I have been rooting for tri-fold telephones since I used the Huawei Mate XT Final. I discovered that machine to be extra helpful than a book-style foldable. Now, right here comes the Tecno Phantom Final 2, which is an analogous tri-fold foldable.
Nevertheless, in contrast to the Huawei telephone, the Tecno Phantom Final 2 is not in the stores. The telephone was launched as an idea in August 2024 and Tecno is showcasing a working prototype at Cellular World Congress. Whereas the telephone is predicted to be launched sooner or later, I obtained restricted hands-on time with the tri-fold on the occasion — and was impressed.
Additionally: I examined Huawei’s $3,600 tri-foldable, and it made me query why tablets nonetheless exist
The Tecno Phantom Final 2 is 11mm thick, slimmer than the Huawei Mate XT’s 12.8mm-thick design. When folded to single-screen mode, Tecno’s machine is nearer to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 type issue than the Oppo Discover N5 or Huawei’s tri-fold design.
The Tecno tri-fold idea can go from a folded 6.48-inch outer display screen measurement to a 10-inch show. The machine has an LTPO OLED display screen with a 1,620 x 2,880 pixel decision. The hinges felt fairly robust and held the display screen the place I wished it to be. Tecno expects the machine to final for as much as 300,000 folds. The corporate additionally says it developed a battery as skinny as 0.25mm to suit contained in the machine.
In my expertise, the Tecno Phantom Final 2 did not really feel heavy and was straightforward to deal with when unfolded as soon as or totally unfolded. The crease within the display screen wasn’t as dangerous as you may anticipate on a foldable telephone. The expertise was on par with the Huawei Mate XT Final. Nevertheless, Huawei’s hinges have a extra premium really feel to them.
The Tecno tri-fold I used had buggy software program so I could not do a lot with the telephone. Tecno claims to supply a multitasking mode permitting three apps to run aspect by aspect. One other use case features a Tent mode, the place you possibly can place the machine in a Z form with two equal components of the show half-folded on reverse sides for seamless dual-screen face-to-face conversations with dwell translation.
Tecno hasn’t shared different specs but, so we do not know the processor and digital camera particulars. My hands-on unit had three cameras on the again and one on the entrance. Nevertheless, in contrast to the Huawei telephone, the Tecno Phantom Final 2 comes pre-loaded with Google apps.
If Tecno manages to convey out a well-priced model of this novel type issue, I will likely be anticipating this machine to launch. The corporate is understood for making dear improvements extra inexpensive and accessible. The book-style Phantom V Fold prices about the identical as Samsung’s flip telephone, the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The machine can be $700 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and delivers the novelty issue at a extra inexpensive worth level.
For now, the Phantom Final 2 is a prototype with no launch date or worth. Nevertheless, the existence of a working prototype that appears polished and within the remaining phases means I might anticipate the corporate to announce a world launch this yr.
