Huawei announced on Tuesday, September 10, the launch of a smartphone that unfolds not in two parts, but in three: once opened, the Mate XT reveals a screen worthy of a 10-inch tablet, a third larger than that of folding smartphones in two, such as the Samsung Z Fold, the pioneer of the genre.
For Western consumers, the launch of the Mate XT was difficult to follow, as the product was presented in Chinese, which is unusual for a global innovation of this scale. But the language barrier does not matter: the attraction power of such a large screen is considerable, even in the original version without subtitles. And it is a pity that, for the moment, there is no sign of the phone leaving China.
Huawei demonstrated convincing professional uses, such as consulting tables or PDF documents in exceptional readability conditions. In the field of leisure, reading magazines seems much easier than with a traditional smartphone, as does watching movies and series. The format of this screen, close to 16:9.myIt seems particularly suitable for watching videos, which appear almost without black bars: the almost square format of smartphones that fold in half is, in comparison, much less optimal. Huawei has integrated a small stand into the back of the smartphone that allows it to be placed, for example, on a train tablet.
The compactness of Mate
This format is also reminiscent of Samsung’s foldable smartphone launched in July, the Z-Fold 6: the length of the Mate XT is almost identical and it is only one millimetre thicker. However, it is still half a centimetre wider, which will make it less easy to handle with one hand, and it weighs 60 g more. But these two differences seem very acceptable to me for those looking for a mobile phone with a very comfortable screen.
The technical demonstration is impressive, but the question of durability remains, a major weakness of first-generation foldable phones. Has it progressed much in the last five years? Is a foldable mobile now as durable as a classic mobile? Questioned on this subject a week earlier, manufacturers Samsung and Honor had not responded to the question. World. Google simply indicated that its latest foldable mobile was its “The most durable foldable phone yet”.
With its extra fold and hinge, the Mate XT would have every reason to be more fragile than its competitors. Moreover, when folded for transport, its screen is not protected within its casing: it is exposed to external aggressions. Its front and edge are directly exposed to impacts, a detail that Huawei is careful not to clearly show on the Mate XT product page, without any visuals that allow it to be seen clearly.
first to arrive
Among other manufacturers, triple-fold smartphones are still in the labs for the time being: TCL, Samsung, Oppo and Tecno are working on them, but none have yet reached the commercialisation stage. Has Huawei found the technical solutions that these brands could not have imagined? Or did the Chinese manufacturer want to get ahead of the competition, even if it meant taking risks, like Samsung in 2019? After the malfunctions found by journalists testing the device, the Korean manufacturer had to postpone the launch of the first Fold by four months.
These questions are crucial for a mobile phone that will be sold for 20,000 yuan in China (or 2,500 euros), but Chinese products are generally more expensive on European soil. Will the Mate XT only be marketed in France? This is not certain: in the past, several Chinese brands reserved their innovative foldable phones for their domestic market.
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However, if this triple-decker smartphone were to reach us, its commercial success would not be assured. The brand’s sales have slowed considerably in the West since US sanctions deprived its smartphones of the Google app store. These US restrictions have also made it difficult for Huawei to supply cutting-edge chips, such as processors or internet communication modules. The Mate XT’s spec sheet strangely ignores these two essential components.
