Huawei’s Mate X3 could have been a Samsung Galaxy Fold killer if it had Google apps, services and 5G

Huawei Mate X3 is launching in China.

Huawei just launched its next-gen foldable, Mate X3, in China with some pretty impressive hardware that could give Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 serious run for its money if it were not for the lack of Google apps, services and 5G barring it from a proper global release.

The Mate X3 is not only thinner and lighter than Samsung’s latest foldable, but it is also “gapless” and has the same level of IPX8 waterproofing. The foldable is launching alongside relatively more run-of-the-mill— but premium flagship— P60, P60 Pro, and P60 Art phones.

The book-style Mate X3 has two 120Hz displays, the one on the inside— which can fold in the middle— is 7.85-inch while the cover screen is a 6.4-inch. Under the hood, you get Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset paired with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Running the show is Huawei’s Harmony OS 3.1. Fuelling the package is a 4,800mAh battery with 66W fast wired and 50W wireless charging. The Mate X3 features two-way satellite communication.

For photography, the Mate X3 has a triple camera setup on the rear with a 50MP f/1.8 wide, 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide and 12MP f/3.4 5x telephoto camera. There are two more cameras— 8MP each— one on the inner and another on the cover screen.

Huawei Mate X3 price in China starts at CNY 12,999 (roughly Rs 1,57,00) for 256GB, while the 512GB and 1TB models have been launched at CNY 13,999 (roughly Rs 1,68,545) and CNY 15,999 (roughly Rs 1,93,000).