Huawei Pura X2: Huawei doubles down on the wider vertical foldable

Huawei is already lining up the next chapter of its most experimental phone line, and all eyes are on the rumored Huawei Pura X2. The first Pura X, unveiled back in March, was a very different kind of clamshell: instead of the usual tall and skinny Flip look, Huawei went for a much wider 16:10 inner display.

Open it up and it feels more like a mini tablet than a stretched remote control, which instantly made it one of the most unusual foldables on the market.

According to a new leak from China, that bold form factor has done well enough for Huawei to commit to a full sequel. The Pura X2 is said to be in active development and is tipped to launch in the first quarter of next year, sometime between January and March if everything goes to plan. Performance should also get a bump thanks to Huawei’s in-house Kirin 9030 chipset, a natural upgrade over the Kirin 9020 that powers the original Pura X.

Beyond the processor and launch window, concrete specs are still under wraps, but the direction of the device seems clear. By sticking with a wide vertical foldable, Huawei is targeting people who like the idea of a compact flip phone but hate how cramped most of them feel for reading, multitasking, or gaming. If Huawei can tighten up the hinge, reduce the crease, and make the outer screen more practical for quick replies and camera use, the Pura X2 could easily become the default recommendation for anyone who finds conventional flips too narrow.

There is also the question of where this design will actually be sold. Many enthusiasts outside China are already hoping the concept will escape the domestic market, even if it arrives with an Honor badge instead of Huawei’s name on the box. Honor still shares plenty of DNA with its former parent, from software look and feel to hardware layouts, so a sister device would not be surprising. At the same time, some long-time users joke that Honor tends to copy the drawbacks along with the strengths, so the most polished version of this idea may stay on the Huawei side of the family for now.

Another angle is how the rest of the industry will react if Huawei’s wide clamshell catches on. The company has a habit of trying strange ideas first, only for rivals to roll out very similar hardware years later and loudly present it as a miracle design nobody had ever thought about before. If the Pura X2 lands as promised, it is easy to imagine future launch events and breathless YouTube reviews hyping a “revolutionary” wider flip that just happens to look a lot like what Huawei was already quietly building.