Huawei is about to jump in the market of portable gaming consoles with its latest announcement of the Huawei Mate 20 X gaming phone which is made to tackle the market leader, Nintendo Switch.
Announced in a press conference recently, Huawei directly compared the Huawei Mate 20 X device with Nintendo Switch and on figures, the Huawei’s device seems to be much more powerful than the Nintendo Switch. Ever since Nintendo Switch was launched, it has been sitting at the top in not only the portable console segment but it also left behind its more powerful competitors PS4 and Xbox One behind in terms of sales.
However, Huawei thinks differently and has come out with its own ultimate portable gaming device with Mate 20 X and plans to overthrow Switch from its throne and claim the spot for itself. On the paper, the Mate 20 X does seem a lot more powerful than the Nintendo Switch console. Featuring a 7.2-inch screen with 1080p OLED display which is much better than Switch’s native 720p screen, it will come powered by a Kirin 980 processor.
All this is powered by a 5,000mAh battery which will reportedly give a battery life nearly double as what Nintendo Switch delivers. The Mate 20 X also comes with a touch screen complete with a stylus and even an optional gamepad which the users can attach to the left side of the screen. Unlike Switch, the phone only comes with one sided controller.
In their press conference, Huawei openly compared their device with the Nintendo Switch and claimed that their device is much better than Switch and they will indeed overthrow the king off its throne once the device is launched. Currently, no other detail has been given out about the games. We do not know which games will be available on the gaming phone and which third-party developers will be porting or developing their games for Mate 20 X.
The major drawback here is the Mate 20 X’s price. Nintendo Switch is currently on retail for $300 while Mate 20 X’s launch price is around $1,040 which is much higher when compared with the Switch. This is going to be a big drawback for the Mate 20 X devices since it is very unlikely that gamers will dish out such as high amount just for playing games on a mobile device.
The main question now arises is the availability of good video games on the platform. Nintendo Switch features some of the best video game lineups in the market with multiple AAA titles and many amazing third party titles available already on it. Mate 20 X will need to seriously amp its gaming library if it wants to compete directly with Nintendo Switch.
The decisive factor in this battle is going to be the video games. More powerful hardware does not mean anything if there is nothing good to play on the device. We saw what happened to PS Vita which was much more powerful than the original PSP console but lack of AAA support or any good third party titles led to its miserable failure.
If Huawei manages to get some good game developers on board and manages to churn out some really amazing titles exclusive for the device, only then it stands a chance to dominate in the portable console segment.
Other than that, it will be just a regular phone with a controller accessory for moderate level gamers. Competition is always good for the consumers but the device must deliver something to the consumers first if it wants to establish a firm grip in the market it is targeting.
Let us know in the comments section below about what you think of the new Huawei Mate 20 X gaming mobile. Will it be able to overthrow Nintendo Switch or will it just pass its life as a normal mobile device?
