If you think a fully-specced iPhone 16 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is overpriced, Huawei has a new flagship that some people might have to break the bank to buy. The Mate XT, which the company claims is the first triple-fold phone to market, will launch in China and start at 19,999 yuan (about $2,800). That’s enough to buy an 11-inch iPad Pro, an M3 MacBook Air and an iPhone 16 — and still have money left over.
According to Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei’s consumer business, it took Huawei five years to develop the Mate XT. As part of that process, the company has made breakthroughs in screen and hinge technology. The device can be folded accordion-style, with one hinge folding outward and the other inward, allowing one panel to be used as a 6.4-inch external display.
“The Huawei Mate XT is the world’s first triple-fold smartphone, and the largest and thinnest foldable handset globally,” Yu said during the launch event, according to CNN. “We are the first in the world to achieve outward folding (in a smartphone) and the first to make a phone that folds inward without any gaps.”
Despite the high price, the Mate XT has already captured the attention of Chinese consumers. As of Tuesday morning, Huawei had received 3.7 million preorders.
It’s no surprise why Huawei formally revealed the device just hours after Monday’s iPhone event — it’s trying to steal some of Apple’s shine. Given its pre-order numbers and relatively modest iPhone hardware updates this year (Apple is capitalizing on the delayed Apple Intelligence feature as a major selling point), Huawei probably has it easy.
When fully opened, the Mate XT has a 10.2-inch 3K display with a 92 percent screen-to-body ratio. Buyers can use one, two or all three panels simultaneously (the two-panel display measures 7.9 inches). It comes in red or black, with a leather finish on the back and gold embellishments on the sides and fold. When they’re out of range of a cell network, owners will be able to communicate with the rest of the world via satellite.
As you might imagine, it also has a number of generative AI features, including a voice input function that can polish and translate transcripts. There’s also the option to open a chatbot on one side of the screen to answer questions and summarize articles. There’s also an AI photo-editing tool. On that note, Huawei says the triple-camera system (which has a periscope telephoto camera and an ultra-wide-angle camera) includes an estimated optical zoom of 5.5x.
However, Huawei isn’t the first company to show off a tri-fold device. We spent some time with a tri-fold TCL tablet in 2020.
Plans for the Mate XT’s rollout outside of China are unclear as of now. Given the sanctions against the company in the past few years, the Mate XT is unlikely to officially arrive in the US.