At long last, consumers can soon get their hands on Huawei’s first ever foldable phone. The Mate X 5G is set to go on sale in China for 16,999 yuan (US$2,422) this Friday, nearly nine months after the world got its first glimpse of the widely-anticipated handset.
It will be competing against Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, which came out in September. The South Korean tech giant previously delayed the release after tech reviewers reported problems with the phone. Huawei also quietly delayed its Mate X, despite claiming in June that it was on schedule for an earlier release.
More details have since emerged about the upcoming phone. A notice on Huawei’s website says the phone can’t be bent if it's in temperatures of -5°C/23°F or lower. It also advises users against removing a special protective film on the phone’s screen -- similar to initial problems with the Galaxy Fold -- among other warnings.
A Huawei spokesperson did not disclose to us any plans for a global launch. In Europe, the company had to delay sales of its flagship Mate 30 series because it can’t ship new phones with Google apps installed under the US trade ban.
If you want a closer look at the phone before Friday, here are the pictures from July when Huawei mobile chief Richard Yu was spotted at the airport carrying a Mate X.