Huawei Unveils World’s First Tri-Fold Smartphone: The Groundbreaking Mate XT

In 2019, the world saw the first-ever folding phone as Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Fold, earning praise for its innovation. Five years later, the hype around folding phones has somewhat fizzled out, and customers are now eagerly seeking the next big innovation.

Today, we live in a world where smartphones seem to have reached their pinnacle. Even phones from 2020 can handle the tasks we do today—phone cameras are excellent, software is fast enough for the latest apps, and most devices promise ‘all-day battery life.’ So, the question arises: what more can tech companies offer?

Huawei has the answer: On September 9, 2024, they introduced something the world had never seen before—a tri-fold phone with three screens! Folded, it resembles a regular smartphone, albeit thicker, but when unfolded, it transforms into a full-sized tablet. Enter the Huawei Mate XT, a stunning new take on the smartphone-tablet hybrid.

Huawei Tri-Fold Smartphone Specifications

Body: The Mate XT comes in a rich red finish with gold accents, reminiscent of festive Chinese lanterns, likely a nod to its Chinese roots. It’s also available in a sleek black model, which retains the gold trimmings. The back of the phone is finished in leather, giving it a premium feel. Huawei achieved this design using the ‘Tianghong’ hinge system, allowing the phone to bend both inwards and outwards. Interestingly, ‘Tianghong’ is derived from Tiangong, the name for a series of Chinese space stations.

Screen: This is, without a doubt, one of the best displays ever seen on a smartphone. When folded, the Huawei Mate XT offers a 6.4-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, just like top-end phones. Unfolded, however, it reveals an expansive 10.2-inch display, putting it nearly on par with an iPad Air. Users can opt to use the front display, two screens, or all three at once for multitasking or entertainment.

Software: As impressive as the Mate XT’s hardware is, its software is equally remarkable. Powered by Huawei’s Kirin 9010 5G chipset, it runs on HarmonyOS. With 16GB of RAM—double that of the iPhone 16 Pro—and storage options ranging from 256GB to 1TB, this phone is a powerhouse. Huawei’s foray into AI is evident, with features like on-device text translation which includes a voice editing tool to enhance voice-to-text transcriptions and a translation expert for seamless side-by-side language switching in texts. The AI-powered photo editing capabilities allow users to extend backgrounds or remove unwanted objects from images, providing a more refined and personalised editing experience. Another cool feature of the phone is , the phone can connect to satellites for communication in areas without terrestrial network coverage, a feature previously seen on the iPhone 14.

Camera: The Mate XT sports a triple-camera system arranged in a circular design, echoing the phone’s luxurious gold accents. The primary camera is a 50MP sensor, complemented by a 12MP periscope lens and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. Together, these cameras offer 5.5x optical zoom and up to 50x digital zoom. The 8MP selfie camera ensures quality images from the front as well.

Battery: A device of this size requires a substantial power source, and Huawei delivers with a 1.9mm thick 5,600mAh battery. While its performance is yet to be tested, the phone supports 66W wired charging and 55W wireless charging—both well above industry averages. For comparison, Apple’s new MagSafe technology offers wireless charging speeds of up to 25W. The Mate XT can also reverse charge other devices, with wired reverse charging at 7.5W and wireless reverse charging at 5W.

What Does the World's First Tri-Fold Phone Cost?

The Huawei Mate XT comes with a staggering price tag of $2,800 (approximately R50,000). That’s the equivalent of two of the latest high-end iPhones. Despite the hefty cost, Huawei claims to have received over 4 million pre-orders, a remarkable feat considering the company has been banned from selling phones in the U.S. Even more impressively, this phone was unveiled just hours after Apple’s latest event. The triple-folding smartphone is available for pre-orders and is set to launch on September 20th, 2024.

According to Huawei, the Mate XT took over five years to develop, and that timeframe makes perfect sense given the engineering marvel it represents. However, as with all first-generation devices, questions remain. How much will it cost to replace a damaged screen? If one screen is broken, will all three need to be replaced? And how well will this phone perform in European markets, where Huawei’s presence is less dominant than in Asia?

I’m sure more questions will arise, but for now, let us marvel at this engineering beauty!