Everybody expects foldable miracles out of Apple, since it took Tim Cook and co. so many years to embrace the idea of the foldable form factor.
The iPhone Fold is now rumored to face stiff competition in the face of a Chinese rival – but I bet the vast majority of US-based users will just go with the iPhone Fold over the challenger.
The next champion that bends
The Huawei Pura X. | Image by PhoneArena
A new leak from China hints that Huawei may be preparing a new addition to its foldable lineup. Tipster Digital Chat Station revealed on Weibo that a top-five Chinese smartphone maker is testing a large-screen foldable device.
The rumored phone would feature a 7.6-inch main display and a 5.5-inch cover screen, with an aspect ratio near 14:10. It’s said to run on a flagship-level chipset, include a periscope telephoto camera, and house a battery just under 6,000mAh. This is very respectable – and on paper, this battery capacity sounds like heaven.
While the brand wasn’t explicitly named, references point to Huawei, and the tipster ruled out the Oppo Find N6, which I recently discussed in detail.
So, Huawei’s unnamed foldable could be the industry’s first large, horizontally wide foldable – a form factor Huawei has experimented with before. Its Pura X model, for example, had a 6.3-inch wide OLED main screen and a 3.5-inch square cover display.
If true, Huawei’s new foldable may target Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone, expected to feature a 7.7-inch display. The wide-screen design could offer a more immersive experience for reading, movies, browsing, and gaming, reducing the need for scrolling or zooming compared with traditional vertical foldables.
The Pura X experience
The Huawei Pura X. | Image by PhoneArena
We here at PhoneArena had the chance to test Huawei’s Pura X foldable:
Unlike typical vertical foldables, the Pura X opens to reveal a wide 16:10 display, similar to a business-class laptop screen. That extra width makes reading, watching videos, and typing far more comfortable – lines of text feel less cramped, video fills the screen better, and the on-screen keyboard suddenly feels spacious and precise. Combined with surprisingly powerful stereo speakers and a stylish, durable design, it’s clear Huawei has built something genuinely innovative.For US users, the main hurdle is availability. The Pura X is exclusive to China and runs Harmony Next OS without Google services, limiting access to apps commonly used in the West. Still, performance is smooth thanks to Huawei’s Kirin chipset, and the phone’s $1,000 price reflects a premium, no-compromise build.
From where I stand, the iPhone Fold will surely remain the go-to choice for most US users. Huawei’s new foldable looks impressive on paper, and the Pura X shows the company can innovate, but without Google services and local availability, it’s simply not practical here.
Having played with the Pura X, I can say Huawei knows how to push foldable design forward, and this next device will no doubt impress in its home market. If anything, seeing Huawei innovate only makes me more excited to see how Apple responds with its own foldable next year.
