Huawei Mate XT 2 tri-fold launches with new Kirin 9050 Pro and Lingdun privacy screen

After months of leaks about a stronger hinge and a bigger battery, Huawei has finally unveiled the Mate XT 2 Extraordinary Master at its HarmonyOS 7 launch event. The pricing leaked well ahead of pre-orders, and Huawei has now confirmed the full specs, features, and availability date.

The phone measures just 12.3mm thick when folded and 3.5mm when fully opened. It has a 10.2-inch inner display with a 3K resolution and a 12.8:9 aspect ratio. The outer screen is 6.5 inches and has a resolution of 2442 x 1140, with peak brightness of 6,500 nits.

Huawei has also redesigned the hinge and screen structure. The Mate XT 2 is rated IP58 and IP59 for dust and water resistance, making it the first tri-fold phone with this level of protection.

Meanwhile, the outer display uses basalt glass, which Huawei says offers 30 times better drop resistance and 16 times better scratch resistance than the previous generation. The inner display uses a multi-layer composite structure that improves impact resistance by 200%.

The phone comes in Black, White, and Purple. All three versions feature a star-diamond camera module, a gold-woven brocade pattern on the body, and an Extraordinary badge near the hinge.

A Chip Built for the Tri-Fold Design

The Mate XT 2 is powered by the Kirin 9050 Pro, which Huawei has been teasing since before the launch.

Huawei claims the new chip delivers a 42% performance boost over the Mate XTs. In figures, that is 24% up for single-core performance, and 52% for multi-core. For graphics, the Ma Liang GPU supports real-time ray tracing across 50 million lines and improves rendering performance by 142%. The Da Vinci NPU runs an edge-based mixture-of-experts model with 30 billion total parameters, including 2 billion active parameters.

The Balong baseband also adds satellite paging and messaging. Huawei says it reduces stutter during video calls on high-speed trains by 25% compared with the previous model.

A Privacy Screen You Can See in Action

One of the Mate XT 2’s main features is the Lingdun privacy screen. Huawei calls it the first hardware-level privacy system built directly into a foldable display.

It uses an independent dual-pixel setup, so a double tap on the outer display or a press of the smart control key can instantly narrow the viewing angle. This keeps the screen visible to you while making it harder for people on either side to see what you’re doing.

You can also stand the outer panels upright to physically block side viewing. The phone also includes ECG analysis and has received Class II medical device certification from Chinese regulators. 

For cameras, the Mate XT 2 has an 18EV ultra-high dynamic range main camera with a 50MP RYYB sensor and a variable aperture ranging from F1.49 to F4.0. It is joined by a 50MP RYYB periscope telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom and a 40MP RYYB ultra-wide camera.

Huawei’s third-generation Red Maple color camera is also onboard. The company claims it improves color accuracy by 95% compared with the previous model.

The Mate XT 2 is the first Huawei phone to run HarmonyOS 7. The software includes split-screen layouts designed specifically for the tri-fold display. This lets you run three apps side by side or use a PC-style workspace. 

Pricing and Availability

The Huawei Mate XT 2 Extraordinary Master starts at 19,999 yuan (~$2,980) for the 16GB+256GB model. The 16GB+512GB version costs 21,999 yuan (~$3,278), while the 16GB+1TB model is priced at 23,999 yuan (~$3,576).

The 1TB version with the Lingdun privacy screen costs 24,999 yuan (~$3,725). At the top of the range, the 16GB+2TB model with a stylus set costs 29,999 yuan (~$4,470).

Huawei is also giving buyers a rotating stand case worth 499 yuan (~$74) for free. The M-Pen 3 Mini is available separately for 1,199 yuan (~$179).

The Huawei Mate XT 2 Extraordinary Master will go on sale in China on September 13.

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