The Huawei Mate V could well be the next foldable phone to appear, with a rumored launch date of December 23, and newly leaked images supposedly showing the phone's case suggest that it'll continue Huawei's focus on camera quality.
The pictures were posted to Chinese social media platform Weibo (via GSMArena) and clearly show two large cut-outs on the back of the device – cut-outs which match the triple-lens rear camera setup of the Huawei P50.
It's not clear how many rear cameras the Huawei Mate V is going to have on the back, but there's plenty of room for them. Previous Huawei foldables, like the Huawei Mate X2, have also boasted some top-notch cameras alongside screens that can bend.
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Coming into the fold
The case images don't give us too many other clues about what else we can expect from the Huawei Mate V. This isn't a phone that has leaked extensively but we can see that it'll be Huawei's first clamshell foldable, in the style of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Earlier rumors haven't mentioned much besides predicting that the phone is on the way. We're still waiting for an official announcement about the device, but considering Huawei's previous form for foldables, we can well believe that a new one is on the way.
Rewind a few months and there was talk that Huawei had three foldable phones in the works, and that they'd arrive at more affordable price points. Considering Huawei's ongoing trade ban in the US though, it's not clear how widely they'll be available.
Opinion: we need more than one foldable form factor
We're pleased to see Huawei embracing the clamshell foldable form factor with the upcoming Mate V handset – assuming that the leaks we've seen so far are accurate of course, and that the device will actually launch towards the end of the month.
Phones with a more conventional book-like form factor, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold, tend to grab most of the headlines – and they do offer the biggest screens around, with displays close to tablet size when they're opened out.
Clamshell phones such as the Motorola Razr and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 definitely have a role to play too though – their displays might not be as big, but they're easier to use and more compact, and make clever use of smaller secondary screens too.
WIth the Huawei Mate V on the horizon, we should have another clamshell phone to add to the mix (though worldwide availability might be an issue). When big names such as Apple and Google get around to launching their own foldables, we hope that they consider releasing these innovative devices in multiple form factors too.
