A quick overview of Vivo’s new foldable flagship phone and how it stacks up against the OnePlus Open
Vivo just launched its latest foldable phone in India, the X Fold3 Pro, and it is also made in India, we are told. It happens to be the first foldable phone of this year in the country (if my memory serves me right). While the detailed review is still a few weeks away, we got to spend just enough time with the device to tell you most of the things you need to know about it and answer some pertinent questions. So let’s begin.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: What’s new
Given the extra few months between the release of this device and its competitors, Vivo has made good use of the time by bringing in a few enhancements and adding a couple of extras. Other than using the fastest processing hardware around, there are a lot of additions in the AI and security department, which we will discuss later in the article.
The one striking thing we noticed was an in-display fingerprint scanner on both the inner and outer displays. It’s a great addition as side-mounted scanners don’t feel ergonomic when you open the phone. The X Fold3 Pro also has the largest display and battery in the segment and yet manages to keep the size and weight in check; something we will talk about in the next two sections.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Design
Q: How bulky and heavy is the Vivo X Fold3 Pro?
Till now, the OnePlus Open was the slimmest and lightest foldable phone around. The Vivo X Fold3 Pro now takes those honours by the smallest of margins, but it all counts. Of course, foldable phones still haven’t reached a point where they would be as slim (when folded) as regular flagship smartphones; we are slowly but surely getting there. This Vivo phone measures 11.2 mm in thickness when folded and an incredible 5.2 mm when open. That makes it half a millimetre slimmer than the OnePlus Open and a lot slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.
As for the weight, at 236 grams, it again trumps the Open by just 3 grams, making it the lightest full-sized foldable phone in India. And not just foldables, it is also lighter than some of the previous-gen flagship phones like the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The company has made some smart choices with the materials and components to keep the weight down without compromising on the durability. Vivo’s Armor Architecture boasts of enhanced durability, with SGS 5-star overall Unit Drop Resistance.
The use of Armor Glass at the front, glass fibre at the back and carbon fibre hinges claim to provide additional durability with the latter being able to withstand 100 fold-unfolds a day for 12 years. The device can flex and bend freely between 60 to 120 degrees, giving users a range of creative usage scenarios. During our brief time with the device, the weight distribution seemed fairly even, and the phone did not feel too bulky or heavy in hand. The phone is water resistant with an IPX8 rating.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Displays
Like all foldable phones, the Vivo X Fold3 Pro has two displays – the outer one when folded and the inner when open, and both look impressive. The outer AMOLED display measures 6.53-inch and has a resolution of 2748 x 1172 pixels. It is protected against scratches and cracks by a layer of Armor Glass. When opened, you get a large 8-inch 10-bit LTPO AMOLED display with a resolution of 2480 x 2200 pixels. Both displays offer 120Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of 4500 nits and HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliance.
Are the Vivo X Fold3 Pro displays scratch-resistant?
The outer display is scratch-resistant and comes equipped with the aforementioned Armor Glass, which the company claims is made of microcrystal glass that increases drop resistance up to 11 times compared to deep secondary reinforced glass. The inner display does not have any real scratch resistance; none of the foldable phones do on their inner displays. Maybe in the near future but not yet.
Is the crease on the inner display prominent?
It is barely visible from certain angles. It is as inconspicuous as the OnePlus Open, which we felt was the most stealth till date. It hasn’t completely vanished but Vivo has done a good job of concealing it to a great extent. More importantly, it does not hinder any operation on this device.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Processing hardware
The X Fold3 Pro becomes the first foldable phone in the country to use Qualcomm’s current flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. You get only one variant of the phone here with 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. All this translates into ample processing power and storage for the foreseeable future.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: OS and user interface
Is the user interface different from other Vivo phones?
The Vivo X Fold3 Pro runs the latest Android 14 with Funtouch 14 UI. While the outer screen has the standard user interface, the UI on the inner screen adjusts well to the larger size and different form factor. The UI is optimised for the squarish display and greatly aids in multitasking and file sharing, as you would on a tablet.
Are there any AI and security tools on the Vivo X Fold3 Pro?
In collaboration with Google, this phone integrates powerful AI tools utilising the Gemini AI models on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to boost productivity and workflow. Al Note Assist gives a shot in the arm to note-taking by extracting key information from large texts, translating text across languages and transcribing from voice recordings or calls briskly.
In addition to the 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanners on both displays, Vivo has partnered with Qualcomm to enhance the security capabilities of its built-in security chip. The advanced hardware-level encryption claims to safeguard sensitive user data, including fingerprints, facial recognition and lock screen passwords, thus reducing the risk of malicious attacks. It also offers Owner Privacy Protection that hides the notification details when someone other than the owner is peeping at the phone from close quarters.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Cameras
Vivo has packed the camera department here with a total of five cameras – three at the back and one at the top of each screen. The company has opted for a 32MP module at the top of the outer as well as the inner screen for selfies and video calls. The rear camera department is co-engineered with Zeiss and consists of three high-quality cameras that cover all the necessary bases.
At the back, inside a big circular camera module, you get a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom, and lastly, another 50MP ultra-wide camera with autofocus that can double up as a macro camera too. In collaboration with Zeiss, X Fold3 Pro offers a range of focal lengths to click professional-grade portraits, supporting portrait focal lengths of 24 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm and 100 mm.
The rear cameras can record videos in up to 8K resolution at 30 fps and 4K videos at 60 fps. As for the details of photo and video quality, you will need to wait for our final review, but things are looking promising.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Battery and charging
How is the battery backup on the Vivo X Fold3 Pro?
The Vivo X Fold3 Pro is fitted with a large 5700 mAh battery that is expected to keep it running for over a day and a half of moderate use. Your mileage may vary depending on the quantum of usage of the inner screen especially. We will share the actual figures in our final review of the phone. But what is commendable is that the company has managed to keep the thickness and the weight of the device lower than its competitors despite using a higher-capacity battery.
Does it support fast charging and wireless charging?
Yes, it does! This Vivo phone bundles a 100W fast charger that claims to take a little over half an hour to charge the phone fully from empty, which is quite impressive. That also makes it the fastest-charging foldable phone in India despite having the largest battery. The X Fold3 Pro also supports 50W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, so you can charge compatible wireless earbuds and other small devices by placing them on this phone.
Vivo X Fold3 Pro: Price and availability in India
The Vivo X Fold3 Pro is priced at Rs 1,59,999 in India with a one-year warranty. It is available for purchase on Vivo.com and popular e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart with multiple introductory offers and cashbacks across multiple credit cards and payment methods. You can go ahead and take a leap of faith or stay tuned for our in-depth review of this foldable phone with a bunch of camera samples and performance benchmarks.