Huawei just unveiled the world’s first tri-fold phone, the Mate XT Ultimate, in its home country late last year. We weren’t holding out hope for a global release, but it’s finally coming outside China after receiving a record number of preorders — even before the pricing was announced.
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The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate pushes the boundaries of what you can expect from a phone by fitting a 10.2-inch screen inside your pocket — all in a slimmer form factor than more recent foldable phones. I’ve spent 24 hours with the tri-fold phone, and here’s what makes it better than any other book-style foldable on the market right now.
The design itself is a technological marvel
It’s hard to be surprised or excited when seeing a new phone these days, but the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate is different. Despite knowing what to expect after unboxing, I was still pleasantly surprised when I first held it in my hands and folded it into a slab-phone form. Over the first 24 hours, I’ve used it for browsing, multitasking, gaming, attempting to install Google apps, and simply folding and unfolding it for the fun of it.
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If we’re talking numbers, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate is 3.6mm thin when fully unfolded and 12.8mm thick when folded. For context, Samsung’s last-gen Galaxy Z Fold 5 measured 13.4mm in thickness, while the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is just 0.7mm thinner than Huawei’s tri-fold.
When folded, you can feel the thickness and its 298g weight in hand, but unfold it once or twice, and it shines. The hardware feels impressive, with an inward-folding crease that is smaller than some mainstream foldables, while both hinges feel sturdy. It also sports a satisfying magnetic click when you fold it down to single-screen mode.
The screen is bigger than ever – and I love it
I can see myself unfolding the Huawei Mate XT more often than a book-style foldables – not because of the novelty but because of the functionality. You get a 6.4-inch screen with a 1008 x 2232-pixel resolution, a 7.9-inch display with 2048 x 2232 pixels, and a 10.2-inch screen with a 2232 x 3184 resolution. Having that third display is a game-changer and solves my biggest issue with a book-style foldable.
When fully unfolded, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate offers genuinely useful screen real estate. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold include thick black bars on the top and bottom when viewing 16:9 videos on the inner display – making it hardly more useful than the cover screen. I usually unfold these phones only for multitasking and prefer watching content on the cover display, but the Huawei tri-fold changes that.
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On the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate, the 10.2-inch display has a 16:11 aspect ratio, which is miles better than the more boxy aspect ratios of book-style foldables for video consumption. I’ve watched YouTube videos (there are a few ways to install Google apps) shot in 16:9, and my experience was fantastic – much closer to what you’d get on a MacBook Air’s 16:10 display.
I know it’s too early to say for sure how often I’ll use the Mate XT Ultimate in three-screen mode, but I’m confident it’ll be more than I initially thought. The one-screen mode is great for texting and calling, and the two-screen mode enhances multitasking, but the three-screen mode is where the Huawei tri-fold truly shines by offering a more natural video consumption experience.
In terms of quality, it’s a sharp and vivid display. Notably, you don’t get a 120Hz refresh rate, as the Mate XT Ultimate’s display maxes out at 90Hz. However, it features an LTPO OLED panel with vibrant colors and 1440Hz high-frequency PWM dimming to reduce eye strain.
The smaller details you should know about
Huawei hasn’t officially disclosed the chipset details, but it’s said to be powered by the company’s in-house Kirin 9010. It’s paired with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. I haven’t run benchmarks yet, and 24 hours isn’t enough time to judge performance, but I’ve noticed fluid animations when switching between screen modes. The transitions have been smooth, and I haven’t experienced any stutters or lag so far.
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However, the software feels outdated. The Mate XT Ultimate’s global version runs on EMUI 14 rather than the China-exclusive HarmonyOS. The software is functional and gets the job done, but its look and feel don’t impress me. It doesn’t ship with Google apps, but there are ways to install them, including the Play Store. It requires patience and an interest in tinkering with the device, but you can install apps like Google Maps, Gemini, and more.
On the back, you get a 50MP primary camera with OIS, a 12MP periscope sensor with 5.5x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view. From my initial impressions, the photos look decent but aren’t on par with Huawei’s flagship slab phones – which was expected. It must be challenging to include larger sensors while keeping the phone this thin.
The one thing I’m concerned about as I use the Huawei tri-fold phone is battery life. While it packs a 5,600mAh battery with support for 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, using it in three-screen mode may drain the battery faster.
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To help with video consumption in three-screen mode, Huawei bundles a color-matching case with a built-in kickstand inside the box. It lets you prop up the phone on a solid surface without needing a third-party accessory.
The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate is an expensive phone, with the China price translating to well over $2,800. It’ll be available in Europe for 3,499 euros (approximately $3,660). For that price, you’re getting a phone, a book-style foldable, and a tablet experience, offering an excellent video consumption experience. I’ll be using it more in the coming days, but I can already see its use case and why a tri-fold could be better than a book-style foldable – or any other phone, for that matter.
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