Huawei announces 5G version of the Mate 20 X
Update, July 12, 2019 (01:10 PM ET): After delaying the release of the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G due to the U.S. ban on Huawei, the company has finally revealed pricing and a release date for a few areas of the world (via GSM Arena).
The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G is available now in the United Arab Emirates through Etisalat for the price of 3,523 UAE dirham (~$959). However, the site lists the device as being currently sold out.
With these listings, the Mate 20 X 5G becomes the first 5G-capable device from the company to hit store shelves.
Original article, March 1, 2019 (03:10 PM ET): Why spend money and resources on creating a new design for a 5G phone when you can just use a pre-existing one? That’s what Huawei asked itself and answered this past weekend with the 5G version of the existing Huawei Mate 20 X, reported by TechCrunch.
Huawei CEO Richard Yu announced the 5G variant of the Mate 20 X near the end of the company’s MWC 2019 press conference. We reached out to Huawei for confirmation, with the company only re-iterating Yu’s comments on stage and saying little else. The announcement takes place at the 1:43:48 mark in the video below.
That said, it’s likely that the updated Mate 20 X includes Huawei’s Balong 5000. Also found in the foldable Mate X, the modem connects to existing 4G networks and is supposedly capable of 4.6Gbps downlink speeds. That’s double the industry standard for 5G and ten times what’s currently available with 4G networks.
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We also assume the 5G version of the Huawei Mate 20 X retains the same specs as the normal version. That means a huge 7.2-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ (2,244 x 1,080) resolution and a waterdrop-style notch, three rear cameras, Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 980 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 5,000mAh battery, and Android 9 Pie.
Huawei hasn’t announced pricing or availability at the time of this writing. The original Mate 20 X initially sold for 899 euros (~$1,040), so expect a higher price tag to account for the 5G support. We can also expect the phone to be available in Europe and China, with U.S. availability likely out of the question.
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