Stuff - UK (2020-04)

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FIRST TEST HUAWEI MATE XS

Fold and wrinkly

When the Mate Xs is a phone it

looks slick, with a taut screen and

tiny bezels. Open it out, however,

and the screen slackens a touch.

A few small ripples are visible

when they catch the light and

you can tell you’re tapping and

swiping on plastic.

Baby it’s fold outside

Foldable screen tech is not for

everyone just yet – especially if

you live somewhere chilly. When

you first power on the Mate Xs, a

prompt pops up warning you not

to fold it when the temperature

drops below -5°C. And it isn’t

water-resistant either.

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STUFF SAYS ++++,

The Mate Xs is an astonishing

feat of engineering with an

astonishing price tag to match

The Mate Xs is a slice of the future.

The lack of Google services will

make it a challenge, and foldable

tech is still in its infancy. That said,

Huawei’s hardware is stunning: this

is a killer smartphone and, opened out, an

impossibly thin slate. Would we recommend

it, though? Not unless you’re a clued-up nerd

with cash to burn. @Basil_Knows

Q Three apps

Open the Mate Xs out and

you can multitask across

three different apps at

once. With the help of

a handy sidebar, drag one

to the right and one to the

left, then overlay a floating

app for ace productivity.

Q Four sensors

The main 40MP camera

is the best on any current

foldable, plus there’s an

ultra-wide 16MP and a 3x

zoom. Of course, all can

take selfies when folded.

The fourth sensor is a

time-of-flight rangefinder.

Q 990 Kirins

Huawei’s Kirin 990 chipset

is mega-fast, so whether

you’re 3D gaming, 5G

streaming or 4K shooting,

you’ll be laughing. This

phone also has stacks

of storage: 512GB, plus

a nano memory card slot.

Q Two batteries

With a battery in each

half, the Mate Xs packs

a combined 4500mAh of

power and charges very

quickly – over 80% in

30 minutes. Ours reliably

lasted a day of assorted

phone and tablet use.

The Mate Xs has some impressive numbers to

go with its headline figure of two devices in one

Screen 8in/6.6in 2480x2200 AMOLED

Processor Kirin 990 5G RAM 8GB

OS Android 10 with EMUI 10.0.1

Cameras 40MP + 16MP + 8MP + ToF

Batteries 4500mAh Storage 512GB

Dimensions 161x79x11mm, 300g

To f o l d l y g o ...

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