Huawei Mate X's folding screen costs $1,000 to fix

Repairing phone screens isn't cheap, especially as displays get bigger and more beautiful. It costs $149 to replace a broken iPhone 8 display, but $329 to fix a cracked iPhone 11 Pro Max. It makes sense, the 11 Pro Max display is OLED and nearly 40% bigger. So what does that mean for foldable phones , the displays of which are larger and more complicated to engineer?

Last week, as Motorola was unveiling its new Razr phone, Huawei launched the Mate X folding phone in China. On Wednesday the Chinese tech giant revealed how much repairs will cost, reports Sina. Replacing the 8-inch display will cost 7,080 Chinese yuan, which converts to $1,000, AU$1,479 and £780.

The Huawei Mate X is a particularly expensive folding phone, selling in China for 16,999 yuan, roughly $2,400, AU$3,550 and £1,860. For comparison, Motorola's buzz-creating Razr will sell for $1,499 (converts to AU$2,200, £1,160) and the Samsung Galaxy Fold costs $1,980, AU$2,999 and £1,999.

Huawei initially showed off the Mate X at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona back in February where the foldable phone became an instant challenger to Samsung's Galaxy Fold. Rather than opening like a book to reveal a larger screen on the inside, as the Fold does, the Mate X has a wraparound outside display that's accessible even when the phone is closed.

Despite Huawei's woes with the US government that restrict it from using new versions of Android, patience may pay off in the long run for those eager to get their hands on a Mate X. The initial version of the phone, currently only available in China, will pack Huawei's Kirin 980 chip (and similar specs as the company's Mate 20  5G). But a subsequent model -- the Mate Xs -- coming in 2020, will feature specs more akin to the recently released Mate 30.

Huawei isn't the only Chinese electronics company jumping on the folding phone bandwagon, as Xiaomi also has one on the way.

Foldable phones to flex and bend: Galaxy Fold, Motorola Razr and more

+9 more

See all photos