Technologies

I Tested the Huawei Pura X: This Wide-Screen Flip Phone Is Refreshing and Fun

Huawei’s Pura X is the wildest flip phone to exist and one of the only two foldable phones that I’ve loved watching videos on.

I’ve tested several flip phones in the past, but I never stuck to any. My lifestyle doesn’t require a phone that folds into a smaller footprint to fit inside my pocket. There’s a market for them, no doubt, but when I’m using a foldable phone, I want it to expand the capabilities of my current phone. And that’s why I’ve loved using the Huawei Pura X.

Most flip phones are narrower and taller than traditional smartphones. They have big 6.9-inch screens with a 21:9 aspect ratio, but the Pura X is unique by design. It has a smaller 6.3-inch display with a wider 16:10 aspect ratio, making it an ideal screen for reading and video consumption. The Huawei Pura X is a refreshing take on flip phones. It is closer to a mini book-style foldable than a flip phone. In fact, I have enjoyed using it more than the Motorola Razrs and Galaxy Z Flips of the world.

Huawei Pura X: What’s it like to use a wide-screen flip phone?

I couldn’t use the Pura X as my primary phone because it is a China-only device. So, most of its preloaded apps are in Chinese. I installed a few Google apps like Chrome and YouTube, among others, to make the experience as close as possible to my main device.

In the last 10 days, I’ve loved consuming content, both video and written, on the Huawei flip phone. It combines the pocketability of a flip phone with the readability of a book-style fold in a single device — while also delivering a better video-watching experience than both of them.

The Pura X unfolds to a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with support for a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, 2,120×1,320-pixel resolution and 2,500 nits peak brightness for supported HDR content. These specs might seem similar to the iPhone 17, Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 10, but the Pura X has a wider 16:10 aspect ratio (versus 20:9 on slab phones). Its biggest benefit is immediately noticeable when watching movies and YouTube videos.

The video consumption experience on foldable phones typically isn’t ideal. They usually have huge letterboxing (thick black borders) on either top and bottom (on the Galaxy Z Fold 7) or left and right (on the Galaxy Z Flip 7). Movies shot in 21:9 fare better on flip phones but worse on book-style foldables. The Huawei Pura X minimizes this letterboxing with its 16:10 screen, while also offering a similar on-screen watchable area.

This might surprise many, but as you can see from the above photo, you get a larger video viewing area on Huawei’s 6.3-inch display than Samsung and Motorola’s 6.9-inch flip phone screens. In fact, 16:9 YouTube videos on the Pura X are almost as big as on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 (in the slightly wider horizontal orientation). This is only the second time I’ve loved watching videos on a foldable phone (the first was the Huawei Mate XT trifold phone, also for its increased viewing area with a 16:11 aspect ratio, when fully unfolded).

It also provides a pleasing reading and web browsing experience — you just need to rotate the phone in vertical orientation. By design, the Pura X is slippery, and its wider design doesn’t help the in-hand grip. Thankfully, it weighs under 200 grams, so it isn’t as heavy as modern flagship phones. I got used to it within a few hours.

Another learning curve was getting used to the placement of buttons and unfolding it like a Fold (from the right side) instead of a Flip (from the bottom). The latter was easy, but I still struggle with the former.

When you unfold the Pura X, you need to rotate it by 90 degrees to change its orientation to use vertically. Huawei’s user interface doesn’t allow you to use the phone horizontally. So, every time I open the Pura X, its volume rockers and power button (with a built-in fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication) swap places.

The fingerprint sensor that resides on the natural resting place on my thumb (when the phone is folded) moves to the top of the phone when it is unfolded. I have added my index finger data to unlock the phone, and it might not be a big deal in the long term, once my muscle memory has gotten used to it. But so far, it has been slightly bothersome to get a mention here.

The rest of the specs and features

The Huawei Pura X has a 3.5-inch OLED cover screen with a 980×980-pixel resolution and the same dynamic 120Hz refresh rate. It isn’t as large as Samsung and Motorola flip phones, but it can run a full-fledged browser and multiple first-party apps. This 1:1 display is also good enough to capture selfies using the rear cameras, of which you get three.

Huawei has included a 50-megapixel primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture. It is accompanied by a 40-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide-angle sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with support for a 3.5x optical zoom.

For context, most flip phones have only two rear cameras, but the Pura X’s optics are as versatile as a slab phone. The camera performance is similar to what you’d expect from a Huawei phone: smooth and brightened skin tones, good dynamic range and rich details.

The Huawei Pura X is powered by last year’s Kirin 9020 chipset and has up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. My unit runs on HarmonyOS 6.0, which is smooth and fluid in day-to-day use. It packs a 4,720-mAh battery with support for 66-watt wired superfast charging and 40-watt wireless fast charging.

The Pura X is for those who want the best video consumption experience on a foldable phone, without compromising portability and cameras. It was launched earlier this year at a starting price of 7,499 yuan (roughly $1,065) for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage version. However, it received a price cut recently and is now selling for 6,899 yuan (roughly $980).

After using the Huawei Pura X, I can confidently say that wide-screen foldable phones have their own place in the niche category. It has made me more excited for the rumored 4:3 iPhone Fold and Samsung «Wide Fold» in 2026.

Technologies

The Witcher 3, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Bring the Heat to Xbox Game Pass

Two amazing games will be available soon for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

The second half of February and early March could be considered one of the best stretches in recent memory for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, widely regarded as one of the best games of the past decade, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 headline a lineup that leans heavily into sprawling, choice-driven adventures but does throw in some football to mix things up a bit.

Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, smart TV, PC or mobile device, with prices starting at $10 a month. While all Game Pass tiers offer you a library of games, Game Pass Ultimate ($30 a month) gives you access to the most games, as well as Day 1 games, meaning they hit Game Pass the day they go on sale.

Here are all the latest games subscribers can play on Game Pass. You can also check out other games the company added to the service in early February, including Madden NFL 26.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate and Premium Game Pass subscribers.

The Witcher 3 came out 10 years ago, and it’s still being praised as one of the best games ever made. To celebrate, developer CD Projekt Red is bringing over The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition to Xbox Game Pass. Subscribers will be able to play The Witcher 3 and its expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Players once more take on the role of monster-slayer Geralt, who goes on an epic search for his daughter, Ciri. As he pieces together what happened to her, he comes across vicious monsters, devious spirits, and the most evil of humans who seek to end his quest.

Death Howl

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Death Howl is a dark fantasy tactical roguelike that blends turn-based grid combat with deck-building mechanics. Players move across compact battlefield maps, weighing positioning and card synergies to survive increasingly difficult encounters. Progression comes through incremental upgrades that reshape each run. Battles reward careful planning, as overextending or mismanaging your hand can quickly end a run.

EA Sports College Football 26

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

EA Sports College Football 26 delivers a new take on college football gameplay with enhanced offensive and defensive mechanics, smarter AI and dynamic play-calling that reflects real strategic football systems. Featuring over 2,800 plays and more than 300 real-world coaches with distinct schemes, it offers expanded Dynasty and Road to Glory modes where team building and personnel decisions matter. On the field, dynamic substitutions, improved blocking and coverage logic make matches feel more fluid and tactical.

Dice A Million

Available on Feb. 25 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Dice A Million centers on rolling and managing dice to build toward increasingly higher scores. Each round asks players to weigh risk against reward, deciding when to bank points and when to push for bigger combinations. Progression introduces modifiers and new rules that subtly shift probabilities, making runs feel distinct while keeping the core loop focused on calculated gambling.

Towerborne

Available on Feb. 26 for Game Pass Ultimate, PC, and Premium Game Pass subscribers.

After months in preview, Towerborne will get its full release on Xbox Game Pass. The fast-paced action game blends procedural dungeons and light RPG progression, with players fighting through waves of enemies. You’ll unlock permanent upgrades between runs and equip weapons, spells and talents that change how combat feels each time. The core loop pushes risk versus reward as you dive deeper into tougher floors, adapting builds on the fly, and mastering movement and timing to survive increasingly chaotic battles.

Final Fantasy 3

Available on March 3 for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Another Final Fantasy game is coming to Xbox Game Pass. This time, it’s Final Fantasy 3, originally released on the Famicom (the Japanese version of the NES) back in 1990. Since then, Final Fantasy 3 has been ported to a slew of devices and operating systems, including the Nintendo Wii, iOS and Android. Now, you’ll be able to play on your Xbox or PC with a Game Pass subscription. A new group of heroes is once again tasked with saving the world before it’s covered in darkness. Four orphans from the village of Ur find a Crystal of Light in a secret cave, which tasks them as the new Warriors of Light. They’ll have to stop Xande, an evil wizard looking to use the power of darkness to become immortal.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Available on March 3 for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Last year was stacked with amazing games, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was one of the best. Developer Warhorse Studios’ RPG series takes place in the real medieval kingdom of Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic, and tasks players with a somewhat realistic gaming experience where you have to use the weapons, armor and items from those times. The sequel picks up right after the first game (also on Xbox Game Pass) as Henry of Skalitz is attacked by bandits, which starts a series of events that disrupts the entire country.

Games leaving Game Pass in February

For February, Microsoft is removing four games. If you’re still playing them, now’s a good time to finish up what you can before they’re gone for good on Feb. 28.

For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, and check out our hands-on review of the gaming service. You can also learn about recent changes to Game Pass.

Technologies

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Trade Blows in Latest AI Slop Video, and Hollywood Won’t Stand for It

While some Hollywood icons are feeling doom and gloom over the AI-generated clip, labor unions are fighting back with legal threats.

Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are trading blows in a viral AI-generated clip on social media, sparking backlash from the film industry. Chinese company ByteDance’s new video generation model, Seedance 2.0, allowed people to create fictional videos of real likenesses with short prompts. Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson used two lines to generate the clip of Pitt and Cruise fighting.

If ByteDance sounds familiar to you, it’s because the company also owns TikTok internationally, though it recently sold its US ownership of the social media and video-sharing platform to US companies. Oracle, MGX and Silver Lake each hold a 15% stake.

The actors in this latest viral AI slop video still don’t look like perfect re-creations — close-up shots of the fake Brad Pitt’s face, especially, have an «uncanny valley,» dreamlike AI look where the cuts blend into his flesh a little too smoothly. However, a CNET survey from earlier Tuesday showed that while 94% of US adults believe they encounter AI slop on social media, just 44% say they’re confident they can tell real videos from AI-generated ones.

One of the most inflammatory parts of the Pitt-Cruise video is the dialogue, as the computerized facsimiles of the actors fight over a supposed assassination plot regarding Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who maintained ties to rich and powerful people worldwide. The two actors’ likenesses became a vehicle to push conspiracy theories that have been picking up steam as the millions of pages of redacted emails, receipts and other documents that make up the Epstein files continue to trickle out of the US Department of Justice.

Hollywood is fighting back as AI-generated content consumes and spits out actor likenesses and copyrighted content alike. Major studios and their labor forces alike have united to push back against the precedent set by the viral AI video.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Motion Picture Association demanded that ByteDance «immediately cease its infringing activity» through Seedance. SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents Hollywood performers, released a statement on Friday saying it «stands with the studios» in condemning the Seedance video generation model.

The Screen Actors Guild specifically pointed to Seedance’s unauthorized use of members’ faces, likenesses and voices as a threat that could put actors out of work.

«Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent,» the actors’ guild said in its statement.

Representatives for the MPA and SAG-AFTRA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Similar videos generated by Seedance have depicted Star Wars characters dueling with lightsabers as well as Marvel superheroes Spider-Man and Captain America brawling. Disney issued a cease-and-desist order to ByteDance on Friday in response to these videos, which it alleges constitute copyright infringement, according to the BBC.

A representative for ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment, but issued a statement to the BBC saying it is «taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.»

Following the viral incident, ByteDance updated its tool to prevent people from uploading images of real people for AI-generated content, but it remains to be seen how effective that policy will be. Certainly, it won’t curb the output of videos depicting fictional masked or anthropomorphic characters like Spider-Man or Mickey Mouse.

As AI models continue to create mediocre copies of cultural icons, this won’t be the first — or last — legal battleground for AI video generation.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 18, #983

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 18 #983.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle was great fun for me, as I’m the co-author of two pop-culture encyclopedias, one about the 1970s, and 1980s and the other about the 1990s. Two of the categories are retro-themed! Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Farrah hair.

Green group hint: Totally tubular!

Blue group hint: Bock-bock!

Purple group hint: Can refer to a dairy product or a cosmetic.