Huawei Mate Xs available to pre-order in Australia from March 14th for $3,999

Huawei has announced today that their first globally available foldable phone, the Mate Xs, will be available to pre-order in Australia from March 14th for $3,999.

The Mate Xs was announced last month at a virtual event in the wake of the cancellation of Mobile World Congress (MWC) due to the growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19 (Coronavirus).

The Mate Xs foldable form factor uses Huawei designed Falcon Wing which includes more than 100 interlocking parts. A 6.6-inch main screen and 6.38-inch secondary screen on the rear with the phone unfolding to become an 8-inch tablet perfect for both work and play.

Huawei says the display uses a durable Aerospace Flex Display Film which is 80% more durable than a single layer design of gold film and won’t compromise screen quality.

Huawei has beefed up the specs on the Mate Xs with a HiSilicon Kirin 990 processor which includes a 5G modem, 8GB RAM and 512GB of on-board storage with a NM (Nano Memory) card slot (up to 256GB). The phone also includes a Flying Fish Fin Cooling System that uses flexible graphene to ensure the phone won’t overheat.

Of course this is Huawei so they’ve included top of the line camera hardware with a SuperSensing 40MP Leica quad camera array. The 40MP main sensor has a Wide Angle Lens and there’s an 8MP sensor with 3x optical Telephoto lens which combines a 30x Digital zoom to give a 45x Hybrid zoom. There’s also a 16MP sensor with ultra-wide lens and a time of flight depth sensing camera as well.

Larking Huang, Managing Director of Huawei Consumer Business Group in Australia said ‘We’re excited to bring the HUAWEI Mate Xs to Australia. Ideal for tech seekers or anyone who craves performance, design and usability. Australian consumers will benefit from an unprecedented, immersive experience, all at the touch of their fingertips. Offering large dual displays, ultra-slim foldable form and all-day usage – Australians will be able to do business on the go or watch movies‘.

While the Huawei Mate Xs runs Android 10 with their custom EMUI 10 overlay, the phone does not include Google Mobile Services or access to the Google Play Store. The ongoing restriction on trade with the US means that Huawei is building out their Huawei Mobile Services which includes their own app store called the Huawei AppGallery.

Huawei has worked on the foldable screen experience offering the option to run two apps alongside each other. They also allow you to drag and drop images and text from one application to another.

The Huawei Mate Xs will be available to pre-order from March 14th from JB-HI Fi, Mobileciti, the Huawei Authorised Experience store in Chatswood. Huawei says the phone become available nationally on April 9th.

The Huawei Mate Xs will be available to pre-order in Interstellar Blue for $3999 and comes with a complimentary envelope leather case (valued at $199) as well as a VIP service to help consumers set up their new device.

We’ll be getting hands on for a review of the Huawei Mate Xs as soon as possible.