
The Mate X is Huawei’s 5G foldable - noarchy
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/24/the-mate-x-is-huaweis-5g-foldable/
======
dotancohen
What kind of journalism is this? Seriously, are these articles neither proof-
read nor passed by an editor before publishing?

> The device is thin, as far as tablets go, at 5.4 mm, unfolded. Closed, it’s
> nearly double that, at 11 mm.

11mm is _more_ than double 5.4mm.

> with a 19:5 aspect ration.

Aspect ration? Are aspects now too precious to waste?

> ...as Richard You takes the stage...

> ...according to mobile CEO Richard Yu...

Could we at least get some consistency in proper noun transliterations?

There's so much more that I feel like I'm reading an article published by a
middle-school student. If so, then he did a great job. If this is supposed to
be a professional journalist, though, then he should go back to middle school.

~~~
yiyus
I agree with your criticism, but I don't get what is the problem with the
first point (I am not a native speaker). Doesn't "nearly" just mean "close to"
and not necessarily "less than"?

~~~
foldr
I see what you mean, but there's a clear implication of "less than" in that
particular case. In the same way, you can't say that a runner has "nearly
crossed the finishing line" a few moments after they cross it.

~~~
mattbessey
Not to mention that it doesn't take a genius to see that a solid object folded
in half is not going to be _less_ than twice as thick!

~~~
yiyus
That's precisely why I immediately thought of "nearly" meaning a bit more
instead of a bit less.

It is still no clear to me what makes "nearly" in this particular case to mean
"less than". Curiously enough, "nearly crossed the finish line" indeed sounds
totally wrong to me.

------
pcbro141
The fold is not perfect. Seems they were careful with not letting journalists
hold the device, only showing certain things on the display, etc.

See 1:28 :
[https://youtu.be/NnO08HnZf10?t=88](https://youtu.be/NnO08HnZf10?t=88)

~~~
timdorr
Some stills: [https://imgur.com/a/z7sgEdS](https://imgur.com/a/z7sgEdS)

Looks pretty bad, hence not letting the journalists hold it. I think they
traded thinness for display surface uniformity. The Galaxy Fold is thicker,
but uses the additional size to incorporate a stronger folding mechanism,
which appears to put less strain on the screen itself.

Hopefully they figure this out before launch. It definitely doesn't look
worthy of the $2600 sticker price in its current form.

~~~
thefounder
I could argue that the original iPhone didn't look worthy of $500 either. My
fist iPhone was iPhone 5. Early adopters are a niche anyway and this device
has a bright future. I bet all the phones will be more or less foldable.

~~~
Bud
If you could argue that, perhaps you should try it. I rather doubt you can.
The first iPhone was a polished, finished product. These foldables...aren't.

~~~
rkangel
The first iPhone was _not_ a finished product. It launched with only EDGE for
mobile data, and with no app store. Combined, these limited its utility. It
was the next version - with 3G and the first incarnation of the AppStore, that
helped the iPhone gain mainstream popularity.

~~~
kristianc
It still represented a huge leap over everything else that was on the market
at the time, such that Mobile Safari quickly came to account for around 80% or
so of mobile data use.

~~~
rkangel
Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something
feasible to do. It was a great step forward, as these folding phones are.

~~~
rchaud
> Absolutely. It showed that browsing the proper Web on a phone was something
> feasible to do.

In 2007, the proper web involved tons of Flash. Flash video players, Flash
games, Flash-based interactive websites. None of those worked on the iPhone.

Its web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get on
keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone you
did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP
version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel.

~~~
kristianc
> ts web browsing ability wasn't much better than what you could already get
> on keyboard-based phones like Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung. On the iPhone
> you did pinch to zoom, and on the other smartphones, you were served the WAP
> version of the page, or you could browse the full page with the scrollwheel.

That's a very revisionist version of events. Much of the initial
disillusionment around the web on featurephones came from WAP being (mis)sold
as the Internet on a phone.

If you go back and watch the original iPhone demo you can see that people were
genuinely wowed by being able to browse the Internet ('the real internet') on
a mobile.

In fact, 'it's not a watered down version of the internet' was one of the tag
lines of one of the first iPhone commercials

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-
ZfoE4](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZMr-ZfoE4)

------
pwthornton
Since 79% of smartphone users use a case, how is this supposed to work out?

It seems to be me your two options with a mobile device are:

1) Make it durable so that it can be dropped on a variety of surfaces without
big concerns of dropping or scratching. This might be a lot easier to achieve
if devices got much lighter (or go the Toughbook route and harden it).

2) Allow it to support a variety of case types that a user can choose

This whole thing seems more like a prototype than a great idea. I think
foldable and rollable computing devices have a future, but this doesn't seem
fully considered.

Although this one looks significantly better than the Galaxy Fold, which
reminds me of the Homer Simpson Car: [https://patrickwthornton.com/samsung-
galaxy-fold-is-the-home...](https://patrickwthornton.com/samsung-galaxy-fold-
is-the-homer-simpson-car/)

~~~
thefounder
I believe 79% of smartphone users are over-protective with their phones.
What's the point to pay top dollar for a beautiful screen if you cover it with
a cheap cover? You will change the phone in 4 years max anyway.

~~~
eswat
When I use the case I'm protecting the body, not the screen. The screen is
never obscured by the cases I buy and I care far-more about the durability and
functionality anyway (I find the iPhone 6/6s/7s/8s body is awkward to hold
without a case due to the thin body).

I plan on getting 4+ years out of my phone too, especially since Apple
replaced the battery for free a few months ago. My 6s is close to the 4-year
mark.

~~~
thefounder
What about iPhone X? You buy it because of its body design(i.e glass back) and
cover it with plastic. What's the point?

~~~
lawlessone
>What's the point?

to keep it intact?

~~~
thefounder
Better keep it in a box.

------
kerng
Wasn't there news last year that someone in China stole Samsung folding tech?
Wonder if that is relevant with this new device that Huawei is working on.

~~~
gman83
Yes: [https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-
tech-t...](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-
theft/index.html)

~~~
xster
I would totally not be surprised given how non-frowned upon the practice is
culturally but I do wish the article had something more material to present
than A alleges B of doing X.

[http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard18.html](http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard18.html)
Huawei spends more in R&D than Apple or Intel so I wouldn't automatically
assume everything they do is stolen.

------
knolan
I wonder about the bend in these screens. How will long term use be affected
by fatigue? Will we see something like LCD bruising over time?

~~~
ekianjo
Most phones are disposed after 2 years so they probably factor that in.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
These foldable phones are $2k plus. I hope they are aiming for multiple times
the old life span.

The current flagships are over 1k. I’m not upgrading for the next 4years
minimum.

~~~
djsumdog
The type of people who will spend $2k on these devices will probably (sadly)
not be concerned about the phone having more than a two year lifespan. Also in
two years, this thing will probably be $500 as 'new old stock' on eBay.

~~~
system2
iPhone7 was 800 when I purchased it. Now $150, and can even find cheaper on
eBay sometimes. With all the competition, it is going to be even cheaper.

------
chx
I am very old school but if I want to fold something, I find the One Mix Yoga
2S much more usable -- a 7" 2-in-1 laptop, with a proper Intel Core CPU, PCIe
SSD and 8GB of RAM. Oh and it's 670 USD... a quarter of this Mate X thing, or
what.

------
megous
While the dispay on the outside is nice, having a soft (bendable) material on
the edge of the phone has to be prone to scratches, no? And then when you
unfold, you'll have scratched middle of the display, which has to be the worst
place to have the scratches.

While not that nice, having display on the inside of the phone at least
protects it from scratches.

~~~
npunt
Yeah I think the bend-on-outside seems like a much worse idea than bend-on-
inside. Bendable already means the screen will be less scratch resistant, why
make it worse?

~~~
jah6q
True, but bend-on-inside would probably be a smaller radius, causing more
"pinch damage" than bend-on-outside.

~~~
npunt
Good point!

------
King-Aaron
A solution to a problem that doesn't exist

~~~
daenz
A problem that I now have, after seeing the solution. I've toyed with the idea
of getting a tablet, but never made the leap because of how bulky they are. If
I wanted a bulky spacious computing device, I'd just use my laptop. If I want
a tiny computing device, I'd use my phone. This scratches both itches.

------
acjohnson55
I'm looking forward to phones like these getting more mature. Screen size and
pocketability are everything. This first generation from Huawei and Samsung is
just step one down the path of what will eventually be a really compelling
design.

------
rchaud
It's about time the smartphone market had some shake-up. Phones haven't seen
major form factor changes in several years now, yet their prices keep ticking
up.

Neither Apple, nor Samsung can justify prices of $1000+ for flagship models
when the benefits are so marginal compared to flagships of even 2 years ago. I
paid $900 for a Galaxy S7 in 2016 and decided to import a Nokia X6 from HK for
$300 instead of getting a new Galaxy.

Of course, I'm not going to pay $1500-$2000 to be a guinea pig for this new
form factor, but it's good to see that in a couple of years, smartphones might
not become yet another boring shopping list item.

------
mariopt
I just don't get the prices.

Samsung foldable: $2,000

Huawei Mate X: $2,600

Why are these devices so expensive?

~~~
rnl
New technology comes at a price. The have spent billions on R&D and this is a
way to get some of the investment monetized. It is likely to be a niche
product to test the technology and the market. Most likely in a couple of
years we will have foldable screen phones that go for less than $1000

~~~
tw04
>The have spent billions on R&D and this is a way to get some of the
investment monetized.

That excuse works for Samsung. Huawei stole the tech.

[https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-
theft...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-
theft/index.html)

~~~
madengr
Was the Samsung display manufactured in China? If so, what did they expect?

------
Gpetrium
The cellphone market in developed nations have been somewhat stagnant in the
past few years, so it seems that both Samsung and Huawei's foldable cellphone
are looking to create a technology that adds a new level to the cellphone
hierarchy.

It is likely that both cellphones are not going to pay itself off this year
when accounting for R&D (assuming technology hasn't been stolen), but the
value of being seeing as the leaders in the industry (brand value) and the
increased availability of the technology will likely drop the cost of fold-
able tech and hopefully propel the industry to the next level.

Whether these technological updates are true value-adder to customers remains
to be seeing. We have seen people buy new cellphones yearly with a lot less
changes to it.

I also think that if someone is willing to pay 2-4x more for a foldable
cellphone, they are likely to pay a couple hundred to a customized case or at
least something that will protect their cellphones. (@pwthornton)

------
jamisteven
I do not see the point of such a device to exist. Not a phone, not a tablet,
do we really need something in between the two? Tablets have had SIM
capability for a while now. I anticipate in less than years time these will no
longer be talked about.

~~~
thefounder
I would love to have a such device. An iPhone X which transforms itself into
an iPad mini? Yes, please! Definitely a better feature than some new
colors(i.e rose gold), new emoji or glass back.

~~~
MasterScrat
As someone who carries iPhone + iPad mini on a daily basis I'd tend to agree.

But won't having both within a single device mean either an iPad mini with
crappy battery life or a much heavier iPhone?

~~~
thefounder
It doesn't necessary need to be heavier. For example iPhone X uses a
combination of steel and glass to make it look/feel more premium. I would give
up on that for a folding screen. It's time to focus more on tech and
usuability again and less on fashion features.

------
TwoNineA
Good luck getting more than two major Android updates on this.

~~~
supermw
Does it matter? By the time there’s two major android updates there will be a
newer and better version of these devices to upgrade to. Let’s not kid
ourselves, phones aren’t “buy it for life”.

~~~
intopieces
Yes, because it's $2600. Would you buy a computer for $2600 that didn't
receive security updates after 24 months (or less?).

~~~
scarejunba
No, but I’m not the target market and neither are you.

~~~
intopieces
Who is the target market?

~~~
scarejunba
People who will buy first gen technology to show it off. Sort of like Tesla
Roadster 1.0 owners.

------
TaylorGood
So these basically fold out to a tablet-size screen area, don't obviously
accommodate covers and cost more than current smartphone prices? I don't see
it.

------
tanilama
It is cool. But I think it will probably end up as gimmick to wow your
friends, but not a feature that you would use regularly.

Definitely not worthy of the price tag.

~~~
djsumdog
Kinda like the HTC Evo 3D? There are zero 3D phone currently on the market.

~~~
i386
Poor HTC. 3D phones, bitcoin phones - you can tell they are really thrashing
in the market now that Apple and Samsung have it sown up.

~~~
andirk
And poor Netscape trying to get into a browser market that Microsoft already
has sown up.

~~~
i386
Not an anti-trust issue in this case. Plain old market failure.

------
gainsurier
Hope Xiaomi make foldable cheaper

------
barbs
Was hoping a foldable phone would result in a smaller phone, not a larger one.
Sigh...

------
einverne
Seems I prefer a normal phone and a similar price foldable laptop for now.

------
etaioinshrdlu
A glass screen will probably never fold -- so how's the screen texture and
hardness on folding phones? I'd guess quite miserable!

At least Samsung can have a glass screen on the outside, more exposed to the
elements .

------
bruxis
I guess this phone/tablet is not intended to be used for video calls at all
given how the camera hides on the back of the device in both use cases?

------
baybal2
Steve Jobs make a joke about foldable phones, and those 2 actually made it...
spending billions on RnD in the process...

~~~
vxNsr
Apple recently put in a patent for foldable phones as well.

~~~
rgbrenner
the patent:
[http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=0&docid=20190053388&IDK...](http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=0&docid=20190053388&IDKey=852C82801B1C)

------
booleandilemma
Is there a way to disable data collection by the Chinese government on these?
Or at least a way to toggle which government agency (NSA, GCHQ, etc) my data
gets sent to?

~~~
lucb1e
I don't get why everyone is so scared of Chinese phones when every brand has
huge privacy and tracking issues. As a European, I would rather not be tracked
by anyone, also not European companies, let alone foreign ones from either the
west or the east.

~~~
tomelders
Two wrongs don't make a right.

~~~
lucb1e
Oh, no, I'm not saying Chinese tracking is good, I'm saying I don't understand
why this comes up every time with Chinese phones but not with other brands. I
always root the phone and remove tracking (there is always loads and loads).

------
netsa
Ipad will be more cheaper in the future XD

------
ilovecaching
I wonder what the chances of Apple jumping on bendable phones is. Apple has
transformed into a company that lags in innovation and only makes safe moves.
I wonder how long it will take for bendable to become “safe”.

~~~
stendinator
IIRC Apple jumped on the bendable-phone trend a few years ago, before everyone
else.

~~~
riyadparvez
Do you have any reference to backup that claim?

~~~
georgemcbay
Pretty sure its a joke referencing "bendgate".

------
ndnxhs
So this is the new phone fad? I have never felt the need to fold my phone. It
seems like the phone industry invents pointless changes just to show something
new to get people to buy a phone again. Curved edges and screen notches come
to mind.

~~~
rchaud
> I have never felt the need to fold my phone.

What kind of analogy is that? I haven't felt the need to fill up a tank of gas
every week, but I still bought a car.

