The successor to Vivo X Fold 2 came earlier. Well, at least, it is for China. Yesterday, or earlier today, depending on where you are, Vivo revealed its newest flagship folding phone, the Vivo X Fold3 Series. Right off the bat, there is a key branding change. Vivo has adopted Samsung’s no spacing between the model and number. It is a small thing but worth noting. Or maybe not. Anyhoo, there are two models of Vivo X Fold3: a standard model and the Pro model.
The key differences between the two models are the profile and weight, the battery capacity, the processor, and the camera setup. But regardless of which model, there is one of the key improvements for this year’s iteration and that is the weight and thickness. In this respect, Vivo has outdone itself again with an almost as thin as the USB-C port profile of just 5.2 mm when opened (11.2 mm when closed) and as light as 236g. That’s the Pro model.
The standard Vivo X Fold3 [CH] is even thinner and lighter. It is just 4.65 mm (!) opened, 10.2 mm closed, and tips the scales at a featherweight of 219g. To put the numbers in perspective, the X Fold 2 was 5.95 mm opened and 12.9-13.2 mm closed and tips the scale at 278.5-279.5g.
One of the contributors to the significant weight reduction over its predecessor is the lightweight hinge. It boasts an ultra-light carbon fiber keel that is as light as 14.98g, allowing it to achieve around 37% weight reduction. Vivo said the hinge remains ultra-durable too; it is tested to withstand up to 500,000 folds by TÜV Rheinland.
Also on the durability, the device further touts a UTG super tough glass that is also said to present less creases and is more durable. On top of that, it receives an impact-resistant film. Vivo said the X Fold3 has 11 times more drop resistance (presumably over its predecessor) and has been certified by the Swiss SGS gold standard.
Under the hood, the Vivo X Fold3 Pro [CH] packs the latest flagship SoC from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 featuring an octacore processor and Adreno 750 GPU, and benefits from fast LPDDR5X memory and UFS4.0 storage. Meanwhile, the standard model gets the last-gen flagship chip, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
It has a dual-cell setup, with Pro rocking a dual-cell 5,700 mAh and the standard Fold a dual-cell setup with 5,500 mAh. The Pro model supports 100 W wired and 50 W wireless fast charging, while the X Fold3 only has 80 W wired fast charging.
Not surprisingly, AI is also a main part of the device. The Vivo X Fold3 is rocking the AI Blue Large Model to aid your daily productivity. I shall not get into it since AI is suspiciously overhyped at this point.
Over at the imaging, both models have a 32 MP f/2.4 selfie camera, one on each display. Both models also boast a 3-camera setup. The Pro has a 50 MP f/1.68 main camera featuring Vivo Camera-Bionic Spectrum (VCS), a 64 MP f/2.57 ZEISS telephoto camera, and a 50 MP f/2.0 super wide-angle camera. The Pro model further benefits from the self-developed V2 imaging chip.
The regular model boasts a 50 MP f/1.75 main camera featuring Vivo Camera-Bionic Spectrum (VCS), a 50 MP f/2.0 super-wide angle camera, and a 50 MP f/1.85 professional portrait camera.
In the display department, it is the same for both which comprise a 120 Hz 6.53“ 21.1:9 AMOLED external display, and a 120 Hz 8.03” 4:3.55 AMOLED main display.
Other common denominators include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, USB3.2 Gen2, and the usual suspects of sensors and positioning. The new X Fold from Vivo runs on OriginOS 4 built on Android 14.
The new Vivo X Fold3 Series is available to order in China starting at 6,999 yuan [CH] and 9,999 yuan [CH] (around US$968 and US$1,383) for the standard and Pro models, respectively.
Images: Vivo [CH].
