Huawei has opened reservations for the Mate XT 2 ahead of its launch on 7 September, and the listing answers most of the questions the teaser video left open. Colours, storage, and one significant design change.
The phone now folds inwards and has a cover screen
The Mate XT 2 drops the Z-shaped fold of the original Mate XT for an inward-folding design with a proper outside display. On the first model, part of the flexible screen stayed exposed when the phone was closed, which is fine until you put it in a pocket with keys. The new arrangement matches the U-format Samsung used on the Galaxy Z TriFold. Around 10 inches of tablet display when fully open, folded twice.
Three colours, and the best one is purple only
Dark Black, Pure White and Jin Purple, all three with a marble-style finish. The black and white models get gold frames. Purple is the one Huawei is pushing in its own promo material.
Four configurations, all with 16GB of RAM
You get 16GB/512GB, 16GB/1TB, a 16GB/1TB version with the privacy display, and a 16GB/2TB model that adds the privacy display and a bundled stylus. That last one only comes in purple. The privacy screen is meant to stop people reading over your shoulder, though Huawei hasn’t said whether it applies to the main display, the cover screen, or both.
No price yet, and delivery runs into late October
Huawei is holding pricing back until the 7 September event, where HarmonyOS 7 is also being announced. Standard configurations are scheduled to ship by 31 October rather than straight after launch, and the 2TB version has no date at all. For reference, the original Mate XT launched at roughly $2,800, so nobody should expect this to be cheap, particularly with storage prices where they are this year.
Reservations are China only for now. Pre-orders also come with Huawei’s Petal One Premium bundle, six app subscriptions in one membership, open for a month.
