Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design was launched by the company in September as the world’s first mass-market triple foldable smartphone, although it is only available in China (as of now). It comes with three screens that can be folded in a Z-style manner. However, a recent durability test of the smartphone carried out by a popular YouTuber suggests that the displays might be more susceptible to scratching compared to standard smartphones, or even regular foldable models.

Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design Durability Test

Before delving into the durability test of Huawei’s triple foldable smartphone, YouTuber Zack Nelson, popularly known by his alias JerryRigEverything, carried its unboxing. Being one of the most expensive production smartphones globally at a starting price of CNY 19,999 (roughly Rs. 2,36,700), the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design comes with a lot of goodies including a carbon fibre case, a 66W power adapter with two USB Type-C cables, an 88W-rated car charger, and a pair of Huawei FreeBuds 5.

In terms of durability, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design appears to start showing scratches at level two on the Mohs hardness scale and has deeper grooves at level 3 with a razor blade. While this is bound to happen due to the laminated structure of the foldable soft-plastic screen, the test also revealed it was highly prone to being easily scratched by even fingernails. The scratches caused by the fingernails appear more prominently once the screen is turned off.

While the scratches caused by the razor blade aren’t any different from the durability of other foldable smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, which got scratches at similar levels, the scratches caused by the fingernails on the Mate XT Ultimate Design appear more prominently once the screen is turned off.

Being a tri-fold smartphone, the hinge mechanism is said to be another weak point of the Mate XT Ultimate Design. While folding the screens in the wrong way brings up a warning, the smartphone was bent by the YouTuber without too much effort, suggesting that owning such an eloquent device might require extra care. Meanwhile, one of the folded edges of the screen is always exposed to the elements when fully folded. 

The Amazon Great Summer Sale 2024 is now live for all customers. The sale had first kicked off for Prime members, who received a 12-hour early access. The Amazon sale brings lucrative discounts on a range of products, including smartphones, laptops, large appliances, tablets, smartwatches and more. Those looking for PC and gaming peripherals will also find a choice of offers on products from top brands.

The Great Summer Sale is also offering a 10 percent instant discount of up to Rs. 3,000 to ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, and OneCard cardholders on top of the lowered prices. Additionally, the sale brings cashback offers on UPI transactions and exchange benefits on select products.

A wide range of monitors for all purposes is also available for discounted prices during the sale. Be it gaming monitors, or monitors intended for productivity and work, or just media and entertainment, products from top brands like BenQ, LG, Samsung, Acer and more are available during the sale.

If you’re looking for a smart monitor that can run streaming apps natively and has a large screen, then you can opt for the Samsung M7 43-inch 4K UHD smart LED monitor, priced at Rs. 33,299 after a 47 percent discount during the sale. Gamers, on the other hand, can opt for the Acer Nitro VG240Y M3 23.8-inch FHD monitor, which comes with a high refresh rate of 180Hz, ideal for smooth gaming performance. Here are the top deals on monitors during the Amazon Great Summer Sale.

In a recent observation, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has documented a close interaction between the Milky Way and one of its nearest galactic neighbours, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This recent analysis of the LMC, led by Andrew Fox of the European Space Agency’s Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, reveals the effects of its near-collision with the Milky Way’s massive halo, including a significant reduction of the LMC’s own halo of gas.

The LMC’s Halo: A Surprising Measurement

For the first time, Hubble data allowed researchers to measure the extent of the LMC’s halo, which is now estimated at 50,000 light-years across, considerably smaller than other galaxies of similar mass. This contraction of the halo, explained Fox, points to the effects of the LMC’s encounter with the Milky Way, which stripped away a considerable portion of its outer gas layer. Despite these losses, the LMC still contains sufficient gas to form new stars, adding resilience to the otherwise diminished dwarf galaxy.

Ram-Pressure Stripping: The Force at Play

A process known as ram-pressure stripping is responsible for much of the LMC’s halo loss. As the LMC approached the Milky Way, the larger galaxy’s gravitational influence exerted a “wind” effect, pushing back the LMC’s gas into a tail-like stream that now trails the galaxy. Sapna Mishra, lead author on the research paper, likened this force to a powerful “hairdryer,” stripping away the LMC’s gas. This gas, however, is not expected to be completely lost, as the galaxy begins to move away from the Milky Way after its closest pass.

Future Research and Cosmic Implications

As the team moves forward, plans are in place to study the leading edge of the LMC’s halo, which remains largely unexplored. Scott Lucchini of the Centre for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian remarked that this research will focus on the collision points between the two halos, providing insight into the nature of galactic interactions in the universe’s early days.