Huawei has launched a new tri-folding phone two days before Apple is expected to show its first foldable iPhone. The Mate XT 2 was unveiled on Monday and goes on sale in China on 10 September.
Apple’s event falls on 9 September, so both Huawei and Xiaomi will have shown their foldables before Apple shows its first, and Apple arrives at a market where the reference prices have already been set by somebody else. The hardware is a third-generation tri-fold rather than a first attempt.
The Mate XT 2 opens to a 10.2-inch display, carries a battery above 6,000mAh, and uses a redesigned hinge intended to soften the crease that has dogged every folding screen since the format appeared.
What is inside it matters more than the fold. The phone runs a Kirin 9050 Pro built on Huawei’s own newer process, which is a chip the company was not supposed to be able to make after Washington cut it off from advanced foundries.
Xiaomi has done something similar on its own account. The 18 Fold runs the company’s proprietary Xring O3 with LPDDR6 memory, a 7.6-inch folding display, a 200MP main camera and 67W wired charging, at around 8,999 yuan.
