In a quiet race of ideas as much as hardware, Huawei has released its second tri-fold phone in China, the Mate XT 2, just as Apple prepares to reveal its own foldable. The new design trades the earlier Z-shaped fold for a G-shaped one, tucking the main screen inside the body and slimming the device while adding water resistance and a medical-grade heart reading. Priced from about $3,000, it signals how far the makers of pocket devices are willing to go in reshaping what a phone can be, even as its reach remains bounded by China's own ecosystem.
Huawei's Mate XT 2 Tri-Fold Adds Waterproofing and ECG, Pressing Its Lead Ahead of Apple's iPhone Duo
A category once called a prototype has become a product.
Mark
Why does the fold change from Z to G matter?
Mimi
With the G-shape, both side panels fold inward, so the main screen is fully protected when closed. Only a separate outer panel is exposed.
Mark
And that made waterproofing possible?
Mimi
The report links the maturity of the chassis to the IP58/IP59 rating, which it calls a first for a tri-fold. It also says the body got thinner at its thickest point, from 4.75mm to 4.0mm.
Luke
Careful, though. The ratings and the 'first' claims come from the report and Huawei's framing. I don't see independent testing here.
Mark
What about the ECG?
Mimi
It has Class II registration from China's NMPA. You grip both frames for 30 seconds. Smartwatches do this routinely, but a phone alone is unusual.
Luke
Same caution on the chip. The 42% overall gain and the GPU 142% figure are the company's numbers, measured against its own previous chip.
Mark
Is Apple the real target?
Mimi
The timing suggests so. The iPhone Duo starts at CNY 15,999, well below Huawei's CNY 19,999.
Luke
But the iPhone Duo's details are in this piece as a comparison, and I'd want to know how firm they are. Also, the 1 million tri-fold shipments is described as 'said to have' passed, so it's unconfirmed.
Mimi
And it won't reach Japan, since it lacks Google services. The effect there would be on suppliers.
El Pulso
- A new tri-fold phone arrives in China just as Apple's foldable looms, sharpening a race that no one can afford to ignore.
- The G-shaped hinge pulls the main screen inward, forcing engineers to balance a thinner body against waterproofing and durability.
- Huawei pushes its own chip and privacy panel into the spotlight, trying to convince buyers that a $3,000 screen is worth carrying.
- Sales remain confined to China without Google services, so the immediate landing is domestic, while suppliers of hinges and ultra-thin glass watch demand take shape.
In a quiet race of ideas as much as hardware, Huawei has released its second tri-fold phone in China, the Mate XT 2, just as Apple prepares to reveal its own foldable. The new design trades the earlier Z-shaped fold for a G-shaped one, tucking the main screen inside the body and slimming the device while adding water resistance and a medical-grade heart reading. Priced from about $3,000, it signals how far the makers of pocket devices are willing to go in reshaping what a phone can be, even as its reach remains bounded by China's own ecosystem.
Huawei has begun selling a new tri-fold phone in China, the Mate XT 2, just ahead of Apple's expected debut of its first foldable. The entry model costs CNY 19,999, about $3,000, and sales opened in September.
The defining change is the fold itself. Where the first generation folded in a Z-shape, this one folds in a G-shape, with both side panels tucking inward so the main display sits protected inside the body. A separate outer panel stays visible when closed. The unfolded screen reaches 10.2 inches, and the device is thinner than its predecessor even as it gains IP58/IP59 water and dust resistance, a rare feat for a hinge this complex.
Two features stand out. A panel-level privacy display can turn the screen black from the side, and an ECG function, registered with China's medical regulator, produces a heart report after a 30-second grip on the frames. Inside sits Huawei's in-house Kirin 9050 Pro, which the company says delivers substantial gains over its predecessor.
The device runs HarmonyOS without Google services, so a Japanese launch is unlikely. Still, the wider shift toward practical foldables may stir demand for hinges and ultra-thin glass across global supply chains.
Huawei has put a new tri-fold phone on sale in China, and it did so just ahead of Apple's expected unveiling of its first foldable. The device is the HUAWEI Mate XT 2 ULTIMATE DESIGN. Sales began on September 12, and the entry model, with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage, costs CNY 19,999, roughly $3,000.
The biggest change is in how the screen folds. The first-generation Mate XT and the Mate XTs used a Z-shape that combined inward and outward folding. The new model uses a G-shape, in which the left and right panels fold inward at the same time. Closed, the main display sits entirely inside the body, and only a separate outward-facing panel is exposed. The screen measures 6.5 inches closed and 10.2 inches fully open. The 7.9-inch intermediate state of the first generation is gone, though a single panel can still stand upright and two panels can be opened on their own.
The body is 77mm wide and 12.3mm thick when folded. Unfolded, it is 3.5mm at its thinnest and 4.0mm at its thickest, down from 4.75mm at the thickest point on the first generation. It weighs about 298g. That slimming came even as Huawei added waterproofing and the independent outer panel. The hinge feels firm and holds the screen at any angle.
The Mate XT 2 is described as the first tri-fold to carry IP58/IP59 water and dust resistance, which is notable given the complexity of the hinge. The cover glass is rated 30 times more drop-resistant and 16 times more scratch-resistant than before. The inner panel layers ultra-thin glass with high-strength steel for impact resistance.
Two features stand apart. One is a privacy display built into the panel itself: a dual-pixel structure turns the screen black when viewed from the side. It is described as the first panel-level rather than software-based version in a foldable, and it is limited to a dedicated 16GB+1TB model at CNY 24,999, about $3,800. The other is ECG analysis. Users grip the frames on both sides of the unfolded phone for 30 seconds to generate a report. The function holds Class II medical device registration from China's National Medical Products Administration, which is common for smartwatches but exceptional for a phone alone.
Inside is the Kirin 9050 Pro, which Huawei designed in-house and says debuts on this device. It uses a LogicFolding architecture that stacks circuits vertically, and Huawei calls it the first commercial product built on a philosophy named "τ scaling," which shortens signal delays instead of relying on miniaturization. By the company's own figures, overall performance is 42% above the Kirin 9020, with single-core CPU up 24%, multi-core up 52%, and GPU rendering up 142%. The NPU can run a 30-billion-parameter MoE model on the device. Every configuration has 16GB of memory and runs HarmonyOS 7.
The camera system has four lenses. The main is a 1/1.28-inch 50-megapixel sensor with an F1.49–4.0 variable aperture. The telephoto is 50 megapixels with 3.5x optical zoom, and the ultra-wide is 40 megapixels. The battery is 5,600mAh, with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging.
Pricing climbs from there: CNY 21,999 (about $3,300) for 512GB, CNY 23,999 (about $3,600) for 1TB, the privacy edition at CNY 24,999, and a 2TB stylus set at CNY 29,999 (about $4,500). Only the stylus set goes on sale September 23.
Rivals are moving too. Apple's iPhone Duo pairs a 7.6-inch inner display with a 5.4-inch outer one, starting at CNY 15,999, about $2,400. Samsung has introduced its own tri-fold, the Galaxy Z TriFold, while its expected Galaxy Z Fold 9 Ultra is said to keep a camera setup much like the previous generation's. Huawei's tri-folds are reported to have passed 1 million cumulative shipments, and content designed for 10-inch screens is starting to appear.
Because the phone runs HarmonyOS 7 without Google Mobile Services, a Japanese launch is unlikely. Still, the shift toward practical features may raise demand for hinges, ultra-thin glass, and foldable panels across supply chains, including Japanese component makers.
Citas Notables
Huawei says overall performance is 42% higher than the previous Kirin 9020.— Huawei, as reported by BigGo Finance
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