A new foldable smartphone from Chinese giant Huawei may arrive soon, with speculation rife that the company is already hard at work on the next generation of its Mate X line of large-screen foldable devices.
That’s all we know so far about the Huawei Mate X3.
When will Huawei Mate X3 be launched?
There’s no official word from Huawei on the release date of the Mate X3, but there have been a lot of rumors, including from sites like Huawei Central, that it might appear in December 2022 or early 2023.
This seems perfectly reasonable, as the previous Huawei Mate X2 debuted in early 2021, but the February launch was only in China and the phone hasn’t made its way to other regions.
This is somewhat fixed by the semi-complementary Huawei Mate Xs 2 which launched internationally in May 2022, although it didn’t actually arrive in the UK until September. This muddies the waters, as it’s unclear if Huawei wants to launch another foldable so close to this model’s arrival — although since the Xs 2 folds in reverse, the two models serve slightly different purposes in the market.
It was the winter slot that was chosen for the initial rendering of the range as well, as the first Huawei Mate X was launched in China in November 2019, so there is some form in that area.
As with all Huawei devices, we don’t expect it to be available in the US, but it’s not certain if we’ll get it in Europe, as proven by previous releases. In fact, a recent article in Politico stated that the company may be about to abandon international markets entirely and focus on the Aisan regions. We haven’t seen this in Huawei’s behavior yet, as the company maintains a European office and online presence, so the Chinese manufacturer may be selective in the models it offers to the West.
How much will Huawei Mate X3 cost?
We don’t have any specific pricing details at the time of writing, so we’ll need to think about how Huawei has priced previous foldable devices to give us an idea. Here is the list:
- Huawei Mate Xs 2 (512GB) – £1,799 / €1,999
- Huawei Mate X2 (256GB) – 17,999 yen (about £2,000 / $2,800)
- Huawei Mate Xs (512GB) – £2,299 / €2,499 (~$2,700)
- Huawei Mate X (128GB) – £1,999 / €2,299 (~$2,600)
As you can see, foldables are still the most expensive phones you can buy (unless you cheat the iPhone 14 Pro Max or Samsung S22 Ultra outright), though some competing efforts are starting to lower their asking prices. Here are some direct competitors:
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 – $1,799 / £1,649
- Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 – 8,999 (approx $1,335 / £1,090)
- Oppo Find N – 7,699 yen (about $1,200 / £900)
- Vivo X Fold – 8,999 (about $1,335 / £1,090)
Whether Huawei can bring the cost of its new devices down to close to £1,000 / €1,000 is unlikely, especially with costs soaring due to the many factors affecting the global economy right now. We think you’ll still be spending quite a bit of money if you want to buy the Huawei Mate X3.
There is some hope, however, as one of our favorite Chinese tipsters (mainly because of his name), @The Factory Manager is Classmate Guan, and he has posted on Weibo that Huawei hopes to launch the new phone at a more affordable price.
What about the specifications and design of the Huawei Mate X3?
As with the price and release date, we don’t have any confirmation from Huawei on what we can expect to see in the Mate X3. For that, we need to refer back to the rumors that started surfacing on the internet.
Several outlets are suggesting that the Mate X3 will come with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which is more or less certain for the flagship to debut in early 2023. The main difference is that due to Huawei’s ongoing dispute with the US government, the phone will only have 4G capabilities. , like all of its other new devices.
The design will reportedly be similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Mate X2 in that it will feature a large screen that folds like a book. If Huawei carried over the design from the Mate X2, the foldable screen would be around 8 inches. While the Mate X2 boasts a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz, it’s normal these days for flagships to come in at 120Hz instead for smooth scrolling. We’re not sure of this, but we think it’s very possible.
We’ll also likely see the return of a 6.45-inch OLED panel on the outside of the device, allowing users to access information and use the Mate X3 as a standard-sized phone when necessary. The cameras could also see a revival of the quad array on the Mate X2, albeit with updated sensors and the addition of the recently announced Huawei XMAGE imaging technology that uses software to improve images.
As a rough guide to what the Mate X3’s tech specs might be, here’s how the Mate X2 is configured:
Huawei Mate X2: specifications
- Android 10 with EMUI 11
- Inside: 8-inch foldable OLED display (2200 x 2480)
- Exterior: 6.45-inch 90Hz OLED (2700 x 1160)
- Kirin 9000 chipset
- 8 GB RAM
- 256/512 GB storage
- 50MP, f/1.9, RYYB OIS + rear camera 16MP, f/2.2 ultra wide + 12MP, f/2.4, 3x, OIS tele + 8Mp, f/4.4, 10x, OIS periscope
- Front camera 16 MP f / 2.2 + color temperature sensor
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
- 11az dual band wifi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- GPS
- NFC
- 5G / 4G LTE
- USB-C
- Non-removable battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh
- 55W wired charging
- Unfolded: 161.8 x 145.8 x 4.4-8.2 mm
- Folded: 161.8 x 74.6 x 13.6-14.7 mm
- 295g
As you can see, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Huawei Mate X3, but we’ll update this article with more news as it becomes available. Until then, take a look at the best smartphones we currently recommend, as well as the best new phones coming in 2023.
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