Better, faster, stronger – and thinner and lighter to boot. vivo’s new X Fold3 series significantly slims down the design of the 2023 model (the vivo X Fold2), while also bringing significant improvements to the camera and battery. And yes, it’s a series with vanilla and Pro models. The vivo X Fold3 weighs just 219g, making it the lightest horizontal inward foldable phone (the Honor V Purse is lighter at 214g, but folds outwards and doesn’t have a second display). This is lighter than many bar phones, e.g. the iPhone 15 Pro Max (221g), Galaxy S24 Ultra (232g) and foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold5 (253g). The X Fold2 itself was quite massive at 279g and 12.9mm when folded. The X Fold3 drops that down to 10.2mm.
Both phones have the same set of displays.
The inner panel is 8.03” in diagonal with 2,480 x 2,200px resolution and 120Hz
refresh rate. The Samsung E7 material can be pushed to 4,500nits of local peak
brightness. The cover display is 6.53” with 1,172 x 2,748px resolution and
120Hz refresh rate, this one uses Q9 Plus material but also boosts to 4,500
nits. That’s more than double the X Fold2 displays that topped out at 1,800
nits and 1,600 nits.
The vivo X Fold3 Pro is powered by the new
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with the custom vivo V3 imaging chip. It
comes in two configurations, 16GB/512GB and 16GB/1TB, with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS
4.0 storage. The imaging chip tackles data from the 50MP “ultra-sensing” main
camera, which is equipped with a 1/1.3” OmniVision OV50H sensor and an f/1.68
lens with OIS. This sensor is bigger than the 1/1.49” Sony IMX866v that was in
the X Fold2 and adds a bit of weight.
Joining the main camera is a 64MP 3x
telephoto module with an OV64B sensor (1/2”) and an f/2.57 lens, plus a 50MP
ultra wide-angle (119°) module with a Samsung JN1 (1/2.76”). The selfie cameras
use a pair of 32MP sensors (1/3.6”). The vanilla X Fold3 uses the same
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as the X Fold2. It can be configured from 12GB/256GB to
16GB/1TB (LPDDR5X, UFS 4.0). The V3 imaging chip is missing from this model.
The main camera here uses a 50MP 1/1.49”
Sony sensor (an IMX920 this time) and an f/1.75 lens with OIS. There’s also a 50MP
50mm portrait camera (1/2.93” IMX816, f/1.85) and a 50MP ultra wide (the same
JN1 with a 119° f/1.85 lens). The selfie cameras are the same 32MP units. Both
X Fold3 models feature a lightweight carbon fiber hinge that weighs only
14.98g. It was certified to withstand 500,000 folds by TÜV Rhinenland. vivo
shored up the drop resistance of the phones too – the front is 11 times more
resistant, the back 15 times (compared to the X Fold2). Even the foldable
display features an impact-resistant film in addition to the UTG.
The Pro model also stands out with a huge
battery – 5,700mAh, that’s 900mAh larger than the X Fold2 battery. The vanilla
X Fold3 has a slightly smaller 5,500mAh battery, which probably helps shave off
a few grams compared to the Pro. The Pro battery comes with pro charging of
100W wired and 50W wireless, while its sibling supports 80W wired-only
charging.
Both phones boast dual-SIM 5G
connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, NFC and an IR blaster. The Pro also gets USB 3.2 Gen2.
Both have stereo speakers and Wireless Lossless Hi-Fi audio. And both have
physical Mute switches. Besides the better USB, the Pro model also features two
3D ultrasonic fingerprint readers (one under each display), while the vanilla X
Fold uses a side-mounted reader.
The touch controllers for the both display
and the audio amps come from Goodix. The controllers can sense even wet fingers
(handy with the new water resistance rating). The SpeakerBoost 5.0 amps are
optimized for sound performance on a low voltage (so they use less power). The
vivo X Fold3 starts at CNY 7,000 for the 12GB/256GB model, that converts to US$ 970/€ 895/₹ 80,800. There are other options: 16GB/256GB for CNY 7,500,
16GB/512GB for CNY 8,000 and 16GB/1TB for CNY 9,000. Both phones are available
in black and white (dubbed “Eclipse Black” and “Solar White”).
The vivo X Fold3 Pro starts at CNY 10,000,
this is for a 16GB/512GB phone (US$ 1,385/€ 1,275/₹ 117,00). The top of the line model
is 16GB/1TB and costs CNY 11,000. The phones are already up on vivo’s store in
China and will start shipping by the end of the month. there’s no word on
global availability just yet.
