Huawei Mate X2 joins the foldable smartphone ranks

It’s bendy smartphone o’clock over in China, where Huawei’s second-generation foldable handset has arrived in the hinged shape of the Mate X2. The phone has two distinct shapes, effortless flitting between folded (showcasing its “normal” 6.45in OLED outer screen) and unfolded (where the 8in inner screen comes to the fore) – an arrangement a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2. While the screen sizes might not seem too far apart, the aspect ratios of the screens – 21:9 for the outer, 8:7.1 for the inner – make them wildly different prospects. Huawei claims to have spent five years perfecting the hinge mechanism so that the Mate X2 folds with barely any perceptible gap, while the rear camera setup includes a 50MP main module, a 10x optical zoom module and a 16MP ultra-wide snapper. A Kirin 9000 chip means 5G is supported, but don’t get too excited: for now it’s only coming to China, where it’ll be on sale from 25 February with prices starting at RMB17,999 (around £1,980).