If there’s a brand that’s quietly ahead of the curve for foldables, it’s HUAWEI. Back in September 2024, they surprised the rest of the world with their first-ever tri-fold phone, the HUAWEI Mate XT Ultimate. It proved that the brand was doing something right with its foldables. While we won’t get the Mate XT Ultimate in the country, we do get the next best thing, the latest in the brand’s foldable line, the HUAWEI Mate X7. A culmination of the brand’s technology, it sits on the throne as the King of Foldables.
Design: 4.5/5
The HUAWEI Mate X7 exudes elegance from the moment you take it out of the box. You’ll be greeted by the 8.0-inch foldable display, and when you turn it around, you’ll see the vegan leather back and the 6.9-inch cover display. Our review unit came in Nebula Red, which I think pairs well with the metal frame.
When you get the device, you immediately notice what HUAWEI was going for in the Mate X7. Compared to some of its competitors, it’s not the thinnest, nor does it push design limits, but instead, you feel confident when you hold and unfold it. When I first held the device, I immediately knew it was no porcelain bowl I needed to handle with extreme care. It’s solid and nice to hold, whether folded or unfolded.
The cover display features an 8-megapixel f/2.4 selfie camera. The internal folded display has another 8-megapixel f/2.2 selfie camera. You can find the phone’s volume and power buttons on the right, with the power button also serving as a fingerprint reader. You can see a speaker on top and another beneath. Also found beneath are the USB-C port and the dual-SIM tray. The phone also supports an additional SIM, but you are limited to two active SIMs at a time.
Hardware: 4.5/5
Both displays feature LTPO OLED screens with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR, and 1440Hz PWM. The outer cover display has a resolution of 1080 x 2444, while the larger display has a bigger 2416 x 2210 resolution. The front also has a brighter 3000nits of peak brightness, while the inside display goes up to 2500nits.
On to the processor: the HUAWEI Mate X7 is powered by the Kirin 9030 Pro. On paper, it’s not on par with its Snapdragon counterpart, but in reality, you’ll barely notice the difference. Our review unit also comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Here are some benchmark numbers for those who want raw numbers:
- Antutu V11 – 159435
- Geekbench 6 – 837 Single Core, 4611 Multi-core
- 3Dmark Wild Life 7772 (46.54 fps)
- PCMark Work 3.0 9976
In terms of gaming, the Mate X7 can handle the most demanding games even on high settings. I was able to play Genshin Impact at the highest settings in 30fps, and at High settings at 60fps. Lighter esports titles like Honor of Kings were a breeze with settings maxed out. The same goes for Teamfight Tactics, where everything ran smoothly. I knew that a phone with this caliber could handle most games; what surprised me was how it handled it. Even during heavy gaming sessions, the phone never got hot, whether it was folded or unfolded.
The HUAWEI Mate X7’s cameras are by far its best feature. I was honestly blown away by its capabilities. The Mate X7 features a quad-camera setup: a 50-megapixel main shooter (with 17.5 EV of dynamic range), a 50-megapixel Telephoto Macro, a 40-megapixel Ultra-wide, and finally the True-to-Color sensor. The True-to-Color sensor is a color-spectrum sensor that enables the camera to capture a wider range of colors for a more natural-looking shot.
Here are some sample shots with the Mate X7:
The Mate X7’s cameras produced some of the best pictures I’ve seen on a phone, not to mention on a foldable, where cameras are an afterthought. As for video, it can shoot great footage at up to 4K at 60fps. Videos were decent, social media-ready, though not stable shots were capped at 2.7k
Battery life is also pretty good for a foldable. The phone lasted me a whole day. I was also able to get 15h 39mins in PCMark Battery Life when the device was unfolded. When you do run out of juice, charging is fast with its 66W HUAWEI SuperCharge capability. I was able to charge the phone from 10-100% in about 48 minutes. It also has 0W Wireless HUAWEI SuperCharge, but I was unable to test this feature fully.
What makes the HUAWEI Mate X7 the king of foldables is its durability. HUAWEI has equipped the Mate X7 with 360-degree protection. The cover display features the second-generation Crystal Armor Kunlun Glass, while the inner screen has a Triple Layer Composite Structure for bend and impact resistance. The Mate X7 also features a new hinge system built to withstand impacts and drops. Lastly, the phone is rated IP58/IP59 for water and dust resistance, meaning it can withstand being submerged in up to 2m of water for up to 30 minutes.
User Experience: 4/5
On the software side of things, the Mate X7 is using HUAWEI’s EMUI 15 software for our global unit. During my two weeks with the device, I’ve already had two updates come through, which was a good sign.
The HUAWEI Mate X7 was unexpectedly easy to use. Even though it natively lacks Google services, workarounds have finally improved to the point where you don’t notice them sometimes. I was able to easily download most of my work apps, and all it took was just another layer of user login. After setting up the device for the first time, I was able to check my email and watch YouTube within minutes.
While the software has improved significantly, glitches still occur. Just before finishing this review, the Drive app crashed a couple of times when I was uploading photos from my phone. There were also a few instances when the games had bugs. Certain apps were also forced to a certain orientation, without meaning you’ve got to rotate the Mate X7 in the middle of a task. These bugs are not a deal breaker for me; in fact, they were quite rare.
I really enjoyed the HUAWEI Mate X7 as a media-centric device. The displays are sharp and vivid, and the speakers are good. It’s not the loudest, but it can fill a room. In terms of productivity, I like the split screen for multi-app workflows. You can technically open three windows at a time, but for me, it was already overkill for the work that I do on my phone.
I should also mention that there’s no 5G support locally for the HUAWEI Mate X7. It does have the feature, and you can use it in other countries, but we can’t use it in the Philippines.
Value: 3.5/5
The HUAWEI Mate X7 is now available in the Philippines for PHP119, 999. That’s a steep price compared to competitors, justified by its more durable build, elegant design, and class-leading cameras. Honestly, if you are a photographer who wants a foldable, you’ll definitely fall in love with this phone.
Bottomline:
HUAWEI’s King of Foldables sits on its throne thanks to its build quality and amazing cameras, but it also comes with a royal price.
What’s Hot:
- Amazing Cameras
- Solid Build Quality
- Luxurious and Elegant Design
What’s Not:
- Software has occasional blips
- Lacks local 5G support
- Expensive
Specs:
- Display: 6.49-inch 2444 × 1080 LTPO OLED with 2nd Gen Kunlun Glass (cover), 8-inch 2416 × 2210 LTPO OLED (unfolded), both 120 Hz refresh rate with 144 Hz PMW and HDR vivid
- Dimensions: 156.8 × 73.8 × 9.5mm (folded) 156.8 × 144.2 × 4.5mm (unfolded)
- OS: EMUI 15
- Processor: Kirin 9030 Pro
- Rear Cameras: 50 MP Ultra Lighting HDR Camera (F1.49~F4.0, RYYB， OIS), 40 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Camera (F2.2， RYYB), 50 MP Telephoto Macro Camera (F2.2,RYYB， OIS), True-to-Colour Camera
- Front Camera: Folded: 8 MP Camera (F2.4 aperture); Unfolded:8 MP Camera (F2.2 aperture)
- Battery: 5600 mAh with HUAWEI SuperCharge (66W), Wireless HUAWEI SuperCharge (50W), 7.5W reverse charging (wireless), 5W reverse charging (wired)
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, Infrared
- RAM: 16GB,
- Storage: 512GB
- Colors: Nebula Red, Black
Reviewed by Gabriel Pe. Also publishes in GADGETS Magazine Vol. 26 No. 9