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iFixit's Huawei Mate Xs teardown does little for the foldable category's reputation for durability

iFixit had the Mate Xs X-rayed as part of its teardown. (Source: YouTube)
iFixit had the Mate Xs X-rayed as part of its teardown. (Source: YouTube)
YouTube teardown specialists iFixit has posted its disassembly video for the Huawei Mate Xs. This device has a flexible display found on the outer face of its phablet form-factor. It has also now been found to contain various serious obstacles to getting at its internal components.

The slowly but steadily growing ranks of foldable phones are developing an equally consistent reputation for irreparability, even among those who do this on the internet for a living. The Huawei Mate Xs is the latest flexible-display device to endure this treatment at iFixit, which may make for a bit of quarantine-appropriate viewing.

The Mate Xs, unlike all other foldables currently on the market, constantly shows its plastic OLED display to the world on a constant basis. However, it was not this variation from the norm that gave iFixit trouble during its teardown.

Instead, its inward-facing dual rear panels were found to exhibit a disproportional amount of glue preventing their removal, as did the phablet's 2 batteries. This resulted in some detrimental warping in the former and actual damage in the latter. - which, luckily, only resulted in some ominous-sounding "hissing".

The video's presenter did succeed in dissembling the Huawei foldable, however. This led to findings that the OEM saw fit to provide the device with a whole mess of thermal paste, in addition to its "Bionic" flexible graphite cooling system. The latter is found along the Mate Xs' hinges, as were a pair of metallic "wings" securing the 8-inch display to the inner frame.

This component is not found in the comparable Samsung Galaxy Fold, and may render Huawei's take more resistant to dust ingress that affects the screen. However, it did not do enough when it came to its iFixit score: it did not do any better than 2/10 in this famous reparability rating.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 04 > iFixit's Huawei Mate Xs teardown does little for the foldable category's reputation for durability
Deirdre O Donnell, 2020-04-11 (Update: 2020-04-12)