Huawei unveils world’s first tri-fold phone, the Mate XT Ultimate Design

Apple just wrapped their big event, unveiling the iPhone 16 lineup. But if you’re feeling a bit “seen-it-all-before” with the latest iPhone, Huawei might have something that’ll grab your attention. They officially unveiled the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design today, the world’s first tri-folding phone. 

Huawei’s consumer business CEO, Richard Yu, claims the phone is a culmination of five years of development, aiming to “rewrite the industry’s history and turn science fiction into reality.” It definitely has a sci-fi vibe to it. Any Westworld fans?

Design

The Mate XT departs from the standard single-hinge foldable design. Instead, it utilizes a dual-hinge system, one folding inward and the other outward, creating a Z-shape when folded. 

Huawei named this new articulated joint “Tiangong Hinge System”. It has an embedded design with an integrated connecting rod structure to minimize the hinge footprint when folded. 

Likewise, it’s constructed with ultra-strong steel and has a multi-drive precision adjustment system to ensure a smooth and fluid opening and closing experience.

Despite the tri-fold design, Huawei claims the Mate XT is just 12.8mm thick when folded, making it just slightly thicker than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (12.1mm) but it’s still thinner than the Z Fold 5 (13.4mm). When unfolded, though, it’s now the thinnest foldable smartphone with a thickness of just 3.6mm. 

Display

Unlike most foldables that open like a book, the Mate XT ditches the dedicated cover screen. Instead, it cleverly uses one of its inner displays as the outward-facing one when folded. This isn’t entirely new – Huawei employed a similar strategy with the Mate Xs, their early foldable phone.

When unfolded fully, you’re greeted by a massive 10.2-inch OLED screen (2,232 x 3,184 resolution, 16:11 aspect ratio). That’s significantly larger than the screens found on competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. 

The phone offers two other ways to use its screen. You can partially unfold it for a 7.9-inch screen, a middle ground between phone and tablet. Or, you can fully fold it down to reveal a 6.4-inch screen and use it like a regular smartphone.

The specs of the screen are equally impressive. It’s a 10-bit panel with a 90Hz LTPO refresh rate, 1440Hz PWM Dimming, and a maximum touch sampling rate of 240Hz. 

For the protection of the foldable display, Huawei has used a “composite ultra-tough laminated structure” with non-Newtonian fluid and industry-largest UTG glass.

Under the hood

The Mate XT comes with a 5,600mAh silicon battery, which is impressive for a tri-fold phone given its complex hinge design. It’s also significantly larger than Samsung’s latest foldable by 1,200mAh. In terms of charging, the phone supports 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

Huawei hasn’t confirmed the chipset it’s using on the Mate XT. But it’s likely the Kirin 9010 5G seen in the Pura 70 series, and the Mate XT also has satellite communication support. 

On the camera front, the tri-fold features a triple-camera system on the back: a 50MP variable aperture main, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 12MP 5.5x periscope. An 8MP selfie camera sits in a punch-hole on the leftmost portion of the screen, usable for both folded and unfolded modes.

Other notable features include Bluetooth 5.2, an IR blaster, Huawei’s Harmony OS, and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Price and Availability

If the tri-folding design piques your interest, the Mate XT is currently available for pre-order in China. Prices start at a hefty 19,999 yuan (~$2,809) for the 16GB/256GB variant, climbing to 23,999 yuan (~$3,371) for the top-of-the-line 16GB/1TB model.

To sweeten the deal, pre-orders come bundled with a kickstand case, Huawei FreeBuds 5 earbuds, a 66W charger, an 88W car charger, and even a folding split keyboard designed specifically for the Mate XT.

And there’s some good news if you were also waiting for Huawei’s next smartwatch. Because the company is all set to launch the Huawei Watch GT 5, Huawei Watch Fit 4, and Huawei Watch D2 on September 19.

Huawei Mate XT Technical Specifications