How exciting is the Vivo Nex 3? Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com lets you know.
The Chinese phonemaker Vivo unveiled the third generation of its flagship series, Vivo Nex 3, in Shanghai, China, on September 16.
Vivo Nex, the first phone in the series, introduced the pop-up camera, which allowed it to use the entire front of the phone as the display with minimum bezels.
In the second version, the Vivo dual screen was impressive but the design was not.
And now, the Vivo Nex 3 takes the game further by making the phone look bezel-less, using its unique waterfall display design.
The waterfall display is different from the curved display used by Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus 7 Pro as the curves are more pronounced, ie the Vivo Nex 3 is curved at 90 degrees.
Take a look at the image below and you'll know what we mean.
Design
The phone hosts a 6.89" Super AMOLED, 2256 × 1080 resolution curved (waterfall) display, with a 99.6 per cent screen-to-body ratio in a 6.59" body.
The display is curved at the left and right edges in such a way that the bezels are not visible; even the top and bottom bezels are very thin.
The back is protected with curved glass fused onto a metal frame.
It sports an in-display fingerprint scanner at the front bottom of the screen.
As the display curves to the edges, there are no physical buttons on the left and right side of the phone; instead, virtual keys are included in the display.
Hardware
This phone is powered by Qualcomm's latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 855 Plus, which is built for gaming. The company claims it is 15 per cent faster than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 855.
The Snapdragon 855 Plus has almost the same specifications, except that it clocks a higher speed of 2.96 GHz.
Right now, in China, the Vivo Nex 3 is available in the 5G and 4G options.
The 5G has two variants -- 12GB RAM + 256GB ROM and 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM -- priced at Yuan 6,198 (approximately Rs 62,745) and Yuan 5,698 (approximately Rs 57,684) respectively.
The 4G variant -- 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM -- is priced at Yuan 4,998 Yuan (approximately Rs 50,597).
Sadly, the phone does not support memory card expansion.
The Vivo Nex 3 has a built-in Near Field Communication chip which allows you to make contactless payments and pair with NFC-enabled Bluetooth devices by touching them to each other.
Camera
The 16MP, F2.09 selfie camera is hidden in the body of the phone; it pops up with the help of an in-built motorised mechanism when triggered via the camera app.
At the rear, there is a 64MP with f/1.8 aperture shooter, with two 13MP cameras as wide+macro with f/2.2 aperture, and a telephoto with f/2.48 aperture.
Sound
I am glad the makers have retained the 3.5mm audio port, which is skipped by most of the flagship phones nowadays.
The audio, which comes through the 3.5mm audio port, is amplified by a dedicated audio Hi-Fi DAC AK4377A.
It has a single bottom firing speaker but having stereo speakers -- as most flagships do now -- would have been a added advantage.
Battery
It has a 4500mAh battery, which can be fast-charged with a 45W charger.
Software
The phone runs on Vivo's Funtouch OS version 9, based on Google Android 9 Pie.
It has a good design but, since it is almost all glass and has a negligible bezel, it looks fragile with no edge protection.
The phone is probably the fastest among the flagship phones available in India as it has the latest SoC.
If you like the glass design, then the 4G would be your best option since 5G is not yet available in India.
The Vivo Nex 3 is expected to release in India on September 21.
- Can you survive without your smartphone for 24 hours? TELL US in the message board below.
