretty impressive. It even supports 66W wired SuperCharge and 50W wireless supercharging, which is better than what Samsung offers.

The Huawei Mate X3 is priced similarly to the previous Mate X series of foldable phones, so don't expect this foldable phone to be cheap. Prices for the Huawei Mate X3 with 256GB of storage start at CNY12,999 and go all the way up to CNY15,999 for the 1TB version. So are you looking forward to it?

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