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This week's best deals: $100 off Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad and more
Here's a list of the best tech deals we found this week, including deep discounts on the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad and Nintendo Switch games for 'Mar10 Day.'
Huawei’s Mate Xs is a tougher foldable phone lacking the apps you want
Despite nailing the reveal at MWC last year, Huawei's impressive foldable phone, the Mate X, never made it any further than briefings, press conferences and Chinese early adopters -- there's a reason we didn't review it. The Mate X wasn't cheap, it wasn't perfect but it still seemed like the strongest foldable option at the time. (And we all know how Samsung's first attempt turned out.) Samsung's remade Galaxy Fold is the perfect analog for Huawei's Mate Xs 5G, a phone that should be better prepared for prime time. Nothing particularly major has changed since the Mate X. There's still an 8-inch unfolded display, transforming to a 6.6-inch phone in standard smartphone mode. So what has changed on the Mate Xs? There's still a release button to satisfyingly unfurl the smartphone, but the hinge itself has been upgraded. According to Huawei, the number of parts and components inside the hinge is up from around 100 to 150. I can feel the difference -- I think? Huawei didn't have last year's Mate X around for comparisons, but it feels like it has more heft to it -- something that the original Mate X wasn't particularly lacking.
Huawei's foldable Mate X smartphone goes on sale in China
There's finally a major foldable smartphone on the market beyond the Galaxy Fold... if you live in China. As promised, Huawei has started selling the Mate X through its Vmall online store. It'll cost a steep 16,999 yuan (about $2,400 US), but you'll also have a unique, 5G-capable device that can unfold to offer a sizeable 8-inch display. There's still no mention of rollouts in other countries, though. Huawei said in October that Mate X access was contingent on 5G deployments in other countries and that expansion was "under review."
Huawei will finally release its $2,400 Mate X phone on November 15th
After multiple delays, Huawei's foldable Mate X is nearly ready for launch -- but only in its homeland. Huawei is launching the phone in China on November 15th for ¥16,999, or roughly $2,400. Suddenly, the Galaxy Fold seems like a bargain. You do get 5G wireless, 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for your trouble, although there's no Samsung-like concierge service here. There is a ¥2,699 (about $380) screen repair service, which you might just need when the fragile foldable display sits on the outside.
Our foldable future is running a little late, and that's OK
From the moment it was first teased last year, Samsung's Galaxy Fold convinced many that foldable phones were the next frontier to conquer. To no one's surprise, it wasn't long before competitors announced foldable plans of their own, feeding a cycle of hype that culminated at this year's Mobile World Congress. Samsung showed off the Galaxy Fold to the public (albeit, behind glass). Huawei unveiled its Mate X, a beautiful rival to Samsung's device that somehow cost even more. And Motorola, which had long been rumored to be working on a foldable, indiscreetly confirmed its plans to launch one this year. By this point, industry watchers and phone nerds had worked themselves into something of a foldable frenzy, and Samsung was supposed to be the first to scratch that itch. The Galaxy Fold was slated to launch in the United States on April 26th, but that, uh, clearly didn't happen.
Huawei delays the launch of its foldable phone until September
If you were thinking about ditching the Galaxy Fold in favor of the Mate X after the former was delayed, think again. Huawei has told CNBC that is also pushing back the release of its folding phone to spend more time testing the hardware. The launch, originally pencilled in for this summer, will now take place in September. That will enable Huawei to ensure its mechanism is more reliable, and focus on other matters, like app compatibility.
Huawei is suing the US government
As Huawei continues to defend itself against accusations that ties to the Chinese government make it a security threat to other countries and claims that it has stolen technology from others, it announced a lawsuit against the United States, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas. At a press conference today in China, rotating chairman Guo Ping claimed that it was left with no choice after the actions of Congress, and said that moves to limit its business harmed both the US and China. According to Ping (reading from one of the company's folding Mate X devices) "Huawei has not, and will never implant any backdoors...and will not allow anyone else to do so."
Making sense of the 5G phones at Mobile World Congress 2019
After years of talk, the era of 5G is finally upon us. This time around, you couldn't take more than a few steps on the MWC show floor without bumping into someone driving a delivery truck via 5G, or seeing a man remotely directing a surgery across town thanks to 5G's ultra-low latency. (In case you hadn't heard, MWC is weird.) For most of us though, 5G just means faster data for our smartphones, so we wanted to take a moment to dig into what the 5G phones we found in Barcelona really bring to the table.
Our favorite smartphones from Mobile World Congress 2019
The last week has been a whirlwind of jamón-flavored chips, 5G talk and things that fold, so naturally, we're still reeling a bit. As we begin pulling ourselves out of this trade show-induced stupor, though, we've taken stock of everything we've seen in Barcelona and compiled this list of our favorite smartphones from the show floor. Not everything that made the cut will be a massive success, or go on sale around the world -- still, because of the ambition and ingenuity that went into each of these devices, each is worth celebrating in its own way.
Comparing the Galaxy Fold, the Huawei Mate X and the Royole FlexPai
Over the past few years, new handsets haven't had a lot to distinguish themselves from the competition. We've seen more powerful cameras and larger screens, but the basic design has been a bit stuck. However, in the past week both Samsung and Huawei have showcased bendable devices that can unfold from pocket-size into a larger tablet-like screen. And companies like Oppo and TCL are also showing off their own concepts, though those are only prototypes for now. In terms of what you'll be able to buy soon, we've taken the incoming Galaxy Fold and Mate X and faced them off against the only folding phone that's made it to market so far: the Royole FlexPai. There's a lot more than just those eye-watering prices to take a look at below.
A closer look at the foldable Huawei Mate X
The battle for foldable supremacy is raging on, and Huawei has a strong contender in the Mate X. But just like with Samsung's Galaxy Fold, we haven't been able to actually touch Huawei's bendy handset. Still, we were able to get a closer look at the fascinating flagship today at MWC, as well as get some answers to questions that we've had since first checking out the device. First up -- Huawei told Engadget the Mate X will launch in June.
Watch Huawei's MWC event in 12 minutes
MWC 2019 isn't all about foldable phones and 5G. Eh, who am I kidding... it is pretty much all about foldable phones and 5G. Lucky for us, Huawei combines both with the Huawei Mate X, and peppered in some laptop news with the Matebook X Pro. If you missed any of the news from yesterday's event, including the official reveal of that folding model, we've condensed it all down to a 12-minute clip so you don't have to relive every second of the hour-long presentation in order to catch up. And when you're done watching, take a gander at our reaction to the Mate X and the challenges Huawei faces with it's foldable device. Spoiler alert: it ain't cheap.
