A phone that folds three times. That sentence alone should tell you everything about where Huawei is putting its energy right now. The company has confirmed that the Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design will officially launch on September 7, and it’s bringing HarmonyOS 7 with it. Mark the date.
Huawei posted a big promotional teaser on its official Weibo page, making the announcement loud and clear. The Mate XT 2 is a tri-fold device, meaning it has two separate fold points that let it collapse into a compact phone form, open to a mid-size tablet, or stretch out into something closer to a full-on tablet. It’s a genuinely unusual piece of hardware, and whether you think it’s the future of mobile or an expensive party trick, you can’t say Huawei isn’t swinging big.
This is the follow-up to the original Mate XT, which caused a genuine stir when it dropped last year. That phone was one of the first tri-fold devices to actually make it to market, and it sold out fast despite its eye-watering price tag. Huawei clearly saw enough interest to push a second generation, which suggests real demand exists for this kind of device, even if most people will never actually buy one.
The HarmonyOS 7 angle is worth paying attention to. Huawei has been developing its own operating system since it got cut off from Google services back in 2019, and each new version has been a signal of how far the company has come in building its own software ecosystem. HarmonyOS 7 launching alongside the Mate XT 2 puts both pieces of the puzzle on display at once. Hardware ambition backed by software that no longer needs to apologize for what it’s missing.
Full specs haven’t been confirmed yet, but based on the original Mate XT, expect a large unfolded display, premium materials, and a price that will make most people’s eyes water. The first model launched at the equivalent of around $2,800. The Mate XT 2 will almost certainly be in the same ballpark, possibly higher.
So who is this actually for? Mostly early adopters, tech enthusiasts, and people in China where Huawei’s ecosystem is strong enough to make the purchase practical. International availability remains a big question mark given the ongoing trade restrictions Huawei operates under. But that doesn’t make the Mate XT 2 irrelevant to the broader industry. When Huawei pushes the format forward, Samsung and others pay attention.
The foldable phone category is still finding its footing, and most people still see standard foldables as niche. A tri-fold device sits even further out on that spectrum. But every generation gets a little more refined, and September 7 will show us just how much Huawei has improved on the original formula.