Stuff - UK (2020-04)

MOBILE AWARDS

ot all foldable phones are

really phones. Sure, they

operate like them, and you

can definitely make calls on them,

but in practice the Huawei Mate

Xs and Samsung Galaxy Fold are

foldable tablets.

Samsung’s second foldable feels a

lot more viable as a smartphone. Like

the reborn Motorola Razr, the Galaxy

Z Flip is an old-becomes-new-school

flip phone with a clamshell design

that opens up to reveal a large display.

It’s still prohibitively pricey, but of

all the phones we’ve folded – and

reader, rest assured we’ve folded all

the foldable phones – it might just be

the one we want most.

Flipping shiny

The Z Flip looks like a (very tall) phone

with a 6.7in display that folds in half.

Opened up you see a small crease,

but it’s not overly noticeable and

you’ll soon forget it’s there.

The ‘hideaway hinge’ allows the

Z Flip to remain open at a range of

angles, and the ‘snap’ as you close

it completely is satisfying. Folded, the

Z Flip should slip into the shallowest

of jeans pockets.

The outside is made of Gorilla

Glass and it’s a fingerprint magnet.

There’s also a tiny OLED display by

the rear camera module showing the

time and notifications; and, adorably,

you double-click the power button

(that’s also a fingerprint sensor) to

open the selfie-camera.

Flipping tall

As welcome as the mini OLED is, it’s

there to encourage you to open the

Z Flip. And when you do, you’ll be

greeted with a FHD+ AMOLED display

with rounded corners, a 21.9:9 ratio

and 425 pixels per inch. For reference,

the non-foldable Galaxy S20 dwarfs

this at 563ppi.

The width should make this a great

movie machine – the screen isn’t as

sharp as some, but it’s still vibrant

and colourful. While the Galaxy Fold’s

display is plastic, the Z Flip features a

new type of bendable ultra-thin glass

and feels far more premium.

Flipping versatile

As soon as you start folding, the

Z Flip automatically splits the screen

in half – effectively giving you two

displays to play with. So you can

browse your gallery while the top

screen remains in camera viewfinder

mode, or play YouTube videos while

leaving the bottom free for controls

and comments.

It’s something of a mixed bag in

the general specs department. You

get a Snapdragon 855+ and wireless

charging, but no 5G support or

microSD storage. And it’s unlikely

to perform any miracles in the

camera department. But right now,

the flippy form factor seems like the

most refined and practical approach

to the foldable future.

HUAWEI

MATE XS

Bendy tablet or folding

smartphone – however

you look at it, the crazily

expensive Xs is a great

feat of engineering that

opens to show an 8in

display with a two-layer

polymer structure for

extra strength. A Kirin

990 processor and 40MP

Leica quad-cam prove

that, where the Z Flip

scrimps, the Xs splurges.

Well, that’s what an extra

grand gets you. Flick back

to p35 for the full review.

£2299 / huawei.com

TRUMPED UP

America’s moron-in-chief

issued an executive order

restricting US companies

from doing business with

Huawei without a special

licence. Microsoft has one

but, for now, Google hasn’t.

PHONEY WAR

That means Windows

laptops by Huawei and

Honor are fine, but their

new Android phones

have little or no access

to Google services.

HUAWEI KIDDING?

The Mate Xs doesn’t come

with Google apps and we

expect the P40 and P40

Pro to suffer the same

issues. Huawei’s AppGallery

offers alternatives, but it’s

still some way short.

THE HUAWEI &

GOOGLE SAGA

M

O

R

E

(^) F
A
N
C
Y
(^) F
O L D E R S
MOTOROLA
RAZR
The stuff of pop-culture
legend in the mid-’00s,
the original Razr was a
must-have handset. The
reboot adds a flexible 6.2in
screen with a zero-gap
hinge that’s backed up by
a front-facing 2.7in display
for on-the-fly interactions.
Rounding off the revamp is
a 16MP main camera, 5MP
selfie-camera, 128GB of
storage, 6GB of RAM and
a Snapdragon 710.
€1599 (EE exclusive
in UK, from £50 then
£99/m) / motorola.co.uk
SAMSUNG
GALAXY
FOLD 5G
Looking unlike any other
handset when it launched
last year, the Fold 5G now
has serious competition.
This little chunk has a
one-hand-friendly 4.6in
display – but lurking inside
is a 7.3in tablet-like Infinity
Flex display. It’s packed
with top-end tech,
including a 7nm processor,
12GB of RAM, 512GB of
memory, a 4380mAh dual
battery and a six-sensor
camera array.
£1900 / samsung.com
SAMSUNG Z FLIP
Tech specs
O6.7in Infinity Flex FHD+ AMOLED,
1.1in Super AMOLED OSnapdragon
855+ O8GB RAM O12MP + 12MP
rear, 10MP front O3300mAh O
256GB O74x87x17mm (folded),
167x74x7mm (unfolded), 183g
This hole world
You get a pair of
12MP snappers on
the rear, main and
ultra-wide, plus a
10MP selfie-cam in
a punch-hole cutout.
Can stand me now
The free-standing
format means you
can easily take
group selfies or
make video calls
without a tripod.
N
Price from £1300 / samsung.com