Huawei releases foldable smartphone with politically sensitive own social media

Huawei has released the Mate X5. The foldable phone is almost identical to the previously released Mate X3, but instead of a Qualcomm SoC it has the manufacturer’s own SoC: the HiSilicon Kirin 9000S.

Huawei does not talk about the own soc on the product page, but it is now clear that the phone has the Kirin 9000S on board. That is Huawei’s own 5G SoC, which is also in the Mate 60 phones. The SoC is the subject of investigation by the US government, because the Chinese processor manufacturer SMIC appears to have made the SoC on 7nm. The US had not deemed SMIC capable of doing this and due to trade restrictions, Huawei and SMIC should not be able to use such an advanced process.

The fact that Huawei has so quickly released a new variant of its foldable phone with its own SoC shows that the manufacturer wants to transfer its line-up to its own chips as quickly as possible. Huawei used its own Kirin Socs for almost all its smartphones until the trade ban in 2019, but after that this was no longer possible.

In addition, the phone has satellite communication on board, just like the Mate 60 phones. That works both ways for messages. There is also a Mate 60 variant that allows satellite calling, but the Mate X5 cannot do that. The phone also has NearLink, an alternative to Bluetooth. The phones also have Bluetooth.