Tecno Unveils the Phantom Ultimate 2 Trifold Concept Phone [CNET]

The Phantom Ultimate 2 is Tecno’s first triple foldable concept phone. It follows the Phantom Ultimate, a rollable concept phone.

Another trifold phone from a Chinese company is in our midst following the spotting of one from Huawei. But this time it’s the Phantom Ultimate 2, a concept phone from Tecno that was unveiled Tuesday at the IFA technology conference in Berlin. Tecno says that its concept foldable phone “reimagines the large-screen experience in a pocket-sized device.” Unlike book-style folding phones such as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Phantom Ultimate 2’s cover screen unfurls into a larger “screen” measuring 10 inches, which is significantly larger than the 7.6- and 8-inch displays found on its book style-counterparts.

However, the Ultimate 2 doesn’t compromise portability according to Tecno. The trifold phone concept is 11.1 millimeters thick — that’s just a few millimeters thicker than current book-style phones. The Phantom Ultimate 2’s thinness is helped partially by its a slim battery that measures just 0.25 millimeters. No details were shared on the device’s weight, though Tecno says its concept foldable was designed with hinges that have been tested for 300,000 folds, which is 200,000 folds fewer than leading book-style phones like the Honor Magic V3.

Tecno is no stranger to foldable phones, having launched its first flip phone, the Phantom V Flip 5G, and book-style phone, the Phantom V Fold, globally last year, with next-gen models expected to launch in September. Tecno — along with rivals including Huawei, OnePlus and Google — are keen to grab a bigger share of the foldable phones market that is typically dominated by Samsung, which launched its sixth generation series of foldable phones in August. While the sub-category currently makes up a fraction of the broader foldable phones market, that piece of the pie is growing. The worldwide foldable market is forecast to reach 25 million devices by the end of 2024, up 37.6% from the 18.1 million units shipped in 2023, according to research firm the International Data Corporation. By 2028, total foldable phone shipments worldwide are expected to rise to 45.7 million units, IDC predicts, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 20.3% for 2023-2028.

A video released by Tecno illustrates various use cases of the Phantom Ultimate 2. One frame showed an individual multitasking with three different vertically oriented windows, making use of each of the screens. Another portion showed off the various ways the Ultimate 2 could fold including a mode where it mimicked the experience of a laptop: using the base screen flat for typing like a keyboard, leaving the remaining two displays stacked like a laptop screen.

In addition, Tecno says when folded into “tent mode” (pictured below), it allows for face-to-face interactions in different languages, with AI processing the real-time language translation. The company says the Phantom Ultimate 2 runs on software that offers a “user experience specifically optimized for the trifold design.” 

Triple-folding concept phones, for their part, are not new. Samsung gave us a glimpse at trifold display concepts back in 2022 at CES. Prior to that, TCL showed a concept off in 2020. But none of them have been released or mass produced for commercial sales. Earlier this month however, Huawei’s rumored trifold foldable phone was spotted in the hands of Richard Yu, the former CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, leading to speculation that the Chinese firm may bring the world’s first triple-folding phone to market first. 

Phone makers are racing to create the slimmest foldable phone, with Honor, a former subsidiary of Huawei, taking the lead with the Magic V3 — literally by just a hair or two over Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 4. The benefits of an ultra-slim book-style phones mean a phone with two displays is essentially just as portable as a traditional candy bar smartphone. It’s not too difficult to discern the benefits slim hardware could have on multi-hinge phones like the Ultimate 2 — whether it makes it to market or not.