More than just an expensive toy – Huawei Mate XT review
Inspiring.
The Huawei Mate XT is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and innovative smartphones in recent history. With its three foldable elements, it can even be expanded to 10.2 inches, making it the lightest and thinnest tablet in its size class.Daniel Schmidt (translated by Daniel Schmidt) Published 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...
Conclusion – Strong concept with technical deficits
The Huawei Mate XT isn't cheap, but it's an exciting concept that's currently unique on the market. With its double-folding display, it can be expanded from a conventional smartphone to a full-fledged 10.2-inch tablet, yet weighs just over 300 grams. Nevertheless, it has room for a 5,600 mAh battery, which enables practical runtimes and safely guides the foldable through an entire day.
Technically, the Kirin delivers good everyday performance, but it is not in the high-end range. The limitations in the mobile phone sector are also sometimes annoying. However, this is less often the case with the software. The apps we installed run smoothly, provided they do not require the Google framework, and payments can also be made without any problems in everyday use.
However, considering the price, the camera could have been better, especially the two additional lenses. The display brightness itself is actually good, but the screen protector is a little too reflective, so we would have liked better readability in sunlight.
The ability to always have such a large tablet with you is definitely a unique feature of the Huawei Mate XT. However, the technical shortcomings hardly dampen the enthusiasm for everyday use. As the Mate XTs is about to be launched in China, we can certainly look forward to some improvements and, hopefully, wider availability in the upcoming model.
Pros
Cons
Price and availability
With a price tag of around €3,500, the Mate XT is clearly positioned in the premium segment and is aimed primarily at technology enthusiasts who value exceptional design and maximum flexibility, but it is not available in many countries.
The Huawei Mate XT is the world's first smartphone with a triple-foldable display, combining the functions of a compact mobile phone, a medium-sized device and a full-fledged tablet. The term ‘tri-foldable’ is somewhat misleading, as it consists of three elements but can only be folded twice. A better description would actually be ‘dual-foldable’.
When closed, the screen measures 6.4 inches, when half unfolded it measures 7.9 inches, and when fully opened, the device impresses with a 10.2-inch display. At only 3.6 millimetres thick when unfolded, it is extremely slim, yet at 306 grams it is relatively light for a foldable of this size. Inside, it is powered by the Kirin 9010, supported by 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of storage. The camera system consists of a 50-megapixel main camera with variable aperture, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with 5.5x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens. A 5,600 mAh battery provides the necessary endurance and can be charged via cable with up to 66 watts and wirelessly with 50 watts. The operating system is EMUI 14.2 based on Android 12, but without Google services.
We had the opportunity to test the Mate XT in everyday use.
Features and workmanship – Mate XT is waterproof
When folded, the Huawei Mate XT is not exactly a slim smartphone at 12.8 mm (without camera) and takes up a lot of space in your pocket. When using dual screens, it is nominally 7.45 mm thick on the thicker side and 4.75 mm thin on the thinner side. When fully unfolded, it is at least 3.6 mm thick. So it's super slim. In everyday use, it is quite heavy to hold in one hand, but it is still easy to use. However, the real highlight is when it is unfolded, because it is not only slim, but also light (306 g) for a 10.2-inch tablet.
The workmanship appears to be of high quality. The metal frame is robust and the synthetic leather on the back is durable and non-slip. The foldable display also curves along the outer edge and is exposed when folded. This may be a bit of a concern at first, but so far, the Mate XT has survived unscathed. However, the display is quite difficult to clean and fingerprints are clearly visible on it. With IPX8, it is also waterproof, but not particularly well protected against dust.
The rest of the features are not much different from other high-end smartphones and also include an IR blaster, USB 3.2 and native stylus support. Unfortunately, the pen was not available to us. One drawback is that there is no eSIM and only LTE on board. This is noticeable in some areas, especially when it comes to latency.
The software runs very smoothly, even if you have to do without pre-installed Google services. However, the workaround with the Aurora Store and microG is very simple and allows unrestricted access to the apps in the Play Store (find out more here). Android Auto also works without any problems. You have to do without Google Pay, but this can be easily circumvented with the payment apps from Sparkasse, Raiffeisenbank and PayPal.
Display – OLED with only 90 Hz
The Huawei Mate XT's foldable OLED display, measuring a maximum of 10.2 inches, folds in two places. While the sampling rate is at a standard level of 240 Hz, the refresh rate is somewhat low at 90 Hz. On the plus side, the foldable uses high-frequency PWM dimming at up to 1,440 Hz, making it comparatively easy on the eyes.
The brightness of the panel is acceptable, but not as high as other modern foldables. Manual control allows for up to 589 cd/m2, but with the ambient sensor activated, it is only 985 cd/m2 on a pure white surface. Only in the APL18 measurement does the Mate XT flex its muscles and increase to up to 2,058 cd/m2, similar to HDR playback (2,027 cd/m2).
In everyday use, the Mate XT is usually sufficiently bright. On sunny days, however, the panel reflects quite strongly and the display remains visibly darker than a conventional foldable.
Nevertheless, it is very practical in everyday use and scales the content appropriately to the selected display size.
Cameras - Mate XT with triple camera
The Huawei Mate XT offers a triple camera with a 50 MP main sensor. This takes good pictures, even in darker environments. The two additional lenses each have 12 MP, but the quality is noticeably lower.
The zoom in particular is not always convincing. In portrait mode, objects at the edge of the image may be practically retouched away, or the boundaries between the subject and the background may be somewhat blurred. Especially when compared to a Mate X6, the XT visibly falls short here.
Short conclusion
The Huawei Mate XT is currently the only foldable phone that can be folded twice. Although it does have a few technical weaknesses, the concept itself is impressive and inspires enthusiasm in everyday use.
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
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