HUAWEI Mate X7 Review

HUAWEI has built a reputation for pushing foldable technology forward, from experimenting with different folding form factors to becoming the first brand to commercially release a trifold smartphone.

With the HUAWEI Mate X7, the brand isn’t just chasing innovation for innovation’s sake. Instead, it feels like a deliberate attempt to solve the biggest complaints people still have about foldables: durability concerns, camera compromises, and day-to-day usability.

So no, the Mate X7 isn’t trying to be flashy just because. This is a productivity-first foldable that prioritizes reliability, camera performance, and real-world practicality.

So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Design and Construction

The design philosophy behind the HUAWEI Mate X7 is immediately clear once you pick it up. Rather than focusing purely on thinness or futuristic aesthetics, HUAWEI built this device around confidence that end-users can actually use it just like a normal phone.

What really stands out, however, is HUAWEI’s 360-degree Ultra-Durable Architecture. The outer display is protected by Crystal Armour Kunlun Glass, designed to better withstand drops and scratches.

Inside, the foldable panel uses a 3-layer composite ultra-tough structure that improves impact resistance while retaining flexibility.

Ingress protection is also impressive for a foldable. The Mate X7 carries IP59 and IP58 certifications, allowing it to handle dust exposure, high-temperature water up to 80°C, and submersion of up to two meters for 30 minutes in freshwater.

Whether folded or unfolded, situated on its right side are the volume rocker and power button. Its stereo speakers are split between the top and bottom sides of the unit. And exclusive to the bottom are the dual nano SIM tray, primary mic for calls, and USB Type-C port for wired charging and data transfers.

In hand, the Mate X7 feels reassuringly solid. It doesn’t give off that “fragile gadget” vibe that many foldables still struggle with. Visually, HUAWEI keeps things refined and professional, with subtle design cues like the new camera island and premium finishes.

Locally, the device is available in Nebula Red and Black, both featuring a vegan leather backing that improves grip and adds a premium touch.

Overall, the HUAWEI Mate X7 features a nice design with premium materials, and great ingress protection for a foldable device.

Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics

Unfold the Mate X7 and we are greeted by an expansive 8-inch (2416 x 2210) LTPO OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The panel is sharp, smooth, and bright, reaching up to 2,500 nits at peak brightness.

Resolution is high enough that text and images look crisp, whether you’re editing documents, browsing the web, or watching videos.

Colors are vibrant out of the box, contrast is deep, and scrolling feels fluid thanks to the adaptive refresh rate. Media consumption is excellent, with enough brightness for outdoor use and a large canvas that makes watching shows or videos immersive.

The same can be said for the 6.49-inch FHD+ (2444 x 1080) LTPO OLED cover display, minus the higher 3000 nit peak brightness.

The stereo speakers found here are good but definitely not the best. It provides a clear and balanced sound stage, and gets loud enough to comfortably use without the headphones or earphones. But that same loudness can leave a lot more desired in terms of audio immersion when compared to other foldables in the market.

In terms of biometrics, the Mate X7 keeps things simple. The side-mounted power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, which provides good accuracy and unlocking speed. Face unlock works reliably for daily use too, especially when the device is folded.

Overall, both displays look good in mixed usage scenarios.

Although, it is worth noting that due to some software kinks, watching content from popular video streaming apps can leave more desired here, since they don’t really take advantage of the main display’s full resolution.

However, if you’re someone who likes to save high-res videos and media locally, this wouldn’t be much of an issue for you.

Cameras

Foldables have traditionally lagged behind bar-type flagships when it comes to cameras, and HUAWEI clearly set out to change that with the Mate X7.

For the first time, a HUAWEI foldable features a camera system that genuinely feels on par with some of the best “normie” camera-centric smartphones. This is achieved with its awesome quad-camera setup.

Leading the setup is a second generation Ultra Chroma Camera, now called the True-to-Colour Camera; which is pretty-much a color spectrum sensor that captures richer color data (compared to a standard RGB sensor) which in turn, delivers amazing color reproduction and lifelike images.

Then it sports a nice 50MP main sensor that delivers 17.5 EV of dynamic range, a 50MP telephoto-macro camera, and a 40MP ultrawide.

HUAWEI Mate X7 Sample Photos

Jan 13 – 26

This camera system delivers stunning flagship-level images with great detail and consistency from the ultrawide to the standard focal length and zoom. Of course, passed 3.5x is digital but the illusion of overall consistency between images is amazing, all thanks to the spectrum sensor.

Thanks to the outward-folding design, users can also take selfies and group photos using the main camera system, resulting in noticeably better quality compared to the standard 8MP in-display selfie cameras. But both in-display sensors are good enough to use for video calls too.

Overall, the Mate X7 proves that foldables no longer need to compromise on photography by delivering amazing image quality.

OS, Apps, and UI

Out of the box, the HUAWEI Mate X7 runs on EMUI 15.

Nothing much has changed here apart from updated background AI processes and UI updates for the foldable form-factor. Navigation feels smooth, multitasking is intuitive, and app continuity works seamlessly when transitioning between folded and unfolded states.

Split-screen multitasking is easy to set up, and running multiple apps side by side feels genuinely productive rather than gimmicky. Furthermore, constant updates to the HUAWEI AppGallery have been working well by easily providing most apps anyone would need.

Unfortunately “software” is also the brand’s current weakest segment, especially for their global models. The video streaming issue I’ve mentioned earlier and in some older write-ups have yet to be addressed, which I believe is one of the bigger ones.

For me, streaming video content is one of the things a lot of people do, especially in the Philippines. So, if we can’t take full advantage of the great display hardware the brand provides when streaming content online, this definitely sets off some alarms.

To add to that, we’ve also experienced some UI woes in the form of misbehaving apps.

–These aren’t issues that deem the phone unusable but they are issues that can affect the overall user experience. We were able to fix most of these issues by simply restarting the unit but it is something we still need to address.

And it’s also worth noting this may be because our review unit is an engineering sample too.

We truly hope to see more improvements in App behavior and UI experience with the next HUAWEI device that comes into the studio. But I must reiterate that these issues do not deem the phone unusable.

Performance and Benchmarks

Under the hood, the Mate X7 packs their in-house Kirin 9030 Pro, that delivers performance that feels smooth and dependable in everyday use. Our unit is configured with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

App launches are quick, multitasking feels responsive, and the large display doesn’t bog the system down even when running multiple apps simultaneously.

Apart from watching a bunch of videos and running our usual benchmarking apps. We were able to work on documents, check articles, play games, research online, and even edit photos in Lightroom on the fly.

For genshin players, the HUAWEI Mate X7 handled Genshin Impact with no issues set to the “highest” graphics settings at 60 fps. But we do recommend stepping it down to “high” for a smoother experience in more populated areas of the map.

Synthetic benchmarks reflect a device that sits comfortably in flagship territory for foldables. CPU performance is strong enough for productivity tasks, heavy browsing, and media workflows, while GPU performance handles casual gaming and graphically demanding apps without major hiccups.

More importantly, performance feels consistent over longer sessions, which speaks well of HUAWEI’s thermal management and system optimization.

Battery

Battery life is one of the Mate X7’s quiet strengths. The device is equipped with a 5,600 mAh silicon anode battery, paired with 66W wired and 50W of wireless charging.

In our PCMark Work 3.0 Battery testing, the Mate X7 lasted 21 hours and 38 minutes when folded, and 15 hours and 32 minutes when unfolded. These results exceed HUAWEI’s own battery life rating and translate to reliable all-day use, even with moderate multitasking and media consumption.

Fast charging helps mitigate downtime, allowing quick top-ups when needed. For a large-screen foldable, endurance here is more than respectable.

Connectivity

Connectivity on the Mate X7 covers all the essentials from WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, NFC, and infrared; with bonuses in the form of USB Type-C 3.1 with DisplayPort 1.2 and a lot of GPS support.

The phone features two SIM slots with the help of its dual nano SIM tray, and we even get eSIM support! Just note that we can only use a max of two SIMs at a time whether physical or electronic.

Surprisingly, it isn’t 5G compatible in the Philippines, but it should be possible in other countries. Either way, call quality is clear, LTE data connections are stable, and wireless performance remains reliable whether on WiFi or mobile data.

Conclusion

Wrapping this review up, the HUAWEI Mate X7 definitely deserves a place on the high end of the foldable display smartphone spectrum and can serve as a good template for what foldables should be in 2026.

As a global HUAWEI device in 2026, much of the software issues from almost a decade ago have been solved but some bugs still remain.

Luckily, despite that it’s not exactly what the Mate X7 focuses on.

It focuses on durability, camera performance, large-screen productivity, and dependable battery life rather than chasing novelty. By addressing these long-standing foldable pain points, HUAWEI delivers a device that feels genuinely usable as a daily driver.

If you’re looking for a foldable that prioritizes confidence, practicality, and real-world usability, without sacrificing flagship-level camera quality, the HUAWEI Mate X7 stands out as one of the most well-rounded foldables available today.

The HUAWEI Mate X7 is officially available locally in the Philippines for PHP 119,999. 

What we LIKED:

• Camera quality
• Build
• Battery Life

What we Liked LESS:

• Software woes

HUAWEI Mate X7 specs:
8.0-inch LTPO OLED foldable display (2416 x 2210),
60–120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 2500 nits peak brightness
6.49-inch LTPO OLED cover display (2444 x 1080),
60–120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 3000 nits peak brightness
Kirin 9030 Pro
Maleoon GPU
16GB RAM
512GB storage
50MP main camera (f/1.5 – f/4 variable aperture, OIS, PDAF)
50MP TeleMacro camera (PDAF, OIS)
40MP ultra-wide camera (PDAF)
True to Color camera (color spectrum sensor)
8MP front camera (cover)
8MP front camera (inner)
Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
EMUI 15
4G/LTE
Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth 6
NFC
infrared sensor
GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS (L1), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a+B2b),
GALILEO (E1+E5a+E5b), QZSS (L1+L5), NavIC
Dual nano SIM
USB Type-C 3.1 (DisplayPort 1.2)
5600mAh silicon anode battery
66W wired fast charging
50W wireless fast charging
7.5W reverse wireless charging
5W reverse-wired charging
IP58 + IP59 dust and water resistance
Weight: 236g
Dimensions: 156.8 x 73.8 x 9.5 mm (folded), 156.8 x 144.2 x 4.5 mm (unfolded)
Color options: Nebula Red, Black