Huawei Mate X3 Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

The Huawei Mate X3 is a tragically stunning foldable that nearly no one ought to think about shopping for. High-level {hardware} is completely hamstrung by closely restrictive software program, to not point out a excessive worth and no 5G.

Introduction

I might in all probability have taken a stab at writing the conclusion to the Huawei Mate X3 assessment earlier than I even laid arms on this stylish new flagship foldable.

That’s obtained nothing to do with lazy journalism (trustworthy), and every part to do with the distinctive predicament Huawei finds itself in.

Reality 1: Huawei makes among the greatest smartphone {hardware} within the enterprise. Reality 2: Huawei provides the worst software program expertise of any smartphone producer, principally because of US authorities sanctions.

There was at all times the prospect that Huawei was going to drop the ball on the {hardware} entrance with the Huawei Mate X3, or that it’d discover some higher approach ahead from the entire ‘no Google Cell Providers’ debacle. It hasn’t, and it hasn’t.

What’s extra, at £1,999 for the only 12GB RAM/512GB storage mannequin, the Huawei Mate X3 is flat-out costly, even for a premium foldable.

With all that mentioned, it’s nonetheless nicely price working by way of what the Huawei Mate X3 has to supply. As a result of the day these sanctions finish (in the event that they ever finish), Samsung, Xiaomi, and Google are going to have an issue on their arms.

Design and display

• Skinny, gentle design for a foldable
• Tight gapless hinge with minimal dip when open
• Balanced, correct 6.4-inch and seven.85-inch OLEDs

It could be £130 to £330 costlier than its rivals, however you possibly can immediately see and really feel the place the cash has gone with the Huawei Mate X3. 

That is an impeccably constructed book-style foldable that nearly looks like a ‘regular’ flagship cellphone when it’s all folded up. On this extra discrete configuration, the Mate X3 is a manageable 11.8mm thick, and there’s nary a glimpse of sunshine seen between its two halves. It makes the Galaxy Z Fold 4 look embarrassingly off the tempo, although to be truthful to Samsung, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 was solely weeks away throughout my check interval.

An official weight of 239g positions the Mate X3 proper alongside the iPhone 14 Professional Max for heft. It’s a heavy cellphone, little question, but it surely’s not a heavy foldable, coming in 24g lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and a whopping 44g lighter than the Google Pixel Fold.

Past these borderline regular dimensions, the Huawei Mate X3 seems and feels very good. From its shiny aluminium backbone and matching curved body to its silky, gently rounded glass again and matching entrance, it sits within the hand type of like a £2,000 cellphone ought to.

Even the massive round digicam module serves to present the Mate X3 the texture of a non-foldable cellphone, someway balancing out and distracting from its asymmetrical nature.

The Mate X3’s tightly wound hinge provides a excessive quantity of clamping pressure, preserving the X3 securely closed in your pocket. That does imply that it takes a bit of effort to unfold, but it surely additionally implies that it may be opened at any angle – although a lot past 120 levels and the cellphone will tip over on a flat floor.

It regains its poise as soon as folded fully flat, with a thin 5.3mm physique and one of many subtlest hinge dips I’ve seen or felt. It’s there, but it surely’s extraordinarily simple to miss.

Huawei hasn’t fairly managed to work its magic in fixing the foldable mud resistance conundrum, so you continue to solely get an IPX8 score just like the Fold 4. No less than it’s aggressive with its contemporaries on that entrance.

There are two screens on provide right here, as has turn out to be the usual for such foldables, they usually’re of the best commonplace. Externally you get a 6.4-inch 1080 x 2504 OLED, whereas internally there’s a 7.85-inch 2224 x 2496 OLED, each maxing out at 120Hz. By default, Huawei will dynamically regulate each the decision and the refresh fee in accordance with the duty at hand, however I cranked these each as much as max for a lot of the assessment interval.

Huawei has gone down the Samsung path to display orientation reasonably than the Google one, which means that the inner show is barely taller than it’s wider. Nevertheless, the principle factor right here is that the exterior show has a extra regular side ratio than the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s, additional serving to to make it nice to make use of as a daily handset.

What actually issues with these shows, in fact, is that they’re vibrant, sharp and color correct, and in addition that they’re nicely synced. You’ll flit from one show to the opposite, and there’ll be no noticeable drop off within the high quality of the expertise.

Cameras

• Sturdy 50MP extensive sensor with laser AF and OIS
• Unusually good 12MP 5x periscope with OIS
• Common 13MP ultrawide

Early foldables had fairly woeful digicam techniques, particularly for the cash. Latest examples have began to show the tide, nevertheless.

The Google Pixel Fold has arguably provided the most effective foldable digicam expertise but, mainly because of Google’s picture processing excellence. With the Mate X3, Huawei has utilized its {hardware} mastery to the issue, and has joined Google close to the highest of the pile.

The principle sensor here’s a respectable 50MP unit with PDAF, laser AF, and OIS. Along with Huawei’s personal appreciable picture processing chops, it yields vibrant, sharp, well-focused photographs with efficient HDR. Colors are good and pure, too.

Huawei was one of many first producers to crack the low gentle code, and certain sufficient, the Mate X3 takes sturdy nighttime photographs. They appear appreciably brightened, however not on the expense of preserving the tone of the scene. There’s extra noise than with a non-foldable flagship, in fact, but it surely’s all relative.

The place the Huawei Mate X3 actually stands out from the foldable crowd, nevertheless, is with its 12MP periscope telephoto digicam. This will obtain 5x zoomed photographs, just like the Pixel Fold, and nicely forward of the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s 3x zoom.

They’re respectable photographs too, with loads of element, a locked-on focus, and a tone that broadly matches the principle sensor. Even 10x photographs look satisfactory right here, courtesy of a hybrid zoom method.

The 13MP ultrawide is nothing to write down residence about. It does an affordable job, although its colors appear much less pure than the opposite sensors, and it struggles extra with dynamic vary.

You additionally get a pair of 8MP selfie cameras, one for every display, they usually take fairly wealthy and balanced photographs.

Efficiency and software program

• Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is outdated however quick
• No Google assist
• EMUI 13.1 is stuffed with bloatware
• No 5G connectivity

The Huawei Mate X3 runs on a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, which was a cutting-edge element on the finish of 2022, however has since been overtaken by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. 

Given the value Huawei is asking, you would possibly justifiably anticipate the quicker element, simply as you would possibly anticipate it to supply 5G connectivity. The corporate’s ongoing authorized points imply it is a 4G-only affair.

Nonetheless, in foldable phrases, the Mate X3’s degree of efficiency sits proper close to the highest of the tree – for now at the least. Its predominant rival the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 runs on the identical chip, as does its cousin the Honor Magic Vs.

In the meantime the brilliant younger factor of the foldable scene, the Pixel Fold, makes use of Google’s personal Tensor G2 chip – a sensible piece of silicon, little question, however not a very spectacular runner within the benchmark stakes.

Talking of, the Huawei Mate X3 blitzes Google’s chunky foldable on our CPU checks, and it additionally tops the Fold 4 and the Magic Vs. We’re unsure if Huawei has extracted extra efficiency from the identical chip, or simply optimised it higher for particular benchmarks.

Both approach, it’s a powerful performer, with nary a wobble or stutter when multi-tasking, unlocking, or gaming – as soon as I discovered some appropriately mainstream video games to check.

That brings us to the principle level of competition right here: the deadly lack of the normal Google-based expertise that nearly each different Android cellphone offers. 

The difficulty with signing up for any new Huawei cellphone is that it means basically altering the way in which that you simply do issues. It’s a world of dodgy-looking different app shops, convoluted APK file obtain administration, and parallel-universe app alternate options.

There are methods to get Google apps onto the Huawei Mate X3, but it surely’s a hit-and-miss expertise. As somebody who usually goes all-in with Google apps on Android telephones, I’ve adopted a scorched-earth method when testing Huawei telephones to be able to preserve my sanity and productiveness. I neglect about Google, and easily shift my allegiance wholesale to Microsoft for every week or two. 

The corporate’s wonderful Outlook app sees to your built-in e-mail and calendar necessities, Microsoft OneNote handles note-taking in highly effective if not super-intuitive trend, and Edge will do as an online browser. Doing it this manner offers you a measure of the tight integration and reliability of the same old Android-Google expertise, however in a kind that performs properly with Huawei. Microsoft’s SwiftKey keyboard already comes as commonplace.

In the case of mapping, there’s no substitute for Google Maps, however HERE WeGo has lengthy been a slick and dependable different. Whereas we’re speaking of mapping, no Google Maps means various different apps received’t work on the Mate X3, most notably Uber.

Gaming on the Huawei Mate X3 is fairly horrible, not due to any {hardware} shortcomings, however as a result of it’s important to leap by way of these aforementioned hoops to seek out the most effective video games. I situated Vampire Survivors, CoD Cell, and Wreckfest by way of the Petal Search system, which scours unofficial app shops containing side-loadable APK recordsdata. None of those turned up when looking in Huawei’s personal AppGallery, confusingly, regardless of Petal Search being built-in into it.

After all, none of your progress will make its approach over from earlier Android telephones, whereas when you spent any cash on the sport you’re in all probability out of luck.

That is risking turning right into a How To information now, but it surely simply serves for example how problematic and unintuitive working the Huawei Mate X3 is in comparison with nearly each different foldable in the marketplace. For the overwhelming majority of individuals, it’s a deal breaker.

Even with out these points, EMUI 13.1 is hardly the cleanest Android interface on the market, what with its bloatware drawback (together with two internet browser apps and a few terrible video games) and a structure that’s extra indebted to Apple than Google.

Battery life

• 5,800mAh battery proves ample
• All-day battery life
• Sturdy 66W wired, 50W wi-fi charging provision

Like each different foldable, stamina shouldn’t be what you’d name the Huawei Mate X3’s sturdy swimsuit, however neither is it a catastrophe. Actually, I didn’t fear in regards to the cellphone working out of energy as soon as.

Huawei has packed the Mate X3 with a 4,800mAh battery, which is greater than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4’s, smaller than the Honor Magic Vs’s, and the identical because the Pixel Fold’s. Given the thinness and lightness of the cellphone, it’s a small miracle.

I used to be in a position to undergo a protracted day of light-to-moderate utilization (round 3 hours of display on time), with the shows maxed out on decision and refresh fee, and was left with 45% left within the tank. It ought to be capable to get you thru extra intensive days, particularly when you flip these sensible show modes again to their extra environment friendly default settings.

Should you’re a very heavy person of that inside show, there’s an opportunity you might need a more durable time. This can be a cellphone that’s constructed for mixed-use, nevertheless, and the Huawei Mate X3’s very good exterior display and good design meant that I used to be by no means over-eager to open it up except the state of affairs dictated. 

Apart from, the Mate X3 acquits itself nicely with extra intensive full-screen duties. An hour of Disney+ streaming sapped simply 5% of a cost, whereas half an hour of sunshine 2D gaming sapped 7%. These are sturdy outcomes.

You additionally get an excellent charging provision, at the least for a foldable of this kind. Huawei provides a 66W wired charger within the field, which can get you from empty to full in lower than 45 minutes. That’s approach higher than the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Pixel Fold.

There’s additionally 50W wi-fi charging, although you’ll want a particular wi-fi charger to profit from these speeds. Common Qi charging will work simply fantastic.

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Geekbench 6 single core

Geekbench 6 multi core

1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)

30 minute gaming (gentle)

Time from 0-100% cost

Time from 0-50% cost

30-min recharge (included charger)

15-min recharge (included charger)

3D Mark – Wild Life

GFXBench – Aztec Ruins

GFXBench – Automotive Chase

Huawei Mate X3

1811

4656

5 %

7 %

43 min

14 Min

81 %

45 %

2788

31 fps

38 fps

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