vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: The new Foldable King is here!

For years, the foldable industry has primarily been dominated by one company, Samsung. So, when vivo announced its latest foray into the space with the X Fold 3 Pro, we were pretty excited due to the company’s claims that the device was India’s thinnest and lightest foldable smartphone. Now, after testing the smartphone for a week, the question remains: has vivo just dethroned Samsung to become the foldable king? We believe it has. Stick around and find out in our review of the vivo X Fold 3 Pro.

vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Design & Hardware

Unlike Samsung, the X Fold 3 Pro’s unboxing experience is as premium as it gets. You get a big box containing the phone, a 120W fast charger, and a soft-touch case. We received the black variant of the X Fold 3 Pro, and while I’d have loved to see the white one coming to India, the black screams premium and is super sleek. vivo has opted for a matte back panel protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

The best part about the X Fold 3 Pro is its in-hand feel. To better understand it, we need to compare it to other foldables on the market. For a long time, folding smartphones, while offering users the functionality of a bigger display, have compromised on the in-hand feel, considering they have the thickness of two conventional smartphones. However, vivo has solved this issue with the X Fold 3 Pro. In the folded state, the device is only 11.3 mm thick. Combined with its 236g weight, the X Fold 3 Pro is the most comfortable folding phone on the market.

Moving over to the component that makes it all possible, the hinge, vivo claims to have redesigned the structure from its last foldable and incorporated 79 carbon fiber parts to improve flexibility and durability. In our testing, which involved using the phone without a case and a few accidental drops, we encountered no issues with the hinge. Although it doesn’t hold the screen at every angle like Samsung, it’s still solid and makes using the foldable a breeze. However, it is important to note that since we have only tested the device for a few weeks, we cannot yet comment on its long-term durability.

vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Display

Starting with the specs, the vivo X Fold 3 Pro’s outer display is a 2748 x 1172 6.53-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED unit, while the inner display is an 8.03-inch 2480 x 2200 120Hz LTPO AMOLED unit. Additionally, the device supports HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos certifications, allowing users to enjoy their favorite content in the best quality possible with HDR support. Both displays feature a local peak brightness of 4500 nits.

In terms of quality, we had no complaints; both displays were equally bright and vibrant. Moreover, vivo has done an excellent job of minimizing the visibility of the crease. However, one minor complaint about the display is the aspect ratio. Since the X Fold 3 Pro is narrow, using the outer display feels cramped, and the inner display becomes quite tall. Nevertheless, the quality of both displays is excellent.

Similar to the hinge, we cannot comment on the inner screen’s long-term durability. However, considering that the inner display is so soft, we did notice some scuffs caused by fingernails. It is also important to note that, like Samsung, the X Fold 3 Pro comes with a pre-installed screen protector, which the company recommends users not remove.

We also contacted vivo regarding screen replacement policies, and the company confirmed that they offer a free 6-month screen replacement in case of any damage.

Fingerprint scanner

Unlike other foldable on the market, vivo has taken an unconventional route by incorporating two in-display fingerprint scanners on the outer and inner displays. Regarding performance, the scanners effectively unlocked the phone in various conditions. However, considering that the scanner is on the right side of the inner display, left-handed users might need some time to get used to it.

vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Performance

The vivo X Fold 3 Pro is equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, featuring one X4 core for the most demanding tasks, four high-performance cores, four efficiency cores, and the Adreno 750 GPU. In addition, the device comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 internal storage.

In terms of raw performance, the phone is a powerhouse, handling everything we throw at it. Starting with everyday usage, the vivo X Fold 3 Pro breezes through the UI without lags or stutters. The company has also done an amazing job with animations, making the phone’s experience simply amazing.

Coming to synthetic benchmarks, we were concerned about the X Fold 3 Pro’s slim profile, which is only 5.2mm thick in the unfolded state. However, we were pleasantly surprised. In Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests, the device scored 2,139 and 6,291, respectively. Additionally, in the AnTuTu benchmark, the phone outperformed other smartphones with the same chip, scoring 1997040 points. Finally, in the 30-minute, 30-thread stress test, the X Fold 3 Pro throttled to 90% of its peak performance, indicating that vivo’s cooling system is adequate.

When it comes to gaming, the X Fold 3 Pro excels. Coupled with the large inner display and high-end specs, the phone’s gaming experience is unmatched. We tested the device on games like CODM and BGMI, and it held its ground, delivering excellent results even at maximum settings. While we noticed the device warming up during long gaming sessions, it was nothing unusual.

vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Cameras

When vivo announced the X Fold 3 Pro, it made some bold claims regarding the camera system, and fortunately, most of these statements hold true. The vivo X Fold 3 Pro features a triple camera setup on the back, comprising a 50MP VCS primary camera sensor, a 64MP telephoto lens capable of 3x optical and 10x digital zoom, and a 50MP UltraWide lens. Additionally, the device includes two 32MP selfie shooters (one on the cover display and one on the inner display).

While we generally expect folding smartphones to lag in camera performance due to size constraints, the X Fold 3 Pro has exceptionally circumvented this limitation and delivered a fantastic photography experience. The daylight performance was top-notch, with well-lit, sharp, and vibrant photos showcasing great HDR performance.

However, the X Fold 3 Pro truly shines in portrait shots. The photos were fantastic, thanks to the great sensor and Zeiss portrait modes. These modes allow users to tweak the focal length and depth of field to create the desired look. Moreover, the device maintained its performance during nighttime, making it one of the best phones for portraits.

Nighttime photos

Considering the quality of the portraits, we had high expectations for the nighttime performance, and it did not disappoint. The resulting shots had great lighting, detail, and minimal noise. The device lit up the subjects quite well in indoor lighting scenarios with no issues. Although the quality did deteriorate a bit when we switched lenses, it was nothing unexpected.

Zoom and UltraWide shots

The X Fold 3 Pro’s zoom shots performed adequately; you can comfortably zoom in up to 10x and still get great results. Moreover, we noticed no significant color discrepancy between the primary and zoom sensors.

Furthermore, we had no complaints about the UltraWide lens. The sensor and vivo’s custom processing handled almost every challenging scenario and produced some of the best results. Additionally, the UltraWide camera doubles as a macro lens, allowing users to capture close-up subjects.

Selfies and Videos

The selfies from the inner and outer display cameras were good, with adequate details and HDR. However, the best part about having a foldable is using the primary camera as the selfie shooter. This results in the best selfie photos we have seen to date.

Finally, regarding video, the vivo X Fold 3 Pro’s clips were amazing, with great details, sharpness, vibrance, and good stabilization. However, it is important to note that the quality deteriorated at night.

vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review: Software

The software on folding phones makes or breaks the experience, and thankfully, vivo has done an excellent job in this department. Before we get ahead, the X Fold 3 Pro comes with Android 14 out of the box, with FunTouch OS 14 running on top. However, vivo has only promised three years of software updates.

While the software updates are limited, the experience of using the X Fold 3 Pro is not. The company has bundled a slew of multitasking features, my favorite being the “flex for split-screen” feature, which allows users to enter split-screen mode by flexing their display once. Moreover, the device also intelligently optimizes apps like Instagram to scale to the display size and show more content, thus making the experience even better.

However, since vivo is still a relatively new player in the folding market, the UI could be improved a bit. For example, sometimes apps don’t scale properly when switching from the cover to the main display. Additionally, the lock screen sometimes displays a second selfie camera cutout on the main display. Nevertheless, most of these are minor issues, and we have communicated them to the vivo team, who are working on fixing them.

Is the vivo X Fold 3 Pro worth it?

Starting at Rs. 1,59,999, the vivo X Fold 3 Pro has unquestionably set a new standard in the folding space with its amazing cameras, sleekness, and display. Therefore, if you are shopping in this segment, check out the vivo X Fold 3 Pro.