Huawei’s first foldable phone goes on sale next month for $2,400

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Huawei-Mate-X-folding
But only in China for now.
Photo: Huawei

Huawei is gearing up to take on Samsung with a foldable smartphone of its own. The exciting Mate X goes on sale in China next month, but it will cost a whopping $2,400.

And you thought the Galaxy Fold was expensive?

Huawei first unveiled the Mate X in March. It planned to start selling the device in June, then delayed it (twice) and said it was taking a more “cautious” approach after witnessing the Fold’s struggles.

Now, the Chinese company confirms the Mate X will finally start shipping on November 15. For real this time.

Huawei Mate X on its way

You probably won’t be able to buy one, though. That’s the launch date for China, where the Mate X will start at ¥16,999 (approx. $2,400) with 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.

Huawei is yet to confirm when its foldable phone will be available elsewhere. But it did tell The Verge that its launch strategy is “based on carriers’ 5G roll out in different regions.”

“A global launch plan is under review,” Huawei added.

You may be able to get a Mate X imported into the U.S. and other markets. But third-party sellers are likely to bump up its price tag, and you will likely face custom fees on top.

Mate X has its own approach to folding

The Mate X is powered by Huawei’s own Kirin 980 processor, a dual-cell 4,500mAh battery, and 5G connectivity. And there’s one thing that sets it apart from the Galaxy Fold.

Unlike Samsung’s device, which has a smaller screen on its exterior and opens like a book to reveal a larger screen, the Mate X has one big screen on the outside that folds in half.

That means that when you’re using the device as a normal phone, you don’t have to suffer a tiny display. It also looks a lot better than Samsung’s device … in our opinion.

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