The foldable smartphone market is far from saturation and only a handful of options make sense. Right now, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and OnePlus Open top that list. Being at the epicenter of the tech industry, I’ve grown rather numb to the “wow” factor of foldables. However, the foldable tide has washed ashore the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro into my palms and it has surprised me, big time.
So, if you are fishing for a good foldable, is this the best money can buy? Can it dethrone the current foldable king? Well, here are my first impressions of the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro and how it stacks up.
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Specifications
| Specs | Vivo X Fold 3 Pro |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 159.96 x 72.55 x 11.2 mm (Folded) 159.96 x 142.4 x 5.2 mm (Unfolded) |
| Weight | 236 grams |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (TSMC 4nm) |
| RAM + Storage | 12GB LPDDR5X + 512GB UFS 4.0 |
| Display | Main Screen: 8.03-inch 120Hz AMOLED, 2480 x 2200 pixels Cover Screen: 6.53-inch 120Hz AMOLED, 2748 x 1172 pixels |
| Rear Camera | 50MP VCS OIS + 50MP Ultra-wide AF + 64MP Telephoto 3x Optical Zoom |
| Front Camera | 32MP (Cover Screen) + 32MP (Main Screen) |
| Video | Up to 4K at 60FPS |
| Dual SIM | Yes; Does not support eSIM |
| Connectivity | 17 5G bands, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, Infrared |
| Port | USB Type C |
| Battery | 5,700mAh |
| Charging | 100W fast charging |
| IP Rating | IPX8 |
| Software | Android 14, FuntouchOS 14 |
What’s in the Box?
Before we get into the specifics, here’s what you get inside the foldable’s box:
- Vivo X Fold 3 Pro
- 100W Flash Charger
- Type-C to C USB Cable
- SIM Ejector
- User Manual
While our unit didn’t come with a cover in the box, we asked Vivo, and they said that all retail units will include one. So, that’s a relief.
Best Foldable Design to Date, Period
As soon as I took the foldable out of its box, I was surprised by how it didn’t feel like one. It was only slightly heavier than my OnePlus 11R and looked like a regular smartphone from the front until you unfold it.
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro just melts in your palms like no other foldable, with polished edges and a sleek body. I honestly couldn’t get over the in-hand feel. The smooth matte texture of the glass back, the well-thought-out edges and the metal frame all scream premium.
I have with me the Black color option, and it’s got this glittery finish at the back as well which looks amazing. There’s also an alert slider that allows you to toggle silent mode on or off. However, the slider lacks a textured finish, which causes your fingers to slip past it when trying to use it.
The camera module is also just about perfect and doesn’t take more space than it has to. It’s also exquisite and has this silver textured ring around it. Upon closer inspection, I noticed some marbly pattern in the outermost circle of the module, which I mistook for smudges and tried to wipe off at first.
The back panel is also relatively clean. You have the Vivo branding at the bottom left, the blue and white Zeiss branding on the camera module, and another vertically running series of brandings at the top right on the mid-frame. With that out of the way, it is time to open the foldable.
I am taken aback by how stealthily silent the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is, making no noise whatsoever when opened. Meanwhile, the OnePlus Fold makes this paper crinkle sound when unfolded, which I’m not a fan of.
Moreover, X Fold 3 Pro opens flat, which is always a commendable thing for a foldable. You need to force the OnePlus Open to do so, since it naturally can’t.
Also, even after unfolding, the X Fold 3 Pro felt easy to hold and use. The weight distribution is top tier and the best I’ve seen on a foldable phone to date. While the phone is less curvier than the competition, it feels the smoothest around the edges.
Display(s) to Die For
Talking about the displays, the outer 6.53-inch display on the X Fold 3 Pro is beautiful and barely leaves room for complaints. Moreover, it doesn’t leave room for you to even use the inner 8-inch display in daily usage. Both these displays are AMOLED and offer 120Hz refresh rate along with 2K resolution.
Yes, there’s a foldable crease running through the middle and is more visible from certain angles. But, it does not interfere with the usability, and you will forget it’s there for the most part.
I started watching The Batman on this phone, and the experience was so good that I decided to stick through to the end. The blacks were maintained well throughout the movie, while at the same time ensuring that everything is visible. Thanks to the 2K resolution, the content looked very crisp. I watched some of those vivid nature-centric 4K YouTube videos too and the color tones were solid.
The display was also bright and non-reflective to view comfortably both indoors and outdoors. To be specific, the outer display hits 3,810 nits, while the inner display reaches 3,340 nits. This is the best brightness level I have seen on any foldable. Even regular smartphones have a tough time achieving those levels, so this is beyond impressive.
When it comes to audio quality, the dual-speaker setup falls flat in comparison to OnePlus Open’s quad speakers. But, it’s adequate enough to wrap yourself up in your blanket like a burrito at night and binge watch content without earphones.
Performance
The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is a solid performer, thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering this phone. From app opening and closing to multitasking, I didn’t see it stutter anywhere. I intentionally opened some 25-30 apps in the background and it handled it like a charm. RAM management is also pretty good with most apps resuming from where I had left them.
Gaming, obviously, is good on this foldable. I played some CoD Mobile, Warzone Mobile, BGMI, and Genshin Impact on the phone, and it handled all the games well. Here’s a look at the settings you get:
Games Settings Fortnite Epic at 60FPS
Low at 90FPSCoD Mobile Max Graphics = Max + Max
Max Framerate = Medium + Ultra (120FPS in Multiplayer, 90FPS in Battle Royale)BGMI Max Graphics = Ultra HDR + Ultra
Max Framerate = Smooth + Extreme+ (90FPS)Warzone Mobile High + Uncapped (Average 60FPS) Genshin Impact Highest Settings – 60FPS
While I have yet to do a detailed thermal test, the phone didn’t thermal throttle for the limited time I played those games. So, overall, in the brief time that I’ve spent with the X Fold 3 Pro, it performs quite well.
Cameras
When I saw the ZIESS branding on the camera module, I knew this was going to be one hell of a setup. And I was right, for the most part. The 64MP telephoto sensor really stands out in the setup and can capture up to 3x optical zoom shots. These results were stunning, and there’s little to no color disparity between the other two 50MP sensors (the primary and ultra-wide sensors) either, except for on extremely zoomed-in shots
Both during the day and at night, shots retain the natural colors. The solid dynamic range of the phone shines through. The highlights and shadows are just so extraordinarily well-defined!
Besides, even at a 100x digital zoom, we could see some details, which is mind-boggling. At night, the details are maintained well too, with the light sources being managed well enough.
The front two 32MP selfies shooters (one on the cover screen and one inside) wash out the colors and details, big time. The selfie cameras require some tuning, which Vivo can easily fix with updates. Portrait shots are good though, with good edge detection and depth mapping.
As for videos, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro can capture up to 8K 30FPS videos. You can also tune it down to 4K 60FPS videos. The front sensor is sadly limited to 1080p 30FPS for now, but it will surely be taken up to 4K 60FPS via updates.
Software Experience
So, the latest foldable by Vivo runs Android 14-based FuntouchOS 14 out of the box, and that’s where you may frown. While no one can sell me on the idea of FuntouchOS being the best looking UI out there, it’s not half bad either. I liked how Vivo tuned the software with its X Fold 3 Pro, and brought a couple of AI features too, thanks to Google renting out its lower-end Gemini model.
But, before I talk about the AI stuff, I have to tell you this – the live wallpapers on this foldable are downright gorgeous! Dance of Butterflies is easily my favorite, and every now and then I find myself locking and unlocking the phone to simply see the animation.
The UI animations are also fluid enough and you get to see little bloatware on the device. There’s Facebook, Netflix and Myntra pre-installed but they can be uninstalled. However, Vivo apps such as Vivo Cloud and Appstore can’t be. But, they’re not much of an annoyance anyway.
Talking about the AI features, you get to see AI transcript assist, which works with voice calls, video calls, and voice recordings. You can also easily summarize the transcribed text to get it in key points, which is handy.
Then comes the AI screen translation feature, which you can access from the sidebar to easily translate any webpage to the language of your choice. AI note assist works well too and allows you to turn your rough thoughts into something meaningful. If you have a scrambled egg of a brain like me, this will come in handy.
Additionally, to make the most use of the extra display, you get Flex Mode and Smart screen shift, which are cool.
Battery Life and Charging
Foldable phones require the most juice for they are using two displays, and the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro’s 5,700mAh battery does more than a great job. I only used it for a little over a day and will share my findings with you.
I watched The Batman on Netflix, which is around a 3-hour long movie. On top of that, I maxed out the brightness as well. Then, I played Genshin Impact and CoD Mobile for around an hour.
In addition, I also ran a benchmark as well as captured pictures and videos. After doing all of that, the battery came down to 15%, delivering a screen-on-time of around 5 hours and 40 minutes, which is amazing for a foldable phone.
As for charging, X Fold3 Pro takes around 35 minutes to fully charge using the 100W charger in the box, which is very impressive.
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro: Yay or Nay?
I think the question you should be asking is not if you’re willing to let go of that much for a foldable but FuntouchOS. Coming from a comparatively rich and premium-looking-feeling UI like Color OS (aka OxygenOS), it certainly does not feel the best, but the optimization is pretty darn good with the foldable and I rarely encountered any bugs, although it was running on pre-production software for the most part.
Besides, with FuntouchOS 14, the UI is a lot more refined and feature-packed than ever before. Not to mention that we have had the tablet for just about two days and we’ve already received a stability update from the brand.
This is the best foldable that I’ve used in a while, and that makes me want to use it more than ditch it after I’ve had my fill. It’s the perfect oh-that-phone-turns-into-a-tablet companion to carry with you every single day without even realizing it most of the time.
Well, I’m looking forward to spending some more time with the X Fold 3 Pro and sharing a detailed review once I’ve collected all my findings. You should also look forward to my comparison of Vivo’s foldable against the OnePlus Open. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on Vivo’s market-shaking foldable!
