Vivo Nex Review: A high-end smartphone of the future | technology

Product: Vivo Nex
Starting price: Rs 44,990
Main features: Snapdragon 845 SoC, battery 4,000mAh, Full HD screen of 6.59 inches
Rating: 4/5

Fans are divided on the implementation of the notch on modern phones. Some like it and others do not. Well, the notch, a cutout on the top of the screen, is no longer a compromise if you want a phone with larger screens and do not want the overall form factor to be like a tablet. But is the notch the only way to have a full screen phone? The answer is no. And the good example for this Vivo Nex.

Vivo Nex comes with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 91.24% with absolutely minimal glasses (at least on the top bar). So where do the camera modules, the speakers and other sensors go? Vivo implements a unique camera module that sits at the top of the phone and can be invoked whenever you take a selfie or need it for video calls. It works and looks really cool. A bit of gadget, but it's okay.

And as for the sound, Vivo has included a sound broadcasting technology on the screen to transmit sound from the screen. This basically means that the display acts as a speaker and a listener. To further amplify the sound, Vivo Nex comes with Hi-Fi with System in Package (SIP). It has a single chip to house a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and matrix with up to three operational amplifiers.

Vivo Nex does not have a dedicated fingerprint button on the back or front. has also been integrated into the screen.

Just from the point of view of innovation, it is quite unique and looking to the future, since Apple and Samsung have been announced to include this feature in their flagship phones.

Priced at Rs 44,990, Vivo Nex does not really cross threshold of being a super-expensive smartphone at launch. In fact, the premium version of OnePlus 6 (Avengers Edition) comes to Rs 44,999.

The combination of these futuristic technologies and a price advantage make Vivo Nex a perfect phone?

Let 's talk about good things first. Vivo Nex, supported by the Snapdragon 845 processor and 8GB of RAM, easily handles most basic tasks. We pushed the limits by launching demanding graphic games like Marvel: Clash of Champions, Real Racing 3 and of course PUBG Mobile. The phone did not disappoint at all with its performance.

To add to the gaming experience or streaming media, the FHD + Super AMOLED display of 6.59 inches 2316×1080 FHD + edge-to-edge. The colors are vibrant and watching any high resolution video is pretty cool on the device. Other items such as call quality and battery life are pretty satisfying.

The highlight of the phone however remains the self-powered camera. The camera emits a mechanical sound (digital sound on the phone and can be customized) whenever it is invoked. This is a kind of attention that is worth showing to your friends and family.

We talked at length about camera performance in our review dedicated to the photographic experiment with Vivo Nex. Just a quick recap. The phone with a dual camera configuration of 12 megapixels and 5 megapixels takes pictures of fairly decent quality in good light conditions. Although not very consistent, the camera is pretty good. Low light pictures are also correct for its price. Do not expect it to live up to the flagship products like Google Pixel 2 XL and Samsung Galaxy S9 +. ALSO READ: Vivo Nex Camera Review

Vivo deployed a firmware update for Vivo Nex users to improve camera performance. We did not notice any significant improvement after the update.

Let's talk about the areas where Vivo Nex is lagging behind. The first on the list is Funtouch OS 4.0 (based on Android Oreo 8.1). The experience of the user interface is disappointing after using OnePlus 6 for a long time.

For example, in the default use, there is no search bar to find applications. With the device loaded with a number of applications, it becomes a bit boring to find the application you want to use. On OnePlus 6, OxygenOS will provide your recent applications or allow you to search for the application you are looking for. Although this is a small problem, but is very important in cases of daily use. The workaround is that you can download a third-party launcher. We recommend Nova which is quite fluid.

We also had trouble registering our fingerprint reader on the screen. After several attempts, we simply abandoned it, resorting to unlocking based on the access code. But it seems that the fault is with our unit because other critics have not reported similar problems.

Verdict
Vivo should be commended for bringing a phone, which could have stayed in concept for a long time, to users and try to democratize future features like casting screen or a motorized selfie camera.

The performance, with the exception of the buggy interface, is rather satisfactory. Compared to the basic models of OnePlus 6, Vivo Nex seems cheap, but given the unique appearance and special features, it is worth giving a shot. The phone will certainly appeal to people looking for a different device that looks good and does not compromise performance.