Huawei unveils Kirin 9050 Pro chip and Mate XT 2 folding smartphone

Huawei unveiled its new Kirin 9050 Pro processor and the Mate XT 2 folding smartphone on Monday. This launch marks the company's first new Kirin chip introduced at a flagship product event in six years.

The Kirin 9050 Pro chip makes its debut in the HUAWEI Mate XT 2 Ultimate. Huawei stated that overall device performance has improved by 42% compared to the previous generation of Mate XT foldable phones.

According to Huawei, the Kirin 9050 Pro utilizes a two-layer vertical stacking architecture based on its Tao Law technology framework, which shortens signal transmission paths by adding vertical interconnects within the chip. The company reports an increase in transistor density from 155 MTr/mm² to 238 MTr/mm² without relying on conventional manufacturing process scaling. Performance cores reach a peak frequency of 3.1GHz, and the area used by high-speed global on-chip network data paths has been reduced by 55%.

Performance-wise, the Kirin 9050 Pro incorporates Huawei's Lingxi CPU hyperthreading technology. The company claims peak single-core performance is up 24% and multi-core performance is up 52% from the previous generation. The chip also adds hardware-accelerated ray tracing support and has been optimized for HarmonyOS 7, working with Huawei's Ark Engine. This combination is said to extend battery life by an additional 36 minutes.

The HUAWEI Mate XT 2 Ultimate features a new wing-shaped, dual inward-folding design. It presents a 6.5-inch outer display and a 10.2-inch inner display when unfolded. The device includes a foldable Lingdun privacy display and a third-generation Red Maple camera system. It is powered by a 5,600mAh battery and supports 50W wireless charging. The HUAWEI Mate XT 2 Ultimate starts at 19,999 RMB (approximately $2,980) and goes on sale September 12.