On the afternoon of September 7, Huawei held the HarmonyOS 7 | HUAWEI Mate XT 2 and All-Scenario New Product Launch Event in Guangzhou, hosted by Executive Director and Chairman of the Terminal BG Richard Yu, officially unveiling the second-generation tri-fold flagship Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design, the Kirin 9050 Pro chip, and the HarmonyOS 7 operating system. This marks the first time in six years that Huawei has introduced a new high-performance Kirin chip at a flagship launch event since the global launch of the Mate 40 series.
Kirin 9050 Pro: The flagship chip returning after six years
The Kirin 9050 Pro is the core technology drawing the most attention at this launch event. The LogicFolding technology, first revealed by Huawei at ISCAS 2026, has officially made its way into consumer-grade mobile chips. This chip is manufactured by SMIC, using only DUV lithography machines throughout the entire process—no EUV equipment required whatsoever—carving out an alternative path under the restrictions imposed on lithography equipment. Huawei’s explanation of LogicFolding technology is quite intuitive: in traditional chips, logic units are laid out flat on a single layer, resulting in long signal transmission paths and high latency.
The Kirin 9050 Pro arranges logic units in layers within a single chip, like upgrading from a single-story flat to a multi-story building. It adds vertical interconnect channels inside, akin to installing “elevators,” resulting in shorter signal transmission paths, lower latency, and better performance.
Based on the specific specifications announced at the launch event, the Kirin 9050 Pro’s CPU adopts a nine-core design, with single-core performance up 24% from the previous generation and multi-core performance up 52%.
On the GPU side, it features the brand-new “Ma Liang” architecture with support for ray tracing technology. The NPU is the industry’s first design capable of running 30B-parameter large models on the device, delivering an overall chip performance improvement of 142%.
G-shaped dual inward fold: Mate XT 2’s structural innovation
The star of the launch event is the second-generation tri-fold phone, the Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design. The previous Mate XT used a Z-shaped outward-folding design, which left part of the screen exposed and at risk of wear and tear over long-term use. The Mate XT 2 has switched to a brand-new “G-fold wing-style dual inward-folding” structure, tucking the flexible main screen inside the body. When folded, there’s a separate cover display on the outside, so everyday operations don’t require unfolding the main screen every time.
When the Mate XT 2’s screen is unfolded, the inner display reaches up to 10.2 inches with a stunning 3K resolution and a 12.8:9 aspect ratio, featuring the second-generation Tiangong hinge system.
The Mate XT 2 is available in three color options: Bright White, Brocade Purple, and Mystic Black. It will go on sale on September 12 at 10:08, with a starting price of 19,999 yuan (approximately NT$94,000).
Yu Chengdong revealed at the launch event that Huawei’s tri-fold phone has surpassed 1 million units in cumulative global shipments. With tri-fold phones priced in the high-end market, this figure shows that such products have generated a meaningful level of consumer demand, not just a concept showcase.
If you want to know more about this phone, you can check out Zhong Wenze’s unboxing video. This phone probably won’t be available for purchase in Taiwan.
Source: KOCPC Chinese