Huawei recently announced one of its most amazing devices yet, the Mate XT – a tri-fold smartphone with a 10-inch folding screen that blurs the line between a smartphone and a tablet. We were naturally impressed with its form factor and had the chance to try it out for a short time.
The first thing we like most about the Mate XT is its thinness. At 3.6mm thick, the Mate XT feels quite slim and this is even more impressive when compared to mainstream horizontal foldable phones. Here it is placed next to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Huawei Mate XT (front), Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (center) and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (back)
When fully folded, the Mate XT measures just 12.8mm – as you can see here, that’s not much more than the Z Fold6’s 12.1mm.
The Mate XT offers three screen sizes: a 6.4-inch single screen when folded, a 7.9-inch dual-pane screen when opened on one side, and a 10.2-inch screen when both hinges are fully opened.
Mate XT is available in three display sizes
The entire screen is an LTPO OLED with a resolution of 3,184 x 2,232 px, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a 16:11 aspect ratio when fully opened. There’s a small cutout in the far left corner for the 8MP selfie camera.
There’s a very obvious crease on the screen that extends on either side of the dual hinges. It feels like it’s a generation or two away from the current batch of Chinese foldables, which have reduced their creases to an almost indistinguishable level. Apart from that we found no other flaws in the screen. It’s vibrant, bright and the huge diagonal is great for content consumption.
Pair it with the bundled case and its kickstand turns the Mate XT into a portable monitor or device of some sort – a great way to watch TV series or YouTube during your lunch break.
The Mate XT placed on its official case with kickstand
Speaking of media usage, many third-party Chinese apps like Douyin are already optimised for all three screen sizes on the Mate XR. Videos and app UIs expand nicely to fill the screen and we can expect more apps to be optimised in the coming months.
Huawei’s keyboard also splits easily into openings on both sides for more convenient typing.
Huawei Split Keyboard
The body of the Mate XT is made up of three separate parts and two hinge mechanisms. The hinges feel solid with even tension and a strong snap at the end. You can position the hinge at any angle which allows you to place the Mate XT in a zig-zag position on flat surfaces. The whole device feels premium with a metal frame and well-textured faux leather back.
It is a heavy device and we found ourselves constantly using it with two hands. The Mate XT weighs a little under 300g – this is not a device you would want to use with one hand. Still, this is not so bad as the MatePad Pro 11 tablet is around 150g heavier despite having a similar sized screen.
In terms of ergonomics, the segment with the camera is slightly bigger and heavier than the other two. The weight distribution is also not ideal as the device feels top-heavy.
We also have some doubts about durability. The screen is always exposed even when fully folded. The right side of the panel protrudes above the frame which makes us question its lifespan. There is no IP rating of any kind which is expected with this form factor.
A brief about the cameras – they look impressive at first glance. The 50MP main camera with a variable f/1.4-f/4.0 aperture is carried over from the Pura 70 Pro and can capture great photos with a nice shallow depth of field. Huawei has also added a 12MP dedicated periscope with 5.5x optical zoom and a 12MP ultrawide that covers the three main focal lengths of a flagship phone.
The phone is powered by Huawei’s in-house Kirin 9010 chipset paired with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Performance was impressive in the short time we spent with the device, but we still didn’t test its limits.
In terms of specifications, it has a 5,600 mAh battery that comes with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging. It remains to be seen how this battery will power this big display.
With a starting price of CNY 19,999 ($2,800/€2,550), the Mate XT stands out in its class, and repairs certainly aren’t cheap either. As it stands, the Mate XT will be available in limited quantities in China starting today, and there’s no official word on a global launch just yet.
A recent report suggests that Huawei might ship over 1 million Mate XT units, which could indicate a global launch, but we’ll have to wait and see if that’s possible.
