Huawei’s wild tri-fold phone finally breaks out of China, and I’m excited

Huawei unveiled the Mate XT Final in China, only a day after the iPhone 16 Pro launch. Whereas Apple launched incremental upgrades, Huawei has pushed boundaries with an already novel kind issue. And now, it’s increasing past China—Huawei has introduced the world’s first tri-fold telephone in Malaysia.

The Huawei Mate XT Final encompasses a 10.2-inch show (2232 × 3184 pixels), which folds into two extra kind elements: a 7.9-inch (2048 × 2232 pixels) book-style foldable and a 6.4-inch (1008 × 2232 pixels) slab telephone. Extra importantly, its three-screen mode adopts a 16:11 side ratio, providing a greater media consumption expertise than conventional foldables, which frequently have a boxy format that isn’t preferrred for movies.

Huawei’s tri-fold design options two hinges and folds twice—one fold inwards and the opposite outwards. The interior fold has a noticeable crease, whereas the outer fold stays uncovered. In my expertise, the hinges felt sturdy sufficient to carry the telephone in varied positions with out collapsing into single-screen mode. Each folding sides are secured by magnets, preserving the folded elements flush with the physique. Nevertheless, unfolding the outward-folding part takes some getting used to.

Huawei hasn’t formally revealed the chipset powering the Mate XT Final, however experiences recommend it runs on the in-house Kirin 9010, a 7nm processor. The telephone packs 16GB RAM and as much as 1TB of storage. On paper, it’s not as highly effective as flagship units just like the Galaxy S25 Ultra or OnePlus 13, however in my restricted hands-on time, the display transitions between single, twin, and tri-screen modes have been buttery clean.

That mentioned, the consumer interface feels outdated. Not like in China, the place HarmonyOS is the usual, the worldwide variant runs on EMUI 14, which doesn’t have essentially the most modern-looking UI. Surprisingly for 2025, Huawei hasn’t highlighted any standout AI options on this gadget.

The Mate XT Final’s international variant doesn’t come pre-installed with Google apps. Nevertheless, there are workarounds to obtain nearly any Google app, together with the Play Retailer.

The brand new Huawei foldable telephone sports activities a triple-camera setup, led by a 50MP principal sensor with optical picture stabilization (OIS). It’s accompanied by a 12MP ultrawide digital camera and a 12MP periscope telephoto lens with 5.5x optical zoom and OIS. On the entrance, you get an 8MP selfie digital camera.

The Huawei tri-fold telephone packs a 5,600mAh silicon-carbon battery with 66W wired charging, 50W wi-fi charging, and seven.5W reverse wi-fi charging. The capability is promising, nevertheless it’ll be fascinating to see the way it holds up when absolutely using the big show.

The Huawei Mate XT Final is priced at 19,999 yuan (~$2,800) in China, making it a premium gadget. The European pricing is ready at 3,499 Euros, which converts to roughly $3,660.

It’s nonetheless costly however in my restricted time, I discovered the usability to be promising. I’m enthusiastic about the truth that I can carry a full-size multimedia pill in my pocket. And it looks as if this manner issue will see extra iterations sooner or later since Samsung additionally teased a tri-fold telephone at its Galaxy Unpacked in January. Whereas I hope Huawei improves the UI with future updates, the Mate XT Final stays a one-of-a-kind gadget on the earth.