Review of Vivo NEX 3 - an unusual flagship without side buttons and an outgoing camera

Infinite screen and pop-up selfie camera

Vivo NEX 3 is sold in a matte black box of unusual dimensions. There is a flap under the cover, and all the components are laid out below: a smartphone, a case, instructions, headphones and an adapter with a cable.

The smartphone is presented in only one color - "shining night". The first thing that catches your eye is the block with three cameras. It is round and centered, and the lenses are in a triangle. Below there is a flash.

The second feature is the "waterfall" screen, protected from accidental clicks. The side edges of the display are curved, and there are no visible frames near them. The decision is not for everybody.

The diagonal of the screen is 6, 89 inches. It is made using OLED technology, has an excellent margin of brightness, but not the best resolution for its area of 1,080 × 2 256 pixels. Because of this, some of the icons on the display may not be very clear.

The next feature is a sliding selfie camera. On the one hand, this is still a strange idea: smartphones with mechanical modules are less durable and not protected from moisture, and dust accumulates in their insides. On the other hand, the gadget would look less impressive if we saw a "drop" or "bang" under the upper edge.

The camera and flash unit moves out slowly. It should be used only for selfies: although face authentication is supported, it is terribly inconvenient. The main unlocking method is fingerprint. The scanner located at the bottom of the screen responds quickly and confidently.

Vivo has completely overhauled the conventional view of the side buttons. They are absent in principle, instead of them there are sensors. The one that is responsible for power has a ribbed surface and responds not with a click of a mechanical key, but with a vibration response. The volume sensors are located above and below it.

A strange solution: the main sensor is duplicated by the most ordinary mechanical button on top. She is also responsible for the emergency reboot of the device.

Vivo NEX 3 is not just a big, but a huge smartphone. It is wide and elongated. This is not a problem for those who are used to phablets, but in the process of use, the disadvantages of such dimensions are noticed almost immediately. Firstly, it is unrealistic to reach the top of the screen without touching the smartphone with your fingers. Secondly, the center of gravity sometimes shifts so that the device can be easily dropped.

The set includes a hard case. It will help the glass not break and the aluminum frames will not be scratched.

Externally, Vivo NEX 3 is one of the most unusual smartphones. At the same time, he looks restrained. Some of the solutions seem odd, but they don't affect the user experience in any way.

64 ‑ megapixel camera and night mode

The rear panel has three lenses. The main one - with aperture f / 1, 8 and a resolution of 64 megapixels. In automatic mode, it shoots at a fair 16. We saw similar specifications when testing the Redmi Note 8 Pro. The smartphone from Xiaomi was three times cheaper, but the impressions from the shooting are the same: the photos are excellent, but the automatic mode is usually enough.

Here are examples of zoomed out areas of the frame. On the left - automatic mode, on the right - 64 megapixels. The better the lighting, the more noticeable the difference.

And here are some shots without magnification, taken in automatic mode.

The next lens is an ultra wide-angle lens with a resolution of 13 megapixels and an aperture of f / 2, 2. It does an excellent job in good lighting and is almost useless when shooting at night.

The third lens is a full telephoto lens (not just a depth sensor). Allows you to take photos with 2x optical zoom without noticeable loss of quality.

When shooting with the main camera, night mode is available. In it, the smartphone takes several frames at once, and then the algorithms come into operation. The result is a correctly exposed image, but without overexposure.

When you switch to a selfie camera, a set of beautifiers is activated. They can be turned off. Such pictures are taken without regular processing - the frame is often blurred.

Verdict: It's hard to find fault with the Vivo NEX 3 camera, but there is no need to talk about new impressions. This level has long been subservient to smartphones at half the price.

Flagship processor and large battery

The Vivo NEX 3 has a top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor - the same as, for example, the gaming Xiaomi Black Shark 2 Pro. RAM - 8 GB. With such a set, the gadget in synthetic tests shows itself at the level of the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Xiaomi Mi 9.

Also responsible for the performance is the UFS 3.0 drive - in theory, it works faster and more reliable than the memory in most other smartphones. It is complemented by the system of algorithms VCAP, which increases power and reduces power consumption. The evaporation chamber is responsible for cooling under high load.

It's hard to feel how a new version of the drive or VCAP algorithms work, but it's a fact: Vivo NEX 3 is very powerful. In multitasking mode, during a session in COD and working with the camera, we did not notice any lags.

The processor isn't the only piece of hardware that Vivo has paid attention to. So, for example, the AK4377A audio chip is responsible for playing music. This is a digital-to-analog converter from the Japanese company AKM with a built-in headphone amplifier, which was specially developed for Hi-Fi players and audiophile smartphones. Therefore, on Vivo NEX 3 you can listen to music in lossless ‑ formats with good headphones. At the same time, the standard speaker remained the most mediocre.

A 4 500 mAh battery is responsible for autonomy. That's a lot, but the incomplete 7-inch screen is actively consuming percent of the charge, so even such a capacious battery can only last for a day. It all depends on the scenario of use.

The set includes a fast charger with a power of 22.5 W, but a 44-watt one is also supported. But wireless charging did not appear.

Specifications

Colors: black ("shining night").
Display: 6.89 inches, 1,080 x 2 256 pixels, POLED.
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ (1 × 2, 96 GHz Kryo 485 + 3 × 2, 42 GHz Kryo 485 + 4 × 1, 8 GHz Kryo 485).
GPU: Adreno 640.
RAM: 8 GB.
Built-in memory: 128 GB.
Rear camera: 64MP (Main) + 13MP (Ultra Wide) + 13MP (Telephoto).
Front-camera: 16 megapixels.
SIM card: two slots for nanoSIM.
Wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, GPS, NFC.
Connectors: USB Type ‑ C, 3.5mm audio jack.
Unlocking: by fingerprint, PIN-code.
Operating system: Android 9.0 + Funtouch 9.1.
Battery: 4,500 mAh, fast charging supported.
Dimensions: 167.4 × 76.1 × 9.4 mm.
The weight: 217, 3 g.

Outcomes

Vivo NEX 3 is a true flagship in many ways. These include one of the best modern processors, a capacious battery and NFC, which is not found in all Chinese smartphones.

At the same time, for every second item in the specifications there is some no. The screen is just huge and has no bezels, but the pixel density could have been made more. The audio chip supports music in high definition, but the standard speaker is at the level of any budget "Chinese". You can use fast charging, but wireless - no longer.

Vivo NEX 3 is not yet ready to catch up with the main market leaders. However, it may suit those who are tired of monotonous smartphones with proven design solutions.

Vivo NEX 3 price -.