Huawei has released its third trifold phone in China, and the company has clearly had half an eye on Samsung during development. Not only does the Mate XT 2 adopt the inward-folding form factor used on Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold, it’s also the first foldable to include a privacy-enhancing display, much like the one Samsung added to the Galaxy S26 Ultra this year.
The first Mate XT, which launched in China in late 2024 and internationally a few months later, used an accordion-esque folding design. It removed the need to include an additional cover screen on the phone, but left parts of the delicate folding display permanently exposed. The follow-up XTs retained the design, but the XT 2 instead takes inspiration from Samsung’s trifold, folding both sides of the 10.2-inch flexible screen inwards to keep them safe from harm.
More surprising is the addition of a privacy OLED display. This looks much like Samsung’s, so far only found on the S26 Ultra. When activated, it switches on pixels that emit light at narrower angles, making the screen appear almost black from the sides, but still visible head-on. It’s an optional extra, only available if you opt for 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage and pay a further ¥1,000 (about $150) to add the privacy screen.
Beyond the display, the XT 2 has Huawei’s new Kirin 9050 Pro chipset, improved water-resistance with an IP59 rating, and a triple rear camera. It launched today in China, starting at ¥19,999 ($3,000), though international release plans remain unknown. Samsung’s own Galaxy Z TriFold was discontinued shortly after its release last year, though leaks suggest that Samsung is still working on a follow-up.
