The Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition is a unique take on what it means to be a laptop – but good luck getting it outside of China

When I recently travelled to China for Huawei Connect 2025, the Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition was one of the top attractions on my list.

I'd heard tales of this device – sometimes referred to as a 'foldable laptop' but which would more accurately be described as a foldable tablet – for a few months before getting to meet it in person, and was intrigued.

Foldable phones have never really done anything for me, and even a demonstration of the new tri-fold Huawei Mate XL Ultimate Edition barely held my attention. The idea of a super-light device that can be used for work, however, was more exciting.

Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition specs

Let's talk Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition specs for a moment. According to Huawei, the MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition weighs only 1.16kg – 80g lighter than the 2025 MacBook Air. Folded up, which is realistically how you would transport it, it's 14.9mm thick. Unfolded, it's 7.6mm thick on the left and 7.3mm thick on the right, so up to 2.3mm thicker than the latest iPad Pro and up to 1.5mm thicker than the 2025 iPad Air.

In terms of memory, it features 32GB RAM and either 1TB or 2TB SSD storage, and connectivity is provided via Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band WiFi, and two USB-C ports. The display is a double-layer OLED flexible touch screen that's 18in when fully unfolded and 13in in laptop mode, with a resolution of 3296 x 2472 or 2472 x 1648 respectively.

The battery capacity is 74.96Wh – higher than the 14in MacBook Pro (72.4Wh) or 13in MacBook Air (53.8Wh), and significantly higher than the 13in iPad Pro (38.99Wh) or 13in iPad Air (36.59Wh).

Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition first impressions

I was a fast fan of the Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition, and its business use was immediately obvious. While even the international trips I take for work are normally fairly fleeting, this one lasted a little over a week, so deserved a bit of extra kit. Naturally, this makes for a more bulky and heavy experience, and when you throw in the chargers – especially for the laptop – things get heavier still.

Imagine if instead you could take one light device that folds up neatly, with an integrated software keyboard that's available when you need it but can be dismissed if you want to use the whole thing as a screen. That is indeed an option as well – while I had my eye on it as a lightweight laptop, it can be folded out to its full extent to become a rather large tablet. Even in big tablet mode, it can still be used effectively as a laptop thanks to the separately sold Bluetooth keyboard.

The software keyboard, which appears on the lower half of the screen when folded into laptop mode, was impressive. I expected some level of lag or inaccuracy but it kept up with my typing speed (60wpm for anyone who's counting) admirably. I was told that long-term use might hurt my fingers, hence the Bluetooth keyboard, but my impression was it was no more or less comfortable. Given the appeal of this device – for me at least – was a super lightweight all-in-one I'm not personally sold on a peripheral that adds another 300g to the overall weight. Drawing also from my own experience using a portable mini Bluetooth keyboard with an iPad Mini, it's a novelty that wears off quickly and is left at home or in the office just as fast.

Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition final thoughts

The Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition is a nice-looking, quirky bit of kit. Despite being hard to impress when it comes to personal devices, this foldable tablet is something I could imagine myself using while travelling as an alternative to a laptop, and especially if I wanted to avoid carrying two devices around. Even the unfolded format, which seemed slightly overwhelming at first, could be handy for video calls or even entertainment if a journey or overall time away was particularly long.

There is, however, a catch. Unfortunately, the Huawei MateBook Fold Ultimate Edition, much like the company's recently released tri-fold phone, is only officially available in mainland China. While you can buy it for a few thousand pounds on AliExpress (the price varies depending on tokens and deals), that's no way to do business procurement.

If the device does eventually make it to the European market, though, it's certainly worth consideration when buying new laptops.