Huawei's mate x7: a clever foldable trick you haven't seen
Huawei's latest foldable, the Mate X7, isn't just another iterative upgrade in the increasingly crowded foldable market. While the specs and price point – hovering around €2,099 in Spain, a close match to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7's €2,006 – are familiar, there’s a subtle but compelling detail that elevates it beyond the usual refinements.
The unexpected utility of a foldable kickstand
Most manufacturers are laser-focused on minimizing those tell-tale creases and reducing thickness. But Huawei has quietly delivered something arguably more useful: a surprisingly effective makeshift kickstand. It’s a feature I hadn’t encountered before in a foldable device, and it fundamentally alters how you might use the X7.
The Mate X7’s vegan leather back, available in Nebula Red and Black, and its rounded silver edges contribute to a comfortable, premium feel. It’s only marginally thicker than a standard smartphone when folded (9.5mm, excluding the camera module), and a remarkably slender 4.5mm when unfolded – a thickness akin to a USB-C connector. These are solid, expected improvements. But the real surprise lies in how the device can be propped open at roughly a 90-degree angle, leveraging the external screen without fully closing the phone.
Typically, foldables like the Oppo Find N6 automatically shift content to the internal display upon unfolding. This is generally a welcome behavior, streamlining the user experience. However, that automatic shift becomes a minor annoyance when you unintentionally open and close the device, losing your place. Huawei’s solution – keeping the external screen active when propped open – feels like a genuinely intuitive design choice. The phone smartly understands your intention to utilize the primary display, even in this unconventional configuration.
The catch? The external screen remains active even if you open the device while actively using it, preventing you from maintaining that external display view. It’s a minor limitation for a feature that otherwise unlocks a compelling new use case.
While the Honor Magic V6, priced at approximately €1,500 (11,999 CNY), represents a more budget-friendly alternative, the Mate X7's unique kickstand functionality provides a distinct advantage. It’s a testament to Huawei’s willingness to prioritize utility over purely aesthetic improvements, a refreshing change in the foldable landscape.
The Mate X7 isn’t revolutionizing the foldable category, but it’s quietly redefining what a foldable can do. And that’s a far more valuable contribution than another incremental refinement of the crease.