China’s Huawei unveiled its latest folding smartphone Monday and its first such device to be available internationally, competing with new models from Samsung and Motorola.

The company took the wraps off the new Mate Xs. Like its predecessor, the Mate X, which only saw limited release in China last year, the display wraps around the phone’s outside when closed and unfolds to a tablet-size eight-inch screen. When folded, the Mate Xs has a 6.6-inch display, which is just slightly larger than Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro Max. But when opened out, Huawei’s device becomes an 8-inch tablet computer. The company says there are improvements under the hood, including a redesigned four-layer screen and upgraded “falcon wing” hinge. It also gets Huawei’s latest homegrown Kirin 990 chipset, a four-lens camera system and can be used on a wider range of high-speed 5G network bands. The phone has three rear-facing Leica Camera AG-branded lenses, which double as selfie cameras when flipping the phone around in its folded form. The camera array, located again on the hinge unit, includes a 40-megapixel main camera, with an 8-megapixel telephoto camera and an ultra-wide 20-megapixel shooter. There's a time-of-flight sensor, too, for Portrait effects and such.

The phone uses a 4,500mAh battery, split between two cells, with Huawei's new high-speed charging standard. it also uses a new cooling system, with a design called "flying fish fin" to speed up the cooling process.

However, the Mate Xs lacks the full Android operating system by Google. The Trump administration last year blocked Huawei’s access to U.S. components and technology on national security grounds, part of a wider trade and tech war between the U.S. and China.

Instead, the Mate Xs runs a stripped-down open source version of Android. Users can still download apps but they’ll be from Huawei’s own app store, not the Google Play store.

The phone is expected to go on sale in March priced at 2,499 euros ($2,700) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. What's more, the company says the device will be available "globally" starting next month.

Huawei also showed off a new line of tablet computers for Europe -- the MatePad Pro 5G -- aimed at the same buyers of products like Apple’s iPad Pro.

The MatePad Pro has a 10.8-inch display compared to the iPad’s 11 inches; it includes a stylus that, like the Apple Pencil, connects magnetically to the outer edge of the tablet for recharging, and is dubbed the Huawei M-Pencil. The bezel around the screen is slimmer than that of Apple’s, but uses the same rounded screen corners.

The MatePad Pro weighs 460 grams, has an 8-megapixel hole-punch camera on the front, which mirrors, location-wise, the rear-facing 13-megapixel camera.

With a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, the MatePad Pro has a very thin bezel around the screen -- apparently 49mm.

The tablet's screen itself is vivid and bright (up to 540 nits), with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution.

There's a 7,250mAh battery inside the tablet, but the most interesting spec here is the size and kinds of charging the MatePad Pro can handle. Fast-charging this time around can take in up to 40W, while Huawei has really amped up wireless charging, up to 27W if you have the appropriate wireless charger.

The tablet itself is a wireless charger, too, able to reverse-charge compatible phones at 7.5W.

The M-Pencil magnetically attaches to the MatePad Pro and wirelessly charges itself, too. Half a minute of charge equates to 10 minutes of use, and you can expect 10 hours of scribbling on a full charge. The M-Pencil will cost €99 (around $107).

Like Huawei's updated foldable, the MatePad Pro packs the company's own Kirin 990 processor, which includes the modem needed for a 5G connection.

Huawei showcased the MatePad Pro’s use of split-screen multitasking to run apps side-by-side and its optional magnetic keyboard case. The tablet can mirror the display of certain Huawei smartphones if they’re nearby, letting you control the phone virtually.

The MatePad Pro will start at €549 (around $594) for a WiFi version with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. If you want the M-Pencil included, you'll have to pay and extra €200 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage WiFi model (€749). Both of those configurations are available with LTE (no M-Pencil) for €599 and €699 respectively. Huawei says these WiFi versions of the tablet will be available in April. There's also a 5G version that will start at €799).

Huawei Mate Xs specifications

• Dimensions: 78.5 mm
x 161.3 mm x 11 mm (W x H x D)
• Weight: Approx. 300 g (including the battery)
• Screen Size:
• Unfolded: 8 inches
• Folded: Main screen: 6.6 inches
• Secondary screen: 6.38 inches
  
• Colours: 16.7 million colours
• Type: OLED
• Resolution:
• Unfolded: 2480 x 2200
• Folded:
• Main screen: 2480 x 1148
• Secondary screen: 2480 x 892
  
• CPU: HUAWEI Kirin 990 5G - Octa-core Processor - 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.86 GHz + 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.36 GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55 1.95 GHz
• GPU: 16-Core Mali-G76
• NPU: Dual Big Core + Tiny Core NPUs (Neural-network Processing Unit)

• EMUI 10.0.1 (Based on Android 10)
• 8 GB RAM + 512 GB ROM
• External Memory Support: NM SD Card, up to 256 GB
• Rear Camera - Leica Quad Camera:
• 40 MP (Wide Angle Lens, f/1.8 aperture) + 16 MP (Ultra Wide Angle Lens, f/2.2 aperture) + 8 MP (Telephoto, f/2.4 aperture, OIS), HUAWEI Time-of-Flight (TOF) Camera
• Supports autofocus (phase focus, contrast focus), supports AIS (HUAWEI AI Image Stabilization).
• Front Camera: The rear camera doubles as the front camera after the phone is folded
• 4500 mAh (Typical Value) battery
• HUAWEI SuperCharge (Max 55 W)

• Primary SIM card:
  5G NR: N38 / N41 (2515 ~ 2690 MHz) / N77 / N78 / N79 / N1 / N3 / N28（TX: 703 - 733 MHz,RX: 758 - 788 MHz）
  4G FDD LTE: Bands 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 12 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 26 / 28 / 32
  4G TDD LTE: Bands 34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41
  3G WCDMA: Bands 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 19
  2G GSM: Bands 2 / 3 / 5 / 8 (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• Secondary SIM card:
  4G FDD LTE: Bands 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 12 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 26 / 28
  4G TDD LTE: Bands 34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41
  3G WCDMA: Bands 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 19
  2G GSM: Bands 2 / 3 / 5 / 8 (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
  

• LAN: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (wave2), 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0, BLE, SBC, AAC, LDAC
• USB: Type-C USB 3.1 GEN1
• Earjack: Type-C earjack
• Others: PC Data Synchronisation
• GPS (L1 + L5 dual band) / AGPS / Glonass / BeiDou / Galileo (E1 + E5a dual band) / QZSS (L1 + L5 dual band)
• Sensors: Gyroscope, Compass, Proximity Sensor, Gravity Sensor, Hall Sensor, Infrared Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Barometer, Colour Temperature Sensor, Fingerprint

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 5G specifications

• Dimensions: 246 mm
x 159 mm x 7.99 mm (W x H x D)
• Weight: about 492 g (including battery)
• Colors: Orange, Forest Green
• Screen size: 10.8 inches
LCD WQXGA 2560 x 1600 pixels
• Screen colour: 16.7 million colours, DCI-P3 wide colour gamut
• CPU: HUAWEI Kirin 990 5G - Eight core - 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.86 GHz; 2 x Cortex-A76 Based 2.36 GHz; 4 x Cortex-A55 Based 1.95 GHz
• GPU: 16-Core Mali-G76 600 MHz
• NPU: Dual Big Core + Tiny Core NPUs (Neural-network Processing Unit)

• EMUI 10.1 (Based Android 10.0)
• RAM + ROM: 8 GB RAM + 256 GB ROM / 8 GB RAM + 512 GB ROM
• Extended storage: NM memory card, support exFAT and FAT32 format, support 256 GB maximum.
  
  
• Rear camera
• 13 megapixel, f/1.8 aperture, auto focus; support flash
• Focus mode: Phase focusing
• Photo resolution: Up to 4160 x 3120 pixels
• Camera resolution: Up to 3840 x 2160 pixels
• Front camera
• 8 megapixel, f/2.0 aperture, fixed focal length
• Photo resolution: Up to 3264 x 2448 pixels
• Camera resolution: Up to 1920 x 1080 pixels
• Shooting function: Support professional mode, slow motion, night view, panorama, streamer shutter, HDR, delay photography, dynamic photo, watermark, document correction and other shooting modes; support beauty, timing photography, voice control photography, smiling face capture, target tracking and other functional settings
• Battery: 7250 mAh (typ.), standard charger supports 10V / 4A output
• WLAN: Supportted, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (wave2), MIMO, VHT160, 2.4G and 5G
• Bluetooth: BT5.1, support BLE, SBC, AAC, support LDAC HD Audio
• Bluetooth file transfer: Supportted
• PC data synchronization: Supportted
• OTG: Support (maximum output current 5V / 1.5A in case of reverse power supply)
• USB: Type-C, USB 3.1 GEN1
• GPS: Support GPS / AGPS / GLONASS / Beidou / Galileo / QZSS
• Wireless screen projection: support
• Support GPS / AGPS / GLONASS / Beidou / Galileo / QZSS
• Sensors: Ambient light sensor, hall sensor, gyroscope, Compass, Gravity sensor, Colour temperature sensor