The tri-fold market is officially off to a hot start as Huawei has announced the now globally available Mate XT. Huawei is happy to brag about a few broken records, considering the phone is the first tri-fold commercially available.
Up until now, users have been trying to adjust to a new type of device in the foldable phone, which only has two viewable screen formats. The tri-fold is a whole new corner, allowing users to use the device in not only the open and closed phase but also a third, larger tablet-like phase.
Huawei’s Mate XT is the first commercially available tri-fold device. It first launched in China but the Mate XT is now available on a global scale, except in the US. Other companies like Samsung have publicly toying with tri-fold concepts, but Huawei is ready to get it out into the world as is.
The Mate XT has two hinges, with one side bearing a vulnerable foldable glass edge. When closed, it comes in at 6.4 inches. The first unfold uncovers a 7.9-inch screen, while the second unfold will open the phone up to 10.2 inches, which is the size of a modern tablet — not exactly a small one.
Huawei likes to boast that the Mate XT is the largest tri-fold device available. This is true, but only because it’s the only tri-fold device available. When another crops up, it might not be bigger than the Mate XT simply because this early in the design phase for many companies, there isn’t one right way to do it. We saw this with foldables like the first Pixel Fold and Oppo Find N2. Huawei also notes that the now global Mate XT is the world’s thinnest foldable when unfolded. At 3.6mm, it even beats the Oppo Find N5’s 4.47mm. Of course, when folded up, the Mate XT comes out to 10.8mm thick.
The Mate XT is going to be an eye-catcher out in the wild, and it’s now accessible globally outside of China.
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