Founded in 2009, Vivo has emerged as one of the top multinational tech companies in China. The company is a subsidiary of the Chinese tech conglomerate BBK Electronics. Over the last decade, Vivo has produced affordable mobile phones which have had huge popularity in mainland China and India.
In its growth endeavor, Vivo has been developing a folding phone akin to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. Recently, the Company announced the Vivo X Fold on 11th April 2022 with a scheduled release slated for the latter half of this month in China. Here is everything you need to know about the first foldable flagship from the company.
Key Specifications of Vivo X Fold
Design and Build Quality
The world of foldable phones is still in its nascent stage. There was a time when smartphones had a small form factor and any device larger than the palm would get the “Phablet” tag. Over the years, phablets became normal and smaller phones became obsolete.
Standing in 2022, the choice of foldable phones is limited like phablets were in the early days of smartphones. The choices are limited between Vivo, Microsoft, Samsung, Huawei and Oppo for the time being. But most importantly, most of these devices share some core features which makes them more or less similar to each other. You can read our blog about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 to get an idea of the similarities.
Moving onto the Vivo X Fold itself, it has a triple display setup with the internal two acting as a uni-screen when unfolded. The standard hinge mechanism similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is present here. The back features a quad camera setup which is a testament that Vivo went all out on the camera department in this device.
The build quality of the device is pretty sturdy. The hinge mechanism works smoothly. A key advantage of the X Fold is that the crease of the inner display is not as prominent as that of Samsung or Huawei. This definitely gives the Vivo X Fold an edge over them.
Another unique feature of the device is the dual point in-display fingerprint scanner. There are two separate ones each for the outer and the inner display. The other feature selections are all standard here with a sim slot, secondary noise cancellation mic, and dual stereo speaker. The circular camera housing on a rectangular box definitely brings a touch of creativity to the design.
Display
The display takes the spotlight thanks to its quirks. Vivo used a foldable LTPO AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and HDR 10+ support. The outer display is a standard LTPO AMOLED panel.
The LTPO technology allows the device to control the variable refresh rate up to 1 Hz to efficiently use the battery. This is a very important element of the device as the inner screen is almost 8 inches long when unfolded.
The display itself is everything you would expect from an AMOLED panel. It is FHD+ with vibrant colors and deep blacks. The viewing angles are perfect and there aren’t any color shifts whatsoever. The outer display, which is a 6.53 inches panel, also performs similar to the inner one bringing a unified viewing experience to the table.
Camera
Being part of BBK Electronics, Vivo and Oppo have always strived to provide a quality camera system to their users, regardless of the device price bracket. So it was expected that the foldable flagship from Vivo would be absolutely stacked.
The main sensor is a 50 MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. The supporting sensors include an 8 MP periscopic telephoto lens, a 12 MP telephoto, and a whopping 48 MP ultrawide sensor. This camera system easily beats the one found on the Samsung Foldables, at least spec-wise.
The main sensor and the periscopic telephoto are fitted with OIS and laser PDAF. The pictures look perfect in direct sunlight with a good amount of dynamic range. Vivo image processing has always been on the warmer side so expect punchy colors which might look artificial at times.
There is a dedicated night mode for the low-light environment. It does an amazing job of clarifying the image with a variable capture rate and the Zeiss T coating on the lenses. On the videography end, the camera can shoot up to 8K at 30 fps which is the current industry standard for flagships. There is also a 16 MP front camera which performs as usual. Overall, the camera system is definitely one of the strong points of the device.
Processor and Performance
The Vivo X Fold features the latest processor from Snapdragon, the 8 Gen 1. This is an octa-core processor developed on the 4 Nm architecture. There are 1 3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 and 3 2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4 1.80 GHz Cortex-A510 chips with Adreno 730 as the GPU.
Speaking of the performance, the processor just blazes through everything. The efficient processor helps as the large display accounts for more processing power needs. Whether running apps in the background or using the split-screen for dual usage, the high processing power allows for a smooth experience. Needless to say, the X Fold is the perfect gaming device as all the 3D titles like COD and Asphalt 9 run at the highest graphics without overheating or frame drops.
Overall, the device is a beast when it comes to performance.
Battery and Charge Time
The Vivo X Fold is fitted with a 4600 mAh battery. Now it might seem very less for a dual-display device. But the efficient processor coupled with LTPO technology means users will be easily getting 7 to 8 hours of continued usage with the device. And if that wasn’t enough, there is an included 66 W fast charger in the box which can go from 0 to 100 in about 37 minutes.
Price of Vivo X Fold in Bangladesh
The Vivo X Fold is not officially available in Bangladesh yet. The pre-order price of the device in the Indian market is 1,07,190 Rs which roughly amounts to 1,22,326 BDT (1 INR = 1.14 BDT). However, the price may vary due to different factors when it becomes officially available in Bangladesh.
Verdict
The Vivo X Fold is a commendable step towards mainstreaming foldable devices from Vivo. It shows that the R&D is not limited to the likes of Samsung and Microsoft and Chinese brands are also catching up pretty fast, even outdoing them in certain areas. There aren’t any noticeable drawbacks of the X Fold other than the thick chins on the outer display. But that’s just how the foldable tech is evolving at this point. Other factors like camera, processor, and battery are excellent on this device making it a worthy rival of the Z Fold series from Samsung.
Source: United News of Bangladesh