A Huawei Mate X screen repair will cost an iPhone 11 Pro worth of cash

by Preslav Kateliev / Nov 20, 2019, 3:14 AM

A Huawei Mate X screen repair will cost an iPhone 11 Pro worth of cash

2019 is the year when we got the first high-profile forldable smartphones. Three of them, to be exact — the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Motorola Razr 2019, and the Huawei Mate X. Well, we didn't exactly "get" the latter. Due to a bit of a carfuffle caused by the US - China trade war, Huawei lost its right to use Android with the Google framework. So, it launched the Mate X in its homeland only. Though, in all fairness, it's very possible that Huawei was only planning a China launch since the Mate X does not look like it's easy to build.

Still, the phone (or an iteration of it) may or may not reach the Western world at some point. Then, you have another hurdle to jump over if you want to get one — the Mate X is the most expensive foldable phone available right now, hitting that mind-boggling $2,400 mark. And it's a fragile little thing, too — since these foldable screens still can't have proper hard glass to protect them, its outwards-facing display is pretty prone to scratching simply because it's plastic.

"No trouble, I'll just replace the screen when it gets scratched up!"

Yeah... you can do that. It'll cost you around $1,000 as per recently-released Huawei repair prices. Ouch, indeed. Any other repair over the phone sounds reasonable — $40 for a battery replacement, $50 for a battery cover replacement, $100 for a camera repair, and $500 for a motherboard repair / replacement.

In all fairness, the Mate X is what we would call a "proof of concept". It's there just so Huawei can show that it can make it and to experiment with what is possible on such a screen. Buying it to use as a daily driver is probably not the best idea, as any little damage can end up costing you an arm and a leg. It'd be great to hang in a frame inside your home, though!

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14 Comments

1. oliviamia039

Posts: 18; Member since: Nov 13, 2019

Lol :)

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 3:29 AM 2

2. midan

Posts: 3123; Member since: Oct 09, 2017

For a screen which you can scratch with your fingernail. Ouch!

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 3:33 AM 5

3. ShadowSnypa786

Posts: 624; Member since: Jan 06, 2017

"It's there just so Huawei can show that it can make it and to experiment with what is possible on such a screen. Buying it to use as a daily driver is probably not the best idea, as any little damage can end up costing you an arm and a leg" Perfectly said the only useable one that works is the Galaxy Fold. It's not the most expensive, it has loads of camera's and high end specs. Yes it has a small screen on the outside but not as useless at the Motorola Razr. And the big display is inwards facing not outwards so not as delicate as the Mate X. People can complain about the Fold but for the 1st gen Samsung did it best

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 4:24 AM 7

4. meanestgenius

Posts: 22503; Member since: May 28, 2014

WTF?! Way too much money for screen repairs!

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 4:56 AM 1

10. Subie

Posts: 2427; Member since: Aug 01, 2015

I totally agree MG. But something tells me the early adopters buying these devices aren't too concerned about the costs.

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 8:28 AM 2

13. meanestgenius

Agreed. I'm all for new form factors like foldable smartphones, but not at these prices.

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 10:43 AM 1

5. User123456789

Posts: 1176; Member since: Feb 22, 2019

I am surprised the screen repair of 11 pro max does not cost the same. Apple did something right this time.

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 6:31 AM 0

6. Subie

You're not exactly comparing apples to apples. This article is about a foldable screen.

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 7:22 AM 0

8. User123456789

Apple charges about $600 to change rear glass. This is almost price of whole iphone 11. Something cheaper and simpler than screen. I would not be shocked if screen repair of Pro Max was $1000.

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 7:59 AM 0

9. Subie

I would agree that the cost to replace the rear glass of the iPhone based on the way Apple designed it is far too much. But again, you're not comparing apples to apples. We're talking about front screens here and Apple advertises a front screen replacement for the 11 Pro Max at $329. https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/service/screen-replacement

posted on Nov 20, 2019, 8:16 AM 0

14. User123456789

My first comment is about Apple doing right by not charging $1000 for new screen, because if they did I would not be surprised considering Apple way of doing stuff. It was a compliment ....