The cancelation of MWC 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak pushed forward a slew of amazing launches. While some phone makers stuck to their original schedule, streaming the launch event online, others decided to reschedule the event. Vivo is one of the latter and has today unveiled its latest concept smartphone, the Vivo APEX 2020 with some of the most exciting innovations we have seen to date.
The Chinese giant was going to show off the concept phone at the conference, allowing users to get a taste of under-screen selfie camera, the first-ever gimbal-stabilized main camera, and well, super-fast 60W wireless charging technology. Let’s take a look at the features that Vivo has packed in the APEX 2020 concept phone:
Vivo APEX 2020: Specs and Features
-
Design + Display
Vivo APEX 2020 builds on last year’s concept, which I got a chance to get my hands on, and does not include any ports or openings. There’s no speaker holes, charging port or even button cut-outs. APEX 2020 boasts a seamless design and relies on pressure-sensitive buttons to emulate the power button and volume rockers. You will find a huge circular camera bump on the rear though and we will get to that in a second.
As for the display, Vivo APEX features a 6.45-inch ‘FullView’ waterfall display that builds upon the NEX 3’s design from last year and now boasts 120-degree curved edges. The NEX 3 featured 88-degree curved edges and didn’t include physical buttons – as we just talked above. Vivo APEX 2020’s screen wraps completely around the edges. You will not see the metal frame on either of the two edges.
-
Gimbal-Stabilized Camera
Though Huawei is usually known to make massive leaps in the optical department, Vivo seems to have stepped up the game with the APEX 2020 concept. The company is only offering a dual-camera setup here but both of the cameras are the first-of-its-kind.
Up-top, Vivo APEX 2020 features a 16MP periscope-cum-telephoto lens that is equipped with moving elements to provide an actual zooming range of 5x to 7.5x. This means Vivo isn’t using software tricks to provide you a hybrid zoom feature instead, the lens is packed with two sets of moving lenses (resulting in Continuous Optical Zoom) to switch between the zoom capacity.
Under the telephoto camera, the device features a 48MP sensor with what could be the world’s first gimbal-like stabilization mechanism. Vivo claims that its image stabilization tech offers 200% performance gains over traditional OIS system in an official blog post. You will able to capture super stable videos and not require any additional gear for long exposure night photography. You don’t need OIS or a physical gimbal accessory now.
-
Under-screen Selfie Camera
Yeah, Vivo is following Oppo and Xiaomi’s lead to bake a camera under the display in its latest concept smartphone. Vivo APEX 2020 houses a 16MP in-display selfie camera with a 4-in-1 super-pixel photosensitive chip.
Well, the company has said that you can click some decent quality selfies, thanks to the increased (around 6 times) the light transmittance of the screen above the front camera and a series of algorithm optimizations. We will have to get our hands on the APEX 2020 concept phone to know better.
-
Insanely Fast Wireless Charging
Apart from the insane camera innovations, Vivo is also pushing the boundary on wireless charging technology. Though APEX 2020 includes a measly 2,000mAh battery, there’s 60W Super FlashCharge wireless charging aboard this concept phone. Vivo claims that it can juice up the 2,000mAh battery in just 20 minutes, which is just mind-boggling fast.
I mean, we’ve just recently started seeing phone makers offer super fast wired charging speeds, but Vivo is planning to debut wireless charging technology with similar charging times. This concept also brings along 3rd-Gen Screen SoundCasting tech, voice tracking auto-focus, and more.
Internals
Moving past all the innovation, you will find that the Vivo APEX 2020 concept phone has been powered by the latest Snapdragon 865 chipset from Qualcomm. It is coupled with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. There’s 5G connectivity and Wi-Fi 6 support present on board.
Vivo APEX 2020: Camera Innovation is the Focus!
Vivo pioneered the popular pop-up camera design with the first APEX concept phone. I mean, that was a true innovation and helped redefine smartphone design. APEX 2020 follows along the same lines, showing off super-fast wireless charging and a better alternative to OIS with this concept. We can expect to cut the cord and be prepared to capture super stable videos in the coming years. Exciting times, right?
