The vivo X Fold + is this week’s biggest release (figuratively and literally) with its 8-inch foldable screen, new chipset, and larger battery. Does it have what it takes to get you to reach your wallet?
The important factor for many will likely be availability – vivo has not yet confirmed whether the X Fold + will be offered in markets outside of China. The original X Fold from before has never made its world tour, so we’ll just have to wait and see if the Plus model solves the problem.
vivo X Fold +
We can also set prices: vivo X Fold + starts at CNY 9,999, which is around $ 1,400 / € 1,440 / INR 114,500 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while the 512GB storage model is CNY. 10.999. This puts it in line with the likes of Galaxy Z Fold4, Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, and Oppo Find N.
The big upgrade with the X Fold + is undeniably the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset which is expected to deliver 10% better performance than the SD 8 Gen 1 while also drawing 30% less power than before, bringing the phone in. line with the latest Samsung and Xiaomi foldable on the market.
The other noteworthy upgrade is the battery department where the X Fold + offers a 4,730mAh cell, which is rated for nearly 2 hours longer of video playback than the X Fold and its 4,600mAh battery pack. Charging is the best you can get on a foldable right now with 80W wired and up to 50W wirelessly if you have the proprietary vivo wireless charger lying around.
The display remains an excellent Samsung AMOLED LTPO E5 with 2K + resolution (1916 x 2160 pixels) and 120Hz refresh rate. You get a square format of 4: 3.55, which means some apps like Instagram will continue to look weird. The panel features an improved anti-reflective coating and is HDR 10+ certified.
Display with 6.5-inch cover and 8-inch foldable display
One of the main advantages of the vivo over something like the Galaxy Z Fold4 is its coverage display which offers a more traditional 21: 9 aspect ratio. This should make it more usable in those moments when you don’t want to open the big screen.
The cameras are also impressive: you get an adequate 50 MP wide, 48 MP ultrawide and two telephoto modules: a 12 MP camera with a 47 mm lens for 2x portraits and an 8 MP periscope camera with 5x magnification (60x digital zoom) and OIS. This is the same setup used on the original X Fold and is far more versatile than any other folding out there.
Speaking of size, the X Fold + is still a brick of a phone weighing 311 grams. It is much heavier than the Mix Fold 2 (262 grams) and Z Fold4 (263 grams) and pretty much any other phone on the market. It is also physically larger than both devices at 162 x 144.9 x 6.3mm in the open state. However, there is no degree of official entry protection, which is a shame.
The software side brings vivo’s Origin OS Ocean above the regular Android 12 and not the 12L version optimized for foldables and tablets. There are some nice additions like the mode that lets you lay the device on a surface in its half-open state during video calls or while watching movies, although that’s pretty much everything. Samsung is still the software leader on foldable phones and we don’t expect it to change in the coming months.
The X Fold + is also available in an eye-catching new Huaxia Red color, which was not offered on the standard vivo X Fold. With the case for and against the X Fold +, let’s take a look at the competition.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 is probably the big foldable screen to beat right now. It boasts the finest software experience, has the latest Qualcomm chipset, and is IPX8 water resistant, something no other foldable other than the Z Flip4 can boast of. The Z Fold4 also boasts stylus support, a decent-sized battery, and other features like Samsung DeX.
Sure, the cameras are still not at the level of the high-end flagship phones, but they match those of the S22 and S22 + which are very reliable. However, charging is still limited to just 25W, which is far behind the rest of the industry at this point.
There is Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2 which offers a similarly sized 8-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen and a Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 chipset along with a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging. The camera department is everything. compared with a 50MP main cam, a 13MP ultrawide and an 8MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom.
Xiaomi’s foldable is also one of the most stylish devices of this type on the market with a thickness of only 5.4mm and is built like a tank. It is only available in China, and we found in our review that its GPU overheated. The video recording capabilities here are far from impressive.
Finally, we have another foldout exclusive to China: the Huawei Mate Xs 2. This is the most expensive phone on the list at CNY 14,000 (€ 2,000). Brings the less used outward fold design that wraps the screen around the device. The upside here is that there isn’t any crease which is quite attractive, but the downside is that the device is more susceptible to damage with its wrapped screen.
The Mate Xs 2’s cameras offer exceptional quality both day and night. The Mate Xs 2 runs on the older generation Snapdragon 888 (4G), has rather disappointing battery life and no IP ratings along with the usual software limitations that come with Huawei devices.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 • Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 • Huawei Mate Xs 2
So what do you think of the vivo X Fold +? Would you be willing to try it if it is available in your corner of the world or do you prefer the leaflets offered by Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and Oppo? Cast your vote below and chat in the comments section.
You can also cast your vote here if you are having trouble with the widget above.
Start a new Thread