After China, the Mate XT will be the only foldable of its kind when launched globally.
Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design is priced at CNY 19,999 (roughly Rs. 2,36,700) in China
Huawei surely shocked the world with the launch of its first production-ready tri-fold smartphone in September. Soon after, the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design also went on sale but it almost appeared that Huawei could not keep up with demand as some walk-in customers could not purchase a unit. However, customers who had pre-ordered the device did get their units as promised. So, it is a bit strange that Huawei has now reportedly announced that it is ready to take its tri-fold smartphone global for customers who are willing to pay the high price tag.
As told to GSMArena, Huawei will be bringing its first tri-fold device to more markets globally. While Huawei has not confirmed how it plans to do so (since its products are banned in certain markets) it has confirmed that it's foldable will be launched globally in Q1 2025, as per the report.
The first quarter of 2025 isn't too far away, and it remains to be seen how Huawei will meet demands given that it seems to be struggling to put its Mate XT on shelves in China.
While foldables have always commanded a higher than usual price tag (even when compared to Apple's iPhone models), the China-only Mate XT Ultimate Design takes things up a few notches.
The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design is definitely one of the most expensive production smartphones globally at CNY 19,999 (roughly Rs. 2,36,700) and that's just for the base model which is equipped with 16GB RAM and 256GB of storage. There are also high-end models with more storage that go up to CNY 23,999 (roughly Rs. 2,83,900), an eye-watering price tag for a smartphone.
Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate Design foldable can unfold into a proper tablet-sized 10.2-inch device or fold back into a regular smartphone with a 6.4-inch display when not needed. The tri-fold can also turn into a regular foldable with a dual-fold 7.9-inch layout as well. All while maintaining a thickness of 12.8mm which is just as thick as Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 (12.1mm). However, the phone weighs 298 grams which is heavy for a foldable but lighter than most tablets.
Design aside, Huawei has its own Kirin 9010 SoC powering this tri-fold phone. There are three rear-facing cameras – a 50-megapixel primary, a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto (5.5X optical zoom), and another 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. Selfies are handled by a single 8-megapixel camera, which is embedded into the first panel of the main folding display.
The foldable is powered by a 5,600mAh battery and supports 66W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. Both of these charging methods require Huawei's proprietary chargers. The phone also offers 7.5W reverse wireless charging for charging accessories and is currently available in Red and Black finishes that have vegan leather rear panels.
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