It looks like the Huawei Mate X foldable has been delayed again

It turns out the Huawei Mate X might have a launch date that’s even more flexible than its screen.

Huawei has apparently shifted the launch of its foldable phone from September to November. No reason was provided in the report from TechRadar, but it seems to be uncomfortably familiar to the saga of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the release of which was delayed from April until September.

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When Samsung launched its foldable phone in February, it appeared that the brand has achieved a prestigious victory by unveiling the first mainstream smartphone with a foldable touchscreen display. But just days later that achievement seemed to lie in tatters (almost literally), as the device malfunctioned in the hands of several tech journalists due to dirt particles encroaching under the screen’s protective layer.

Having fixed the problem with reinforcements to the design, Samsung is now gearing up to release the device in September; but does the reported launch date delay from Huawei indicate that the Mate X has also proved to be less than robust when faced with real-world daily use?

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The Huawei Mate X specs are certainly impressive at first glance: 5G connectivity, a muscular Kirin 980 chipset, 512GB of storage space, and a hefty 4500mAh battery. But what most impressed us in our hands-on review was the extent to which it felt like a convincing finished product rather than a clumsy first-generation prototype. The design provides a single 8-inch display when unfolded, or a 6.6-inch front screen and 6.38-inch rear when collapsed, in an attractive design which maximises the available screen very effectively.

We might have to wait a little longer to see the first market-ready iterations of the device, but we’re looking forward to seeing how it will score in our full review. We could even end up seeing the Huawei Mate 30 before its foldable sibling.