There is a whiff of the familiar in the new. I’ll get to the specifics of the specifications in a bit, with an important matter to tackle first — where is Vivo’s fourth generation foldable Android phone? As things stand, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is being succeeded by the X Fold 5. And the ‘Pro’ moniker is gone too. Could the numbering scheme be due to how some Asian cultures approach the number 4? Perhaps. However, as for the naming, Vivo insists they’ve put all that you’d expect in a Pro phone, in one without that as part of the name. Has the methodology succeeded?
It may be easier said than done, but Vivo has refined the balance of the X Fold5 for it to be seen delivering value. The job may have been made slightly easier by the pricing chosen by Samsung for the Galaxy Z Fold7 that starts ₹1,74,999 (that’s around ₹10,000 generational inflation). Vivo has one variant on sale here, that is 16GB memory and 512GB storage, with a price tag of ₹149,999 before some offers can be leveraged. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, from around this time last year, currently retails on Flipkart for around ₹1,29,999 while a now couple of generations ageing OnePlus Open is still holding value around around ₹1,49,000 in today’s prices.
There is definitive refinement in terms of the design and in-hand feel. Generationally, the Vivo X Fold5 is lighter (217 grams instead of 236 grams) and thinner (4.3mm unfolded and 9.2mm folded, as against 5.2mm and 11.2mm). Those grams and millimetres shaved off may not seem much on paper, but as someone who’s used both generations of Vivo’s foldable extensively, I can say with certainty that ergonomics, pocket-ability, and overall usability have registered a significant uptick. Unlike Samsung, which had to tweak things to make the cover display wider and therefore more usable, Vivo had the luxury of getting it right the last time of asking. Therefore, the 8.03-inch foldable screen and the 6.53-inch cover display, continue.
{{/usCountry}}There is definitive refinement in terms of the design and in-hand feel. Generationally, the Vivo X Fold5 is lighter (217 grams instead of 236 grams) and thinner (4.3mm unfolded and 9.2mm folded, as against 5.2mm and 11.2mm). Those grams and millimetres shaved off may not seem much on paper, but as someone who’s used both generations of Vivo’s foldable extensively, I can say with certainty that ergonomics, pocket-ability, and overall usability have registered a significant uptick. Unlike Samsung, which had to tweak things to make the cover display wider and therefore more usable, Vivo had the luxury of getting it right the last time of asking. Therefore, the 8.03-inch foldable screen and the 6.53-inch cover display, continue.
{{/usCountry}}It is, despite their arguments of trying to continue with what didn’t need changing, perplexing that Vivo has chosen to continue with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Undoubtedly, performance isn’t a problem but the more discerning buyer may frown. The current Qualcomm flagship chip is the Snapdragon 8 Elite, furthermore as a customised version, which is also what is doing duties in the Galaxy Z Fold7. The lower price tag, between the two, may help persuade those who are still on the fence about this. Just between us, Vivo may have a point here — by continuing with the chip from the previous generation, they were likely able to open some margins to allow for this pricing, whilst improving longevity with architectural tweaks for the hinge and layered water as well as dust resistance.
On the software front, there is a significant new addition, called Origin Workbench. When enabled, it allows you to share the same screen space between 5 apps. And the four apps that are in the sort of tiled thumbnail mode, retail the live and visible refresh. Utility is subjective, but this is definitively good use of the large foldable display. One could complain about Funtouch OS 15 lacking that necessary sophistication that premium phone users would want — those V-Appstore notifications enabled by default and pinging all day, don’t help the case. Visually too, there are very few cues that would set this software apart from Vivo’s other phones. Except, a certain clean-up of preloaded third-party apps. But more needs to be done.
One aspect where more doesn’t need to be done at all, is with the party piece, the Zeiss cameras. A 50-megapixel troika at the back, made of a main wide camera, a telephoto and an ultra-wide. Undoubtedly flagship-grade with Zeiss image optimisations again proving to be worth an unsubstantiated value — colours, dynamic range and the overall tonality puts this at the very top step of flagship photography experiences. Leica with Xiaomi isn’t relevant in the foldable space thus far, and OnePlus’ partnership with Hasselblad hasn’t been refreshed since the first generation Open. Everything is helped by a further optimised layer of AI in the image processing pipeline, which will be particularly helpful with telephoto scenarios as well as street photography that may often have moving subjects.
The Vivo X Fold5 is the definitive foldable photography experience, ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold7 and the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which are level pegging.
It is inevitable that comparisons will be made, between the Vivo X Fold5 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7, irrespective of what the starting point for that discussion is. The two latest foldables will be weighed against each other, by most potential buyers, before they part with the cash. There are strong points that Vivo has weaved into the X Fold5’s proposition — improved design, more robust displays as well as build, the Zeiss cameras and a large 6,000mAh battery (long stamina, but standby consumption optimisations still need some work). However, Samsung too has done a lot to improve the latest generation of the Galaxy Z Fold7 in just the right aspects, and the choice isn’t easy. But isn’t that a good thing?