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It looks like Vivo can do no incorrect in 2024; the model persistently delivered nice merchandise all through the course of the yr, providing significant upgrades and much-needed software program tweaks. The X100 Professional continues to be one of many strongest digital camera packages obtainable at the moment, and due to Zeiss integration, the V30 Professional is among the finest shooters within the mid-range section.
Whereas Vivo made foldables prior to now, they have been restricted to its residence market — till now. The X Fold3 Professional is now obtainable in choose areas in Southeast Asia, and because of this, it now comes with the worldwide Funtouch OS as an alternative of the China-focused Origin OS.
There’s clearly lots to love with the gadget; it has the largest and brightest panels of any foldable, ultrasonic modules embedded contained in the internal and outer show, probably the greatest cameras on this class, and the biggest battery with the perfect charging tech. I used the X Fold3 Professional for simply over a month, and this is why I feel it’s the foldable to beat.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Pricing and availability
Vivo unveiled the X Fold3 and X Fold3 Professional in China again in Q1 2024, and the Professional variant made its world debut in June. It’s now obtainable in India and Indonesia along with China. Whereas the X Fold3 Professional is on the market in three configurations in China — 12GB/256GB, 16GB/512GB, and 16GB/1TB — Vivo is simply bringing the center variant to world markets.
That is comprehensible, because the 16GB/512GB version hits the candy spot when it comes to storage, and coming in at ₹1,59,999 ($1,910), the foldable manages to undercut the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which retails within the nation for ₹1,76,999 ($2,112). I acquired the Indian variant of the X Fold3 Professional, and whereas there’s a white variant on sale in China, the model is promoting the Celestial Black mannequin as commonplace in world markets.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Design
That is the third iteration of Vivo’s foldable efforts, and it exhibits. The X Fold3 Professional is significantly thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and what I like finest in regards to the design is that Vivo someway managed to cram sizeable panels each inside and outside whereas nonetheless sustaining a svelte general profile.
With an unfolded thickness of 5.2mm and 11.2mm when folded, the X Fold3 Professional handily beats the Galaxy Z Fold 6 on this space (5.6mm and 12.1mm). It’s 3g lighter as nicely whereas providing a 5700mAh battery — the biggest on this section but. Honor’s Magic V2 remains to be the thinnest foldable I used this yr, coming in at 4.8mm, nevertheless it would not have as massive a battery.
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The load financial savings are right down to a redesigned hinge that has a lot smoother articulation — and is rather more sturdy. It’s rated at 500,000 unlocks, and stays semi-folded at any angle between 30 to 165 levels, supplying you with the flexibility to take attention-grabbing photographs and movies. What I like most is that you just get a characteristic much like Standby Mode when the panel is at a semi-folded angle. Oh, and the hinge closes absolutely flat with no seen hole.
Vivo principally saved issues easy with the again design, and the foldable will get the standard glass pane. The one level of differentiation is the outsized digital camera module that is in keeping with the designs of the X100 Extremely and Professional. Like different Vivo telephones, you get the Xtreme Creativeness tagline etched on the again; this time, it is on the aluminum edge and never fairly as noticeable.
The big digital camera island has a gold accent, and it juts out significantly. Whereas this is not a problem when the gadget is folded, it results in a wobble when utilizing the internal panel in opposition to a desk. The bundled case mitigates this situation to an extent, however it’s nonetheless irksome.
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The OnePlus Open has a flashier design on the again because of the distinctive digital camera housing and beneficiant use of leather-based, however of the 2, I am a fan of the X Fold3 Professional; it delivers bigger shows inside and outside, and that is the entire level of a foldable. Vivo did not omit the necessities both; the X Fold3 Professional contains IPX8 ingress safety as commonplace, and that permits it to climate the weather that significantly better.
Rounding out the design, there is a slider on the left that lets you toggle silent mode. It isn’t as helpful because the alert slider, nevertheless it is not laborious to think about Vivo telephones getting the characteristic in subsequent releases.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Shows
The X Fold3 Professional has a 6.53-inch outer show that folds out to an 8.03-inch internal panel, and that is noticeably larger than what you get with the Z Fold 6 (7.6 inches). The outer panel has Armor Glass coating, and due to a 21:9 ration and determination of 2748 x 1172, it’s much like utilizing an everyday telephone.
The internal panel will get a decision of 2480 x 2200, and each the internal and outer screens go as much as 120Hz. However the defining level is the brightness; the X Fold3 Professional will get noticeably brighter than every other foldable I used, and that is true for each the internal and outer panels. Whereas they go as much as 4,500 nits in HDR content material, it is in auto mode the place I clearly noticed the distinction subsequent to the Magic V2 and different 2024 releases.
There’s a crease on the internal 8.03-inch panel, nevertheless it is not significantly noticeable, and I ignored it after three days of use. Whereas you may make out the crease, it’s shallower than that on the Z Fold 6, and would not have an effect on usability in any significant means.
There’s Dolby Imaginative and prescient as nicely, and I did not see any points streaming HDR content material in Netflix. Vivo completely nailed the transient on this regard, and the X Fold3 Professional has the perfect coloration accuracy and brightness of any foldable at the moment. The onboard sound is fairly respectable, and it holds up nicely sufficient in every day use.
My favourite characteristic is the inclusion of ultrasonic fingerprint sensors. Whereas I do not normally like ultrasonic modules, Vivo makes use of Goodix sensors in its gadgets, they usually’re simply as quick and dependable as optical modules whereas having a bigger recognition space. What’s noteworthy is that Vivo used two sensors — beneath every panel — and that offers the X Fold3 Professional a definite edge over most of its rivals. The Z Fold 6 nonetheless has a side-mounted sensor, and it seems to be archaic.
There’s loads of customizability relating to colours and always-on kinds, and Vivo’s customized lighting results are intact right here, supplying you with intensive choices to tailor the gadget to your preferences.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Efficiency and battery
Just like the finest foldables of 2024, the X Fold3 Professional is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Vivo is launching a single variant globally, and the unit has 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a identified amount at this level, and having used it on over a dozen gadgets, I can safely say that it’s one in all Qualcomm’s finest chipsets up to now. It has noticeable efficiency good points over final yr, and the perfect half is that it has terrific effectivity.
The rationale I delayed this assessment is that the gadget had buggy software program out of the field; it was liable to freezing and random glitches, however a subsequent software program replace rolled out firstly of July sorted out the problems. Following that, I did not discover any lag or slowdowns in every day use, and it has been simply as dependable as different Vivo gadgets I used this yr.
| Class | Vivo X Fold3 Professional | Vivo X100 Extremely | Honor Magic V2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Total) | 14366 | 14899 | 13625 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Net Searching) | 10796 | 11497 | 11956 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Video Enhancing) | 6642 | 6278 | 7482 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Writing) | 19077 | 22368 | 14847 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Picture Enhancing) | 32883 | 32759 | 29590 |
| Geekbench 6 (single-core) | 2120 | 2174 | 1426 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 6482 | 6375 | 4231 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (rating) | 4216 | 4677 | 2943 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (FPS) | 25.25 | 28.01 | 17.63 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (rating) | 5802 | 8278 | 4173 |
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (FPS) | 22.06 | 31.47 | 15.87 |
Though they share the identical Qualcomm silicon, most foldables aren’t arrange for prolonged gaming classes, and that is right down to thermal administration and throttling. Astonishingly, it wasn’t a problem on the X Fold3 Professional, and it held up extremely nicely even in marathon gaming classes. There was no overheating, I acquired constant framerates, and there wasn’t any noticeable jitter.
In actual fact, its stability rating of 89.9% in 3DMark’s newest Metal Nomad Mild check is among the highest of any telephones I examined, foldable or in any other case. Equally spectacular is the truth that it did not cross 40 levels Celsius; most gadgets with the 8 Gen 3 hit the 46-degree mark on this check.
There is not something lacking elsewhere; the gadget will get a Wi-Fi 7 modem, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, dual-band GPS, world Sub-6 5G bands, USB-C 3.2, and all the suite of AptX codecs. The vibration motor is among the finest on a foldable, and it has beautiful suggestions when navigating the interface and utilizing the keyboard.
Whereas the remainder of the {hardware} is noteworthy in its personal proper, the place the X Fold3 Professional actually shines is the battery life. Thanks to an enormous 5700mAh battery, the foldable manages to simply final a day and a half between fees, and even with heavy use, I did not really feel the necessity to plug within the gadget earlier than the top of the day. That is an enormous achievement, and no different foldable measures as much as the X Fold3 Professional on this regard.
When you have to cost the gadget, there’s 100W charging, with Vivo bundling its 120W FlashCharge charger within the field. It takes simply over 35 minutes to completely cost the battery on the gadget, and that is a feat in and of itself. Like Honor, Vivo is utilizing silicon-carbide tech to delay battery longevity, so there should not be any noticeable degradation even after a number of years of use.
In fact, you get 50W wi-fi charging as nicely, however I wasn’t in a position to check that out as I did not have the requisite charger. That mentioned, the gadget went as much as 10W over a regular Qi mat, and it has reverse charging — excellent if you have to cost equipment on the go.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Cameras
Vivo went with what’s arguably probably the greatest digital camera packages on a foldable but, with the X Fold3 Professional that includes a 50MP OmniVision OV50H foremost digital camera, a 50MP wide-angle lens, and a 64MP zoom digital camera with 3x optical zoom. There are two 32MP cameras beneath every panel, and identical to the X100 Professional, all of the modules are tuned by Zeiss.
The digital camera interface itself will probably be acquainted in case you’ve used a Vivo telephone prior to now, with the taking pictures modes on the backside and all of the requisite toggles and filters scattered across the viewfinder. You may simply change between the lenses, and there are three distinct coloration modes obtainable: Vivid, Textured, and Zeiss Pure. Vivid is chosen by default, and it produces saturated pictures that look nice. In order for you life-like colours, the Zeiss Pure mode is the one to decide on.
With regards to video, you get 4K60 on all of the cameras on the again, and the Cinematic Portrait mode does an amazing job relating to blurring the background on the go. There’s an Extremely Stabilization mode that minimizes movement when taking pictures handheld, nevertheless it’s restricted to 1080p.
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The X Fold3 Professional is among the many finest on this class at daylight photographs. Resultant pictures have loads of element and dynamic vary, and whereas colours are typically overly saturated, they appear nice. The wide-angle lens is respectable sufficient, nevertheless it simply is not pretty much as good because the X100 Extremely and even the X100 Professional on this regard. It nonetheless measures as much as different foldables, however Vivo ought to have used the identical module because the X100 Professional.
Fortunately, the telephoto lens has no shortcomings. It takes implausible photographs at 3x and 6x, and I acquired usable pictures as much as 10x with none points. Whereas it is nice to have the ability to shoot at 3x and 6x, what I like in regards to the digital camera is its skill to take stellar portrait pictures. Whereas it is not on fairly on the identical degree because the Discover X7 Extremely or the Magic 6 Professional, the X Fold3 Professional does a greater job on this space than every other foldable I used.
The trio of cameras does a standout job even in low-light conditions, and whereas the wide-angle lens has seen noise, the pictures are nonetheless usable. I nonetheless desire the X100 Extremely general, however relating to foldables, the X Fold3 Professional has a definite lead over the Z Fold 6 and Magic V2.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Software program
The X Fold3 Professional runs Funtouch OS 14 based mostly on Android 14 out of the field, and the software program itself is almost equivalent to what you get on the X100 Professional or V30 sequence. Vivo polished the interface within the final 12 months, and the UI feels trendy and chic because of this. There’s loads of customizability, and whereas I just like the interface as an entire, there are a couple of legacy options which might be irksome.
Reminiscence administration is normally on the aggressive aspect, so something operating within the background is normally restricted after an hour or two, and you will have to re-launch it. I did not see any points with notifications, and I like that there is a unified notification pane that additionally contains the fast toggles. Different Chinese language manufacturers are switching to a break up pane, however Vivo fortunately hasn’t adopted go well with — but.
There are a number of foldable-focused options on the gadget that can help you make the most of the tablet-sized panel. The dock sits on the backside of the display and is nice at switching between apps, and you may simply launch split-screen multitasking. The power to have the gadget in a semi-folded state and run two utilities side-by-side is nice, and it’s helpful when taking photographs.
Within the month I used the X Fold3 Professional, Vivo rolled out two software program updates; one was to handle system stability points, and the second was geared toward digital camera tweaks. Vivo basically is doing a significantly better job with software program updates, and my X100 Professional unit has persistently picked up safety patches and digital camera updates over the course of 2024.
The largest situation on this space is that the X Fold3 Professional will obtain simply three years of Android updates and 4 years of safety patches, and that simply is not sufficient for a foldable. Samsung presents greater than double the variety of updates on the Z Fold 6, and most different Chinese language producers at the moment are rolling out no less than 4 Android OS updates and 6 years of safety updates, so Vivo wants to vary its stance.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: The competitors
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 is the 800-pound gorilla on this section, and whereas the model has the overwhelming majority of the market share, the gadget itself is not fairly pretty much as good as different foldables. Vivo’s providing has significantly better battery life and cameras, larger panels that get brighter, and a lighter design. The largest situation is that Vivo would not promote the X Fold3 Professional within the U.S. or most western markets, and because of this, the Z Fold 6 turns into the default alternative.
I am concerned with seeing what Honor does with the Magic V3. The Magic V2 remains to be one in all my favourite foldables of 2024, and the V3 is thinner, lighter, and has higher cameras on the again.
Vivo X Fold3 Professional: Must you purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You desire a foldable that is skinny and lightweight
- You want all of the extras
- You want standout cameras with versatile lenses
- You need the biggest shows on this section
- You want the perfect battery life
You should not purchase this if:
- You need stylus integration
- You want seven years of updates
The X Fold3 Professional showcases what’s potential with foldables; the svelte design means it is not that a lot bigger than an everyday telephone, however you continue to get two usable screens, and the panels are among the many finest on this section. The identical is true of the cameras, they usually handle to take excellent photographs and movies in nearly any scenario. With most different foldables I’ve utilized in 2024, there’s the distinct feeling that the cameras aren’t fairly on par with flagships, however that is not the case right here.
There is not something lacking on the {hardware} entrance both, and the X Fold3 Professional manages to do a standout job throughout prolonged gaming classes. Battery life is one other space the place there are not any issues, with the gadget simply lasting over a day even with heavy use — I am unable to say the identical for every other foldable.
In actual fact, the one level of rivalry is the software program replace assure; with Google and Samsung providing seven years of updates, three years is not sufficient on this class. Vivo has to do higher if it desires to measure up in opposition to Samsung on this regard, as a result of from a {hardware} perspective, the X Fold3 Professional has appreciable upgrades over nearly each foldable obtainable at the moment.
The software program is respectable sufficient in its personal proper, and the one limitation is the replace assure — if Vivo is ready to make amends in that space, the X Fold3 Professional has what it takes to beat the perfect on this section.
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