Vivo X Fold: The first real foldable flagship?
Vivo has formally launched its first foldable smartphone — the Vivo X Fold. The powerhouse folding device has plenty of technical oomph including six cameras and the latest Snapdragon SoC to rival any flagship smartphone in 2022.
TL;DR
- The X Fold is Vivo's first foldable smartphone.
- Vivo's X Fold features Zeiss optics and Snapdragon 8G1 for ~$1410 price.
- Vivo also launches its X Note with a massive display.
Vivo X Fold foldable specs
Everything about Vivo's foldable phone looks aggressive. There's a 6.53-inch AMOLED display outside for the folded operation and an 8-inch AMOLED E5 display inside when unfolded. Both screens are high-resolution with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ rating. The main display utilizes LTPO2 to enable dynamic refresh rates all the way down to 1Hz.
Vivo employs not one, but two in-display ultrasonic scanners on the X Fold – instead of a side-mounted fingerprint sensor found on Galaxy Z Fold 3. But similar to Samsung's foldable, the hinge on the X Fold is hidden when the main display is completely open.
In terms of internal hardware, it's the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC that powers the Vivo X Fold. It comes paired with 12GB RAM and 256/512GB non-expandable storage. The battery is 4600 mAh and features 66 watts fast charging. According to Vivo, it just takes 37 minutes to fully charge the battery. There's also a fast 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse charging.
Foldable Vivo X Fold cameras, availability and pricing
Vivo didn't skimp on the camera department for its foldable smartphone. On the back are four cameras with Zeiss optics. The main snapper is a 50MP f/1.8 Samsung GN5 sensor introduced last year. Coming along is an 8MP periscope (5x optical zoom) with OIS similar to the main sensor, 12MP telephoto, and 48MP ultrawide camera. Each display houses a 16MP wide selfie camera.
The Vivo X Fold runs on Android 12 OS and will become available first in China this month for an 8,999 yuan starting price or ~$1410. There are black, grey, and blue variants to choose from.
Vivo X Note with massive 7-inch display launched
Along with the X Fold, the Chinese company also introduced the Vivo X Note with a huge display and flagship specs. The X Note blurs the line between smartphones and tablets to some extent as it has a 7-inch AMOLED panel with a QHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It stands a little taller compared to the flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max but it weighs the least among the three.
The X Note is also IP68 water resistant and is backed by a large ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on its display. Vivo says the in-display fingerprint is 50,000 times more secure if you use two fingers when scanning instead of one. On its back is the same quad-camera setup and Zeiss optics from the X Fold but the main sensor is replaced with a larger 50MP ISOCELL GN1 sensor.
Under the hood is Snapdragon 8G1 chip paired with an 8 or 12GB RAM. While the 5000 mAh battery may sound acceptable, the X Note is equipped with 80W fast charging. The humongous smartphone is advertised to fully charge from 0 to 100% in just 32 minutes.
The Vivo X Note will retail for 6000 yuan or ~$940 starting price and will be available this April in China.
Do you think Vivo should also release the X Fold and X Note to other markets like in the US and Europe? Let's know your thoughts.
