Huawei mate xs 5g phone review
The Huawei mate xs 5g is finally here. The arrival of this phone is a noteworthy moment and yet another high-quality foldable mobile phone will be making its way to the market and in the hands of customers.
With this latest foldable phone, Huawei continues its strategy of practical innovation for solving major phone issues. This phone uses an ‘out folder’ design which offers exactly what foldable phones were supposed to-a big flat screen for regular tasks and a small tablet wherever you need it.
This foldable phone has an enhanced hinge and display cover as well as boosted specs. In terms of design and hardware, this matte xs 5g is a stunner. It is a big 6+ phone when closed and a veritable 8-inch tablet when opened. This is exactly how foldable smartphones were supposed to be, and Huawei managed to keep things relatively thin and small.
Performance is averagely good, pictures and video are very good and the foldable interface has some interesting layout ideas.
HUAWEI MATE XS 5G DISPLAY AND DESIGN:-
The ‘out folding design’ in this phone is the best among other form factors. This is the heaviest phone in a while with the case bumper. The hinge is sturdy but a bit creaky, it is difficult to push the opening completely. The display is dim and prone to smudges but no scratches. The one side-mounted finger scanner is accurate to unlock and very fast.
This Huawei mate xs 5g is thicker than Galaxy S20 ultra. The bumper case which is there in the box changes the ergonomics equation, and the mate xs becomes a little chubby and difficult to carry around comfortably in a jeans pocket.
What is present in the mate xs box:-
- Phone with protective film
- Installation guide with folding protective case
- Type C digital Headset
- 65 W charger
- 3.3 A type C cable
The ‘Falcon Wing’ hinge with zirconium plating ensures durable operation, but as it is made of solid we found it difficult to open after the initial press of the release button on the back. The hinge emits some noise upon opening. The tightness of the hinge will make you think twice before applying pressure for opening the phone completely.
The latch release button is very good and it keeps the screen in place when not in use for a tight ensemble or folds it quickly in a semi-open state when pressed.
The flexible 8 inch OLED display is provided by BOE and is protected with a double layer of optical transparent polyamide(PI)like the one on the Motorola Razr. The PI material, the foldable displays and R ad D around the headsets are also very expensive.
The out folding design with the bendy display always makes the user tensed about drops, scuffs, and scratches. But this Huawei phone has screen protection against scratches and the foldable BOE display offers durability against drops.
The panel is made with plastic, not glass substrate. The multi-layer covering is also not made of glass so there is less chance for it getting cracked if dropped. The soft display cover smudges very easily, so you need to wipe it often more than a glass oleophobic coating for a pristine state.
The slight bump when the phone is opened will not distract your viewing experience as much as we expected, and with time the user will also get used to it. The only time when you will realize the ridge is only when you will be doing swipe typing on the phone in the open state.
The foldable phone’s minimum brightness and its white balance presentation are excellent. If you open the colour chart below you can see that warm colours like red are a bit saturated.
HUAWEI MATE XS SOFTWARE INTERFACE AND PERFORMANCE
- Its square display is good for reading and Instagram but not good for viewing videos on youtube.
- Apps that have tablet versions switch easily to the tablet layout when the mate xs is opened.
- The foldable interface covers the basics of split-screen functionality.
- Google apps can be sideloaded but apps that probe for Google services will not function well.
The interface of the phone is Huawei’s latest EMUI 10.01 plastered on top of AOSP Android 10 along with an app gallery for downloading software. Transferring all apps from another phone is difficult with the company’s phone.
Users can use Apk Pure as a play store replacement. Then you can download maps or chrome if needed or you can also use the maps which come with the mate xs.
Users may have some problems with the payment or banking apps as they need Google pay or other service-related checks for working properly. Huawei is addressing those by entering separate partnerships. For gaming, some of those also run Google checks as well if there are any in-app purchases involved.
MULTITASKING ON THE MATE HUAWEI XS 5G:-
Huawei mate xs 5g has usability challenges and advantages which stem from the dynamic layout. Multi-tasking can be done on this phone. The 6.4 inch rear display part opens when you will take a selfie since the camera kit is placed right next to it.
The display settings show the date, time and notifications on the screen at all times. For split-screen multitasking, there is Huawei’s multi-window mode, just when you reach the bezel for a back gesture.
When you throw any combo of browsers, maps, calculators and messaging apps, a strip menu with app shortcuts appears in a side by side or floating view.
The biggest gripe that you will have with the unfurled mate xs display is the video playback. As most of them are shot in the 16:9 ratio and the screen is 8:7:1 ratio when opened, square, there will be black stripes below and above the video defeating the purpose of having an 8-inch screen.
The same goes for some pictures in the gallery, you need to zoom in to see those. In case you hire a third-party player like MX, you can stretch and fill the display. It is very difficult to watch videos in the overall square format.
You will feel joyful while browsing Instagram and seeing its odd square photos and videos on the large screen of this phone but apart from that browsing the web or reading any document is very difficult on this 8-inch screen.
HUAWEI MATE XS CAMERA AND AUDIO:-
- It has a versatile camera kit.
- One can take excellent selfies with the main camera The colours from the main camera are a little subdued. It is common for RYYB pixel sensors.
- We can say that the 3X optical and 5X hybrid zoom photos are very clear and with pleasing colours.
- The ultra-wide-angle camera disturbs the edges a little bit.
- 1080 P 16:9 ratio is recommended but a 4K video is an option.
- Continuous autofocus absolutely works great.
- Mics record very good quality audio and noise reduction improve.
- The earpiece functions as a second speaker but you can experience stereo sound only in the landscape mode.
The phone possesses a respectable camera kit, having a 49 mp main sensor and a 16 mp camera with an ultra-wide-angle length for group selfies. It has an 8MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom.
The main sensor consists of Huawei’s RYYB yellow pixel arrangement which is supposed to soak in photons more than the ones with green pixels.
The camera app has the usual Huawei modes and features like portrait, Night mode, panorama and a manual mode which will allow to shoot you in the full 40 MP resolution even in Raw format.
When you open the selfie camera icon, the phone itself will prompt you to flip it over as the selfie camera kit is basically the main camera kit. This is the advantage of the design of this foldable phone. You can have much prettier self-portraits.
MATTE XS CAMERA INTERFACE:-
With good dynamic range coverage and plenty of detail, the camera samples came out well. The main camera produces slightly warmer colours in comparison to shooting with the 16 MP wide or 8 MP telephoto cameras. In the shooting mode, the exposure balance is good towards getting the bright sky or light source accurately. But sometimes the actual object can turn out a little darker. Shooting with the main camera kit, selfies and own portraits are quite good.
HUAWEI MATE XS BATTERY LIFE:-
It has a very good battery life, but it can drop precipitously while browsing or gaming on the unfurled full display. It has very fast charging and you can easily get 80% of the charge in half an hour. A full charge takes an hour. It has a 65 W power delivery brick and cable in the box, which can sometimes charge laptops also.
