Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Review

Verdict

With excellent cameras, speedy performance, large bright displays, great battery life and a slim design, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is one of the finest large-screen foldables money can buy. Unfortunately, a limited global rollout might make getting your hands on one quite tricky.

Introduction

Vivo has been on a bit of a roll lately, especially if you’re into mobile photography.

We started the year with the Vivo X100 Pro, which still stands as one of the best camera phones on the market. Then there’s the Vivo V30 Pro, which brings the brand’s Zeiss partnership to the mid-range market and takes some of the best selfies around. But what if you want a folding phone?

The X Fold 3 Pro is Vivo’s take on an ultra-high-end big-screen folding phone, and while it may be the brand’s third iteration, it’s the first one to launch outside of China. This phone might just be the most well-equipped folding phone on the market today. It has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, two massive bright displays, a relatively slim and light design and, of course, top-notch cameras.

However, while the phone has been launched “globally”, the global rollout seems to be confined to India – at least for now. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a wider release, but in the meantime, I wanted to know if it’s worth the hassle of importing. After inserting my SIM and living with it for a few weeks, here’s what I think.

Editor’s Note: We’ll be withholding our final star rating until a time if/when the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro becomes more widely available in the UK, US or Europe as local pricing is crucial to our scoring system.

Design 

• 160 x 72.6 x 11.2mm, 236g
• Glass fibre back, carbon-fibre hinge
• IPX8 water resistance

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has pretty typical smartphone dimensions when it’s folded, which makes using the cover display feel much more natural than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and its predecessors.

It’s very slim for a folding phone, too. It can’t quite match the svelte dimensions of the Honor Magic V2, but it’s not far off. However, that’s only if you ignore the huge camera bump. It’s a very substantial unit, almost matching the bulk of the X100 Pro’s gargantuan snappers.

It might make the phone feel bulkier, but it’s a compromise I’m happy to live with, as big camera bumps mean big sensors, and I have a feeling we’ve got a lot to look forward to in the camera department.

As I’ve found with other phones with large circular camera units, the bezel creates a nice shelf for your forefinger and makes the phone a little easier to grip. It’s definitely a downside when it comes to flex mode, though, as you either end up with a very top-heavy phone or an unstable surface that rocks when you touch it.

The global version is only available in a single colour, Celestial Black. It has a velvety-feeling matte finish, with a matching black aluminium frame and a subtle bronze trim around the camera. 

Unlike some other matte devices, the glass back does a great job of rejecting fingerprints. However, it’s pretty slippery, so you’ll probably want to keep it in the included case to ensure it’s well-protected.

The case is made from a transparent rigid plastic material with a smoked finish and a soft-touch vegan leather patch on the rear. It looks and feels quite nice, but it only covers the rear half of the phone. I would have loved to see a flap that covers the hinge like the Porsche Design case that comes with the Honor Magic V2 RSR, as that feels much more protective. I’m sure there are third-party options with this feature, though.

Foldable phones are never going to be as durable as their candybar counterparts, but Vivo has put some effort into making the X Fold 3 Pro as rugged as possible. It’s IPX8 rated, which means you should avoid dust, but it’s effectively waterproof. The hinge is also rated to withstand 100 folds a day for 12 years straight.

Screen 

• 8.03-inch foldable 120Hz OLED
• 6.53-inch 120Hz OLED cover display
• 4500 nits peak brightness

When you’re buying a big-screen foldable, the displays are one of the most important aspects, and thankfully, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro does not disappoint. The inner folding display is one of the largest on the market, measuring over 8 inches diagonally, and it has some of the slimmest bezels around, too.

I really like this display size, as it’s large enough to make full-screen 16:9 content look noticeably larger, but it’s not so big that it becomes unwieldy. It’s an OLED panel with a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, a 2480×2200 resolution, and it can output up to 4500 nits at peak brightness. 

There’s still a crease, but it’s very shallow, and held side by side with the Magic V2 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, this phone looks much better. When viewed head-on, you can barely see it at all, and you’ll barely notice it when swiping on the touchscreen.

 As usual, the FTG protective layer over the glass is a little more fingerprint-prone than regular glass, but it’s not too bad. It never bothered me indoors but in bright sunlight, I found myself having to give the display a wipe down almost every time I used it. On the plus side, it’s so bright that you’ll never have trouble seeing it.

On the outside, you get a 6.53-inch 2748×1172 display that also boasts an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and 4500 nits peak brightness. It’s slightly narrower than most non-folding phones, with a 21:9 ratio, but it feels very natural to use, and there’s plenty of space for typing.

Both displays look fantastic, with vibrant colours, inky dark blacks, and dazzling highlights. They’re so bright that you’ll never have trouble seeing them, even on the brightest of days.

There’s a punch-hole selfie camera on each screen, it’s centrally placed on the outer screen, while the folding display has the selfie camera tucked in the corner. I think this is a great solution, as it means the selfie camera is well out of the way when you’re watching full-screen content, but you don’t have to compromise on camera quality.

There’s also an under-display ultrasonic fingerprint reader on both screens, rather than the usual side-mounted fingerprint reader. It’s luxurious, and maybe slightly unnecessary, but it unlocks quickly and you don’t ever have to worry about phantom unlocks when you pull the phone out of your pocket.

Cameras 

• 50MP f/1.7 main camera (1/1.3-inch sensor)
• 50MP f/2.0 ultrawide
• 64MP f/2.6 3x telephoto (1/2-inch)
• Dual 32MP f/2.4 selfie cameras

With a triple camera array on the rear and two selfie cameras, there are a lot of lenses on this phone. They also boast some of the largest sensors and highest megapixel counts of any foldable, with only the OnePlus Open coming close.

As usual, the main sensor is the largest and produces the best images in low-light conditions, but the telephoto is just as impressive in daylight. Both are capable of creating some authentic bokeh when you get close-up, without the need to activate portrait mode. 

The ultrawide is very good, but it’s the least impressive of the rear trio, and it lacks some sharpness compared to the other lenses. That said, it’s a very useful focal length for landscapes and group shots, and it pulls double duty as a macro camera for extreme close-up shots.

Both selfie cameras share the same specifications, you get an ample 32MP resolution and a fairly wide f/2.4 aperture. The selfie cameras are decent but unremarkable. The results are best in the daylight and you’ll often see motion blur in night shots.

You do, however, benefit from Vivo’s excellent image processing. Portrait mode shots look excellent, especially using the Vintage filter, and subject cutouts are very reliable. Since this is a folding phone, you can always use the rear cameras for selfie shots, and the results look superb when you do.

For video shooting, the Vivo X Fold 3 can capture at up to 8K@30fps on the primary camera or up to 4K@60fps on the other rear cameras. Meanwhile, the selfie cameras max out at just 1080p@30fps. Videos look great, with excellent stabilisation that can be boosted using Ultra Steady mode. Audio capture is decent, but wind noise can cause issues from time to time.

Performance 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• 16GB RAM, 512GB storage
• Dual stereo speakers

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro runs on Qualcomm’s top-performing chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the global version is paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. With a spec sheet like this, I expected top-notch performance, and the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro does not disappoint.

In day-to-day use, the phone feels snappy and responsive, and switching between the cover and main display is seamless and lag-free. Even with two apps open side by side and YouTube video streaming in a pop-out window, you’ll struggle to slow this phone down.

This performance extends to gaming, too. The 8 Gen 3 allows you to max out the settings on almost any game you can find, and you’ll enjoy a smooth stutter-free experience. I played many hours of Zenless Zone Zero at maximum settings, and it ran perfectly on the large main display.

It does heat up a fair bit during extended sessions, but it never became uncomfortable to hold. The battery life certainly takes a hit when you’ve got the graphics settings turned all the way up, though.

There’s a built-in game overlay called Ultra Game Mode and it allows you to select between Battery-saver, Balanced and Boost modes depending on the level of performance you need. There are also options to block notifications, force certain aspect ratios and see your messages in pop-out windows. It’s not the most advanced overlay, but it’s definitely useful.

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has dual stereo speakers positioned on either side of the internal display when held in landscape mode, and they create a nice stereo effect. These speakers are seriously impressive; they’re loud, have plenty of clarity and pump out more bass than you’ll find on most phones. 

Software 

• Funtouch OS 14 based on Android 14
• Good multi-tasking support
• Minimal bloatware

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro runs Funtouch OS 14, a skinned version of Android 14. It’s the same software that we’ve seen on other recent Vivo global releases, only on this model, some optimisations have been made for the large format display.

When you open the main display, your apps are in the same location but you can see two pages at once. You also get a persistent home row that gives you quick access to your standard home row as well as your three most recent apps. A quick flick of the hinge lets you open two apps side-by-side and there’s also support for resizable floating windows.

This is the first Vivo foldable that I have tested, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on the software front, but I’m impressed. The multitasking is intuitive and comprehensive enough for everything I wanted to do. There’s no stylus support, though, so if you like to doodle, this probably isn’t the foldable for you.

As standard, Funtouch isn’t my favourite-looking skin, but it’s very customisable, so it’s easy to get it looking the way you prefer. I like the fact that it doesn’t stray too far from stock Android, too; it’s very easy to adapt to.

I was pleased to see that there’s barely any bloatware, too. There are plenty of first-party Vivo apps, but most can be uninstalled, and there are only a couple of random extra apps. Of course, no random apps would be ideal, but compared to a lot of the competition, it’s a good showing.

Battery life 

• 5700mAh semi-solid state battery
• 100W wired charging
• 50W wireless charging

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro somehow squeezes a massive 5700mAh battery pack into its slim chassis, and as you’d expect, this results in excellent battery life.

The phone never failed to see me through the day, even with hours of gaming and watching videos on the large internal display. It’s definitely not a two-day machine, but a day and a half is easily achievable.

That said, this phone charges so quickly that battery life isn’t a major concern. It supports up to 100W charging with a wire, and there’s a 120W wall adapter included in the box. It usually takes just over half an hour to go from completely flat to fully charged.

It also supports wireless charging at up to 50W, doubling the wired charging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. However, if you want to achieve such speeds, you’ll need Vivo’s official wireless charger, otherwise, it’ll default to more typical wireless charging speeds.

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