Vivo X Fold 3 Pro review: The durable fold that’s so slim and light it doesn’t look like one

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, just like the OnePlus Open has a large circular camera island. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)

In fact, the hinge seems to be something Vivo has really worked on. It not only allows the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro to shut tight but also ensures there is literally no crease on show when you unfold the screen. Plus, the company claims it can endure 100 folds a day for 12 years thanks to its precision engineering and durability testing. The hinge also allows you to keep the phone in various states of unfold between 60 to 120 degrees offering you new use cases like taking selfies to using the lower part of the screen as a keyboard. To make the phone withstand falls and scratches, the company has also brought it what it calls the Armor architecture on the display as well as the back. And this really makes the phone feel durable.

Watching Netflix offers an almost tablet-like experience. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Also, the front screen is a far cry from when foldables needed to squeeze in a leaner display. Here you have all of 6.53 inches to use, which means you don’t always need to open the phone. But when you do, you again get a very large 8.03-inch screen. The display is both extremely bright and crystal clear, which means you can use it to read a mail under the scorching Delhi sun or go indoors to relax with the latest Netflix movie on the larger screen. The in-display fingerprint scanner is a nice touch as it works on both screens and is something I have never experienced on a foldable phone.

The main 8.03-inch screen is said to be more durable than most foldables. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro offers peak performance and is the first to come with Snapdragon Gen 3. This means the phone is quite capable of handling anything you want it to and does not stutter even for a second, even when you have three tasks running simultaneously on the screen, the third with the new floating window on top of the two split apps on the large display. This is the kind of phone that can open large spreadsheets natively and let you work on them too.

In fact, when it comes to productivity, there is more in this phone. For instance, the AI Creator in Notes lets you create summaries of meetings or any text with clear to-dos, or even format a text you already have. There is also a translation feature which comes in very handy for those always on the move.

The large screen allows for better multi-tasking. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

And if you are always travelling, the one thing you will miss on most foldables is a very good camera. That is one corner most foldable phones have cut for the first few years. With the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, that is not an issue as the Big Eye camera bump at the back announces to the world. The phone comes with a 50MP main camera, a 64MP Zeiss telephoto camera and a 50MP super wide camera.

It is the 70mm telephoto that impressed me the most with its versatility ranging from zoom to macro. The camera offers up to 10x optical zoom after which it offers digital zoom till 100x. The camera can manage decent clarity till about 50x, after which it is more for seeing something far away than actually capturing a photo. The same camera stuns with its macro abilities offering the kind of detail that is hard to manage with most smartphones.

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro macro camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro macro camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Zeiss Architecture mode camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro main sensor camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro 10x camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro 100x camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro 10x camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Vivo X Fold 3 Pro 43x camera sample (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

The regular camera also works well and offers good detail and colour reproduction. However, I felt that in some conditions, like taking a photo of another phone screen, the camera does get a bit confused and the colours go off. The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro offers camera capabilities that cover more than what most users aspire to do.
This phone has the largest battery in a foldable with 5700 mAh of juice split into two cells on different sides of this foldable phone. The phone also supports quick charging with a 100W Flash charger in the box. However, that is a big brick to carry around for a phone this slim.

The phone comes with a lot of software enhancements that let you fully use the extra real estate without struggling with the awkwardness of the large screen. Though it will take time to master all of these new ways to do stuff, some like the ability to split an app by just folding the phone are very natural ways to work. You can also set up the phone as a bedside clock using the always-on display of the front screen and the hovering hinge. Also, the ability to take a screenshot of a split screen where you have multiple apps open is also handy for professionals.

Always-on display on cover display (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

The OS is a little bit buggy in places. For instance, the small window that hovers above a split screen has the tendency to freeze at times and you will struggle to get rid of it. On the Home Screen, pulling up the app tray takes a couple of tries when it is not in the mood. These are all small bugs that can be fixed with an update. Also, there is a good number of apps on the phone that you might want to delete on Day 1.

At the moment, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is clearly among the more evolved foldables out there, finding a place with the OnePlus Open which it resembles in more ways than one. The focus on design and durability makes the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro a very practical foldable phone that one can use without worrying too much about other factors. It is also a more natural fold with the way it works and with the way the software has been created to work on the phone. I recommend this phone for those who are looking for a good business phone that rises up to all their needs.