Tag Archives: Smartphones

Huawei Finally Fixed the One Flaw That Followed Its Tri-Fold Phone

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Huawei’s original tri-fold phone made headlines for unfolding into a tablet, but closing it back down left one part of the flexible screen exposed to scratches and pocket grit. The Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design fixes that flaw at the architecture level, not with a case. Instead of the old zigzag fold, a new wing-style hinge tucks both sides of the screen inward, so every part of the display faces itself once it’s closed.

That trick rests on a second-generation hinge system built around a dual-axis wing structure and an industry-first connecting-rod synchronization mechanism, keeping both folding axes moving in perfect step. The load-bearing core uses 2,400 MPa steel arranged in a five-arm arc, an upgrade that pushes overall impact resistance up 100 percent and drop resistance up 90 percent compared to the outgoing model.

Designer: Huawei

Unfold it fully, and a 10.2-inch 3K OLED panel spreads out at a 90Hz refresh rate, easily the largest screen tri-fold owners have gotten yet. Keep it folded and a 6.5-inch cover display takes over instead, running at 120Hz with peak brightness reaching 6,500 nits. Switching between the two feels less like opening a phone and more like choosing between a notebook and a full tablet.

A hardware privacy mode sits at the center of that inner display too, using an independent dual-pixel design that narrows the viewing cone from the sides while keeping the view sharp head-on. A double tap on the cover screen or a dedicated shortcut key switches it on, so a crowded train seat or an open-plan desk doesn’t turn into a screen-sharing session anyone asked for.

Protection extends to the materials themselves. The cover glass gets a Kunlun treatment that survives 30 times more drops and 16 times more scratches than ordinary glass, while the inner screen layers ultra-thin aerospace-grade steel and carbon fiber beneath the display for 200 percent better impact resistance. Over 120 sealing points across the body also make this the first tri-fold rated IP58 and IP59 for dust and water.

The rear camera module carries the distinctive octagon shape that Huawei’s flagships have been sporting for quite some time now. Underneath sit a 50MP main sensor with a variable aperture, a 40MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP periscope telephoto capable of 100x digital zoom. A third-generation color engine tunes the results for tones that hold up without heavy editing.

Powering all of it is the Kirin 9050 Pro, built on Huawei’s LogicFolding architecture rather than a conventional layout, which the company says raises transistor density by 53.5 percent and clock speeds by 12.7 percent. HarmonyOS 7 takes advantage of the extra room by running three apps side by side on the unfolded display, treating the tri-fold shape as a genuine workspace instead of a novelty.

None of this bulks up the phone the way its spec sheet suggests. A 5,600mAh battery charges at 66W over a cable or 50W wirelessly, and the whole device still folds down to 12.3mm while weighing 299 grams. Pricing starts at CNY 19,999 (approximately $2,800) in China, climbing to CNY 29,999 (approximately $4,200) for the privacy-screen version bundled with a stylus.

The post Huawei Finally Fixed the One Flaw That Followed Its Tri-Fold Phone first appeared on Yanko Design.

Xiaomi 18 Fold Hands-On: Got Here Before Apple, Can It Beat Samsung?

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Xiaomi has chosen an interesting moment to return to foldables. The company has not released a book-style foldable since the Mix Fold 4, which launched in 2024, and now it is back with the Xiaomi 18 Fold just as compact foldables are starting to get more attention. Samsung has also added a foldable in this compact format to its lineup, and Apple is widely expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone at its September 9 event with a similar form factor in mind.

That puts the Xiaomi 18 Fold in an interesting spot. It is not just Xiaomi coming back to foldables after a break. It is also arriving just as this smaller book-style format looks like it could become the next big thing.

Designer: Xiaomi

Xiaomi is positioning the 18 Fold as its first mid-size flagship foldable. It weighs 7.73 ounces (219g), measures 0.42 inches thick when folded (10.68mm), and opens out to just 0.20 inches thick (5.02mm), with a folded footprint of 4.64 x 3.29 inches (117.8 x 83.6mm). In person, it feels thin, though not unusually thin by the standards of today’s premium foldables. More importantly, it feels expensive in a good way. The matte texture on the back and frame gives it a softer, understated finish, while the rounded corners and flat frame help the phone look clean and modern.

The unit I handled was the deep red version, and it is a bold color in person. It stands out more than the usual black or silver foldable palette without feeling too loud. It also happens to echo the deep red finish rumored for Apple’s first foldable, which makes the comparison hard to miss. The 18 Fold comes in Black, White, Red, and a Ceramic Version.

In practice, though, this is still a two-handed phone whether it is folded or unfolded. Even closed, the body is compact in one sense but still broad enough that I did not think of it as something built for easy one-handed use. That is not really a criticism. It just comes with the territory.

The outer display is a 5.38-inch panel, while the inside opens up to a 7.58-inch main screen. Xiaomi says both displays share the same aspect ratio, which is meant to make the transition from one to the other feel more natural. I could not fully judge how well that works in daily use from a short demo, but one benefit stood out right away. Video felt more immersive than on squarer foldables because there was less black bar space above and below the image.

The software also looked well suited to the shape. Animations felt smooth in my brief demo, and I did see split-screen and floating window support in action. The unfolded UI felt more like a small tablet than a stretched phone, which is what you want on a device like this. Xiaomi has also placed one speaker on the top edge and another on the bottom edge on the opposite side, which should help give the phone a more balanced stereo effect when it is open.

The hinge left a good first impression too. I cannot really say whether it felt especially firm or especially smooth, because my time with the device was limited, but it did feel sturdy. The crease was handled well too. Looking straight at the display, I only really noticed it from certain angles rather than all the time. More importantly, I could barely feel it when running a finger across the center, which was better than I expected.

Left: Xiaomi 18 Fold, Right: Galaxy Z Fold 8

Left: Galaxy Z Fold 8, Right: Xiaomi 18 Fold

Left: Galaxy Z Fold 8, Right: Xiaomi 18 Fold

I also compared the Xiaomi 18 Fold side by side with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8. Samsung’s device measures 4.88 x 3.22 x 0.38 inches when folded (123.9 x 81.9 x 9.7mm), 6.35 x 4.88 x 0.18 inches when unfolded (161.4 x 123.9 x 4.5cm), and weighs 7.09 ounces (201g), so it is a little lighter and a bit thinner than Xiaomi’s foldable in some areas. But the difference was not just about dimensions. Samsung’s inner screen was noticeably brighter to my eyes. At the same time, the Xiaomi 18 Fold had one practical advantage that stood out immediately. When placed on a desk, it did not wobble, while the Samsung did.

Left: Galaxy Z Fold 8, Right: Xiaomi 18 Fold

Left: Galaxy Z Fold 8, Right: Xiaomi 18 Fold

Top: Xiaomi 18 Fold, Bottom: Galaxy Z Fold 8

The biggest surprise for me was the camera. Xiaomi is using a 200MP Leica triple-camera system, led by a 200MP main camera and backed by a 50MP Leica periscope telephoto with an 80mm equivalent focal length. In my short time with the phone, the telephoto camera was the part that stuck with me most. I tried zoom, and the 3.5x telephoto setup immediately felt like one of the most interesting parts of the device. Stability also felt good even at higher magnification, which made the zoom feel more usable, not just more dramatic. The camera bump also did not seem overly large, and its oval-shaped, two-step raised design gives it some presence without taking over the whole back.

My time with the Xiaomi 18 Fold was brief, and this hands-on really only scratched the surface. Even so, the phone already feels like a polished return to book-style foldables. Pricing starts at RMB 10,999, or roughly $1,640, for the 12GB/256GB model, and Xiaomi said it will be available in China only for now.

The post Xiaomi 18 Fold Hands-On: Got Here Before Apple, Can It Beat Samsung? first appeared on Yanko Design.

Most Rugged Phones Hide From Heat, This One Has Two Fans to Fight It

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Rugged phones have always made a quiet trade-off. Sealing a device against water and dust means sealing in heat too, and that trapped warmth forces powerful chips to slow themselves down right when gaming or heavy use needs them most. OUKITEL’s WP600, unveiled at IFA 2026, treats that compromise as something worth engineering around, building visible cooling straight into its armor rather than hiding the problem under a tougher shell.

That solution shows up immediately on the back of the phone, where two turbine-style fans sit inside an octagonal housing next to the camera lenses. Rather than tucking cooling components away, OUKITEL frames them as part of the visual identity, finished in a gunmetal tone with RGB lighting that shifts through purples, oranges, and blues while the fans spin during demanding sessions.

Designer: Oukitel

Underneath that display sits a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 chip running at 3.35GHz, paired with up to 24GB of RAM and a full terabyte of storage in its top configuration. Active airflow means that hardware can stay at full speed through a long gaming session in direct sun, instead of throttling the moment internal temperatures climb, the usual fate of sealed devices pushed hard outdoors.

A 10,000mAh battery backs up that sustained performance, large enough to outlast a full day of mixed use, camera work, and gaming without needing a midday top-up. When charging is needed, 45W wired input gets things moving again quickly, keeping downtime short for anyone relying on the phone through fieldwork, travel, or a weekend away from outlets.

Privacy gets a physical answer instead of a software toggle buried in settings. A dedicated switch, styled as a bright red accent against the phone’s black and metallic paneling, physically disconnects the camera, microphone, and GPS at once. It is the kind of control that matters to fieldworkers or anyone stepping into a sensitive meeting who wants certainty that nothing is listening or tracking, not just a setting that claims to be off.

The rest of the chassis carries that same rugged-but-considered language throughout. Exposed hex screws, ridged texture strips along the frame, and a carbon-fiber-patterned panel insert surrounding the camera module all read as intentional detailing rather than leftover industrial parts. A 6.8-inch, 120Hz display handles the front, while the whole package comes finished in either black or yellow, playing into the tool-like character rugged phones usually lean into.

None of this asks buyers to choose between toughness and capability anymore. A phone built to survive drops and submersion can still run demanding software at full tilt, provided the cooling behind it gets treated as a design feature rather than an afterthought bolted on for a spec sheet.

The post Most Rugged Phones Hide From Heat, This One Has Two Fans to Fight It first appeared on Yanko Design.