Vivo Nex Review: This Vivo Phone Will Stun You

Vivo Nex 

Price: Rs 44,990

Rating: ****

An all-screen phone without a notch and minimal bezels has arrived and the brand which brings it is Vivo. The design we all wanted and felt like will occur in future is already here- the Vivo Nex.

Vivo Nex is a true all-screen phone which features a 6.59-inches display with 91.24 percent screen-to-body ratio. The new Vivo mobile offers a revolutionary design with high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, dual rear cameras, in-display fingerprint sensor and Android 8.1 Oreo.

Since the arrival of Apple iPhone X, every smartphone manufacturer has started developing their own versions of all-screen smartphones, in which most of them terribly failed. However, at MWC 2018, Chinese smartphone brand Vivo surprised everyone with their true all-screen handset which they called Vivo Apex. Just a few months later, Vivo is bringing the Apex to the masses by rebranding it as Vivo Nex.

Interestingly, Vivo came up with a very unique design and didn’t mimic Apple’s notch design. Vivo Apex has a very thin chin but doesn’t have a notch but the notch is necessary, where else will the camera be? The answer is a pop-selfie camera which pops out from the top when you are clicking selfies.

In China Vivo launched two models Vivo Nex S and Nex A which are equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 710, respectively. For India, the Chinese brand launched only the Snapdragon 845 model and it is called ‘Vivo Nex’ which is priced at Rs 44,999 in India. At this price, Vivo will compete with other flagship smartphones in India like Samsung Galaxy S9, OnePlus 6, and Google Pixel 2. 

I have used Vivo Nex for over a week now and let’s see how the futuristic device fares.

Design and Display

Vivo Nex is a very premium looking device without any doubt. The front is all display with no bezels just a thin chin at the bottom. The most exceptional feature of this phone is the pop-out selfie camera due to which Vivo has been able to kill the notch. 

The only concern with the elevating camera is its durability. Vivo claims that Nex’s front camera setup can withstand up to 12.5 kg of weight, it can be opened and closed repeatedly up to 50,000 times and more. The longevity of front camera’s durability can only be tested over longer periods and we are not sure what will happen if phone falls with the camera opened?

Another great feature about this phone is the in-display fingerprint sensor which is pretty amazing, we’ll talk about that later. 

The handset’s body is a combination of glass and metal which when viewed from different angles reflects colours of rainbow. Weighing nearly 200 grams, Vivo Nex is a huge phone which is not easy to be used with a single hand. 

I found Vivo Nex slippery but not slippery as OnePlus 6 or Samsung Galaxy S9. Also the handset is a prone to smudges and fingerprints. At the top of phone’s rear sits a dual camera setup with LED flash below it. 

The dual-SIM card tray sits at the bottom of the phone along with USB-Type C port and a loudspeaker.  On the right side are the volume and power buttons, 3.5mm headphone-jack sits at the top. Just like Samsung Galaxy S9’s dedicated Bixby button, Nex has an AI button which activates Google Assistant. The AI button on the left can be also used for other functions too. 

Vivo has also ditched the traditional earpiece and instead uses Screen SoundCasting technology and turns the display into a speaker. The sound quality while making or taking calls with the Vivo Nex was similar to any other phone. 

So, after innovating the earpiece and front camera design, Vivo has achieved ultra-slim bezels.  

Talking about the display, Vivo Nex features a massive 6.59-inches full HD+ (2316x1080) Super AMOLED display with 19.3:9 ratio and 91.24 percent screen-to-body ratio. Overall display quality is good with great viewing angles and colour reproduction. However, 1080p display panel is fine but 1440p display would have added more to its premium feel. 

The only drawback about the display I found is its brightness level, the display is not clearly visible under direct sunlight. In short, Vivo Nex’s display is as good as any user would want it to be.

It measures 162 x 77 x 7.98mm and weighs 199 grams.

Performance

The big display needs bigger battery to provide good backup, Vivo Nex comes with a 4,000mAh battery. If you thought Vivo Nex is all about its design then you need to change your notions about this phone as it is packed with top-notch hardware.

Thenew Vivo mobile has Dual-Engine Quick charge technology which lights up the battery quickly. After 35 minutes of charging, the battery was charged 50 percent and 87 percent after one hour of charging, which is quite amazing. 

Vivo Nex’s battery backup is really good, once the phone is charged to 100 percent, you’ll easily squeeze a day even after heavy usage.  

The Nex is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Octa-core processor coupled with Adreno 630 GPU and 8GB RAM. There is 128GB of internal storage but the storage cannot be expanded. 

The overall performance of Vivo Nex is solid, it handles multitasking, heavy apps very smoothly. Gamers too will be satisfied with the handset’s snappy performance.

On Geekbench, Vivo Nex achieved single-core score of 2,405 and multi-core score of 8,343. AnTuTu gave it a score of 2,88,609. When compared to other flagship smartphones Vivo Nex’s scores were quite impressive. 

Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, and Location. However the handset is not IP rated water or dust resistant and also lacks NFC. 

Interestingly, Vivo came up with a very unique design and didn’t mimic Apple’s notch design but their custom UI FuntouchOS based on Android 8.1 Oreo is still an iOS copy. 

The control center opens when you slides up from the bottom and notifications panel gets open by sliding down from the top.

To give its users feeling of iOS, Vivo also lets you to disable navigation buttons and use gestures for navigation. You have to slide upward from three areas in the bottom of the screen to show the control center, return to standby mode, or return to the previous screen, respectively.

If we overlook the fact of Funtouch being inspired from iOS, Nex’s UI is filled with a huge pool of features. Also, the UI is very smooth and I didn’t observe any stutter.

The handset also comes with a lot of pre-installed apps like Flipkart, WPS Office, NewsPoint, UC Browser, V-Appstore, Amazon Prime Video, WhatsApp, PhonePe and Facebook.

Unlike Oppo Find X, which also features a motorized camera slider mechanism, Vivo Nex doesn’t have face unlock feature, instead you get in-display fingerprint sensor. 

In-display Fingerprint Sensor

Prior to the arrival of this handset, Vivo has already showcased this futuristic tech in Vivo X20 and X21. 

Though it is not fast as other phones in the market which have physical fingerprint sensors but it has improved a lot over previous Vivo phones. At the beginning you’ll face difficulties while setting up a fingerprint and most of the times you will easily unlock the phone but sometimes it won’t just open and you’ll find yourself swiping the pattern to unlock the device. 

Just above the phone’s bottom, there is a logo which guides you to where to place your thumb/finger. The green colour logo is not always active, when its active only then you can place your finger to unlock the phone. 

The fingerprint sensor becomes active when you lift the phone or press power button. 

Camera

Vivo Nex sports a dual camera setup at the rear which includes 12-MP+5-MP sensors with 4-axis OIS, AI scene recognition, EIS, OIS, AI filters and dual LED flash. 

The camera app is full of features like Professional Mode- where you can tweak ISO, Shutter Speed, White Balance, and Aperture. Also, there are AR stickers, Panorama, HDR, Time lapse and slow-motion video. The photo size can also be customized from 4:3 to 1:1, 19.3:9 and 16:9 ratios. 

Vivo Nex’s rear camera does a great job in clicking pictures with ample amount of details. In low-lighting conditions, Vivo Nex works exceptionally well by keeping the noise to minimum. 

For selfies, there is an 8-megapixel retractable camera which pops out from the top in just one second. Though the front camera is the biggest highlight of the phone but to be honest, the photos clicked from the front camera are not as good as it is expected from a premium phone. Also there are unnecessary portrait lighting effects like Natural light, Studio light, Stereo light and Monochrome background which tries to imitate iPhone X’s Portrait lighting effects. 

Conclusion

Without a doubt Vivo Nex is a great phone with a lot of futuristic technologies embedded into it.

The handset features impressive design with pop-out selfie camera, piezoelectric sensor instead of traditional earpiece, in-display fingerprint sensor, top-notch hardware and decent rear cameras. 

All of the tech in this phone is impressive but it all boils down to the fact that is Vivo Nex a handy phone which will drive our daily needs smoothly? Vivo Nex will definitely turn heads around once you pull out of your pocket but in my opinion one should not buy a phone just because it comes with tech which is futuristic.

The phone looks impressive in all aspects but is it really handy? Will it function smoothly over time in daily use? Only time will tell, but it is sure to turn heads around once you take it out, but we all need a phone that doesn’t lag at any point be it unlocking the phone, clicking selfies or even mimicked UIs.

Hats off to Vivo for taking these bold steps by making a product which will provoke other smartphone brands to make bolder calls like this which will shape the smartphone industry. 

Vivo has stepped into the future and might have set a benchmark for other companies to follow which will eventually shape up the smartphone industry.