The second-generation foldable is projected to launch in the first quarter of 2020. The device comes with an improved hinge-design with the lastest kirin 990 5G chipsets. As cited by Gsmarena, ” the new Mate X will offer a Kirin 990 chipset, better hinge mechanism and more durable screen. The foldable will be announced at the 2020 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.”Said Richard Yu, Huawei Consumer Business CEO. Likewise, the Huawei Mate Xs will be capable of a 65W output. The Kirin 990 5G is built on the 7nm+ EUV process and comes with an integrated 5G modem. It aswell offers a more powerful NPU in addition to overclocked Cortex A76 and A55 cores. The processor features breakthrough technology and advanced intelligence inherited from the Kirin and Balong. It is compatible with different bands and frequencies. The single chipset allows users to connect with 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks satisfying various requirements easily. Although the Kirin 1020 series is by far much a better performer, the 990 series is quite stable as well. According to Droidholic, the Kirin 990 5G is the most powerful SOC that Huawei currently makes. It is better than the Kirin 990 4G. It has 2 Big-Core + 1 Tiny-Core. Also, there is an octa-core CPU that includes 2X Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.86GHz, 2X Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.36GHz & 4X Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.95GHz which makes it more powerful. Notably, there is little difference between the devices besides the difference in the kirin processor chipsets. The predecessor is supported by the 980 series while the Xs operates on a 990 series. Moreover, according to the leaks, he Mate X during the announcement. Will be priced around $2400 nearly $500 more than the galaxy fold. The Mate Xs is yet to be priced.
Kirin 990 VS 980 series
The Kirin 980 performance cluster contains two Cortex-A76 cores with up to 2.6 GHz while 990 series performance cluster contains two Cortex-A76 cores with up to 2.86 GHz. The 980 balanced cluster contains also two Cortex-A76 cores but with only up to 1.92 GHz while the 990 series supports a balanced cluster that contains also two Cortex-A76 cores but with up to 2.36 GHz. The Kirin 990 5G is produced in the modern 7nm (7FF+ with EUV) process at TSMC, the 4G version is still produced in the slightly older 7nm process as the Kirin 980. The 980 series supports the Huawei Mate 20 Pro released in late 2018 while the 990 series supports the Huawei mate 30 series.
