It will cost you over $1,100 to replace the screen on Huawei’s trifold phone
You’ll want to be extra careful with the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design, as screen replacements are almost half the cost of the folding phone.
Huawei has revealed the cost of replacement parts for the world’s first dual-hinged, triple-screen folding phone, and it’s another round of sticker shock. The Mate XT Ultimate Design starts at around $2,809, but should you damage its folding screen enough to need repairs, you’ll be potentially paying an additional 7,999 yuan, or around $1,123, for a replacement OLED panel.
That’s assuming you agree to let Huawei recycle the damaged screen for free. Should you turn down that offer, a new screen for the Mate XT will instead cost you 9,799 yuan, or over $1,376. Ouch.
Huawei does offer some ways to save money on screen repairs for its new trifold phone. A refurbished replacement screen is slightly cheaper at 6,999 yuan (about $983). The company is also selling screen replacement insurance plans that start at 3,499 yuan (about $492) for a single screen replacement within the first year after the Mate XT is purchased. That’s certainly cheaper than paying the full price for a repair but still expensive for just a year’s worth of coverage.
For comparison, repairing the folding inner screen on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, which includes replacing the OLED panel, its metal bezel, and the phone’s battery, is discounted to $200 the first time it’s needed. If you break it again, the price jumps to $549 for subsequent repairs. For the original Pixel Fold, Google partnered with iFixit to sell the replacement folding screen for $899.99, or $909.99 as part of a repair kit that also includes new batteries.
Other replacement parts for the Mate XT Ultimate Design are a little cheaper, including a 499 yuan (about $70) battery and cameras that range in price from 269 to 759 yuan (about $38 to $107). However, users will want to keep their fingers crossed that nothing happens to the Mate X’s motherboard. A replacement is a steep 9,099 yuan (about $1,278).
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