What you need to know
- Vivo just unveiled its latest foldables in China, with the X Fold 3 and X Fold 3 Pro going on sale in the country shortly.
- The X Fold 3 comes in at just 4.65mm when unfolded and weighs 219g, making it the thinnest foldable currently available.
- The X Fold 3 Pro has a 5700mAh battery, and the X Fold 3 has a marginally smaller 5500mAh unit.
- Both phones get considerable camera upgrades over last year.
Vivo is doing all the right things in 2024; the X100 Pro is a terrific showcase for the brand, and the V30 series combines a svelte design with standout cameras. The Chinese manufacturer is now turning its attention to the foldable segment once again, and the X Fold 3 series may just be its most ambitious effort yet.
There are two models in the series — the X Fold 3 and X Fold 3 Pro — and while both foldables have the same 6.53-inch outer panel and 8.03-inch inner panel, that where's the similarities end. You get 120Hz AMOLED screens on the inside and out, and the X Fold 3 has the distinction of being the thinnest foldable around thanks to its 4.65mm profile when unfolded. Coming in at 219g, it is the lightest as well.
The X Fold 3 is powered by last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and it has a trio of 50MP cameras at the back, with the main lens using a Sony IMX920 module. It gets IPX4 ingress protection, a lightweight hinge that's touted to be durable up to 500,000 unfolds, and a larger 5500mAh battery with 80W charging tech.
The X Fold 3 Pro is particularly noteworthy, with the foldable powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and featuring Vivo's custom V3 imaging module. It has an OmniVision 50MP main camera that's joined by a 50MP wide-angle lens and a 64MP telephoto lens with OIS.
But the key differentiator is that the X Fold 3 Pro features a huge 5700mAh battery, and it still somehow comes in at just 236g. To put things into context, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a 4400mAh battery and weighs 253g, 17g more than the X Fold 3 Pro. And what I like is that the foldable has IPX8 ingress protection, the same level as what Samsung offers on its own foldables.
Clearly, Vivo is targeting the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Honor's Magic V2 with its latest foldables, and with both the X Fold 3 and X Fold 3 Pro now official in China, we'll have to wait and see when they'll make their global debut. Vivo hasn't detailed an international rollout just yet, but we should have more details over the coming weeks.
