The iPhone Duo made me even more excited about Huawei’s and Samsung’s future phones

Even before the iPhone Duo launched, the wide foldable concept had been picking up steam thanks to devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Some would say that it all started last spring with the Huawei Pura X, or this spring with the Pura X Max, while others would argue it was all preemptive copies of the foldable iPhone.

Either way, wide foldables seem to be here to stay, and they’re enjoying such a huge success that they may also change slab phones. Huawei has already launched the Pura X View, which is reportedly a massive success in China, and Oppo was rumored to have something similar coming in the future.

As exciting as the idea of a new shape for slab phones may be on its own, what made it really intriguing for me was the iPhone Duo. I’m not talking about the hardware, but about the software, which I hope gets copied quickly.

The Huawei Pura X View shouldn’t be such a big deal

To be completely honest, there isn’t much about the Pura X View that sounds especially exciting to me, beyond its shape and very thin design. Where current phones are getting 2nm processors, the Kirin 9030S is a 5nm chip, meaning its performance and power efficiency are compromised. 

Huawei does compensate for this with a hefty 7,000 mAh battery, but I doubt its performance will be all that good. Then there’s the 200MP main camera on the back, but alongside it are a 50MP telephoto shooter with optical stabilization and an 8MP ultrawide, which won’t match the company’s flagships.

Despite the lackluster specs, the Pura X View reportedly sold a jaw-dropping 280,000 units in just five days in China, turning into the best-selling phone in the country during its premiere week. This buzz is all about the 6.39-inch display with an aspect ratio of 5:3. Its shape is much shorter and wider than any other modern phone and even than the classic 16:9 displays, which were the norm a decade ago.

In purely objective measures, the Pura X View is built on various compromises, and I’d argue the display is one of those. As fun and fresh as it looks, it makes the phone difficult to use one-handed. That was the reason we moved to tall displays when phones got giant. What turns it into a downside is that Huawei hasn’t done almost anything to make the shape more valuable. This is where Apple truly stepped up with the iPhone Duo.

Wide phones need to copy Apple’s software ideas

It was easy to dismiss the iPhone Duo as too little, too late, especially coming so long after all foldables, including some with wide screens. However, the surprise at the “Surprise and shine” event turned out to be the way iOS 27.1 treats the wide displays.

Though the unfolding animation seemed to create the most buzz, the overall redesign of the OS is what deserves not only attention but also to be copied by others. Instead of just stretching out the interface, Apple rethought the basics of iOS for the new shape. 

The dock moved to the right, right under the redesigned status bar, leaving the scarce vertical space for the apps and content you want to focus on. Inside apps, the essential control buttons also moved to the side, making access easier with one hand. As small as these changes may sound, they make the Duo feel like a complete experience in a way that is unachievable for both the Z Fold 8 and the Pura X View.

Huawei, Samsung, and virtually every other OEM that has done a form factor experiment only did it with the hardware. The software has remained largely a version of what we’re used to, with minor changes, which often lead to unpleasant results. My colleague Victor experienced the buggy interface of Instagram in his in-depth review of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which is just the most egregious example.

We deserve better

While most Android manufacturers are limited by what Google offers with the OS, Huawei is developing its own OS, which gives it more control over the software experience. I’d love to see the company utilize this advantage and start complementing its undeniably exciting hardware with appropriate software ideas. 

Having Apple as the most reliable source of new, fully shaped smartphone ideas is disappointing. Not because the ideas are bad, but because I don’t believe there’s anything stopping Huawei, Samsung, and even Google from simply doing better.

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