Huawei Mate XT Ultimate review

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You cannot put a price on innovation and standout design. But Huawei can, and you are not going to like it. The Mate XT Ultimate costs €3,500 for the 16GB/1TB model. Let that sink in.

Huawei advertises the Mate XT Ultimate for its trifold design, exquisite craftsmanship, the immersive high-res display and the Ultra Aperture camera. And those are not empty words, on the contrary, these deliver quality in buckets. It's just that the Mate XT has a mediocre chipset that puts the whole experience in jeopardy.

For future-proofing, any popular foldable phone will fare better. Be it the slim Honor Magic V3 and Oppo Find N5 or the camera-centric vivo X Fold3 Pro - these models have already proven to be excellent offerings.

Honor Magic V3 • Oppo Find N5 • vivo X Fold3 Pro

Our verdict

The Huawei Mate XT Ultimate delivers on what it promises - it's a work of art when it comes to exterior and mechanical design, an immersive trifold screen like nothing you have seen before, and a versatile camera that captures impressive photos (as convertible devices go).

But then comes the mediocre performance, uncertain app future, and lack of Google Mobile Services and a recent Android API support. Plus Huawei has no access to 5G technology outside China. Some of these shortcomings could have been acceptable if the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate did not cost €3,500.

If the eye-watering price tag is not enough to scare you away, then most probably nothing else will - the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate is the only mainstream trifold smartphone right now and if you want such a device, this is it.

But if a trifold is not the point, there is no reason to overspend for this niche product when there are so many excellent foldable offers out there at half the price.

Pros

• Stunning trifold display.
• Standout build with an unbelievably thin profile.
• Fast wired and wireless charging.
• Superb photo quality, great selfies.
• Great multi-tasking features.

Cons

• No ingress protection.
• Mediocre battery life.
• Quiet speakers.
• Mid-range performance.
• No official GMS support, old Android core.
• Disappointing video quality.
• Super expensive, and yet...
• No charger in the box for some markets.