We’ve had a few run-ins with the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT Ultimate but finally arrived at the office and we can now do a proper review on it.
The unit’s here just a few days after it became a globally available phone – yes, you can buy one, in theory, but it’s expensive at €3,500 and it’s also harder to find than you’d expect.
In the box, you’ll find the Mate XT itself, a case for the main rear panel (it also slightly covers the exposed part of the curved display), a USB cable, and Huawei’s 66W charger.
Unboxing the Mate XT
When folded, the Mate XT can fool you into thinking it’s an ordinary phone. It has a 6.4-inch 90Hz main display and it’s about the height of an Honor Magic V3 – one of those dual-folding phones.
But there’s a not-so-subtle tell that this isn’t a normal folding phone – the right edge of the screen is part of it, not a typical metal frame.
When folded
Being a folding display, it isn’t as sturdy as Gorilla Glass Victus on a conventional phone, and, in theory, the exposed right edge should scratch easily. So you should treat this €3,500 phone with more care. Luckily, the provided case does cover the right screen edge.
When fully folded, the phone is dauntingly thick – 12.8mm. However, it does look cool and high-tech in a way.
Chunky boy
The Mate XT has a good camera system, on paper. Its main camera has a 50MP sensor with a 24mm optically stable lens with a variable f/1.4 to f/4.0 aperture. There’s an ultrawide with phase detect focusing, and a 125mm f/3.5 periscope zoom. There’s a single 8MP selfie camera on the cover part of the display.
Here’s the money shot – the three display modes of the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate. The screen spans up to 10.2-inch when unfolded – nearly 40% more surface area than the 7.92-inch Magic V3!
When folded once, the Mate XT Ultimate has a similar 7.9-inch display. Finally, when fully folded, you get a 6.4-inch canvas.
Three displays in one
The bigger screen, naturally, opens up bigger possibilities for content enjoyment. It’s palpably bigger than anything on a phone we’ve seen. Viewing your photos on this screen is both impressive and a bit disappointing – phone pics look better at smaller sizes – you can see some imperfections on the Mate XT’s screen.
The phone feels surprisingly sturdy. Yes, you can feel some flex from the dual hinges when the phone is fully unfolded. But there’s a reassuring feel of good craftsmanship too.
However, there are noticeable and visible creases between the three folding parts of the display. They’re not something most of us here at GSMArena would take two looks at but some people love to obsess about screen creases, so there you go!
The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate is something one must touch and feel to experience fully. Sadly, most global users won’t get to do that, because the phone isn’t readily available in walk-in stores. But if you have a chance and you’re into foldables, do give it a look! More coming soon!
