Huawei Mate XT finally launches outside of China
But at a very hefty price.
The world's first phone that folds at two hinges took the world by storm when it was first announced. Most people like me just wanted to get their hands on the thin and sleek piece of hardware.
But a lot of hopes were shot down when it was revealed that the device would only be available in China.
Now, though, after half a month of teasing, the Huawei Mate XT is finally available in regions outside China. Interested buyers from countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico can finally get their hands on it—but not at a cheap price.
Louis Eriakha
The trifold phone is said to cost about €3,499 (around $3,660), which is a far cry from current single-fold models that typically cost much less – like the Samsung Z fold 5 which only costs about $1,800. On top of that, like every other Huawei phone, this one won't officially support Google apps as it runs Huawei's EMUI software instead of its homegrown HarmonyOS Next, though neither supports Google apps and services, making it a tough sell for many.
But if you can somehow overlook the lack of access to most of what arguably makes Android, well, Android, then the phone’s specs might bring it back into your good books. As mentioned, the phone is impressively thin at just 3.6mm at its thinnest point. For context, the Oppo Find N5—marketed as the thinnest foldable—measures about 4.2mm.
The Huawei Mate XT features a Kirin 9010 processor with an octa-core CPU clocked at 2.3 GHz, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 5,600mAh battery, which should be more than enough for most users. And if it isn’t, the device supports both wired and wireless charging.
Interestingly, despite the price being listed in Euros and USD, reports suggest that the device won’t be coming to the UK or the US anytime soon.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
