Huawei's tri-folding phone reaches iPad-like proportions, costs $2,800

[midian182]

In brief: Folding phones are expensive. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 launched with a $1,900 MSRP, but that's still $900 cheaper than the folding handset Huawei now has available to pre-order. The reason for the Mate XT Ultimate's astronomical $2,800 price tag is that it's a tri-folding phone, featuring two hinges and an iPad-like unfolded size of 10.2 inches.

We heard earlier this month that Huawei was looking to steal some of the attention from Apple by hosting its own product launch on September 9 (US time), the same day Cupertino revealed the iPhone 16 at its Glowtime event.

The 19,999 yuan (around $2,800) price of Huawei's flagship makes the iPhone 16 Pro Max look comparatively cheap, but the Mate XT Ultimate is unique within a phone market full of similar devices.

Huawei Mate XT

The world's first triple-foldable phone,
pic.twitter.com/BVFS7f34JD

– Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 10, 2024

The Mate XT Ultimate measures a fairly standard 6.4 inches when fully folded. Its single-fold configuration increases the screen size to 7.9 inches, 0.3 inches larger than an opened Z Fold 6. Open Huawei's phone out completely, and it reaches a massive 10.2 inches, just half an inch less than a standard iPad.

Huawei Executive Director Richard Yu said the Chinese giant had been "struggling for five years" to bring the trifold model into production, due to the technical challenges stemming from the screen and hinge. There were also reliability issues that needed to be addressed, and the US sanctions on the firm and chip exports have caused problems. Ultimately, though, Yu said Huawei has "turned science fiction into a reality."

As for the rest of the phone's specs, it comes with 256GB of internal storage that can be increased for an extra cost, 16GB of RAM, a 50MP main camera, 12 MP ultrawide and periscope cameras, and a 5,600 mAh battery. Analysts believe it uses the Kirin 9010 5G SoC, a successor to the Kirin 9000S found in the Mate 60.

The display is a 120Hz 3K LTPO OLED with a 92% screen-to-body ratio. There's an optional folding keyboard, and it can use satellite connectivity when out of cell network range. Like all modern handsets, there's also a slew of AI features for the likes of photo editing and translations.

The Mate XT Ultimate weighs 298 grams (around 60g more than the Z Fold 6). It measures 12.8mm thick when folded, which is slightly thicker than Samsung's latest foldable.

There have already been over 4.9 million pre-orders for the Mate XT Ultimate in China. It's unclear if the tri-folding handset will ever be released outside of the Asian nation, but it seems unlikely.

The history of tri-folding phones stretches back years. In 2010, long before foldables entered the market, Qualcomm patented a design for a folding device with three screens. TCL unveiled a concept tablet in 2020 that folded three times, and Samsung showed off a similar prototype tri-folding handset in 2021.

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Huawei's tri-folding phone reaches iPad-like proportions, costs $2,800

 

[Watzupken]

While this is the first of its kind and looks like a high risk release by Huawei, it makes the Apple 6.9 inch screen look puny and rubbish. Apple is trying to deliver the least in hopes of maximum profit is starting to look really bad. Product features and design are so incremental, it’s highly predictable and unattractive.

 

[Uncle Al]

How long before we have a 4, 5 or 6 fold unit???

 

[guillejp]

Fine for marketing for trying to look like they're on top of what's next and all, and even more so because it's a functional device, but at $2800 it's just nah for what's gonna be basically your phone... Even if it can turn into a tablet, nah, it's too much money for a device with a significant weird factor, not even the snobbiest of Apple or tech enthusiasts would add up for any justifiable market share.
And let's see how a protective case would work for that.

 

[MyIOnU]

While the technology is nice, but I still don't buy into it.
First, the screen feels so plastic and does not last long. Also, you can still see the crease in the middle of the screen. The more you use it, it gets worse.

 

[Gars]

This is useless af
you can find homeless to read it for you ina fraction of that cost, and you get friend forever

 

[J Oelschl]

Now instead of 1 crease to look funky, you have two creases. Screen prone to failure around the creases, hinges prone to breaking and finally, how do these survive when/if you drop them. That would be an expensive drop. No thanks. Ill stick to one nice phone and one pro level tablet and still be ahead by about $800. Another thing, while the tech is interesting with the foldable screens, they feel plasticy and cheap. They flex when you run your finger over them at the location of the creases.

 

[p51d007]

Well OF COURSE they have a lot of pre-sales in China. The "people" in China don't really have a
choice. Government probably tells them you MUST buy it.
Outside of China, it won't sell because of the Android block...no google play store, etc.

 

[Rudyduu]

Well OF COURSE they have a lot of pre-sales in China. The "people" in China don't really have a
choice. Government probably tells them you MUST buy it.
Outside of China, it won't sell because of the Android block...no google play store, etc.

None of this is based on reality.

 

[Q Wales]

Would love one but will wait until a) It's available over here. b) The device and particularly the folding part is proven to be reliable. c) It is much cheaper.