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Total length: 862.4mm
Weight: 34 grams
Colors: Obsidian Black, Spruce Green, Dawn White
Speaker: 14.2mm moving coil
Battery: 150mAh
Battery life: up to 24 hours
Charging time: about 60 minutes
Water and dust resistance: IP55
ANC: dual ANC, three microphones for call noise reduction
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C
Controls: touch (left earbud only), physical keys
The FreeLace Pro features a “neckband” design — with a flexible neckband that just hangs like a necklace when you’re not listening to the earbuds. My initial FreeLace Pro impression was that the cables were a bit too long, but I quickly got used to it. The length is, in fact, necessary to be able to comfortably sport the neckband even when wearing jackets or other bulkier clothing. At 34 grams, the FreeLace Pro is light enough for extended use.
Bogdan Petrovan / Android Authority
The earbuds’ backs are magnetic, so they stick together when you connect them, which prevents excessive dangling and automatically disconnects the earbuds from your phone or PC. I used the Spruce Green model for this review, which looks great, but you can select from black and cream-white models too. The neckband is made of a rubbery material, with two metal sections housing the controls and batteries.
Unless you have small ears, the non-detachable wingtips will probably be too small to serve their purpose. I didn’t find this to be a major issue though, as the FreeLace Pro fit my ears quite well.
HUAWEI FreeLace Pro controlsYes! The main feature upgrade compared to the 2023 FreeLace is the addition of active noise-cancelling (ANC). “Active” means that the earbuds generate noises that overlap with and cancel out certain sounds coming from the outside. The effect is most noticeable with low-frequency, constant noises like the humming of a vacuum cleaner or a car engine.
Bogdan Petrovan / Android Authority
The FreeLace Pro buds have in-ear designs that completely seal to the ear canal, which ensures excellent isolation. Passive isolation is key to optimal active noise cancellation, so you can enjoy your music even in noisy environments.
The ANC worked very well on my HUAWEI FreeLace Pro review unit. To get an idea of their effectiveness, I was able to listen to my bossa nova playlist on Spotify at a medium level, while my wife was using our noisy vacuum cleaner just feet away.
What’s the sound quality like on the FreeLace Pro?
Bogdan Petrovan / Android Authority
Considering the price, I was expecting the FreeLace Pro to sound mediocre. I was pleasantly surprised that they actually offer great sound, that’s further enhanced by the noise-cancelling.
The FreeLace Pro are definitely bass-heavy compared to the older FreeBuds 3. They are more similar in this regard to the FreeBuds 3i that I recently reviewed. The passive isolation, which doesn’t let sound leak out, may have something to do with this. Despite this, I didn’t find the FreeLace Pro’s bass response overbearing. Sound in the low end of the spectrum never masked vocals, like it happened occasionally on the FreeBuds 3i.
I am not super picky about my earphones, and consider myself more of a general consumer. Casual listeners will probably be as pleased with the HUAWEI FreeLace Pro’s sound signature as I was.
Also read: Best true wireless earbuds – there’s more than Apple out there
After using both the FreeLace Pro and the FreeBuds Pro for a while, they both sound pretty great, despite the €60 difference.
Good sound quality and ANC: The passive isolation and the ANC help drown out the outside world, allowing the speakers to drive a pleasing bass-heavy sound.
Quick connection: The earbuds connected to my PC or phone in the couple of seconds it took me to pry the magnetic earbuds apart and stick them in my ears. That made it easy and fun to switch between headphones and device speakers.
The touch controls: To cycle through the ANC modes (on, transparency, and off), you need to long-tap the left earbud. This gesture was a bit hard to get right from the first try.
No wear detection: If you take the earbuds off and don’t stick them together, playback continues. I would have preferred automatic wear detection.
Do you prefer traditional wireless earbuds or true wireless earbuds?93 votes
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Huawei P20 Pro Review: Triple The Camera, Triple The Appeal
The Huawei P20 Pro has been making headlines ever since it was first launched back in March this year. The phone has a number of headlining features including, most importantly, the triple camera system on its back. The phone achieved unprecedented scores in DxOMark camera tests, and really took the world by storm. However, at its price tag of ₹64,999 the P20 Pro is definitely pricey, and if you’re wondering whether you should buy it or not, we’ll we’ve got your back. We recently bought the P20 Pro here at work, and I’ve been using it for a few weeks now so this is our Huawei P20 Pro review.
P20 Pro SpecificationsBefore we dive into the review, let’s get the specifications out of the way. The P20 Pro is a flagship from Huawei and it packs specs to match.
Display6.1-inch 1080×2240 AMOLED
ProcessorHisilicon Kirin 970
GPUMali-G72 MP12
RAM6GB
Storage128GB
Primary Cameras40MP f/1.7 + 20MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4
Secondary Camera24MP f/2.0
Battery4000 mAh
Operating SystemEMUI 8.1 based on Android Oreo 8.1
SensorsFingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass, color spectrum
ConnectivityWi-Fi b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2
PriceRs. 64,999
With that out of the way, let’s take a deeper look at the Huawei P20 Pro.
What’s Inside the BoxInside the Huawei P20 Pro box, you’ll find the usual smartphone stuff:
The P20 Pro
Charging cable
Power adapter
SIM ejector tool
Earphones
USB-C to headphone jack dongle
Manuals and leaflets
Clear case
Okay, so there are a couple of things that you’ll find inside the P20 Pro box that a lot of other companies don’t bundle with their smartphones, such as the earphones and the clear case (although a lot of companies have started putting clear cases with their phones these days).
Design and Build QualityLet me tell you one thing right off the bat, the P20 Pro is one beautifully crafted device. Yes, I used the word ‘crafted’ because this phone doesn’t look like just any other industrial design smartphone out there. It’s got a glass back, a beautiful chrome trim on the sides, and a curve that not only blends the front and the back of the phone into one beautiful curved piece of glass and metal, but also fits beautifully in the hand.
At the end of the day, it is glass, and no matter how beautiful the blue finish is on our P20 Pro, it is extremely prone to fingerprints. You’ll spend a lot of time cleaning this phone if you go case-less, and believe me, with a phone as beautiful as this one, you’ll want to go case-less.
With a glass back comes the two most obvious drawbacks — impact protection, and weight. The P20 Pro is definitely a heavy device, and a lot of it is because of the fact that it’s glass all over. Not that I’m complaining, because the phone gives off a distinctly ‘premium’ vibe that a lot of high-end flagships don’t. I didn’t, however, test the impact protection on this because I just don’t have the heart to intentionally drop this exquisite looking thing.
Another thing that people expect with a glass back is wireless charging, and for some reason Huawei has decided to not include wireless charging support on this phone. I personally don’t mind this much, but I’m sure a lot of people will be annoyed at this.
Talking about dying breeds though, the P20 Pro does away with the headphone jack and opts to bundle in a dongle instead.
There’s a notch here, too, but obviously you knew that. I’m not a fan of the notch, believe me, but I am slowly getting used to it, and honestly, in my time with the P20 Pro, the notch kind of melted away from my perception. I guess having a “tinier-than-the-iPhone-X” notch really does make a difference.
I guess having a ‘tinier-than-the-iPhone-X’ notch really does make a difference.
Overall, the P20 Pro is a well built, sturdy feeling device. So much so, that even though it is slippery, it gives a very strong feeling of being a premium device, and is definitely great by those standards.
Display: It’s Top-NotchThe display on the P20 Pro is a 6.1-inch AMOLED panel, and simply put, I’m impressed with it. Huawei has gone all-in with the notch trend here, but has made it small enough that it soon turns into a non-issue, and with the 19:9 aspect ratio, the status bar takes the place around the notch, leaving more effective screen space for apps and multimedia.
At 1080×2240 pixels, it’s not a super-dense display like the ones you’ll find on the Galaxy S9 which comes with a 2960×1440 display. However, that’s not to say that the P20 Pro display sucks, because it doesn’t, and in fact, that lower resolution helps with battery life — which is also why the Galaxy S9 comes with its resolution set to 1080×2220 out of the box.
Overall, I have no complaints with the display on the P20 Pro, and I really like it.
Camera: Dual Cameras Are So 2023Image quality wise, the P20 Pro is great. Images turn out nice and sharp, there’s ample detail, and colors are amazing too. Of course, with a 40MP f/1.8 primary sensor, you kind of expect that. I mean, not once did I come up with a shot that I wasn’t satisfied with, and that’s definitely a big plus for the phone. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about that 114 photo score that DxOMark assigned to the P20 Pro, but after using this phone, I get it. It does take some really great shots.
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I was a little skeptical about that 114 photo score that DxOMark assigned to the P20 Pro, but after using this phone, I get it. It does take some really great shots.
There’s a portrait mode here as well (duh) and for the most part, it works fine. The edge detection is good, and the bokeh usually comes out nice and buttery smooth. All thanks to a combination of AI with the 8MP telephoto lens that Huawei is using on the phone. The phone even supports variable apertures, but unlike the S9 Plus which actually physically changes the aperture, the P20 Pro relies on software to change the depth-of-field according to the aperture setting that’s been selected. It’s a fine mode to play around with, but for the most part, I found myself sticking with the regular shooting modes on the phone.
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One of the really good shooting modes on the P20 Pro is the ‘Night’ mode, and honestly, I’m still in awe of how well this phone performs in really poor lighting conditions. The night mode basically exposes the image for a few seconds (on auto it selects the exposure time itself, but you can adjust it to your preference), which led me to thinking that for handheld shots this might result in completely blurry images. However, in all my usage of the night mode (and I used it a lot) there wasn’t a single image that turned out blurry… and that’s when my hand shakes a lot. Huawei is clearly doing some sort of magic behind the scenes with image processing, but whatever it’s doing works and I have absolutely no complaints. The night mode on the P20 Pro is simply awesome.
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Plus, low-light images without the Night Mode turn out really good as well. There’s a very tiny bit of noise sometimes, but for the most part, the P20 Pro’s camera absolutely rocks in low-light as well.
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The 24MP f/2.0 selfie camera on the P20 Pro is pretty good as selfie cameras go. It takes some nice images with ample details and good colors. There’s a beauty mode here which is a lot more elaborate than the beauty mode on other phones, but honestly, it has the same shortcomings as every other beauty mode out there — it washes out the details and I honestly just don’t like it. Fortunately, it can be turned off, so that’s the first thing I did.
Huawei also includes a portrait mode in the front camera — another feature that is now becoming a standard in a lot of smartphones, and honestly I’m pretty impressed with how the P20 Pro handles front camera portrait selfies. The bokeh is great, and the phone does a great job of making the subject stand out. There are slight issues with the edge detection sometimes — something the Pixel 2 handles perfectly.
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Performance: Effortless Performance Hindered By EMUI
However, benchmark scores aside, the P20 Pro performs like an absolute beast. Apps load up quickly, the phone is snappy, and honestly it feels almost as fast as the OnePlus 6 in most ways. When it comes to things like app-switching, I personally dislike the fact that EMUI uses animations that just take up too long, making the actual app-switching feel slower than it actually is.
User Experience: EMUI Is Terrible
If there’s one thing I dislike in the Huawei P20 Pro, it’s the UI. The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo with the EMUI 8.1 skin on top, and while it adds a ton of new features to the phone, I really don’t like it.
Firstly, the UI itself looks like a cluttered mess. The notifications are just annoying, the settings page and the icons used look like they’re from an early-2010 smartphone.
I’m also a stock Android guy any day of the week, and I love the near-stock feel of OnePlus’ OxygenOS, but that’s as far as I can go. EMUI is a very elaborate custom UI. That said, it does add a bunch of features (both useful, and not so useful) to the phone including things like App Locker which I think stock Android should have too, by the way.
Battery: Awesome!The Huawei P20 Pro comes with a massive 4,000 mAh battery, and man does it last long. While using the P20 Pro, I never had to charge it once during my day; and my day includes heavy usage of the phone including playing games, watching videos, texting people on WhatsApp, and (on rare occasions) calling people. Add to that the countless times I check Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram and I think you get the gist of my usage of the phone.
I charged the P20 Pro at night before I went to bed, and disconnected it around midnight when it was at 96% charge. From then onwards, I used the phone throughout my next day and at 12:48 AM (that’s a full 24 hours) the phone had reached 6% battery. That’s awesome, and I didn’t even use Huawei’s “Ultra Power Saving” mode to get there.
I did try the Ultra Power Saving mode feature, and honestly, that feature is amazing. I used my phone a bit less, considering it was midnight and all I was doing was using WhatsApp and Instagram, and the phone was on 5% battery at 2:30 AM.
In other words, the P20 Pro has a good battery, and affords a battery life that should easily get you through the day. Plus, if you need it, you can use the Ultra Power Saving mode which is just insanely effective.
As far as the battery on the P20 Pro goes, I have absolutely no complaints. The phone lasts considerably longer than my OnePlus 5, and it charges up extremely quickly too even though the P20 Pro unit in India packs a usual fast charger rather than the Huawei SuperCharger, which is kind of disappointing.
ConnectivityWhen it comes to connectivity, the Huawei P20 Pro uses a dual SIM card tray and doesn’t support an external microSD card to expand the storage beyond the standard 128GB that Huawei packs inside the smartphone.
The phone performs well when it comes to calling with clear call voice, however I did notice that the maximum in-call volume was considerably lower than, say, the OnePlus 6. Not low enough to not be audible, but still, if you prefer higher in-call volume, you may find the phone lacking.
The phone also comes with Bluetooth 4.2, which works fine, although I did observe that a couple of times the phone had a weird static when using the Bluetooth connected to my car and talking on a call. The problem persisted for a couple of days through multiple re-pairings and connections, but sorted itself out somehow. I’m not sure what happened there, but I have never encountered such an issue using any other smartphone with my car. Not for nothing though, does the phone support aptX HD, which means music over Bluetooth is a pure blissful experience.
The P20 Pro supports WiFi b/g/n/ac — which, at this price is honestly expected and not that big a deal. I would’ve liked Bluetooth 5.0, but for some reason Huawei has opted for 4.2 — not that it makes much of a difference in the way I use a smartphone.
Pros and ConsPros:
Amazing camera performance, especially in dead low-lighting
Great battery life
Front mounted fingerprint (that’s subjective, but still)
Awesome performance
Tactile buttons
Cons:
No Bluetooth 5.0
EMUI isn’t all that good
Notch (that’s also subjective, but still)
Fingerprint magnet
No SuperCharger in the box
SEE ALSO: Vivo X21 Review: Innovative But Worth The Price?
P20 Pro: An Awesome Smartphone That Would Be Better With Stock AndroidThe Huawei P20 Pro is a true flagship smartphones in more ways than one. The phone doesn’t disappoint in any of the crucial smartphone features that I personally look out for. Other than the EMUI skin that I dislike, the P20 Pro has an amazing display, a camera that will not let you down, amazing battery life, awesome real-world performance, and a design to die for.
Other than the EMUI skin that I dislike, the P20 Pro has an amazing display, a camera that will not let you down, amazing battery life, awesome real-world performance, and a design to die for.
Buy the Huawei P20 Pro from Amazon (₹64,999)
Huawei Ascend P7 Review
The
HUAWEI Ascend
P7
is the best phone
Huawei
has made, but falls short of really differentiating itself from the titans of the smartphone game. A great front facing camera compliments a decent rear facing shooter, and an accessible software experience compliments an equally accessible handling experience.
We’re seeing some good releases out of the Chinese market this year, and in this review we look at an update to a phone from veteran company Huawei known for being one of the thinnest around. This is our review of the HUAWEI Ascend P7.
DesignWhile it does add a little to last year’s remarkably thin P6, we’re still dealing with a very streamlined design here. With modest improvements over its predecessor, HUAWEI has sought for an incremental design update, and it’s arguably the better looking of the two. A metal skeleton holds together double Gorllia Glass 3 panels, making for a phone that could feasibly withstand a little punishment, if that’s your sort of thing.
While a flat profile is found all around the sides, two rounded corners up front are opposite a nicely rounded bottom portion. All the buttons are on the right and below them are the dual SIM and microSD trays. For international travellers, and others that like to have access to two different network carriers, dual SIM functionality is an absolute necessity.
At the top, you’ll find the headphone jack and on the rounded bottom is the microUSB port. With optics and speaker on the back, you’ll find a patterned design just under the glass on the rear, ever subtly so. In terms of its design, what stands out here is not just how thin this device is, but how well it rocks the 5 inch screen. Its thin bezels and refined edges result in it being one of the best handling phones of its size, making it, to an extent, better at handling than the majority of current mainstream flagships. HUAWEI is to be commended in this regard, because the device is remarkably well balanced in the hand.
It features flat but minimally sized sides bezels, which make for a comfortable feel, one that is reminiscent of the iPhone 5S, of which this phone has been noted to take inspiration from. Move along, legal teams, move along.
Related: Best HUAWEI Ascend P7 cases.
There’s no doubt that it features a rather pleasant aesthetic as well, and in particular; it’s white edition is quite attractive. When you consider how large its display truly is, it’s impressive when you have it in your hand.
DisplayHUAWEI has opted to graduate its P series to a 1080p screen at 5inches in size, bringing in tow a 441 PPI density, which is to say the screen affords exceptional clarity, where you will be quite hard pressed to find pixels of any kind. Further, it’s not hard to get impressed by the colors this screen puts out, especially with how colorful Huawei‘s user interface is. Colors appear incredibly vibrant and even at pretty steep viewing angles it retains all that fidelity. Even playing highly addictive game Injustice with its much darker tones was easy with this punchy display, as it exhibited great contrast and nice deep levels in the dark areas.
Somewhat interestingly, you do get the option of adjusting the screen’s color temperature, if you really feel the need to, and a high sensitivity allows usage even when you’re wearing gloves – a boon for those in less than ideal climates.
PerformanceHardware
When it comes to hardware, there’s things we like to see, and other things we don’t appreciate as much. HUAWEI’s Ascend P7 pulls ahead of the pack in terms of hardware with the inclusion of a microSD card slot, an often sought after feature that here allows for expanded storage over the included 16GB.
Of course, the Ascend P7 offers the full range of connectivity options as well, including NFC, as it is plainly shown in the notification area when turned on. Call quality on the AT&T network brought us no issues, which is to be expected. Its rear facing speaker facing speaker, despite the less than ideal placement, is a decent performer. It affords the user quite loud sound, but is not as rich as some of the smartphone titans of today, like the HTC One M8, for example. That being said, while it is not too rich, it still does a decent job of showcasing the low end of the audio spectrum pretty well.
For those among us that like to game or watch videos, the P7 suffers a common problem: it’s rather easy to covering the grill with a finger – effectively stifling the sound.
As far as battery life goes, the 2500mAh battery did quite well for me. A five hour stint filled with playing music via Play Music and an almost full hour of playing Injustice brought the battery down to 70 percent. For most but the heaviest users, it should easily get to the 12 hour mark with moderate to heavy usage, and we’ve no doubt the good standby time observed can help it go the distance. As is the norm these days, power saving modes are available and include projected hours of usage. One mode can bring the phone down to its essentials if you really need to eke out as much as you can, which is likely to be helpful when one nears the dreaded sub 15% battery mark with still things to do in the day.
Camera Samples GallerySoftware
Finally, in software, the Emotion UI returns once again in a very colorful and quite pleasing manner. As was mentioned before, the lack of transitions make for a really snappy experience, though the notification dropdown doesn’t quite exhibit this as well; still, it all makes for one of the nicer Chinese interfaces around. But it does come with the usual Chinese interface trope – a lack of an app drawer means you’ll have to organize your apps into folders – or get a new launcher. Ultimately, the Emotion UI looks like a pretty simple skin over what is essentially Android Kitkat, with a simple recent apps screen and easy to navigate settings area.
Huawei‘s own additions serve some good purposes, too – in particular, a Phone Manager that provides all the tools needed to accelerate the phone by closing background apps, freeing up space by deleting files, and much more that are listed when it scans the entire phone for issues. It’s nice to see a manufacturer like HUAWEI attempt to go the extra mile in this regard. As anyone who’s used Android extensively knows, even the most powerful devices can get slowed down by unnecessary files and the like. With this feature, anyone who’s nitpicky about what goes on in their phone will have that extra sense of control with it.
Arguably one of our favorite aspects of the Emotion UI is the Easy Mode, wherein everything is presented in large buttons on an attractive grid – it manages to still provide everything that is needed while minimalizing and keeping things really tight. Perfect for those less than familiar with the complexity that Android can appear like to newcomers.
And finally, all of these elements are able to be easily customized in the Themes application – not only are there a slew of built-in themes already available, you can easily tweak any single aspect from within the actual application. A very nice addition indeed.
In the end, the lack of an app drawer for anyone used to having one in their Android will find quite a bit to like in this snappy take on it. And, as most of us know – apps often go to the app drawer to rest – not be used.
All in all, HUAWEI is to be commended for the iterative and appreciated improvements across the line it has made to the HUAWEI Ascend P7. It’s a solid performer with great build quality, fast performance, good battery life, and a dynamic and sharp display.
GallerySo, what do I think? I find myself enjoying the Huawei Ascend P7 mostly because of its ease of use, both on the outside with its slim and light profile and on the inside with aspects like the Easy Mode. But while I did find quite a bit to like about the phone, I will admit that unless you are looking for those experiences and perhaps the powerful selfie camera, there isn’t too much distinguishing this phone from the more mainstream competitors. When compared to the behemoths in the market, no one defining feature really separates the P7 from them. But when you look at the whole package, you find a smartphone that succeeds at bringing power, function, and accessibility in a fairly unassuming way. It won’t be the life of the party, but it definitely deserves to be a part of it.
Huawei P40 Pro Revealed In Massive Leak
Huawei P40 Pro revealed in massive leak
Today the Huawei P40 Pro was leaked in a major way – just before its official reveal and release date. The Huawei P40 and Huawei P40 Pro were meant to be revealed at the same time – likely within the week – but leaksters in Germany got there first. The Huawei P40 rolls with a 6.1-inch OLED display, and the Huawei P40 Pro works with a 6.58-inch OLED display with 90Hz image refresh rate.
NOTE: This device family will launch with Huawei Mobile Services, HMS, instead of GMS, Google Mobile Services. This means it’ll not have access to Google apps, or the Google Play app store. Instead, it’ll focus on Huawei’s suite of apps.
The Huawei P40 Pro has a display that’s wrapped down its right and left sides, and runs right up unto the top and bottom frontside of its body. There’s a pill-shaped punch hole in the front upper left. In that hole, an array of cameras and sensors rests, allowing this device to surpass the abilities of almost every other phone on earth.
The front-facing cameras and sensors on this device allow 32-megapixel photos with f/2.2 apertures – the same setup on two cameras, one “main”, the other used primarily as a depth sensor. There’s also an IR sensor – infrared, for face-sensing.
Per sources working with WinFuture for leaks, we’ve got two devices here with the same processor setup. The Kirin 990 OctaCore CPU, 2x Cortex-A76 2.86 Ghz, 2x Cortex-A76 2.36 Ghz, 4x Cortex A55 1.95 Ghz will apparently be the hero, regardless of pro status.
The back-facing camera setup on the Huawei P40 Pro centers on a 50 megapixel UltraVision shooter with RYYB, 4-in-1 pixel binning, and an aperture of f/1.9. This device’s camera setup has optical image stabilization right out the gate, a 40MP camera with ultra-wide angle lens, and a 12MP “SuperSensing” camera with f/3.4 aperture.
This device family has a fingerprint sensor (fingerprint reader), proximity sensor, ambient light, compass, and an acceleration sensor. It uses a USB-C port for power and data, and sports dual-SIM card readers (2x nano-SIM), with NanoMemory – that means you’re not going to be able to use your standard microSD card from the past.
The battery in this PRO unit is a whopping 4200mAh large, while the non-pro version has a 3800mAh battery. The larger device is 158.2 x 72.6 x 8.95 mm large, while the smaller is 148.9 x 71.06 x 8.5 mm.
Sources suggest that these devices will be available in Europe within the next couple of weeks. That means they’ll likely be out for sale in stores and online inside of April, 2023. The Huawei P40 and P40 Pro will be available in a variety of colors, Silver, Gold, White, Black – and likely additional colors after initial launch.
The non-pro device will have a price somewhere around 800 Euro to start – this device won’t likely launch inside the USA. The Huawei P40 Pro also won’t likely launch inside the USA, but in Europe it’ll have a starting price of approximately 999 Euro.
Huawei Mate X3 Review: Hardware Heaven, Software Hell
Pros
Stunningly light and slim
Excellent OLED displays
Impressive telephoto camera
Cons
No Google support
Lacklustre battery life
Too expensive
Our VerdictThe Huawei Mate X3 has the best design of any book-style foldable on the market so far, but it is heavily let down by its software – making apps commonly found on other Android phones unusable.
Huawei’s third foldable phone is another book-style device, with a slimmer and lighter design than previous versions.
As this is a Huawei phone, it comes without native support for Google services. This is of course a massive shame, as the Chinese tech company has once again produced a slam-dunk on the hardware front that outshines rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Google Pixel Fold.
Here’s my conflicted review of the Mate X3.
Design & build
The thinnest and lightest book-style foldable right now
IPX8 rating
Two colour options
Huawei has always impressed with its builds, and this phone is no different. It looks incredible and is extremely practical.
For a book-style foldable, the Huawei Mate X3 is shockingly slim at 11.08mm thick whilst folded and 5.3mm whilst unfolded – 3mm slimmer than the previous generation phone, the Mate X2. For a device toting two whole displays, this is a serious feat in engineering.
The weight is equally impressive, clocking in at just 239g. This makes it one of the slimmest and lightest book-style foldable device on the market at the time of writing. In fact, it’s not that much thicker than a standard smartphone – so it won’t be bulging in your pocket unlike other thicker or wider folding phones.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
The large circular rear camera bump is a statement. The phone doesn’t lie completely flat when placed on a surface, but the centre placement does make the weight even so it isn’t leaning to one side.
The version I tested comes in a dark green vegan leather finish, but you can also get the Mate X3 in a black glass variant. I’m a fan of the leather finish – it doesn’t pick up fingerprints, and it stays securely on surfaces.
From a hardware standpoint, the Huawei Mate X3 cannot be beaten by other book-style foldables
The phone has a book-style folding design, with one long display on the outside when closed, and then an internal larger display with a fold down the centre when opened.
The phone closed completely flat, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, so it doesn’t pick up much dust or gunk from the outside. The USB-C port sits on the bottom of the phone, whilst stereo speakers are at either end. Like other premium devices, it doesn’t have a headphone jack.
Huawei has finally added in some waterproofing to its Mate X line, with this phone boasting an IPX8 rating, so it would survive a brief dunking.
You get space for two SIMs as well as Huawei’s own nano-memory card for additional storage. There is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which works as intended. Face recognition struggles from time-to-time, particularly in low-lit areas, or if I’m wearing glasses.
Haptics on this phone are clipped and offer a good level of feedback. There is a sliding scale to adjust the strength on the Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard settings. Having it set at about 50% is the sweet spot – 100% is too overpowering.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
Screen & speakers
Dual OLED screens
120Hz refresh rates
Crease is noticable
There are two screens to consider on the Mate X3, and both are splendid.
The external display is 6.4in in a 20.9:9 aspect ratio. That’s slightly slimmer than what you’d fine on a normal phone, but webpages and apps still function normally, without any squashing or compression of text or images – I often forgot I was using a foldable device, using this screen as I would on a normal phone.
The internal foldable screen extends to 7.85in and comes with a resolution of 2224 x 2496 – a higher resolution that the cover screen, which is 1080 x 2504. Both displays have OLED panels with refresh rates of 120Hz.
In real terms, both displays are bright and colourful, and produce minimal glare when used under direct sunlight. You’ll get the best experience using the bigger display – but if you just want to use it on the go, the external display is still a pleasure to look at.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
There is a crease in the internal display when you first open it up, there’s no denying it. However, it’s mostly noticeable when at a side-angle rather than face-on. When I compared side-by-side with the Z Fold 3, the dent doesn’t look or feel as prominent. It also feels solid and sturdy to touch, and not spongey like some other flexible displays.
There’s also a slightly thick bezel around the outer edge, but this is typical for a phone with this build.
There’s a selfie camera on its internal screen as well as the outside one. Whilst this does mean that you don’t get an entirely clean panel inside, it offers flexibility and allows you to take video calls on a bigger display. Plus, the punch hole design is neatly tucked away in the corner, so it isn’t too obtrusive.
The stereo speakers produce loud and punchy audio. Whilst music doesn’t have the same depth and colour as a device with additional processing, the audio is plenty fine for podcasts and video streaming.
Specs & performance
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor
12GB RAM/512GB storage in the UK
The Huawei Mate X3 is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 512GB worth of storage, the only configuration that the phone comes in in the UK. In China you can get it with 12GB and either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage.
The 8+ Gen 1 is the same chip that’s in the flagship Huawei P60 Pro, and isn’t the latest Qualcomm chipset on the market – that badge of honour goes to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which is available on the Samsung S23 series.
Nonetheless, this is a powerful smartphone that can handle vigorous multitasking, gaming and strenuous apps. It also outpaces the Galaxy Z Fold 4 in our official Geekbench 5 test. See more scores in our benchmarking below:
To put it simply, you shouldn’t worry about performance with this phone – there are no issues with stuttering or lag. I was able to play the demanding game Genshin Impact on medium graphics settings with only some popping – though the phone did get quite hot.
Huawei’s continued strained relations with the US trade industry means that you’ll have to settle for 4G rather than 5G – not great considering the hefty price tag.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
Cameras & video
50Mp main lens
Up to 5x optical zoom
Dual 8Mp selfie cameras
For a book-style foldable, the Huawei Mate X3 has an impressive set of cameras. The main 50Mp lens has an f/1.8 aperture, along with optical image stabilisation (OIS). This is complimented by a 12Mp telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, a f/3.4 aperture and OIS, and a 13Mp wide-angle lens with a f/2.2 aperture.
Whilst it doesn’t have the same wow-factor as the snapper on the P60 Pro, these images aren’t to be sniffed at. Textures and details are sharp, colours are bright yet true-to-life, and the camera performs decently in a variety of lighting environments.
The 5x optical zoom is enough to retain details in skyscrapers from miles away. It’s impressive Huawei fit in a periscope telephoto lens in a folding phone in the first place.
You can digitally zoom even further – up to 50x zoom. However, the images become much blurrier and noisier above 10x zoom. Note that this is a slight step down from the Mate X2, which offers 10x optical zoom and 100x digital.
The bokeh effect is very impressive, with the camera identifying fine pieces of hair and boosted colours of the main subject in all the right areas. Super-macro mode means you can take some impressive close-up shots of things such as plants with minimal fuss.
For low light photography, I stuck with night mode. There is a clear difference in shots with this on, with details and shades much sharper and lifted. Without it, the camera suffers with glare and can struggle focusing.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
The wide-angle camera is less impressive. Whilst it has a good field of view, colours don’t pop as much, and fine lines are lost. The perspective also feels a little odd here, with a slightly fish-eyed finish.
For video, the Mate X3 can record in 4K at 60fps, and comes with gyro-EIS for keeping recordings steady. The front cameras tap out at 4K at 30fps.
Battery & charging
Around a day’s use on average
85% charge in 30 minutes
Wireless and reverse wireless charging supported
The Mate X3 has a 4800mAh battery, which is on par with what other foldables of this style pack in.
In typical use, the phone lasts a day on average – this is after watching videos, taking photos and calls, etc. It’s about the same level as what I’d expect from a normal flagship phone, which is decent considering that the battery is powering two displays.
In our PCMark10 battery test, the phone didn’t fare great – managing just seven hours and eight minutes. However, this was using the main display consistently. During real-world use I alternate between the outer and inner screens. It’s also in keeping with most scores achieved by other book-style foldables in our tests.
You get 66W wired charging, 50W wireless charging and 7.5 reverse wireless charging. A standard charge will juice the phone from flat to 85% in 30 minutes – though you must ensure that ‘turbo charging’ is enabled when you plug the phone in to get the fastest speeds.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
No native Google support
EMUI 13.1 based on Android 12
The Huawei Mate X3 runs on EMUI 13.1, which is based on Android 12, not the latest Android 13. It pains me to say it, but the software stops this phone from being recommendable to anyone who relies on Google apps and services. There’s no Google Play Store, either.
It’s not just things such as Drive, Photos and Docs that this covers – Uber and Citymapper are unusable, as they scrape data from Google Maps. You also can’t download other big titles from the Huawei AppGallery app store, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Netflix and PayPal.
You can sideload some of these apps, but the process is quite clunky – and not all apps immediately download from the first APK site you’ll find. You can technically get Google working by sandboxing. If you’re not sure what any of this means, don’t buy this phone!
I got Twitter, Twitch, Instagram and Disney+ all working. The AppGallery also includes some things such as TikTok and Snapchat.
Alternatively, you can use Huawei’s own apps. For example, Petal Maps is a clone of Google Maps. Whilst this is accurate in predicting public transport in London, the search function is extremely bizarre and doesn’t always suggest every result you’d find on Google’s variant.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
Elephant in the room aside, navigation on EMUI is reminiscent of Xiaomi’s MIUI OS. Swiping down from the top-left will access your notifications, whilst swiping down from the top-right pulls up the control panel. This phone also shares Xiaomi’s annoying habit of bloatware.
Huawei gives you the option to use split screen mode. Whilst this is useful, some apps (such as Instagram) are not supported, and the amount of gestures and controls aren’t as handy as what Samsung offers.
According to a Huawei spokesperson, the Mate X3 will get two years of OS updates and three years security at minimum. However, flagships from the brand can get longer – up to three years of OS and four year security updates.
The Mate X3 doesn’t get as much long-term support as Samsung models, which have four years of updates and five of security patches.
…the software stops this phone from being recommendable to anyone who relies on Google apps and services
Price & availabilityThe Huawei Mate X3 will set you back a hefty £1,999/€2,199, and like other Huawei phones it isn’t available in the US. British readers can buy it directly from Huawei, or via Amazon.
You can also import it from VMall.
This is extremely expensive, outpricing both the Google Pixel Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, both of which don’t have the same software flaws. If you’re used to the Android experience, I wouldn’t recommend dropping £2,000 on this phone.
You can check out further foldable devices, including clam-shell smartphones such as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, in our chart of the best foldable phones.
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
VerdictFrom a hardware standpoint, the Huawei Mate X3 cannot be beaten by other book-style foldables. Both the rear body and OLED displays are a treat to look at, and its light and slim body is truly remarkable. It also functions just as well as a normal smartphone when closed.
Unfortunately, it’s extremely hard to use without Google-supported apps. Side-loading can only get you so far, and Huawei’s own apps just aren’t as intuitive and clean. The battery life isn’t impressive either.
If it didn’t have these software issues, it would almost certainly be one of the best foldables you can get right now. If Huawei can manage to one day get back in the Google game, then it might stand a chance at competing in the Western foldable market.
Specs
Android 12 with EMUI 13.1
Interior: 7.85in foldable 120Hz OLED display (2224 x 2496)
Exterior: 6.4in 120Hz OLED (1080 x 2504)
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
12GB RAM
256GB/512GB/1TB storage
50Mp, f/1.8, RYYB OIS rear camera + 13Mp, f/2.2 ultra-wide + 12Mp, f/3.4, 5x optical zoom, OIS tele
8Mp f/2.4 front camera (external display) + 8Mp f/2.4 front camera (internal display)
Side mounted fingerprint scanner
11az dual-band Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
GPS
NFC
4G LTE
USB-C
4500mAh non-removable battery
66W wired charging
Unfolded: 156.9 x 141.5 x 5.3mm
Folded: 156.9 x 72.4 x 11.8mm
239g
How To Take A Screenshot On The Huawei P30 And P30 Pro
Huawei’s brand new flagship device is here along with its semi-affordable flagship which are the Huawei P30 Pro and the P30 respectively.
Both devices look absolutely stunning; however, the P30 Pro is the one most consumers would be interested to buy. The Huawei P30 and the P30 Pro both come with top-of-the-line specifications including as the 7nm based Kirin 980.
Much like any other Huawei device, these two smartphones also come with a ton of software features for users to play around with and most of these features are often fairly useful.
If you’ve already used any recent Huawei smartphone, then you might already know how to use the basic features such as capturing a screenshot; however, if you aren’t familiar with how to take a screenshot on the P30 and P30 Pro, then worry not since you’ll learn the trick within no time at all by following the guide below.
Let’s check out how to capture a screenshot on the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro.
Huawei P30 and P30 Pro: Capturing screenshots
Method 1: Using the hardware keys
Capturing a screenshot using the hardware keys is practically almost the same on all modern Android devices. All you need to do is press a combination of hardware keys to instantly capture the screen.
Open the application/screen you want to take a screenshot off.
Simply press and hold the
Power Key
and the
Volume down
key simultaneously to take a screenshot.
It’s as easy as that. However, if you want to learn a few more cool ways to capture a screenshot, then check out the methods below as well.
Method 2: Knuckle double-tap gesture
Huawei’s added a cool gesture function to take a screenshot in their custom EMUI skin; however, to use this feature you would activate it first.
Under the Knuckle Gestures category, tap on
Toggle on the feature. (It’s on by default, BTW.)
Taking a regular screenshot:
Once the feature has been activated, open the application/screen you want to capture a screenshot of.
Now simply knock the screen twice (a bit hard) with your knuckle to take a screenshot.
Recording the screen:
Enable the feature as discussed above.
You can end the screen recording by taping on the STOP text in the little widget that shows up in the left top side while recording is going on.
Or, pull down the notification panel, and tap on the blue square button.
Scrolling screenshot:
The screenshot would be captured and saved to the Gallery automatically.
Method 3: Using the notification toggle
If you’re not a big fan of the three-finger gesture method of taking a screenshot, then this method is just as simple and easy as the gesture method for taking a screenshot.
Head over to the screen you want to take a screenshot of.
Pull down the notification tray (swipe down from the top two times) to reveal the quick toggles.
Find and then tap on the screenshot quick toggle button.
The notification panel would automatically close and the screenshot would be taken.
Method 4: Ask Google Assistant
The Google Assistant is pretty useful for several things including taking a screenshot on your device. If you
Simply open the app/screen you want to capture.
Launch Google Assistant by pressing and holding the home key or by simply saying “Okay Google” if the always listening function is enabled on your device for Google Assistant.
Once Google Assistant is brought up, say “take a screenshot”.
The only issue with asking GA to take a screenshot is that the screenshot isn’t automatically saved to the Gallery, instead, you have to option to share the screenshot to other applications.
How to take a scrolling screenshot
You could also capture a scrolling screenshot on the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro or any other recent Huawei or Honor device by performing the following steps.
The scroll capture lets you take a screenshot of a webpage or list which does not fit in a single frame.
Capture the screenshot using any of the first three methods.
You would see a screenshot preview pop up and stay at the left corner of the screen. Tap on that screenshot preview.
Now tap on the Scrollshot option which would be present in the bottom bar.
The device would automatically begin capturing the scrolling screenshot and you need to simply tap on the screen to stop the screenshot when you’re satisfied with the content captured.
How to use the screenshot knuckle gestures
Huawei has added a few other screenshot gestures to their EMUI skin which are pretty useful. The gestures we’re speaking about let you capture a scrolling screenshot without having to perform the above-mentioned steps and you could also capture a partial screenshot in a few different shapes.
The two gestures are easy to perform hence follow the steps mentioned below to use the two knuckle gestures. You would have to enable the Knuckle Gestures feature to use these two knuckle gestures. Follow Method 2 to enable the Knuckle Gestures option.
Capturing a scrolling screenshot using the knuckle gestures
Capturing a screenshot with shapes using the knuckle gestures
Open the app or screen of which you want to take a partial screenshot and then draw an ‘O‘ on the screen.
You would now see a screenshot overlay from where you could select the shape of the portion you want to capture the screenshot of.
There are 4 shapes to choose from Oval, Square, Heart, or the exact shape you move your knuckle around with to capture the screenshot.
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