vivo X Fold3 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The X Fold3 Pro may be the first vivo foldable to make it outside of China, but the 3 in the name is no accident - the company has been at it for a while, and the refinement shows. Premium, tight-fitting, compact, lightweight - the X Fold3 Pro has nothing to be ashamed of in this most exclusive crowd that it calls its peers.

The X Fold3 Pro weighs 236g, which is 3g lighter than the Galaxy and the OnePlus Open (depending on finish) - it's barely heavier than your average 'Ultra' smartphone, despite packing nearly 3 times as much display area as one of those. That's more or less the state of large foldables now, though - not entirely a standout quality of the vivo.

The segment is also pushing towards more protection from the elements, and the X Fold3 Pro features an IPX8 - so it should survive a dunk in fresh water down to 1.5m for as long as 30 minutes. The OnePlus Open only does IPX4 so you best not submerge it at all, and the Galaxy's newly introduced IP48 does little over the IPX8 the Z Folds have already had for a while. Point being, the vivo is as good as the Galaxy and superior to the OnePlus when it comes to water resistance - theoretically, at least.

Gasket ensures water stays out of the dual SIM slot (sadly, no eSIM support, by the way)

What sets the vivo bendy tablet apart from its immediate competitors - and, really, from any other foldable in existence that's not a vivo - is the way it does biometrics. The X Fold3 Pro features two ultrasonic under-display fingerprint readers - one on the cover, one on the right hand side of the foldable screen. It's been a long-standing trait of the vivo X Fold lineup, though we keep getting impressed by it every time we see one.

Both work essentially flawlessly and unlock instantly and without incident. Not sure we need to say it explicitly, but just in case - you only need to register your fingertips on one of the sensors; the other one then knows it too.

Fingerprint readers

Not quite as exclusive, but still not mainstream, is the silent switch. A tiny (but solid-feeling) two-position slider towards the top of the X Fold3 Pro will turn off audible alerts, and it can also mute media (there's a software toggle to tie the two). It's not quite the three-position slider on the OnePlus Open or the Oppo Find N3, but it's something. Then again, if you keep your phone on silent all the time, it's about as good as a button in the quick settings pane.

The frame of the X Fold3 Pro is made of what is likely aluminum - vivo doesn't boast anything fancier and it doesn't scratch like plastic. The cover display is protected by Armor Glass (not to be confused with Corning Gorilla Armor) and vivo claims it "has 11 times the enhanced drop resistance of common deep secondary reinforced glass".

The hinge is made of carbon fiber and weighs just under 15g. It's been rated to reliably survive 500,000 folds, so it's safe to say it should outlive you in regular operation. It can be left at arbitrary fold angles too, allowing some extra functionality beyond just phone and tablet mode.

The internal display is protected by 'Super Tensile UTG' - not your average ultra-thin glass. It's not for us to know what exactly stands behind the marketing speak, but let's take vivo's word that the X Fold3 Pro is plenty tough.

There's a gentle crease in the middle of the foldable display when open it fully - more of a wave, rather. It's there when you look for it and you try to feel it, but it tends to disappear in use. It may get a little bit more pronounced as time passes, objectively, though it's very likely that your brain will learn to ignore it at a faster pace.

The back of the handset is made of a composite of polyesters and glass fibers, possibly contributing precious fractions of a gram to the handset's weight loss, compared to the previous generation. A knife can scratch it, unlike glass panels, but regular use may be less destructive than this little experiment of ours (it's called reviewing).

Our review unit's colorway is called Celestial Black, the space reference probably having to do with the glitter-like effect you get when you place it under direct sunlight. There's only one other option - White. Keeping it simple, those vivo guys.