00:00Well that was tricky but I've managed to get as close as I possibly could to the new Huawei Mate
00:05X
00:06which according to Huawei is the world's fastest foldable 5G phone.
00:11It's quite a title.
00:12There's about 100 million journalists here scrabbling to get about 5 feet from the device.
00:16We can't actually get hands-on.
00:18This is as close as we could possibly get.
00:20So three screens, 5G, it's foldable, it's using a flexible AMOLED,
00:24has a whole bunch of cameras, it's using a Kirin 980 processor
00:27that's the same one you get in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro plus a new 5G modem.
00:32I don't know what you think but I'm actually genuinely excited for this.
00:35A lot of people aren't sure about whether foldable phones, tablets are gimmicky
00:39or actually a next generation device
00:41but what we've seen so far from Samsung's Galaxy Fold and this new Mate X
00:45of which personally I think looks a lot nicer.
00:48The bezels are much thinner.
00:49You have three screens in total.
00:50A 6.6 inch main daily driver screen that you're going to use for most of the stuff.
00:54a smaller 6.3 inch screen, 6.38 inch screen on the back
00:59which when you're taking selfies or taking someone's photo
01:01they can actually see what their finished photo is going to look like
01:05which is great if you're into your photos.
01:07And then you have that full 8 inch screen when it's unfolded.
01:11You get that tablet experience.
01:13Unfolded is just 5mm thick and then when you do fold it back together
01:17which is completely flush, completely flat, unlike the FlexPie from Royale,
01:21it's 11mm thick.
01:23And despite that slim design,
01:25Huawei have crammed in a 4,500mAh battery.
01:30Now they didn't actually give any battery life quotes.
01:32I assume there's still lots of optimizations to be done.
01:34But the Mate X will come with the world's fastest phone charger,
01:38a 55W supercharger
01:40which is up from the already very quick 40W charger you get on the Mate 20 Pro
01:45and promises to give you 85% of the battery in just 30 minutes.
01:50From a design and engineering point of view,
01:52I can't wait to get a closer look at that hinge mechanism.
01:55Huawei are calling it a Falcon wing design
01:58and as impressive as it does seem,
02:00we'll have to wait and see about the long-term durability.
02:03We also get a 2-in-1 fingerprint and power button on the Mate X
02:07as well as a curved grip on the back to make it easier to use one-handed.
02:10I think Huawei have been really smart with the design
02:13as they put the power button, the cameras and that rear grip all together on one edge.
02:18Meaning that when you do have it opened up in tablet mode,
02:21you get a beautiful edge-to-edge screen with almost no bezels.
02:25But my first thought was, aren't those outside screens going to get scratched?
02:28But Huawei say they will be offering a Mate X cover case
02:31that's designed to protect the screens while still making it easy to unfold.
02:35So I'm genuinely really excited about the Mate X,
02:38but since it is such a different product,
02:40I wanted to get the reactions and first impressions
02:42of a few of the other guys here at this event.
02:45I see like so many phones every year and they're all kind of the same.
02:50I think that Mate X is, I'm just going to say it's probably the nicest phone that I've seen.
02:55The Galaxy Fold was cool, but just a few days later, you know,
02:58this I think is so much nicer.
03:01Actually being able to use it as a normal phone,
03:03where the Galaxy Fold has that really tiny screen on the front,
03:05will make a massive difference.
03:07Definitely one of the most exciting products that I've ever seen.
03:08and I really want to use it more, really want to hold it, really want to fold it.
03:12And yeah, I just really want one.
03:14So I think the challenge for any phone manufacturer is really to be able to take that idea
03:18that might sound crazy and or gimmicky and make it practical.
03:22Do we really need a phone, a device that can switch between a phone and a tablet?
03:28One thing I'm kind of thinking about is, will this ergonomic grip be helpful?
03:32Will it be counterintuitive?
03:34Will that make this a better device or a worse device than the Samsung Galaxy Fold?
03:40Oh, I own a fair number of jackets, but I'm not as proud of that collection as I am my
03:44waistcoats.
03:45I believe that is how you say it over here, isn't it?
03:47Yes, yes.
03:47Good.
03:48What do you call this?
03:49Vests.
03:50Oh, that's waistcoats.
03:51One syllable.
03:52What do you need?
03:53You know?
03:54I learned today that a sweater over here is called a jumper.
03:57It's a jumper, yeah.
03:58Whew.
03:59Keep expecting people to be wearing jumpsuits everywhere, which would be fun.
04:03The first impressions are that it is sexier than the Samsung offering because it folds flat.
04:09And it has that interesting little ledge on it that's like a Kindle Oasis, or if you like, like a
04:14Moto Razr.
04:15You have to be excited about foldables or I don't understand you.
04:19We were talking about something that's a phone when it wants to be and a tablet when it wants to
04:23be.
04:24And you don't have to carry around two devices.
04:26Also, you don't have to carry around one device that does one of those jobs poorly.
04:31Eventually.
04:31The software is going to take a while.
04:33I mean, even with official support coming from Google and the next Android version or maybe even the current one,
04:39it's going to be a remarkably awkward experience, I think, for the first generation or two of devices.
04:44And, of course, then you factor in the hardware failure rate from increasing numbers of moving parts.
04:50So I understand skepticism about the first couple generations.
04:52It's warranted.
04:53You probably shouldn't buy a first gen foldable.
04:56But it's going to be the future and it's going to be an exciting future, I think.
05:00So the price is obviously going to be ridiculous.
05:02Not everyone's going to want to buy this.
05:04Not everyone's going to be convinced by the foldable design.
05:06And there are questions around the software optimization, how many apps are actually going to use that,
05:11the multitasking, how seamless it's going to be.
05:12There's a lot of questions.
05:14But for a first generation of a whole new device, it's pretty exciting, I think.
05:18But I'd love to hear what you think.
05:19Let me know what you make of the Mate X in the comments below.
05:21Hit that like and subscribe button and stay tuned.
05:23Because as soon as humanly possible, I will get you guys a full review and proper test.
05:27Thanks for watching.
05:28I'll catch you next time right here on The Tech Chat.
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