The world's first tri-fold smartphone has its global launch date
Last year, Huawei launched the world's first triple or multi-foldable phone, the Mate XT Ultimate, in China. Now, it seems like it's finally gearing up for a global release – and it's happening soon!
Huawei has scheduled a launch event for February 18 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and from the looks of the promo image, the Mate XT will be making an appearance. The slogan "Unfold the classic" is associated with Huawei's foldable Mate series, and the image being used is the same one that teased the triple foldable launch in China last year. It's pretty clear that Huawei isn't trying to hide what's coming – and honestly, why would it?
The tri-foldable was first unveiled on September 10 last year, and we've had some hands-on time with it since then. If you're curious, you can check out our Huawei Mate XT preview for more details.
Huawei's first tri- or multi-fold smartphone is priced high in China, starting at about $2,800 when directly converted to USD. The global price might be even higher, but we'll have to wait until later this month to find out exactly how much it'll cost.
Expanding the Mate XT Ultimate outside of China now is a smart move for Huawei, especially with Samsung reportedly working on its own multi-fold device, possibly called the Galaxy G Fold, which might debut this year. While details are still thin on Samsung's device, it might have the edge, particularly in terms of software and availability.
Huawei has scheduled a launch event for February 18 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and from the looks of the promo image, the Mate XT will be making an appearance. The slogan "Unfold the classic" is associated with Huawei's foldable Mate series, and the image being used is the same one that teased the triple foldable launch in China last year. It's pretty clear that Huawei isn't trying to hide what's coming – and honestly, why would it?
Be part of the extraordinary as we unveil the ultimate. Join us at #HuaweiLaunch on 18 February 2025, Kuala Lumpur. #UnfoldtheClassicpic.twitter.com/O1RbUrBg9P
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) February 5, 2025
The tri-foldable was first unveiled on September 10 last year, and we've had some hands-on time with it since then. If you're curious, you can check out our Huawei Mate XT preview for more details.
The global version of this phone is likely to be pretty much the same as the Chinese one, just with different software. Huawei probably won't go all in on HarmonyOS NEXT globally, skipping out on Android entirely.
Also read:Huawei Mate XT Review: The first tri-fold phone
Take the recently released Mate X6 as an example – it comes with HarmonyOS NEXT in China, which uses a custom kernel rather than the Android AOSP (Android Open Source Program). The global version, however, kept EMUI. So, it's likely that Huawei will stick with EMUI for the Mate XT as well, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
As for the rest, the Mate XT features a massive 10.2-inch display when fully unfolded, offering plenty of room for productivity apps while still delivering a great cinematic experience for videos. You might be surprised that it only has a 90 Hz refresh rate – while it's lower than the 120 Hz on most flagships, the difference isn't very noticeable and still provides smooth scrolling and animations.
Due to the US ban, Huawei has had some struggles in the chipset department. The Mate XT Ultimate Design packs the Kirin 9010 processor, built on an older 7nm process. While this puts it behind newer chips like Apple's A18 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite, it still manages to handle everyday tasks without any major hiccups.
Take the recently released Mate X6 as an example – it comes with HarmonyOS NEXT in China, which uses a custom kernel rather than the Android AOSP (Android Open Source Program). The global version, however, kept EMUI. So, it's likely that Huawei will stick with EMUI for the Mate XT as well, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
As for the rest, the Mate XT features a massive 10.2-inch display when fully unfolded, offering plenty of room for productivity apps while still delivering a great cinematic experience for videos. You might be surprised that it only has a 90 Hz refresh rate – while it's lower than the 120 Hz on most flagships, the difference isn't very noticeable and still provides smooth scrolling and animations.
|
| Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design |
Design
| Dimensions |
|---|
| 6.17 x 8.62 x 0.19 inches 156.7 x 219 x 3.6 mm |
| Folded |
| (156.7 x 73.5 x 12.8 mm) |
| Weight |
| 10.51 oz (298.0 g) |
| Biometrics |
| Fingerprint (touch) |
| Colors |
| Red, Black |
Display
| Size |
|---|
| 10.2-inch, 91.95% screen-to-body |
| Type |
| OLED |
| Resolution |
| 3184x2232px, 381 PPI |
| Features |
| Folding inside the device, Folding around the outside, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor |
| Front cover display |
| 6.4 inches 2232 x1008 px OLED |
Hardware
| System chip |
|---|
| Kirin 9010 (7 nm) |
| Processor |
| 1x2.3GHz Taishan Big 3x2.18GHz Taishan Mid 4x1.55GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU |
| Maleoon 910 |
| Memory |
| 16GB/256GB 16GB/512GB 16GB/1024GB |
| Storage expansion |
| not expandable |
| OS |
| HarmonyOS |
Battery
| Type |
|---|
| 5600 mAh |
| Charging |
| Fast charging Reverse wireless charging, Reverse wired charging |
| Charge speed |
| Wired: 66.0W Wireless: 50.0W |
Camera
| Rear |
|---|
| Triple camera |
| Main camera |
| 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F4.0/F1.4 Focal length: 24 mm |
| Second camera |
| 12 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm |
| Third camera |
| 12 MP (Telephoto, Periscope, Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 5.5x Aperture size: F3.4 Focal Length: 125 mm |
| Flash |
| LED |
| Video recording |
| Yes |
| Front |
| 8 MP |
Connectivity & Features
| Bluetooth |
|---|
| 5.2 |
| WLAN |
| a,b,g,n,ac Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac |
| USB |
| Type-C, USB 3.1 |
| Sensors |
| Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Pedometer, Compass, Barometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor |
| Location |
| GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning |
| Other |
| NFC, Infrared |
Multimedia
| Headphones |
|---|
| No 3.5mm jack |
| Speakers |
| Earpiece, Multiple speakers |
| Screen mirroring |
| Wireless screen share |
| Additional microphone(s) |
| Noise cancellation |
Cellular
| 5G Bands |
|---|
| 5G Ready |
| Data Speed |
| LTE-A, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s |
| SIM type |
| Dual Nano SIM |
Availability
| MSRP |
|---|
| € 3499 |
See the full
Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Huawei's first tri- or multi-fold smartphone is priced high in China, starting at about $2,800 when directly converted to USD. The global price might be even higher, but we'll have to wait until later this month to find out exactly how much it'll cost.
Expanding the Mate XT Ultimate outside of China now is a smart move for Huawei, especially with Samsung reportedly working on its own multi-fold device, possibly called the Galaxy G Fold, which might debut this year. While details are still thin on Samsung's device, it might have the edge, particularly in terms of software and availability.
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