The archenemy of Apple and Samsung beats both giants in the wider foldable race

Even if we take the Huawei Pura X out of the equation – a wider (or taller, depending on how you hold it) foldable from 2025, nothing like the usual square-ish form factor – Huawei has once again delivered a novel form factor long before Apple and Samsung.

As you know, 2026 is the "wide foldable year" by the smartphone tribe calendar. Samsung is rumored to release the Galaxy Z Fold Wide, while Apple is expected to enter the foldable realm with its first-ever foldable – another wider handset – some weeks before Santa dusts off its sleigh bells.

The new Huawei Pura X Max is now official.

The OG Max

As I mentioned at the start, the original Pura X by Huawei was released in 2025. This is precisely the phone that got us to say the following one year and one month ago:

• Finally! A flip phone that actually makes sense and it’s not the Galaxy Z Flip 7

That's right, the OG Huawei Pura X debuted as an unusual clamshell, but I also like to think of it as a "passport" phone because of that form factor. But the OG Pura X was never a pure-blood clamshell – it didn't open to a traditional slab (candy bar) phone – instead, it resembled a mini-tablet. Ideal for media (especially video consumption), ideal for carrying around in your pocket.

Even if Apple and Samsung weren't exactly thrilled by the Pura X per se, they clearly paid attention to this little fella and, a few moments later, we got the first leaks about the Galaxy Z Fold Wide and the iPhone Fold (a.k.a. the iPhone Ultra).

The Max sequel

On today's April 20, an important date for many people around the world, Huawei unveiled the new Pura X Max phone. Some say it resembles a newspaper, and that's hilariously on point – if you weren't born around newspapers, you can ask your great-grandfather and he'll surely describe it to you. In a way, papers resemble books (which, in turn, are small rectangular objects) but are much thinner.

So, the Pura X Max comes with:

• Outer 5.4-inch display (up to 3,500 nits of brightness, 1–120Hz refresh rate)
• Inner 7.7-inch display (up to 3,000 nits of brightness, 1–120Hz refresh rate)
• 50 MP main camera
• 50 MP telephoto camera
• 12.5 MP ultra-wide camera
• The XMage camera system supports portrait enhancements
• Kirin 9030 Pro chip under the hood
• Up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB storage
• HarmonyOS 6.1 with many apps (Amap, Zhihu, Didi, Baidu Maps, etc.) and AI tricks (AI note-taking, photo editing tools, etc.) that are popular in the Chinese market

The Kirin 9030 Pro is no match for what Qualcomm or MediaTek have to offer, at least in terms of benchmark results. The Mate 80 Pro Max, for example, is a phone that packs the Kirin 9030 Pro. The Mate 80 Pro, on the other hand, packs the Kirin 9030 chipset.

But its real-life performance is perfectly fine – it's smooth, capable and it doesn't lag or stutter. So the new Pura X Max with the Kirin 9030 Pro should be able to deliver a simple flagship performance.

What else is there?

The phone is available in five colors, which are variants of black, white, blue, gold and orange.

The company says the hinge has been enhanced and the phone's drop resistance is upped by 33%, which sounds respectable. The inner screen has been reinforced by a multi-layer structure that includes UTG glass and additional support layers.

Also, there's the M-Pen 3 Mini stylus (with support for air gestures) – this pen includes a microphone, too.

Price and availability

The 12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant will cost you 10,999 yuan, or $1,613 (when directly converted. The most expensive option is the 16 GB + 1 TB model, sold for 13,999 yuan ($2,053).

Since this is a Huawei, there's no official US release. And there won't be, so just let go of that dream already.

I don't expect it to hit European shelves as well.

Get Visible as low as $20/mo for 1 year. Limited time offer with code: FRESHSTART

$20 /mo

$25

$5 off (20%)

Offer Ends 6.1.2026 at 11.59pm ET. New members get $5/mo off the $25/mg Visible plan, $35/mo Visible+ plan, or $45/mo Visible+ Pro plan for the first 12 months. Promo code FRESHSTART required at checkout.

Buy at Visible