Apple's iPhone Duo looks ridiculously cheap compared to importing this foldable
Huawei unveiled the Mate XT2 in China last week, basically only a few hours before the Xiaomi 18 Fold and the Apple iPhone Duo. Unlike the first two iterations, Huawei's third-generation tri-foldable no longer uses a Z-shaped design that folds both inward and outward, but instead switched to a U-shaped design that folds inward twice, like the first Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold. The double-folding 10-inch tablet already launched at very high prices in Huawei's home market: the 16/256 GB model costs 20,000 yuan (2,560 euros, $2,980) locally, while the version with 1 TB and a privacy display costs 25,000 yuan (3,200 euros, $3,725). We won't even tell you how much the 2 TB version costs.
An official launch in Europe or other markets outside China is rather unlikely, so anyone who wants to show off the Mate XT 2 will have to import it. This is now possible from at least two retailers: Trinity Electronics in Hong Kong and AverageDad in the UAE/UK. As you might expect, prices are even higher if you import your Mate XT 2 from China. Available in black, white or purple, the tri-foldable with 12/256 GB of storage starts at the equivalent of 3,626 euros (US$ 4,207) at Trinity Electronics. At AverageDad, it costs 3,685 euros (US$ 4,484), the latter apparently including taxes.
Much more expensive than Apple's iPhone Duo
This means Huawei's latest foldable significantly exceeds the starting price of the iPhone Duo, which seems comparatively cheap at an official launch price of 2,300 euros in Germany or US$ 1,999 in the US. Even the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold was much cheaper, at $2,899 before taxes. The 512 GB version of the Mate XT2 costs 3,845 euros ($4,462) and 3,865 euros ($4,967) respectively. The 1 TB version without a privacy display will set you back 4,065 euros ($4,716) at Trinity or 4,638 euros ($5,381) at AverageDad. Last but not least, the Huawei Mate XT2 with a privacy display and 1 TB costs 4,285 euros ($4,972) at Trinity Electronics or an incredible 5,056 euros ($5,862) at AverageDad. We cannot tell you why the two top configurations are so much more expensive at AverageDad. Neither importer currently offers the 2 TB version.
Limitations of the Chinese model
We could not find any useful information about supported network bands from either the manufacturer or the two retailers. There will be no eSIM, Android Auto or WearOS support, and unfortunately, we do not know whether the system language can be set to any other language than Chinese or English. With Huawei, the lack of Google Services is an additional complication. Unlike on Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo phones, installing the Play Store is only possible via workarounds, such as the microG services. Our how-to guide on the subject may be of help to you. In any case, you will have to accept some workarounds to run Google apps on the Mate XT2.
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