On September 10, 2024, Huawei introduced the Mate XT Ultimate Design — the world's first commercially available tri-fold smartphone — inviting humanity to reconsider what a handheld device can be. Beginning as a pocket-sized phone and unfolding into a full tablet, the device embodies the restless engineering ambition that has long driven our relationship with tools we carry close to the body. Priced at $2,800 and launching September 20 alongside Apple's iPhone 16, it arrives not merely as a product but as a question: how far can form follow function before function must justify the form?
Huawei Mate XT: World's First Tri-Fold Phone Unfolds to 10.2-Inch Tablet at $2,800
A phone that becomes a tablet by opening twice
Mark
So this is actually shipping, not vaporware. Huawei has a tri-fold phone in people's hands starting September 20?
Mimi
Yes. It's real hardware. They're taking preorders now in China and some European countries. The base model is $2,800.
Luke
But we should note—the source says it's available in China and "some European countries." We don't know which European countries yet, and we definitely don't know if it's coming to the US.
Mark
Right. So the real question is: why does a phone need to fold twice? What problem does this solve that a single fold doesn't?
Mimi
That's the honest question. A single-fold phone gets you from 6.4 inches to maybe 8 inches. This gets you to 10.2 inches—genuine tablet territory. If you want a device that's a phone, a medium tablet, and a full tablet all in one, this does that.
Luke
But we don't have any evidence from the source that people actually want that. We have specs and a price. We don't have user testing, demand signals, or even Huawei's own sales projections.
Mark
The weight and thickness are interesting though. 238 grams fully folded, 3.6mm when open. That's genuinely thin for what it is.
Mimi
That's the engineering story. They used slim battery packs—1.9mm each—and a dual-hinge system with non-Newtonian fluid. The fact that it's lighter than most flagships while doing this is notable.
Luke
The battery capacity is 5,600mAh though. That's not huge. We don't know real-world battery life across the three different screen sizes.
Mark
And it launches the same day as iPhone 16. That's not accidental.
Mimi
No. Huawei is positioning this as the alternative to whatever Apple announces. A tri-fold phone is a statement: we're thinking bigger than incremental upgrades.
Luke
But we should be clear—this is a China-first product. The global market for this is still unknown. The source doesn't tell us anything about demand outside China.
Der Puls
- No manufacturer had brought a twice-folding phone to market before — Huawei has now crossed that threshold, raising the stakes for the entire foldable industry.
- The $2,800 entry price and engineering complexity signal that this device exists at the outer edge of what is currently possible, not yet within reach of most consumers.
- A dual-hinge system using non-Newtonian fluid, 1.9mm slim battery packs, and a 3.6mm unfolded profile represent Huawei's attempt to make radical form feel genuinely practical.
- The deliberate September 20 launch — timed to collide directly with the iPhone 16 release — is a calculated bid to reframe the global conversation about smartphone innovation.
- Preorders are open in China and select European markets, but the deeper question hanging over the device is whether three screens solve a problem consumers actually feel.
On September 10, 2024, Huawei introduced the Mate XT Ultimate Design — the world's first commercially available tri-fold smartphone — inviting humanity to reconsider what a handheld device can be. Beginning as a pocket-sized phone and unfolding into a full tablet, the device embodies the restless engineering ambition that has long driven our relationship with tools we carry close to the body. Priced at $2,800 and launching September 20 alongside Apple's iPhone 16, it arrives not merely as a product but as a question: how far can form follow function before function must justify the form?
Huawei has done what no other manufacturer has brought to market: a smartphone that folds twice. Announced September 10, the Mate XT Ultimate Design transforms from a 6.4-inch handset into a 7.9-inch mid-size screen with one fold, then into a 10.2-inch tablet with a second. All three configurations use LTPO OLED displays capable of a 240Hz touch sample rate and a 1,440Hz dimming frequency — precision that runs through every layer of the device.
The engineering feat is not just the folding itself, but the practicality built around it. At 238 grams and just 3.6mm thick when fully open, the Mate XT is lighter and slimmer than many conventional flagships. Twin 1.9mm battery packs combine for 5,600mAh of capacity, supporting 66W wired and 50W wireless charging. The dual-hinge system uses a large UTG panel internally and non-Newtonian fluid on the exterior display to resist scratches and endure repeated use. Genuine leather — in red or black — finishes the back.
The rear camera array carries four sensors under Huawei's XMAGE branding: a 50MP variable aperture primary, a 12MP ultrawide, a periscope telephoto with 5.5x optical zoom, and a laser focus sensor. Digital zoom reaches 50x. Three storage tiers — 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB — all pair with 16GB of RAM, ranging from roughly $2,809 to $3,371.
The phone launches September 20, the same day as Apple's iPhone 16, a timing that is anything but accidental. Huawei is already accepting preorders in China and select European markets. Whether the Mate XT reshapes the foldable category or remains a remarkable proof of concept depends on whether the world decides that three screens are a revelation — or simply an answer to a question no one was asking.
Huawei has delivered what no other manufacturer has managed to bring to market: a smartphone that folds twice. The Mate XT Ultimate Design, announced on September 10, arrives as the world's first commercial tri-fold phone, a device that transforms from a compact handset into a tablet depending on how many times you open it. The company is pricing the base model at $2,800, a figure that reflects both the engineering complexity and the fact that nothing quite like this exists anywhere else.
When the phone sits fully closed, its 6.4-inch display is the size of a standard flagship. Open it once and the screen expands to 7.9 inches—large enough to feel like a proper tablet but still something you could theoretically hold in one hand. Open it all the way and you get a 10.2-inch display, a genuine tablet experience that emerges from what was just a phone moments before. All three screens use LTPO OLED technology, which means they can adjust their refresh rate on the fly and support a 240Hz touch sample rate. The dimming frequency reaches 1,440Hz, a specification that speaks to the precision Huawei's engineers applied to every layer of this device.
The engineering challenge was not just making it fold twice, but making it practical. At 238 grams, the Mate XT is lighter than most flagship phones today. When fully unfolded into tablet mode, it measures just 3.6mm thick—thinner than many single-screen devices. Huawei achieved this by using slim battery packs that measure 1.9mm, with a combined capacity of 5,600mAh. The phone supports 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. The dual-hinge system employs a large UTG screen for the internal panel and a non-Newtonian fluid for the external display, both designed to resist scratches and withstand repeated folding. The back is finished in genuine leather, available in red or black, a material choice that Huawei says will age better than alternatives.
The camera system reflects the same attention to detail. Four sensors sit in the rear bump: a 50MP primary shooter with variable aperture, a 12MP ultrawide with an F/2.2 aperture, a periscope telephoto with 5.5x optical zoom and optical image stabilization, and a laser focus sensor. The front-facing camera is 8MP. Digital zoom extends to 50x, though the 12MP telephoto sensor means that extreme magnification relies on computational photography. Huawei brands the entire array as XMAGE, positioning it as the company's flagship camera technology.
Three storage configurations are available, all with 16GB of RAM. The base model includes 256GB and costs 19,999 yuan, approximately $2,809. A 512GB version runs 21,999 yuan, or about $3,090. The top-end 1TB model reaches 23,999 yuan, roughly $3,371. The phone launches on September 20, the same day Apple releases the iPhone 16 family. Huawei is already accepting preorders in China and select European markets. The timing is deliberate—a tri-fold phone arriving alongside Apple's latest flagship ensures the Mate XT will command attention in a market where foldable phones have remained a niche category. Whether that attention translates to sales depends on whether consumers see the three-screen experience as a genuine innovation or an engineering exercise in search of a problem to solve.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The world's first commercial smartphone to feature three foldable displays— Huawei (official announcement)
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei Wccftech ↗
Technology