Huawei Mate XT 2 officially revealed with radically redesigned folding mechanism

Huawei has officially shown off the Mate XT 2 ahead of its imminent launch, and the company's second-generation tri-fold is shaping up to be a complete redesign. Huawei has completely changed the folding mechanism, moving away from the exposed Z-shaped layout used by the original Mate XT, as foretold by an earlier leak.

The Mate XT 2 instead uses a G-shaped inward-folding design like Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold. Both outer sections fold over the device's central portion, so the large flexible display is fully protected inside the chassis when the phone is closed. Huawei has consequently added a separate cover display for regular smartphone use, complete with a pill-shaped cut-out near the top for front-facing cameras and what could be shiny new facial recognition sensors.

Huawei's official images also reveal an octagonal rear camera housing surrounded by a prominent metallic frame, along with vertically oriented Huawei and Ultimate Design branding. The company has so far shown the Mate XT 2 in a dark purple finish with matching metallic accents. Huawei has yet to reveal most of the Mate XT 2's hardware specifications. Earlier rumours pointed to a newer Kirin chipset, a battery capacity of around 6,000 mAh and upgrades to the rear camera system, and more information should emerge leading up to launch.

Lastly, company executive Richard Yu confirmed that the Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design will debut on September 7 at 14:30 China time and even gave us a brief hands-on preview of the next-gen foldable, as is tradition.