Huawei Mate Xs hands-on: ultra-thin folding screen + quad-camera

Huawei Mate Xs is not the first foldable screen phone I have used, but as an immature new technology, different models of foldable screen phones currently have their own characteristics, and there are almost no duplicates.

▲Picture from: headtopics When I actually held the Huawei Mate Xs in my hand, the first thing I thought of was to try the feeling of unfolding and folding to see how it differs from other foldable screen phones I’ve experienced before.

Inheriting the slim feel and 8-inch screen, the Mate Xs is also a foldable screen phone that folds horizontally to increase the viewing area and switches between a mobile phone and a small tablet. So like the previous generation, it feels full of weight when picked up, and the thickness when folded is close to that of mainstream mobile phone cases.

The Mate Xs also uses the same external folding design as before, with the screen folded to the back and fixed with a buckle. When you want to unfold it into a tablet, press the button with a red line on the back, and the folded part will automatically pop up, but it can only automatically recover to about 90°, and the remaining angles need to be bent flat by the user. The unfolded Mate Xs is very thin, thinner than any mobile phone today. There is only a bulge twice the thickness on the camera side, which allows the screen to merge with this place when it is bent. This design is the same as last year, and it is not easy to change at present, or perhaps there is no need to change it.

The crease is still there, and it still does not affect the viewing experience when the screen is on. In fact, the viewing experience is in line with expectations. Even Huawei and Samsung are currently unable to eliminate this shortcoming, and there is no point in talking about it. As a rare external folding phone, the first problem I encountered is "nowhere to put it". When I am not using the Mate Xs, I am used to folding it up. On the one hand, it is easy to carry, after all, this way I can put it in my pocket. On the other hand, it is also a habit, just like two books must be stacked instead of laid flat.

But the folded Mate Xs is like what I said, both sides of the outer folding screen are screens, whether it is placed on the front or the back, the screen may be scratched by friction with the table or other objects. This gave me a placement anxiety, and I felt that I was wearing out this most precious screen every moment. As a member of the folding mobile phone, the Mate Xs also has its own unique advantages among similar products, that is, when it is folded, the screen size and effect are the closest to traditional mobile phones. When unfolded, it is an 8-inch screen that is consistent with the previous generation, and the resolution is still 2480*2200. When folded, the size of the main screen on the front reaches the mainstream level of 6.6 inches, and the resolution is a bit weird at 2480*1148, between 1080P and 1440P. The folded back part also reaches 6.38 inches (this data is useless).

One year later, is the folding screen useful and easy to use? Because of the external folding, the Mate Xs does not have the concept of internal and external screens. It is the same screen that is cut and used in different usage scenarios. This has some advantages over the folding screen phones I have used. Almost seamless conversion between large and small screens Last year, I witnessed a nearly catastrophic level of application adaptation on the internal folding screen. When switching from the smaller external screen to the larger internal screen, except for a few applications that can be seamlessly switched, most applications need to be restarted once. This discontinuous and fragmented experience is a huge obstacle.

But there is no such problem on Mate Xs. I tried the commonly used social software, such as Weibo and WeChat, which can automatically expand to full screen. Bilibili video also has no big problem. The comic will jump back to the homepage of the episode, and the video of Douyu Live will be briefly interrupted and then restored. In short, on Mate Xs, not only is the screen size larger when folded, but it can also seamlessly connect to any task at hand after unfolding. And when the screen is unfolded, the sudden doubling of the visible area brings more than twice the pleasure of dopamine secretion. Before getting tired of the folding screen, this freshness will really bring a pleasant experience. With this ratio, it feels like an iPad mini, but next we still have to discuss the practicality and necessity of the folding screen. First of all, I think that in terms of screen ratio, the current ratio that is close to a square after unfolding is not the best. The larger the screen, the more advantages it has in audio and video entertainment, but in terms of screen ratio, the currently popular and slender screen is the best ratio for audio and video entertainment.

However, since the screen ratio of the Mate Xs before unfolding is close to 2:1, the screen ratio after unfolding is close to a square. However, in order to achieve a 4:3 screen after unfolding, the screen ratio when folded must reach 3:2 (15:10). I believe that everyone is unacceptable to this short and fat screen now. This is a compromise that I think cannot be solved at present. However, the screen area has been increased after all. When playing anime, the visible area is still a little larger than the largest screen phone I have (6.8 inches, 19:9). However, the black borders on the upper and lower parts are also quite huge.

On the nearly square screen after unfolding, we can compare it with the usage scenarios of products such as iPad mini or Kindle Oasis. In addition to the fact that browsing Instagram may be very enjoyable, reading is a scenario that can better reflect the advantages of Mate Xs. I tried to use Mate Xs as a Kindle. It felt good in some places, but also encountered some minor problems. First of all, the screen-to-body ratio of Mate Xs is higher, which is very advantageous when displaying content. Whether reading through web pages or reading books with built-in reading apps, the delicate performance and fully filled content bring an excellent reading experience. However, it is precisely because of this that there is a little obstacle in holding it. On the one hand, there may be occlusion and accidental touch when the border is very narrow. On the other hand, the camera on the back is slightly narrow and cannot be used as a "grip" very well. The above is the feeling that Mate Xs gave me in a single usage scenario. Obviously, this way of use is not attractive enough. If you want to dig deeper into the immersive experience and ease of use, both depth and breadth must be taken a step further. How to understand the depth and breadth of folding? Depth can be understood as the further exploration of experience and usage methods when the folding screen is used for a single application. Huawei's answer is the "Parallel Vision" function.

The biggest feature of the "Parallel Vision" function is that it can present different levels of the same application at the same time. Taking the Toutiao application as an example, the parallel vision allows the article list page and the article detail page to be presented on the left and right of the screen in a split-screen manner. When you click on an article on the left, the details page on the right will jump to the details of the article. In essence, this is to improve the parallel task processing within the same application in the form of multitasking. However, not all applications can use this function. After installing some commonly used applications, the only applications that appear in the list are Baidu, Toutiao and Taobao Mobile. This function does have a certain imagination, but which applications are more suitable for use, I think Huawei officials can still discover and guide users. If it is expanded in breadth, it is split-screen collaboration and cross-application operation between different applications. This aspect is a feature that folding screen mobile phones were originally optimistic about. You can also find guidance for the "Smart Split Screen" function in the auxiliary function of Mate Xs.

I used the Mate Xs to try splitting the two most frequently used apps, Weibo and WeChat, for a while. Due to the insufficient screen area and proportion, the screen can only be split symmetrically in the middle, but this usage feels strange, and I can't divide my attention equally between the two social apps at the same time. The Mate Xs does provide the split-screen function I imagined, but in actual experience, I have to say that the improvement is limited. After all, the screen of the Mate Xs is only the size of an iPad mini, and it is difficult to provide a good split-screen experience. In my personal experience, the lower limit of split-screen, including floating window multitasking, is to use a 10.5-inch iPad Pro in landscape mode, and these multitasking operations are also not easy to use on the small-screen iPad mini.

After the iPad minimizes Spotify, NetEase Cloud, Weibo, and WeChat to split the screen, the left side can still provide a larger browsing experience than the full Mate Xs screen. Of course, a better way is to suspend and automatically hide, and you can also quickly switch between iPhone-proportion applications through the navigation bar. Of course, I can't simply and rudely say that the multitasking experience of the folding screen is not good, because for most applications, how to present it in a suitable form on the folding screen still requires Google, manufacturers, and developers to jointly promote. At present, I think Mate Xs may have greater advantages in office work. This is different from the multitasking needs created before. Inserting pictures, text, and attachments in work emails is a common and necessary need. The multitasking ability of Mate Xs to drag text and pictures will be better utilized in this scenario.