Say hello to the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, the brand’s debut foldable smartphone in India. It is priced at ₹1,59,999 for the sole 16GB/512GB variant on offer.
While foldable phones have been around for 5 years, they haven't achieved mainstream success due to three main concerns: reliability, poor battery life, and mediocre camera quality.
Now, reliability is something that can be only assessed over time, but the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro aims to address the other two issues.
For instance, it has a 5,700mAh battery, which is the biggest on a foldable phone in India. For reference, it surpasses the OnePlus Open by approximately 18% and the Galaxy Fold 5 by a massive 30%.
That’s not all. Charging speeds are crazy by foldable standards as well, because this phone supports 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, plus a 120W charging brick is a part of the retail package.
Since this phone is a part of Vivo's X series, it is normal to have high expectations from its cameras.
The rear camera system on this includes a trio of sensors: a 50MP main, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 64MP 3x periscope. All three lenses benefit from Zeiss optics and the company’s signature T* coating.
Please see the video to check the camera samples.
In my brief usage, I noted excellent dynamic range and even colours across all sensors. Although the ultrawide was prone to ghosting issues occasionally. The low-light performance was also very impressive.
As with all Vivo Zeiss cameras, the special Zeiss-tuned portrait effects added a unique touch to portrait photos, providing pretty artistic results.
However, more thorough testing is still required to see if this phone has the camera system on foldables, so stay tuned for the full review.
Additionally, the phone features two 32MP selfie cameras, one on the exterior and another on the foldable display. However, these selfie cameras only deliver average-quality selfies.
Design-wise, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is the slimmest foldable phone available in India, measuring just 5.2mm when unfolded and 11.2mm when folded.
When unfolded, its weight is also surprisingly well distributed, despite the right side having the large camera island. Overall, the phone is also quite lightweight for a foldable at just 236 grams.
Aesthetically, it looks pretty cool thanks to its boxy corners. The circular camera island with Zeiss branding also adds a stylish touch to the phone's back. However, the device is somewhat slippery.
Taking care of the folding operations on the X Fold 3 Pro is a carbon fibre hinge. Vivo claims it can withstand more than 100 folds everyday for 12 years. The hinge is also decently versatile and allows for multiple viewing angles.
Anyway, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro features the largest foldable display on a phone in India: it is an 8.03-inch LTPO AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and an impressive peak brightness of 4500 nits. The bezels around the display are pretty slim, but the crease is quite visible.
The cover display is equally noteworthy -it is a 6.53-inch panel with similar specifications, including the 4500 nits peak brightness. Its 21:9 aspect ratio also makes it convenient to use as a regular phone when folded.
By the way, this phone has two ultrasonic fingerprint scanners, one each on the outside and inside. It sounds like an overkill, but it's actually quite a practical approach as you are not limited to unlocking the phone in just one orientation.
On the software front, the Vivo X Fold Fold 3 Pro device runs on Funtouch OS 14. It is free of bloatware and spammy notifications: it’s probably the only Vivo smartphone in India with a software this clean. I’m glad Vivo has finally realised that people don’t like bloatware on expensive phones.
Funtouch OS, as always, is fast and well optimised, plus thanks to its large inner display, the phone supports multitasking with up to three apps simultaneously. So productivity nerds will be quite happy with this thing.
By the way, horsepower on this phone is provided by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which obviously, ensures flagship-grade performance.
The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is certainly not a cheap device. But, it is a promising step towards making foldable phones more practical and user-friendly.
By addressing key issues like battery life and camera quality, Vivo has created a foldable phone that is not just about the cool factor, but also about everyday usability.
Stay tuned to Editorji for our detailed Vivo X Fold 3 Pro review!
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