Alright, so you’ve heard of flip phones, you’ve heard of foldable phones, but technology never stops evolving. Now, let me introduce you to the world’s first tri-fold phone — the Huawei Mate XT. This device is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
I had heard the rumors, the whispers of this ambitious device, but seeing it in person is something else entirely.
Let’s start with the device when it’s closed. You get a pretty reasonable 6.4-inch-sized phone, and from the front, it looks just like any other phone. The screen gets very bright, runs at 90Hz, and the bezels are impressively thin, evenly distributed around the top, bottom, left, and right. On the right, the screen curves around the edge, and the software creates a smooth bezel effect. It looks more like a traditional phone compared to many other foldables.
While using it, you’ll notice it’s thicker than a typical phone. However, each section of the fold is extremely thin — about 4mm each. Altogether, when closed, it’s around 13mm thick, which is comparable to other foldables like the Z Fold 6. The power and volume buttons are on the right, slightly off-center, but they’re still usable. One thing to note is that parts of the screen remain exposed, making it vulnerable when placed in a pocket or bag. Still, as a single-screen smartphone, it offers a very respectable experience— I’d rate it an 8 out of 10, quite close to the best.
Then, you open it for the first time, revealing the small tablet mode. This is where it matches other foldable devices, like the Pixel Fold or the Galaxy Z Fold. It unfolds to a 7.9-inch square display, and while it’s perfectly usable in this mode, I don’t think it’s meant for extended use this way. The crease in this first fold is minimal and easy to ignore. You also get a cool selfie feature by using the main camera and seeing yourself on the external 6.4-inch display.
Once you make the final fold, you’re greeted with a full 10.2-inch display. This screen is 3184×2232 pixels, 90Hz OLED, and features slim bezels with a punch-hole selfie camera on the left. You get two creases now, but both are impressively small. The overall design is a marvel — thin, with almost no bezels, and the whole thing fits in your pocket.
There are quirks, though. It’s disorienting to hold because of how thin it is, and the two creases are slightly different in feel, but nothing distracting. The UI adapts to the unfolding well, stretching out smoothly across the panels. There’s even a “wrong way” to fold it, and the phone lets you know if you’re doing it incorrectly.
I can’t daily-drive this phone because it’s from Huawei, and many features and software are China-specific. While you can hack Google services onto it, it’s not ideal for Western users. Despite that, this is easily a 10 out of 10 in terms of innovation. A 10-inch display that fits in your pocket is incredible.
As for specs, it’s packed. You get Huawei’s Kirin 9010 chip, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. There’s also a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and a telephoto lens. The phone’s battery is 5600mAh with 67W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. The price for the top-end model sits around $3,500 in China, which isn’t outrageous compared to other premium foldables.
So why isn’t there more competition in the tri-fold space? That’s the main question. This phone proves the concept is doable, and it’s genuinely impressive. Of course, there are trade-offs — the battery, while decent, may struggle with extended use in full tablet mode, and the speakers are weak due to the phone’s thinness. There’s no IP rating for dust or water resistance either. But these are small downsides compared to the sheer innovation.
In a world where phones often feel iterative, this is a breath of fresh air. The fact that they went all out on this design is insane. They didn’t have to go this hard, but they did. Thanks for watching, and catch you in the next one. Peace.