Huawei has been unusually quiet on the smartphone front. We’re still to know whether the Chinese firm plans to launch its Mate 40 series in South Africa, and murmurs of a new device are few and far between. That could change later this month, however, as a recent post (since removed) on Chinese social media platform Weibo, suggests that we could see a new foldable phone from Huawei in the coming weeks.

On 22nd February to be more precise, with an unveiling event seemingly scheduled for then. If we were to read into the header image above, which is yet to be confirmed as official at this stage, the Mate X2 as it is being called, would also bring with it a new form factor to Huawei’s foldable phone design.

The original Mate X and Mate XS both featured a folio-style design that left the foldable screen on the outside, and opened up to a wider small tablet form factor. For the Mate X2, it looks like Huawei may have opted for a clamshell folding design this time around, which would certainly be a nice take.

We’ve seen it already with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and new Motorola razr, and we’re quite interested in a foldable phone that transforms into a smaller device than a larger one, which has been the the go-to strategy for most phone makers at the moment.

As for what else the Mate X2 will be sporting, nothing is confirmed for now, but it is believed that the new Kirin 9000 chipset found in the Mate 40 series is present. What will be crucially important, however, is the quality of the foldable screen itself, with no manufacturer yet to debut one that does not have a noticeable crease.

Also interesting will be the status of Google Mobile Services, which still remain out of reach given the trade wars between the US and China. With Trump no longer in office, hopefully that gets sorted quickly, as HMS only gets you so far.