Huawei Mate X5 Smartphone Review

Huawei Mate X5 Smartphone Review – The Huawei Mate X5 is the latest foldable smartphone that was released by Huawei on September 2023 in China. This smartphone will mainly be available only in the Chinese market and won’t be available for purchase elsewhere due to unfortunate sanctions put on Huawei. So, if you live outside of China and are hoping to buy a new Huawei smartphone, then you will be disappointed as a global launch will probably not happen for this foldable phone.

However, users in China can rejoin to have another 5G foldable smartphone choice. In terms of design, Huawei has implemented some premium design elements that Huawei fans will surely appreciate. On top of that, Huawei promises to provide flagship components inside to provide the best user experience possible. So, today we are reviewing the new Huawei Mate X5 smartphone to find all it can offer and if it can compete with the other foldable phones.

Huawei Mate X5 Smartphone Review

Highlights

1. The Huawei Mate X5 features a 7.85-inch Foldable OLED panel While the cover display consists of a 6.4-inch OLED panel.
2. The Huawei Mate X5 is powered by a Kirin 9000S SoC, that can reach up to a 1×2.62GHz clocking speed.
3. The Huawei Mate X5 features Huawei’s new HarmonyOS4.0 for China and EMUI for the European market.
4. The smartphone features a 50MP triple-camera system on the rear and an 8MP front camera for selfies.
5. The smartphone features a Silicon-Carbon 5060 mAh battery with 66W fast wired charging, 50W fast wireless charging, and 7.5W reverse wireless charging support.

Design and Display

The design of the Huawei Mate X5 is an area where Huawei took some bold design implementation. Instead of going with glass and metal like every other smartphone, Huawei went with a leather back to give the new foldable smartphone a more premium touch. But don’t worry this leather is not taken from an animal as it is a form of vegan leather while the side and the mid-frame are made of aluminum, which makes it durable and rigid. Apart from this, the weight of the foldable smartphone is around 243-245 grams, whereas it arrives with thin bezels at the front.

The foldable smartphone is further protected by IPX8 dust/water resistance. As for the display, there are two of them. The main display is a foldable display that features a 7.85-inch foldable OLED panel with 1 Billion color support. When it’s folded, you will find a secondary display called the cover display, which features a 6.4-inch OLED panel with an FHD+ resolution. Both the main foldable display and the cover display have support for a 120Hz high refresh rate for a smoother user experience.

Both displays also support Stylus Pen Input and the cover display has Kunlun Glass protection against scratches. The foldable smartphone is available for purchase in Black, White, Purple, Dark Green, and Gold color options. All in all, the device display department is decent and you will not face any problems while using the device. However, the absence of better nits brightness on the display is a thing quite disappointing from the maker’s end.

Memory and Internal

The Huawei Mate X5 has been outfitted with a 7nm Kirin 9000S chipset that is built by Huawei themselves. It’s an indigenously built chipset that focuses on key areas of the smartphone, that is, 5G connectivity, performance improvements, and power efficiencies. The Kirin 9000S chipset can reach up to a 1×2.62GHz clocking speed for an uninterrupted experience. It’s essentially a multitasking powerhouse and can easily handle anything you want to do on the smartphone.

But the hardware is only one part of the equation and the other is the software. But you will be glad to know that the software side of things is also properly optimized to take advantage of the hardware, thanks to Huawei’s new HarmonyOS4.0, which is specifically designed for foldable smartphones and other large-screen devices. However, for the European market, the device will run on EMUI. The chipset also has support for 5G connectivity, which will allow you to download your favorite content at gigabit speeds.

This performance is also carried over to the gaming side of things. The GPU in this chipset is the new custom-designed Maleoon 910 GPU, which can easily run some of the most graphic-intensive games like Genshin Impact but at medium graphic settings. For memory and storage, the Huawei Mate X5 is available with 12GB to 16GB of RAM and 256GB to 1TB of faster UFS storage. There’s also a Nano Memory storage expansion hybrid slot to extend storage limits. The overall internals are balanced, however, the chipset could have been better at this pricing segment.

Camera

The Huawei Mate X5 has a 50MP triple rear camera system. The primary camera has a 50MP sensor that is capable of taking photos that have great detail levels, accurate colors, and a high dynamic range. The quality of the images is comparable to that of other foldable smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold smartphones. On top of that, the primary sensor is optically stabilized, which helps capture more light and dramatically increases the detail level.

The second camera is the ultra-wide camera with a 13MP sensor, which can capture images with a wide field of view.  so the details and highlights in the shadows are captured properly. All in all, it makes for some amazing ultra-wide shots. Then there’s the periscope telephoto camera with a 12MP sensor that is capable of taking 5x optically zoomed shots and it is also optically stabilized to capture every shot perfectly. However, the same thing can’t be said for the low light photography.

For selfies, there are two selfie cameras, one at the top right of the foldable display and the other at the top center of the cover display. Both selfie cameras consist of the same 8MP sensor and they can take selfies with perfect skin tones. When it comes to video recording, the Huawei Mate X5 can shoot up to 4Kvideos@60FPS from the main rear cameras while the selfie camera can shoot up to 4Kvideos@30FPS. The rear cameras also feature both OIS and gyro-EIS support, but the selfie camera missed both of them.

Battery and Others

Huawei has included a Silicon-Carbon 5060 mAh battery for the Mate X5 Foldable smartphone and it’s a high-capacity battery. This battery can easily last a day or two with light day-to-day usage. But if you are a heavy user or play a lot of games, then the smartphone may not last a full day depending on the kind of games you play. Besides this, you will receive support for BDS Satellite calling and messaging service on the foldable device.

When it comes to charging, the Huawei Mate X5 supports 66W of wired fast charging, which can fully charge the smartphone in 30 – 40 minutes. It also has 50W fast wireless charging as well as 7.5W reverse wireless charging support, which you can use to wirelessly charge your accessories. Apart from that, the Huawei Mate X5 also has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, stereo speakers, GPS, and a USB Type C port for charging. The price of the smartphone starts at $2045 (Rs 169,999 in India) approx. for the base variant.

Huawei Mate X5 Pros and Cons

Huawei Mate X5 Specifications Detail

Down below you can see the full specifications of the Huawei Mate X5 smartphone.

Conclusion

Huawei Mate X5 arrives with a decent set of specs whether we talk about display, battery, or fast charging support. The foldable smartphone impressed us in terms of design and a bit interesting features such as the BDS Satellite calling and messaging service that is not seen in most devices. Apart from this, the Mate X5 has support for robust internals and water-resistant protection. All in all, the overall package seems to be decent, whereas the pricing of the smartphone is something that changes the worth of the foldable smartphone. No doubt, this device has balanced specs in terms of both performance and camera still there are some downsides of this device that can’t be ignored.

Firstly, the display does not have support for better nits brightness and the refresh rate could have been better as per the pricing. Aside from this, the software layering may have bloatware apps that may disrupt a flagship experience. The performance of the chipset is also limited which is not expected from a flagship or premium smartphone. The battery section is the strength of this device, while other department feels quite compromised. The pricing of the smartphone remains sky high, while you receive a better set of specs on the alternatives in the market. The smartphone is good to go with but the pricing doesn’t justify the value the device offers. In our opinion, you must check and compare Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and go with whatever provides a better deal for you. However, the final decision is in your hands so choose accordingly.