With the Huawei Mate X2 just announced for release on February 22, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2 may finally have a worthy opponent.

Huawei does not sell phones in the U.S. and has blocked access to Google's popular apps, but its hardware has always been outstanding. That's why the Mate X2's announcement is worth paying attention to. Because unlike previous folding models, we expect the company to announce something brand new.

That announcement date comes directly from Huawei's Weibo page. The main announcement only mentions the impending debut, but Huawei's reply to one comment mentions February 22 as a key date.

The Huawei Mate X was the Chinese company's first foldable and was released in 2018, but not in the U.S. or the U.K. The Mate XS, a slightly improved version that appeared in 2020, is available in the U.K. and has an original price of £2,299, even more than the Z Fold 2 higher. This is 27% higher than what Samsung charged for the foldable phone.

The original model featured an unusual "falcon wing" folding design, where the display wraps around the outside of the hinge. However, rumors suggest that Huawei will drop that for the next foldable and instead adopt the book-style fold form factor used in the Galaxy Z Fold 2. A teaser image posted on Weibo also seems to suggest this from the angle of the display portion

First generation.

Another distinctive part of the original Mate X design was the single bank of cameras, which were attached to the edge of the foldable display like a handle. This position meant that users could take both normal and selfies depending on the direction in which the display was rolled up. This was a unique idea, and even if Huawei changed the folding orientation, there is no reason why this part of the old design could not theoretically be retained.

Samsung is in dire need of a folding device competitor. It offers both the flip phone-style Galaxy Z Flip and the larger Z Fold 2, both of which are best in their respective classes. Additionally, there are rumors that the company will introduce a new Galaxy Z Fold Lite this year, offering foldable technology at a more reasonable price.

Of course, Huawei is not on the same playing field. Huawei cannot use Google's apps because the U.S. government claims that the Chinese company poses a national security risk. Huawei has adapted to this and offers users several ways to get apps without the Google Play store at hand, but using it is an alien experience compared to a regular Android phone. We will have to see what Huawei has in store to counter this at the launch.