In the long arc of human ingenuity, the tools we carry have always reflected both our capabilities and our aspirations. Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Design — the world's first dual-hinged trifold smartphone, unveiled in China in September 2024 — folds a continuous OLED display through three distinct sizes, from pocket to tablet, in a single device. Priced from $2,809, it costs more than a professional laptop, yet drew 3.7 million preorders before its price was even announced. It is less a phone than a declaration: that the frontier of what a handheld object can be is still very much being drawn.
Huawei's Trifold Phone Costs More Than a MacBook Pro
A phone that folds twice, priced like a luxury object
Mark
So this phone costs more than a MacBook Pro. That's the headline, right? But what actually makes it worth that much?
Mimi
The engineering is real. It's the first phone with two hinges that let you fold it three different ways—6.4 inches, 7.9 inches, or 10.2 inches. One continuous OLED screen across all three states. That's not trivial.
Luke
But we should be careful here. We know the price. We know the specs. What we don't know is whether the hinges will hold up, whether the screen will crease, whether it's actually durable. Those are the things that matter for a $2,800 device.
Mark
Fair point. So what's the actual demand signal? The 3.7 million preorders—is that real?
Mimi
That's what Vmall reported before pricing was announced. So people wanted it sight unseen, price unseen. That's significant.
Luke
It's significant, but it's also one retailer's number in one market. We don't know how many of those preorders convert to actual sales. We don't know if that's typical for a Huawei launch or if this is genuinely exceptional.
Mark
Does the price make sense for what you're getting? Compared to other foldables?
Mimi
Samsung's Z Fold 6 is around $1,900. This is nearly $1,000 more. But it's also doing something Samsung isn't—three screen sizes instead of two, and a different hinge architecture altogether.
Luke
Right, but we're comparing specs on paper. The real question is whether the third screen size actually changes how people use the phone, or if it's engineering for its own sake. That's something only time and real-world use will tell us.
Il Polso
- Huawei has done what no manufacturer has commercially achieved before — engineered a smartphone that folds twice, creating three usable screen configurations from a single seamless OLED panel.
- At $2,809 for the base model — outpricing a 16-inch MacBook Pro — the Mate XT sits in a category where luxury and technology blur, challenging buyers to weigh desire against reason.
- Despite the price remaining undisclosed at launch, 3.7 million preorders flooded in, signaling that appetite for radical innovation — or radical status — can outpace even financial hesitation.
- Samsung and others have circled the foldable space, but the engineering leap required to make a Z-fold dual-hinge work seamlessly puts Huawei in uncharted competitive territory.
- The deeper tension is unresolved: whether a device this expensive can ever escape the luxury niche and reshape how the mainstream thinks about what a phone is allowed to be.
In the long arc of human ingenuity, the tools we carry have always reflected both our capabilities and our aspirations. Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Design — the world's first dual-hinged trifold smartphone, unveiled in China in September 2024 — folds a continuous OLED display through three distinct sizes, from pocket to tablet, in a single device. Priced from $2,809, it costs more than a professional laptop, yet drew 3.7 million preorders before its price was even announced. It is less a phone than a declaration: that the frontier of what a handheld object can be is still very much being drawn.
Huawei has built a phone that folds twice. The Mate XT Ultimate Design is the first smartphone to use a dual-hinge system that collapses in a Z-shape, creating three distinct screen configurations from a single continuous OLED display — 6.4 inches when fully closed, 7.9 inches partially open, and 10.2 inches when fully extended at 2,232 by 3,184 pixels. There is no visible seam between states.
The price is extraordinary. The base 256GB model costs 19,999 yuan — roughly $2,809, or about $300 more than a new 16-inch MacBook Pro. Higher-capacity variants climb to $3,089 and $3,370. All models include 16GB of RAM, a 5,600mAh battery with fast wired and wireless charging, and a triple rear camera system anchored by a 50-megapixel main sensor.
What makes the market response remarkable is its timing: 3.7 million preorders were placed before the price was ever made public. That figure suggests the Mate XT is being received not as a practical upgrade but as a luxury object — a statement of technological ambition as much as a communication device.
The engineering achievement is real. Making three screen sizes function seamlessly on one uninterrupted panel is a meaningful step beyond anything commercially available. Whether that step justifies a price exceeding a professional laptop is the question the market will spend the coming months answering.
Huawei has built a phone that folds twice. The Mate XT Ultimate Design, unveiled after weeks of anticipation, is the first smartphone to use a dual-hinge system that collapses and expands like a letter folded in thirds. It is also, by any reasonable measure, extraordinarily expensive.
In China, where the phone launches, the base model with 256 gigabytes of storage costs 19,999 yuan—approximately $2,809. That is roughly $300 more than a new 16-inch MacBook Pro. The two higher-capacity variants push the price further: 512 gigabytes runs 21,999 yuan (about $3,089), and a full terabyte model reaches 23,999 yuan, or around $3,370. Every model includes 16 gigabytes of RAM as standard.
The engineering that justifies this price tag is genuine. The phone uses what Huawei calls an inverse dual-hinge design, allowing the screen to fold in a Z-shape that creates three distinct usage modes. Fully collapsed, the display measures 6.4 inches—roughly the size of a conventional flagship phone. Partially unfolded, it becomes a 7.9-inch tablet. Fully extended, the screen reaches 10.2 inches with a resolution of 2,232 by 3,184 pixels. The OLED panel is continuous across all three states, meaning there is no visible seam or gap when the phone transitions between configurations.
The hardware underneath reflects the premium positioning. A 5,600-milliamp-hour battery powers the device, supported by 66 watts of wired charging or 50 watts of wireless charging. The rear camera system consists of three lenses: a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto. An 8-megapixel front-facing camera sits on the leftmost screen when the device is fully unfolded.
What is perhaps most striking is the market response before the price was even public. Chinese retailer Vmall reported 3.7 million preorders in the period leading up to the official announcement. That number suggests substantial appetite for the device despite—or perhaps because of—its positioning as a luxury object rather than a mainstream consumer product. The Mate XT is not competing with mid-range phones or even most flagships. It is competing with other statements of technological ambition and disposable income.
The trifold represents a genuine inflection point in foldable phone design. Samsung and other manufacturers have explored dual-screen devices, but the engineering required to make three distinct screen sizes work seamlessly on a single continuous display is a step beyond what has been commercially available. Whether that innovation justifies a price tag that exceeds a laptop capable of professional work remains an open question—one that the market will answer over the coming months.
Citazioni salienti
Approximately $300 more than a brand-new 16-inch MacBook Pro— Price comparison at launch
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Economy & Finance