Huawei's triple-folding phone looks unbelievably thin in new leak

As we reported a few days ago, Huawei's triple-folding phone has been spotted in the wild. And if you thought it looked pretty thin in the relatively low-res picture that's already leaked, a new leak shows it in much more detail – and it's so thin you could cut cheese with it.

As with the previous leak, the new images show a Huawei executive using the unannounced phone in public – and this time we can see it folded, which is when its thinness is at its most obvious. It's hard to get an accurate idea from a photograph but it does appear to be at least as thin as a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 – and that has just one hinge, not two.

Why a three-fold phone could be important

We're not in razor blade territory here where ever-increasing numbers are primarily about marketing. There are practical reasons for a tri-fold design, and the main one is that it gives you a larger display when it's unfolded. Where the main display of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is 7.6 inches when fully unfolded, the Huawei is believed to have a display size of or close to 10 inches. 

That's impressive, because it means you're getting much the same size of display as a full-grown tablet in a body that's not significantly bigger than that of a standard smartphone. Potentially, that means you don't need to travel with two devices: when it's time for big-screened work your phone magically expands to be pretty massive.

That's the good news. The bad is that the more hinges you have the more complex the design and the more potential points of failure you might have. And more hinges and panels is likely to mean more money too. Unless Huawei's suppliers are doing a three for the price of two deal, that means this triple-screened foldable phone could be quite costly even with Huawei's traditionally aggressive pricing.

We might not have long to wait for more details: according to leaker Digital Chat Station, the new Huawei tri-fold phone could launch in China as soon as next month, September 2024.