Huawei's 10-inch tri-folding phone confirms Satya Nadella was wrong for killing Windows Phone AND Surface Duo

Huawei Mate XT
(Image credit: Huawei)

Huawei has just unveiled its long-teased "tri-fold" smartphone. It features two foldable apexes across a 10-inch display that can collapse down to just 6.4 inches, allowing that 10-inch panel to fit into your pocket. When collapsed, it utilizes a Z-shaped fold, meaning the screen bends into three "panels" and enables many different postures and use cases.

Of course, phone mode utilizes the front panel at 6.4 inches, which is what your average smartphone looks like. The second posture has just two panels, measuring around 7.9 inches, and matches your standard foldable phones today. The last posture utilizes all three panels for 10.2 inches of total screen real estate, something never before seen on a phone that can fit in your pocket.

I'm already in love with this form factor, but even if it didn't cost $2800 (yeah, you read that right), the device would only be available in China and with Huawei's custom HarmonyOS. Even if it ran stock Android, I still think there's a better OS out there for a device like this, and that OS is Windows.

10.2 inches is large enough to run Windows comfortably. The Surface Go 4 has a 10.5-inch display, and I love using it as an on-the-go Windows machine. Now, if I could fold the Surface Go into my pocket and use it as a phone, that would be the absolute dream.

I mean, c'mon. This was born for the Windows desktop. (Image credit: Huawei)

Of course, this dream can't exist because Microsoft has killed all avenues to a viable mobile platform. Windows 11 is a desktop OS acceptable for a 10-inch device, but it doesn't scale much smaller than that. Windows 11 on an 8-inch device is tough and basically unusable at 6 inches.

And that doesn't even consider that Microsoft no longer has a mobile app platform. UWP is long dead, and app developers are now being encouraged to develop classic Win32 apps that utilize modern UI frameworks such as WinUI 3 instead.

If we rewind about 8 years, Windows 10 Mobile would have been the perfect platform for a device like this. With a beautiful, native mobile UI and platform paired with Continuum, it would blend beautifully across the three postures found on the Huawei Mate XT. You could have a full Windows desktop when you want it or an easy-to-use, touch-first Windows mobile UI when you don't.

It always seems to be the case, but Microsoft was well ahead of the game with Windows Phone. It was building out a platform that would have been well-positioned for these multi-postured devices. It even had CShell, which was literally designed from the ground up to allow the UI to adapt on the fly depending on screen size and form factor.

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The problem with Android foldables currently is that many of the apps that run on them aren't optimized for the larger screen. Android does well in the mobile space, but it's a different ball game when it comes to tablet apps. This drawback is improving, but it's still not where I (and Google) would like it to be.

Had Windows Phone and UWP taken off, we'd be living in a very different world right now, where most Windows apps have a touch-first mobile interface and desktop-class interface that would adapt on the fly. I think foldable phones would have been Windows Phone's saving grace, as it was easily the best prepared for this new category of devices.

Sadly, Satya Nadella pulled the plug on Windows Phone too soon and ended support for the platform just as the first folding phones were announced. Even the Surface Duo, which launched with Android a few years later, was destined to fail under Microsoft's current leadership. That form factor was ripe to develop into something like the Mate XT over time, maybe even running a hybrid Android + Windows combo for the best of both worlds.

New innovations in the mobile and wearable space keep happening, but none of them are applicable to Microsoft because it decided to kill Windows Phone. This decision will hinder the company forever as more technology becomes mobile and wearable-focused.

At this point, I don't think there will ever be a folding device that I don't pick up and think, "Man, I wish I could run Windows on this thing."

Oh well.

Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

  • Jcmg62
    Microsoft walking away from mobile will never make sense.
    Reply
  • Cmndr_Bytes
    "It always seems to be the case, but Microsoft was well ahead of the game with Windows Phone." <-- This.

    How many truly amazing products has MS been on the forefront of only to squander it because it did not make a buzillion dollars in the first month?
    Continuum could be huge today. Dock your phone at your desk and have a working desktop. And now with their cloud PC's..... Face palm.
    Reply
  • Mr Gecko X
    Microsoft lacks commitment to an idea that will become great. Microsoft is great at giving ideas to other companies to make money. How great would it have been to start a game on a windows phone and continue it on your Xbox. Then get a call to modify a Word or Excel Document and then use your phone to present that idea to a customer in their conference room. One seamless Microsoft Universe. It makes me sad and angry at Microsoft's shortsightedness. Windows Phone was the best phone, hands down!
    Reply
  • CosmicTourist
    I can never understand how Microsoft could cede dominance in such an important arena as mobile communications to other competitors. By doing so, they consigned themselves to always be following the lead of others and having to adapt their products to work on other companies devices. We should all concede that Microsoft may never have been the biggest competitor in the mobile space, but they certainly could have been a major player that commanded respect and maybe even forced others to follow their lead instead of the other way around.
    Reply
  • taynjack
    "Android does well in the mobile space, but it's a different ball game when it comes to tablet apps. This drawback is improving, but it's still not where I (and Google) would like it to be."

    Given that Microsoft seemed to struggle at scaling down their desktops to mobile, and Google appears to still struggle to get mobile scaled up from phones to desktops that this elusive solution is the golden code for either company. It's just too bad that even if Microsoft somehow solved it, they'd have nowhere to deploy it given Satya's Myopia. Microsoft would need a wholesale change at the top, along with a 100 billion dollar investment account to even consider getting back into mobile.
    Reply