We’re expecting to see the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold at this week’s Google event, but it seems dual-screen foldable phones are already a thing of the past: the first triple-folding phone has been spotted in the wild, and it appears to be a Huawei.
As the name suggests, a tri-fold display is made up of three panels; today’s best foldable phones all have two. And the person holding the tri-fold display happens to be Richard Yu, the former CEO of Huawei. Yu may no longer be the CEO, but he is the company’s chairman – and that means he’s not going to accidentally wave around a top-secret prototype. This looks a lot like a spoiler.
What we know about Huawei’s triple-folding phone
According to the informant Digital Chat Station, the phone in the photo is either the same or a very close relative of an R&D prototype that the informant has already seen. It is said to have a display area of around ten inches and a Kirin 9 series processor. The operating system is said to be HarmonyOS Next, a new version of Huawei’s mobile operating system.
Rumors suggested that the tri-fold phone would launch before the Huawei Mate 70, most likely in June, but of course, it’s not June anymore and the phone hasn’t been launched yet. However, there’s still time for the prediction to come true, as the Mate 70 hasn’t launched yet either.
In terms of hardware, adding a third panel is both good and bad: good because it expands the possibilities and allows you to have a comparatively large screen in a comparatively small folded form factor; bad because it adds an additional point of failure by having two hinges instead of one. However, just last week it was reported that Huawei had passed the “28μm test,” which is apparently a measure of durability and crease visibility.
Digital Chat Station has previously said that a 10-inch triple-fold phone from an unnamed manufacturer is planned for production, and both its specs and price will “hit new highs.” That makes it seem very likely that Huawei will beat Samsung to the triple-fold phone, at least in China — but it may not be a global foldable phone. Huawei is still banned from selling phones in the U.S., no matter how many foldable phones they have.
