The Huawei Mate X3 should arrive soon to take on the Z Fold 4
If you like foldable phones but aren’t quite sold on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, there should be another of these innovative devices available to buy soon: the Huawei Mate X3 is apparently already ready for mass production and should show up. see you soon.
That’s according to the informant. wangzai knows everything (opens in a new tab) (via notebook check (opens in a new tab)), and is said to closely follow Samsung’s established design aesthetic, plus potentially cost significantly less than its rival.
There may be some compromises along the way, with rumors that the phone will have to make do with 4G instead of 5G. However, it should come with the latest high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
What we know so far
We don’t really know much about what the Huawei Mate X3 will bring, though what we’ve previously seen in the Huawei Mate X2, which made its debut in February 2021, might offer some clues.
That was almost two years ago, so the follow-up to the Mate X3 is somewhat behind the times at this point. The Mate X2 came with an 8-inch main screen and carried the Kirin 9000 processor, as well as up to 12GB of RAM and a quad-lens rear camera.
Those are top-tier specs and it looks like the Mate X3 will continue that trend, aside, perhaps, from the lack of 5G connectivity. According to the new leak, the phone could appear sometime in the first half of 2023.
Analysis: more competition please
While we really like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, and indeed the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, we’d also like to see a few more options for consumers who want to pick up a foldable phone without having to part with a significant chunk of their savings.
Of course, there are already decent alternatives out there, like the Motorola Razr and Xiaomi Mix Fold, but no one else seems prepared to invest as much in the future of foldable devices as Samsung is right now.
The Huawei Mate X3 could well give Samsung more to contend with in the foldable space, but Huawei needs to improve in terms of its international distribution. The Mate X2 isn’t easy to come by if you live outside of China.
We expect the foldable iPhone and Pixel Fold to appear sooner rather than later, which will go a long way in improving the options available. The chances are high that these two high-profile phones will appear in 2023.
