Thinner and lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, despite two screens
In the ongoing human pursuit of making powerful things smaller and more resilient, Huawei has introduced the Mate X3 — a foldable phone that, despite carrying two screens within its frame, manages to weigh less and fold thinner than Apple's most premium single-screen device. Announced in China in March 2023, the Mate X3 quietly signals something larger: that the foldable form factor is maturing from novelty into a credible vision of what a phone can be. In returning to the inward-folding book-style design, Huawei is not just releasing a product — it is casting a vote for where the industry is headed.
- The foldable phone category has long struggled with a fundamental tension — more complexity means more weight, more fragility, and more compromise — and Huawei is directly challenging that assumption.
- At 239 grams and 5.3mm thin, the Mate X3 undercuts Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 on both weight and thickness, raising the competitive stakes in a segment where marginal gains carry outsized meaning.
- The rare IPX8 water resistance rating addresses one of foldables' most persistent vulnerabilities, matching only Samsung's flagship fold in a category where hinges and layered screens have historically made water a genuine threat.
- A free-stop hinge and a capable triple-camera system round out a device designed to close the gap between foldable ambition and everyday practicality.
- By abandoning last year's wraparound screen experiment and returning to the book-style design, Huawei is signaling that the inward-folding form factor is not a trend — it may be the destination.
Huawei unveiled the Mate X3 in China alongside the non-foldable P60 series, presenting a foldable phone that makes an unlikely boast: it is thinner and lighter than Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max, despite housing two screens. At 5.3 millimeters thick and 239 grams unfolded, it reclaims the title of lightest foldable on the market — a record Huawei previously held with the Mate XS 2.
The hardware tells the story of careful engineering. A 6.4-inch cover screen opens to a 7.85-inch inner display, while the closest rival, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4, weighs 263 grams and measures 6.3mm thick. The gap may seem small, but in a category where portability and durability are perpetually at odds, those numbers matter.
The Mate X3's free-stop hinge allows the device to hold at intermediate angles, enabling hands-free and flex-mode use cases that a fully open or closed phone cannot. The camera system — a 50-megapixel main sensor, 13-megapixel ultra-wide, and 12-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom — is capable, but the more remarkable achievement is the IPX8 water resistance rating. Only Samsung's Z Fold 4 shares this distinction among foldables, and for a device with a moving hinge and layered screens, surviving deep submersion is no small feat.
Perhaps most telling is what the Mate X3 represents strategically. After last year's Mate XS 2 experimented with a wraparound single-screen design, Huawei has returned to the inward-folding book style — the form factor Samsung helped define. The reversal suggests Huawei has concluded, at least for now, that this is where the foldable category is converging.
Huawei has unveiled the Mate X3, a book-style foldable phone that arrives with an unusual claim: it's thinner and lighter than Apple's flagship iPhone 14 Pro Max, despite housing two screens instead of one. The device, announced Thursday in China alongside the non-foldable P60 series, measures just 5.3 millimeters thick and weighs 239 grams when unfolded. That makes it the lightest foldable phone currently on the market—a distinction Huawei held previously with the Mate XS 2.
The engineering feat becomes clearer when you look at the hardware inside. The Mate X3 has a 6.4-inch cover screen on the outside that folds open to reveal a 7.85-inch inner display. For comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4, the closest competitor, weighs 263 grams and measures 6.3 millimeters thick. The difference may sound marginal, but in the foldable space, where durability and portability are constant tensions, shaving off weight and millimeters matters.
The phone's hinge represents another engineering choice worth noting. Huawei built in what it calls a free-stop hinge, allowing the device to fold and hold at various angles rather than just fully open or closed. This flexibility opens the door to what the industry calls Flex-mode features—ways of using the phone that take advantage of its ability to stand at intermediate angles, useful for video calls, content consumption, or hands-free photography.
The camera system reflects Huawei's continued focus on imaging. A circular camera bump houses a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom capability. These specs are solid, though the real story lies elsewhere.
That story is water resistance. The Mate X3 carries an IPX8 rating, meaning it can survive submersion in water deeper than one meter—roughly 3.2 feet. In the foldable phone world, this is uncommon. Only Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 series shares the same rating. For a device with a moving hinge and multiple screen layers, water resistance at this level represents a meaningful engineering accomplishment. Foldables have historically been fragile in ways that make water exposure a genuine concern, so this rating addresses a real weakness in the category.
The Mate X3 also signals a strategic shift for Huawei. Last year, the company released the Mate XS 2, which used a single wraparound screen design rather than the inward-folding book style. Now, with the Mate X3, Huawei is returning to the book-style approach—the form factor Samsung pioneered. The move suggests that after experimenting with alternatives, Huawei has concluded that the inward-folding design is where the category is headed. Whether that proves true will depend on how the market responds, but for now, Huawei is betting that the book-style foldable is the future.
Notable Quotes
The Mate X3 is the lightest commercially available foldable phone— Huawei (via device specifications)
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does thickness matter so much in a foldable phone? Isn't the whole point that it folds?
You'd think so, but thickness affects how the phone feels in your pocket when it's folded, how it balances in your hand, and how durable the hinge mechanism can be. A thinner device is harder to engineer—it means every component has to do more with less space. That's why Huawei's achievement here is worth noting.
And the water resistance—is that really a big deal, or is it marketing?
It's a genuine engineering challenge. Foldables have moving parts, gaps where water can seep in. Most manufacturers have avoided IPX8 ratings because they're hard to achieve reliably. That only Samsung and now Huawei have it tells you something about the difficulty.
What does the free-stop hinge actually do for a user?
It lets you prop the phone at any angle you want. You could fold it halfway to watch a video hands-free, or position it for a video call without needing a stand. It's a small thing, but it changes how you can use the device in daily life.
Why did Huawei abandon the wraparound design after one generation?
That's the question, isn't it. The wraparound was different, but maybe it didn't resonate with users or proved harder to manufacture at scale. Going back to the book-style suggests they've decided that's the form factor people actually want.