Without a doubt, the biggest stars in the consumer tech world these past two weeks have been the Mate X and Galaxy Fold. Not only are they ushering in a new era of folding smartphones, but they’re made by the top-two phone manufacturers, as well.

As the pioneers of this new category, it goes without saying that Huawei and Samsung will go at each other for foldable supremacy for months — or years — to come. Neither of the products has been rolled out to the consumer market yet, but some choice words by Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s mobile division, have already been spoken.

In an interview with Business Insider, he said, “I feel having two screens, a front screen, and a back screen makes the phone too heavy,” when referring to the Galaxy Fold of Samsung.

Yu claims that Huawei had a prototype similar to the Galaxy Fold’s design which he deemed “not good” and subsequently canceled. “We had several solutions, but we canceled them. We had three projects simultaneously. We had something even better than that, killed by me,” he added.

Clearly, the final executions these two brands chose to use are largely different from one another and offer solutions to different problems.

For Huawei, the Mate X has the slimmer, more intuitive design with a single large display that folds outward to create two smaller screens. You can see it in action here:

According to those who have tried out the device, the cons here are in the lack of protection for that one screen, as well as the absence of a dedicated front camera while unfolded.

Coincidentally, those are issues that the Galaxy Fold addresses. Because Samsung’s smartphone-tablet hybrid folds inward, the primary display is protected by the outer shell and its secondary screen. In addition, there’s a pair of cameras on the larger screen’s notch for better video calls.

However, that total of six cameras and the additional display lead to a much thicker form for the Galaxy Fold. These are what Yu was referring to earlier, leading to the final design of the Mate X.

Of course, Huawei’s product is also much more expensive than the already-pricey Samsung foldable — about US$ 600 more to be exact, or the cost of a premium midrange smartphone.

Until both products hit the market and we get to use them side by side, there’s no way fair way of concluding which one is better. Not to be forgotten, Xiaomi and OPPO’s foldable concepts are also on the horizon, providing either more innovative or less pricey alternatives to the two top players.

Ever since Huawei began alternating with Apple for the world’s number two spot in smartphone market share, the Chinese company has been trading jabs with Samsung with every flagship release, and this case is no different.

Besides the foldable battle we have going on, Samsung and Huawei have gone as far as having opposite placements for the hole-punch camera. Here’s how it looks on the recently launched Galaxy S10 series:

In case you haven’t noticed, Huawei had done the exact opposite with the Nova 4, setting the in-display camera on the upper-left part of the phone. Which implementation is more practical ultimately comes down to personal preference, although Huawei’s sub-brand Honor does have a well-researched explanation for its placement.

Here’s an except from my review of the Honor View 20, which also chose the upper-left location:

The basis is the Gutenberg Diagram, which says that eyes naturally fall to the top-left corner of an area called the primary optical area (POA). Eye motion then goes across and down to other sections.

On the other hand, Samsung’s top-right hole punch makes more sense for right-handed people who want to take a quick selfie. As selfie experts always advise, having the camera point downward is more flattering than one that looks up your nose.

The point here is that Huawei and Samsung are targeting different audiences: those who want their hole-punch camera on the left or right; professionals who prefer three or six cameras; media junkies who wish for two screens or one primary folding display.

Everyone who complained that smartphone innovation came to a halt in the past two years have far less to complain about now. This new form factor manufacturers have been dubbing “foldables” is leading the way for how brands innovate and what consumers believe they need.

But before we start throwing money at these shiny gadgets, we have to wonder: Are foldables providing solutions to problems that don’t actually exist? That’s possible, too. However, as long as companies are trying something different and letting this new category occupy the ultra-premium segment while existing tech goes cheaper in price, consumers win here.

Honestly, anything’s better than the megapixel or screen density race from a few years back. Smartphones are beginning to feel fresh again.