Huawei Mate XT debuts as world's first tri-folding phone

The Huawei Mate XT seems like it’s folding the future with its launch in China.

This isn’t the foldable that we’re used to seeing; this is the world’s first commercially available tri-fold smartphone, transforming from a compact phone-sized device to something with a near-tablet experience. It features a Z-fold design, with one hinge folding inwards and the other, outwards.

The Mate XT rocks two hinges that Huawei claims are made of super-durable rocket steel. Fully unfolded, the OLED display measures a whopping 10.2 inches with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. When folded once, the panel measures 7.9 inches, and when fully folded, it scales down to 6.4 inches. That’s some serious screen real estate for watching movies, gaming, or just feeling like a total boss while scrolling through social media. Even better? The newly unveiled unit is still compact at 12.8mm thick when folded completely.

The world's first triple-screen foldable phone, the Huawei Mate XT, was officially launched today!

It has already amassed over 4 million reservations in just 3 days.

It's a great success for Huawei, as the new iPhone 16 series released today is nothing innovative! pic.twitter.com/BW4h6ePUr4
— Li Zexin (@XH_Lee23) September 10, 2024

The Huawei Mate XT in action

@revuphilippines The world’s first commercially available tri-folding smartphone, ladies and gentlemen. 🫰🏻 Article on the #HUAWEIMateXT at #RevuDotComDotPH. (Top and bottom: official #HUAWEI product videos; all from Weibo) #MateXT #HUAWEIMate #Mate #trifold #trifoldsmartphone #trifoldphone @Alora Uy Guerrero @monch ♬ original sound – She/she ♡ﾟ22ﾟ – 🖤She/She ♡ﾟ03ﾟ

A beauty

And it looks every bit the sophisticated device that it is, featuring a metallic chassis and a premium leather back and earning the “Ultimate Design” tagline attached to its name. There’s a black version, but our eyes keep going back to the red color variant.

Huawei hasn’t skimped on the cameras, packing the XMAGE-powered Mate XT with a triple-lens rear setup headlined by a 50-megapixel main sensor with variable aperture as well as an 8-megapixel selfie camera. Powering this foldable beauty is a 5,600mAh battery that supports 66-watt wired and 50-watt wireless charging. And it boots HarmonyOS 4.2 out of the box. Expect AI features such as AI Translation Expert and AI Senior Editor.

While the technology giant hasn’t confirmed the chipset used here, word has it that it’s a Kirin 9-series processor. The chip is paired with 16GB RAM and a maximum of 1TB internal storage.

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: how much it’s going to cost. The Huawei Mate XT is going to be available starting September 20 (interestingly the same day the Apple iPhone 16 series gets released globally) at the following prices:

16GB + 256GB: ¥19,999 (around P158,392 in Philippine pesos and $2,810 in U.S. dollars)
16GB + 512GB: ¥21,999 (P174,232 or $3,091)
16GB + 1TB: ¥23,999 (P190,072 or $3,372)

Unsurprisingly, that’s a hefty price tag, but for early adopters who want to be at the forefront of foldable phone technology, the Huawei Mate XT might just be worth the splurge.

Crowd goes crazy for the keyboard and mouse!

Btw it’s an interesting crowd. There are plenty of KOLs and superfans, but most of the crowd are employees, it seems. Various Huawei product teams are sitting together. Many brought their parents and spouses. Different parts of the… pic.twitter.com/2Ahea01RF6
— Taylor Ogan (@TaylorOgan) September 10, 2024

Wait, there’s a keyboard and mouse, too?!

Huawei Mate XT specs

Triple screen: 10.2 inches, 3,184 x 2,232 resolution
Dual screen: 7.9 inches, 2,048 x 2,232 resolution
Single screen: 6.4 inches 1,008 x 2,232 resolution
LTPO OLED foldable display, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling, 1,440Hz PWM dimming
Kirin 9-series chipset
16GB RAM
256GB/512GB/1TB storage
Triple 50-megapixel main with variable aperture, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel periscope telephoto rear cameras
8-megapixel front camera
Side fingerprint reader
5,600mAh battery with 66-watt wired charging, 50-watt wireless charging
HarmonyOS 4.2
Colors: Black and red

Learn About This Author

Alora Uy Guerrero

Editor-in-chief: Alora Uy Guerrero has 22 years of experience as an editor for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. She took time off journalism to manage OPPO’s digital-marketing campaigns. When not busy with her babies, she’s working on Revü, a passion project — or probably traveling or obsessing over her favorite bands, movies, TV shows, and basketball teams.