Huawei’s first foldable PC marks a new entry into the foldable computing segment years after Lenovo debuted the world’s first foldable PC. This device is also one of the earliest Huawei PCs to run on HarmonyOS 5.
Weighing 1.16 kg, the new MateBook Fold measures 7.3 mm when unfolded and 14.9 mm when folded. My flagship phone is barely thinner than that!
The computer uses a custom water drop hinge designed for foldable devices, allowing the screen to maintain angles between 30° and 150°. An integrated kickstand supports landscape use without additional accessories.
There’s an 18-inch tandem OLED LTPO display that folds into a compact 13-inch form factor. It offers a 3.3K resolution (3296 x 2472 pixels), a 92% screen-to-body ratio, peak brightness up to 1600 nits, 1440Hz PWM dimming, and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio.
Image by Huawei
Internally, the MateBook Fold comes with 32 GB of RAM and offers either 1 TB or 2 TB SSD storage options. While Huawei hasn’t confirmed the processor, it is likely to feature a Kirin chip similar to other recent Huawei laptops. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band Wi-Fi, two USB-C ports, and a fingerprint scanner built into the power button. It also has an 8MP front camera, six speakers, four microphones, and a 74.69Wh battery.
A 74.69Wh battery is considered solid for a lightweight, portable laptop. Rather than measuring in milliamp-hours (mAh) like smartphones, watt-hours (Wh) is the preferred metric for laptops, as it reflects the total energy capacity regardless of voltage.
In general, a battery over 70Wh suggests decent endurance, especially for ultrabooks or foldable devices designed for mobility. Depending on the processor and power management of HarmonyOS 5, this battery could offer several hours of use on a single charge. Huawei hasn’t specified expected runtime, but similar laptops with this capacity often last 8 to 12 hours under moderate usage.
The foldable PC supports both a virtual keyboard and a bundled physical keyboard. The detachable keyboard includes a touchpad, 1.5 mm key travel, and weighs 290 grams. It is 5 mm thin and can last up to 24 days on a single charge. Users can also pair external Bluetooth keyboards and mice.
Huawei also includes a range of accessories: a 140W charger, braided USB-C cable, screen cleaning cloth, a large carrying bag, and a smaller pouch for accessories. It’s the kind of accessory that makes me smile!
Available in Black, Blue, and White, the MateBook Fold is priced at CNY 23,999 (~$3,300 when directly converted) for the 1 TB model and ~$3,700 (when directly converted) for the 2 TB version. That’s substantially more expensive than Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold 16, which launched at $2,899. The MateBook Fold will officially launch on June 6, but is already available for pre-order!
