It’s been nearly a year since Huawei released the Mate XT, the world’s first tri-fold smartphone. A niche device? Absolutely. But also—oddly ahead of the curve. As the one-year mark approaches, a follow-up is reportedly on the way. Only, it’s not quite what we thought. Originally, most assumed the sequel would be called the Mate XT 2. Logical, right? But according to a new leak from China, the next version will go by a slightly different name: the Mate XTs.
Slight change, sure. But the name might actually be telling.
A refresh, not a reinvention
Unlike the original XT, which broke genuinely new ground, the XTs isn’t expected to shake things up quite as much. From what’s been shared so far, it sounds like more of an incremental upgrade. Think faster chip. Better cameras. A wider color palette. And that’s about it.
No redesign. No major shifts in how the folding mechanism works. In fact, structurally, it’s rumored to be almost identical to the XT. There’s a part of me that wonders if that’s enough. Then again, Huawei probably isn’t looking to blow the doors off this time. They’ve proven the tech works. Now, maybe, they’re just refining it.
Small changes, bigger message?
The Mate XTs will reportedly come in four colors: white, black, red, and purple. That’s twice as many options as the original. Not groundbreaking, but a clear nudge toward wider appeal. The kind of subtle signal that says, this isn’t just a tech demo anymore.
Performance is also said to be upgraded thanks to a newer chipset—likely in-house. No word yet on benchmarks, but assuming the Kirin line continues to evolve (despite sanctions), performance should at least feel more fluid. The camera system is also tipped for improvements, although specifics are light. Likely a bump in sensor quality or processing, not a radical rework.
A pricey niche that’s still selling
Here’s something unexpected: Huawei reportedly sold over 500,000 units of the Mate XT in China alone. That’s despite the phone’s sky-high price and limited availability. Not bad, especially for a device that felt—at least from the outside—like it was aimed at early adopters and collectors more than mainstream users.
Does that number justify a second model? Maybe. More importantly, it suggests there’s just enough demand for tri-fold phones to keep this experiment going.
The Mate XTs is now rumored to launch in September, almost exactly a year after the first model debuted. If the timeline holds, we could be just weeks away from seeing what, exactly, Huawei thinks a second-gen tri-fold should look like. Is this the start of a trend—or just Huawei doubling down on a curiosity? That part’s still unclear. But they’re clearly not giving up on the fold.
