The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Is My New Phone, Tablet, and Camera – All in One

I vividly remember Steve Jobs taking the stage on 29 June 2007 to announce Apple’s latest hardware developments. Addressing a massive crowd with media and fans, he said: “Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products — an iPod, a mobile phone, and an internet communications device. These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we’re calling it iPhone.” The rest, as we all know, is history.

I was nine at that time. And while I didn’t understand too much tech, I was blown away by the prospect of a multipurpose tool in my pocket. Fast forward to 2024, a smartphone is as ubiquitous as it can get. I’ve used hundreds of them over the past six years, and most of them have been fantastic. But, I’ve seldom used a phone that has wowed me with the same level of versatility as the first iPhone. Enter — the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro.

Over the past month or so, the X Fold 3 Pro has been my phone, media consumption tablet, and a replacement for my DSLR — all while fitting into my trouser pockets. And it has changed the way I use tech. Let’s unfold the nitty-gritty and tell you why the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is one of the most well-rounded phones in recent times.

A Huge Canvas When Unfolded

The highlight of the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is undoubtedly the large inner screen. Since it’s a folding phone, it opens up to a massive 8-inch display that’s even bigger than some tablets out there. If I told you a few years back that a large display like this could literally fold in half and be carried wherever you went, you would laugh at me. But, I’m so glad this is now a reality. And that’s primarily because it’s such a treat to use the X Fold 3 Pro’s inner display.

Unlike Samsung’s implementation where the display crease is evidently visible, Vivo’s screen technology is far superior. The crease is almost invisible, making an appearance only when light hits it at certain angles.

Moreover, running your hands through the center of the screen isn’t bumpy either since the crease is much shallower.

So Much More Real Estate

One would think the large screen makes for an excellent media consumption device for watching your favorite shows and movies. While that’s true, I found the best use for the real estate on the X Fold 3 Pro to read articles or books and run multiple windows side by side.

Don’t get me wrong, the large screen faired me perfectly well when watching Catch Me If You Can on a flight, or the second season of Kota Factory in HDR. Even with harsh sunlight peeking in via the plane window, the X Fold 3 Pro’s display was plenty bright to not cause an issue.

But, due to the unconventional aspect ratio of the display, you will experience massive letterboxing when viewing any sort of content that’s shot in 16:9 or 21:9. It almost feels like wasted space since the eventual size of the video becomes more or less similar to any modern-day candybar phone with an aspect ratio close to 2:1.

When reading text, though, the article or book occupies the entire screen so you’re getting a lot more content in one page than you would usually. This is a big plus for avid readers.

Multitask With Ease

Another good way to use up all the space on the screen is to run multiple apps simultaneously. When running two apps in split-screen, it’s almost like two smartphones kept side-by-side. I primarily use this mode when researching topics for articles. I can read on one side and make notes on the other without switching back and forth.

This actually saves a lot more time than you can imagine. Another good use case is if you’re watching a video and texting someone at the same time. You don’t have to pause the video every time you want to reply to a message. Just open the chat on one half and keep talking while you watch the video.

Bridging the Gap Between a Phone and a Computer

It’s an absolute pleasure using the large screen on the X Fold 3 Pro. It’s like a mini tablet that fills the void of a laptop when you’re out and about and want to do something serious. As a matter of fact, my iPad usage has significantly reduced after I shifted to the X Fold 3 Pro. Since my phone fulfills all the large-screen needs, I’m not tempted to reach out to my iPad as often.

I also appreciate the fact that Vivo has added an in-display fingerprint reader for the inner display too, making it easier to unlock the phone.

If there’s one gripe I have with the inner screen, it’s the fact that it’s plastic. As a result, it picks up a ton of smudges which hampers the content viewing experience. A quick wipe with a microfiber cloth is all it needs, but I certainly wish it was made of glass.

That’s more of a technological limitation at this point, though, than Vivo’s fault. Additionally, some sort of stylus support like Samsung’s Z Fold series would’ve been a cherry on top.

Like Any Other Phone When Folded

Technically, folding phones aren’t new. Samsung’s first Galaxy Fold came out five years ago. And there have been several iterations of it with multiple brands also jumping onto the bandwagon with their own versions. But, why I like the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro the best is because it doesn’t feel like a folding phone — at least when it’s folded. Let me explain.

Without getting into specifics like dimensions and thickness in millimeters (because I’ve never cared about numbers), the X Fold 3 Pro feels substantially thinner compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 or even the OnePlus Open.

In fact, not only is it slimmer but it also feels much lighter than other foldables. What impressed me the most is that after two days of use, the X Fold 3 Pro felt like any other candybar phone when using it closed.

I’ve used several folding phones in the past — mostly from Samsung — and they’ve all felt like a brick and a half when held in hand or stored in my pockets.

The X Fold 3 Pro is a massive departure from that feeling. I clearly remember the Z Fold 5 pulling my shorts down when I kept it in my pocket. No such embarrassing moments, thankfully, with the X Fold 3 Pro.

An Engineering Marvel

Honestly, the build and design of the X Fold 3 Pro is nothing short of an engineering marvel. It’s comfortable to hold and use for long hours, even when folded, which isn’t too common in the foldable world. The bezels are also uniform and the hinge doesn’t protrude out like Samsung’s. These fine details are what make the experience so much more worthwhile.

To Vivo’s credit, the X Fold 3 Pro is also IPX8-rated so it can certainly take a splash or two. Moreover, the build just screams premium and has a sense of reassurance when you hold the phone. I can’t explain this in words but the best way to put it is it doesn’t feel fragile at all. I think we’ve reached a point with foldables where fragility shouldn’t be a factor that influences your buying decision.

That said, the inner display does have the tendency to pick up scratches since it’s plastic but after a month’s use, I cannot spot any with my naked eye. Another point worth noting is that despite having an extremely slim build, Vivo has crammed in extra perks like an IR blaster and a good haptic motor.

Almost the Best Camera System on a Phone

It’s no secret among the people close to me that I’m a huge photography bug. I mentioned in my Xiaomi 14 review as well that I’m the first person to pull out my phone whenever I see something interesting.

It’s also worth noting that I was using a Xiaomi 14 Ultra prior to switching to the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro so my expectations in terms of cameras were sky-high. Let’s just say, a good camera system is an absolute must for me to consider using a phone as my daily driver.

Now, I knew Vivo’s image processing is stellar so the pictures I clicked would turn out good. But boy, I wasn’t expecting them to be this good.

Right from portraits of friends and family to close-ups of objects, the X Fold 3 Pro shines. The colors pop, the sky looks brilliant, and most importantly, the algorithm handles highlights and shadows extremely well.

It’s very rare to get an overexposed shot from the X Fold 3 Pro. Vivo also has several portrait mode options that give a unique look to the bokeh in your photos. Neat.

Lovely Zoom and Macro

I’m a huge sucker for a good telephoto lens, so much so that I click the majority of my pictures using the 3X or 5X focal length on the phones I’m using. Here, too, the X Fold 3 Pro doesn’t disappoint. While the 3X periscope is certainly a step down from the 5X shooter on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra I was coming from, photos up to about 6X seemed more or less comparable on both.

Of course, when you punch in further, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a clear upper hand. The X Fold 3 tends to fall apart if you go beyond 10X due to a clear hardware limitation. In broad daylight, you can still manage to stretch it to 20-30X but there is an evident watercolor effect that kicks in most of the time.

At night too, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro clicks sharp photos with ample light. The saturation levels are slightly higher than I would want but frankly, the extra color pop just accentuates the look of the photos.

The 3X lens can also capture macro photos which also turn out fantastic. I’ve become a big fan of Vivo’s camera tuning after using this phone.

Why So Smooth?

One area where I’m not too happy with the X Fold 3 Pro’s camera performance is skin smoothening. Even with all the AI and beauty modes turned off, the phone tends to smoothen the face of the subject which gives the pictures an artificial look. I’m not a fan of this at all. The worst part is the same issue carries over to selfies — clicked both from the inner and outer selfie shooters.

Vivo, if you’re reading this, please fix the unnatural smoothening on human subjects. Especially if someone deliberately disables it. If this issue wasn’t there, I would say the camera on the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is pretty much perfect.

While the selfie cameras themselves are just okay, the advantage of a folding form factor is that you can use the rear cameras too for selfies — like the one above. And that results in some awesome group photos even in low light! I highly recommend this route when clicking a selfie via the X Fold 3 Pro.

Die Another Day

Just like 007 in the movie, the X Fold 3 Pro just refuses to die. The massive 5700mAh battery — which, by the way, I don’t know how Vivo managed to cram into a phone this thin — faired wonderfully well during my usage. I was constantly getting upwards of 7-8 hours of screen on time — something that’s not too common for flagships — let alone one that folds.

To top it off, the included 120W charger (which charges at 90W) takes the phone from 10% to 100% in about half an hour. Right on a par with other flagship phones in this segment. I’m not looking at you, Apple. Or Samsung. Or Google.

If you’re truly looking for a 2-day phone, the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro delivers. Generally, I have to pick between good battery life and fast charging. With this phone, I got both. And that’s a deadly combo.

Hardware Perks Followed by Software Quirks

The biggest strength of the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is undoubtedly its stunning hardware. However, it’s the underwhelming software that pulls it down. You see, I’ve been reviewing phones for well over six years now. During that tenure, I’ve used lots of phones from Vivo — all running Funtouch OS.

I was never a fan of Vivo’s operating system but the recent iterations of Funtouch OS grew on me. While I can surely see myself using the UI on the X Fold 3 Pro, I can’t help but feel it lags behind other interfaces like One UI and MIUI. Don’t get me wrong, all the features you would ever need plus more are present on Funtouch OS. But, there are some peculiar choices that make me wonder why, just why would someone do that?

For example, you can only see notifications from up to four apps on the Always-on display. This makes absolutely no sense. Moreover, a lot of text in the UI is poorly translated from Mandarin. Now if this was 2015 and Chinese brands had newly entered the subcontinent, I would understand. But, it’s 2024 and Vivo has been around for the longest time. It’s hilarious how such errors still exist.

Fast and Nippy

Apart from these issues, the UI has been more or less snappy and stable. I have faced occasional crashes — slightly more than I would have wanted. It’s also worth noting that Vivo has added some fold-specific features for better multitasking and taking advantage of the extra real estate. Quick gestures to open the multitasking menu, a persistent taskbar to switch apps, and a desk mode that converts the phone into a clock. All of them work well.

In the past three weeks, I received two software updates that addressed a few bugs, so it’s good to see Vivo being serious about updates. Is the software good enough to use on a daily basis? Yes. Can it be improved further? Also yes. There’s a massive room for improvement here, especially considering the price point of the X Fold 3 Pro.

Oh, before I forget, there’s an alert slider that has made its way from its sibling — the OnePlus Open.

Where Does It Stand?

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is the best foldable out there currently. Period.

I know the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is right around the corner, but I am confident Samsung’s complacency won’t allow them to better Vivo’s stunning hardware. Right from the build quality to the displays to the cameras to the battery life, Vivo has nailed every single aspect of the device.

Sure, there’s room for improvement in terms of software, but it’s certainly not a deal breaker in my opinion. What could be a deal breaker though is the price. It’s evident that the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is not for the masses, and it becomes more obvious when you take a look at the price tag. At ₹1.6L or close to $2,000, the X Fold 3 Pro is one expensive phone.

But, what you’re getting is top-of-the-line specs, an amazing camera setup, and a media powerhouse that fits into your pocket. A lot of friends from the media fraternity kept saying the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has a great set of cameras for a folding phone, great battery life for a folding phone, and it’s one of the most well-rounded folding phones you can buy. Well, I say, it’s time to drop the caveat ‘for a folding phone’.

The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has a great set of cameras, great battery life, and it’s one of the most well-rounded phones you can buy. Over the past month, I’ve used three revolutionary products — a phone, a media consumption tablet, and a replacement for my DSLR. These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And it’s the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro.