Huawei's flashy tri-foldable is impressive, but you don't need a $3,000 harmonica… yet

As the old saying goes: "Just because you could make something, doesn't mean you should make it". However, I think that such is the human condition: if we're able to make it – literally, whatever "it" is – we will. The consequences are for later.

I'm talking about Huawei's latest creation – a tri-folding phone that goes by the moniker Mate XT:

• First tri-foldable Mate XT phone lands with 10-inch display and $3,000 price

Actually, the price goes even higher to approximately $3,369 for the 16GB/1TB variant. That's just $130 short of the $3,499 price tag of Apple's Vision Pro headset.

Impressive figures for an impressive toy. What's even more impressive is that it's Huawei that's producing this jaw-dropping gadget and not some other brand. Yes, the same Huawei that survived the US-imposed sanctions (an extermination attempt, if I ever saw one) and thrived.

Anyhow, I don't think this will be anything more than a niche bijou for connoisseurs (pardon my French).

Why? Well, it's so ahead of its time that it may face the same fate EVs (electric vehicles) did at the turn of the 20th century.

In the 1890-1920 period, some big cities saw the rise of electric cars, but we, as a society, weren't ready to utilize those fully and the internal combustion engines prevailed (all eyes on you, Mr. Ford). It's just that the infrastructure for EVs back then wasn't fully developed, their range was limited (80–100 miles), and their price was quite high, especially compared to the mass-produced Model T.

Does it sound a bit familiar?

But what is the Mate XT, exactly?

It's a spectacular gadget, to put it simply. I'm not even talking about the exotic way it bends and the fact that it has a 10.2-inch screen, the biggest on a foldable. No, no, no: I'm talking about this:

• Insane 3.6mm thickness
• A huge 5,600mAh battery
• Quad-camera setup with a periscope lens
• Superfast 66W charging speeds (and 50W wireless)

Yup, that's the slimmest foldable out there right now. Up until five minutes ago, it was the Honor Magic V3 that held this division's champion belt with its 4.35mm when unfolded. In fact, let's scratch the fact that we're talking about a foldable here: these are flagship specs, period!



The Mate XT hasn't yet hit the shelves (it'll do so on September 20 with the iPhone 16 – what an adorable coincidence) and the public doesn't know what the device could be like in real life usage, but it's sort of a hit already:

• Huawei has already received over 2.8 million reservations for Mate XT tri-fold

So far, it's not 100% clear what is the chipset under the hood, but a prominent Weibo tipster (Weibo is China's X-like social media platform) says it's the Kirin 9010 5G, the same as on the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra. The Pura series took over from the former Huawei P-series, a flagship line known for its focus on photography (hence the "P").

It's better to try and fail with something new, than to release the same darn iPhone every year

Since it's September, I can't help but mention the new iPhone 16 that was unveiled at the surprisingly underwhelming "It's Glowtime" presentation, which could easily turn out to be the most boring Apple event ever.

I don't think the audience wants a Hollywood-like presentation with fireworks, roller coasters, and wild animals on the stage. It's just that the iPhone 16 is not a substantial upgrade over the previous lineup, except for the AI promise.

• Alleged iPhone 16 Pro benchmark scores suggest supercharged A18 Pro chip is barely any faster

The lack of solid upgrades could be compensated by a novel gadget by Apple – a foldable, for instance. It doesn't have to be in this super-odd tri-fold form factor; a clamshell-like flip phone would be nice for starters.

What's it good for… and why it won't fly

Phone screens are getting bigger, and that's a fact. Just take a look at this year's iPhone Pros: they offer 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively (up from the 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch panels of the iPhone 15 Pro duo). Heck, even the Zenfone by Asus grew in size. The Zenfone 9 and 10 came with a 5.9-inch display, while the Zenfone 11 Ultra is a 6.78-inch display monster.

Other companies are apparently also experimenting with tri-folds:

• Oppo has its own take on a tri-fold concept phone: check it out
• The race for tri-fold smartphones might be heating up: Xiaomi to jump in
• TCL CSOT shows off the world's first tri-foldable phone that opens to reveal a 7.85-inch screen
• Samsung might respond to Huawei's triple-fold ambitions with new phone alongside Galaxy Z Fold 6

I get it. I get what big screens are perfect for. Multitasking, gaming, video content, drawing, editing, and much more.

I'm not against that trend, given it's not at the cost of not having smaller phones anymore.

Furthermore, I dream of large screens on a mobile device. I like taking photographs, but I hate to look and show them on a small screen. Foldables are going to be my panacea.

However, it takes time – and, as the late George Harrison put it: a whole lot of precious time – for the tri-fold to become a thing. We need to have our way with the standard "dual" foldables before we move on to the harmonica-phone-tablet.

At the end of the day, the Mate XT is great – not just in terms of specs – but as a symbol. I'm glad it's Huawei, not Samsung, that produced the tri-fold. It just goes to show that companies can reinvent themselves and thrive.