Huawei had considered launching a device similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip's clamshell design, but this plan was later rejected, according to a Huawei executive who spoke to media after the launch event for the new Mate Xs foldable phone.
"If you open it up and there [isn't] more smartphone, why … do [a] foldable?" Huawei UK MD Anson Zhang told Trusted Reviews.
"You do the foldable in order to enhance the user experience. Why do people [want] a foldable? … They want a device with a bigger screen but pocketable – that is the reason behind [it]."
The company instead opted for a foldable phone design that would unfold into a larger display to give users a better experience, which became the Huawei Mate X series.
"You do foldable in order to have better views – reading, video, even multi-task as Richard [Yu] showed," Zhang said, referring to Huawei's CEO, who debuted the Mate Xs on stage at the event.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip has a 6.7-inch FHD+ (2,636x1,080) display when it is unfolded. The display is quite narrow with a ratio of 21.9:9.
The Huawei Mate Xs is slightly shorter, but it is more than twice the width of the Z Flip. The unfolded display is 8 inches (2,480x2,200).
Flexible materials have always been a key issue affecting the development of foldable devices, which is why the first generation of foldable devices often used plastic instead of glass.
But even if Samsung Galaxy Z Flip uses ultra-thin glass, the phone's display is still as easy to be scratched as the plastic display.
