Tech Next: Vivo X Fold3 Pro makes stellar foldable debut

CHENNAI: VIVO is the latest brand to land in India’s ever expanding foldable smartphone space with the all-new Vivo X Fold3 Pro. Foldables have essentially split into two camps. There’s the ‘flip type’ foldable that has become a favourite with selfie fiends and those who like a compact form factor. And then there’s the premium end of the foldable market where products like the OnePlus Open and Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 5 do battle. Vivo lands in this zone and offers a foldable that can double up as a mini tablet and a flagship smartphone.

The X Fold3 Pro scores with its design. At 236 gm it’s the lightest in its class and also offers an IPX8 certification with a water-proof form factor, a first in this category. The device looks every inch premium with its elegant matte finish. It doesn’t attract fingerprints but it’s slightly slippery. The headline feature is the large primary display that stretches to 8.03 inches (2480 x 2200 pixels). The device also has a fully functional 6.53-inch (2748 x 1172 pixels) cover display. You won’t need to ‘unfold’ the device for everyday tasks. Vivo has kitted both displays with a 120Hz refresh rate with an impressive peak brightness of 4500 nits, making it one of the most immersive smartphone displays right now.

There are two areas where Vivo has a clear edge over its rivals. The first is battery life. Vivo manages to cram a massive 5700 mAh battery that should comfortably last a whole day even with multi-media use. The device comes with a 100W fast charger in the box and also offers a 50W wireless charging option. The other big win for the X Fold3 Pro is the rear cam. Vivo has leveraged its partnership with Zeiss to craft one of the best rear camera experiences on any smartphone.

The device aces lowlight photography and produces sharp portraits. The X Fold3 Pro features a triple rear cam with a 50MP primary lens, a 50MP ultrawide lens and a 64MP telephoto cam. There’s also a 32MP selfie shooter in the mix. At the heart of the X Fold3 Pro is the cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage; the device aced our benchmark tests. The Vivo X Fold3 Pro doesn’t come cheap but it ticks all the right boxes making it one of the best foldable smartphones you can buy right now.

(Rs 1,59,999)