Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2 tri-fold concept - First look and all you need to know

Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2: Smartphone manufacturer Tecno today teased its groundbreaking Phantom Ultimate 2 – a tri-fold concept smartphone that reimagines the large-screen experience in a pocket-sized device. 

According to the company, the Phantom Ultimate 2 is the thinnest among existing triple-folding models in its folded form. It measures 11mm in thickness. Unfolded, it opens into a 10-inch screen with TDDI technology for the first time in a foldable device. 

Phantom Ultimate 2’s tri-fold screen transforms the device from a standard candy bar smartphone into a tablet-like large-screen device. 

"The tri-fold design does not mean a major compromise on thickness, measuring 11mm when folded, thanks to an innovative and thinner hinge that enables existing bi-fold models to achieve a thickness of less than 9mm. The device features the smartphone industry’s thinnest battery cover measuring just 0.25mm thanks to super-compressed Titan Advanced Fiber material. Compared to the industry’s current thinnest 0.45mm thickness, this advanced material brings sufficient strength while allowing a thinner form.  The streamlined camera design also contributes to thinness and lightness without sacrificing image quality, while its position to one side of the device makes it easier to find the centre of gravity when holding," the company said in a release.

Unfolding from a 6.48-inch candy bar phone into a 10-inch 4:3 ratio large-screen tablet-style device, the Phantom Ultimate 2 gives users more flexibility to use the device as they wish. To support this upgrade in convenience, the device features OLED Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) and an advanced 3K LTPO screen with 392 PPI.

Empowering the tri-fold screen experience is the hinge design with 2100MPa strength. According to Tecno, the hinges can support over 3,00,000 folds, exceeding most folding devices and offering exceptional device longevity and folding smoothness. The hinges also contribute to the device’s superbly flat screen, minimizing the crease visibility for more immersive viewing pleasure.

"The Phantom Ultimate 2 supports screen hovering to open up new possibilities across a diverse range of scenarios, from work to entertainment and daily life," the company said. 

For example, the screen hovering with the base of the screen is used flat for typing on a keyboard while the upright screen provides a laptop-style display for convenient notetaking in meetings or university lectures. For communicating across language barriers, the device can be folded into tent mode for dual-screen face-to-face real-time AI translation. For everyday browsing, the foldable screen supports multi-window mode to improve efficiency, letting users stay in their game or movie while responding to messages or searching the internet. And for more inventive imagine, users can explore creative unfolded angles enabled by the tri-fold design.

"The Phantom Ultimate 2's advanced software and UI specifically optimized for the tri-fold design further enhance the utility of its cutting-edge hardware. For example, the device supports dynamic wallpapers and adaptive icons that adjust with folding and unfolding, while the UI layout is adapted for diverse use cases such as large-screen viewing and tent mode, as well as having the potential for exciting third-party app adaption," the company said.