Vivo NEX review: Blueprint for the future?

Vivo introduced the APEX concept earlier at the CES and now the commercial version — NEX. The handset’s coolest feature is undeniably the pop- up selfie camera — it even makes a futuristic sound while its pops- up/ down. However, a moving mechanical part means it loses out on water and dust resistance.

Vivo neatly hid all other sensors and the earpiece underneath the display — namely, the proximity and ambient sensors. As for the earpiece, a vibrating mechanism ( similar to Apple’s Taptic engine) underneath the panel, functions as the speaker, which radiates the sound to the display using vibrations and makes it audible to the human ear. What’s new for a Vivo here is the presence of USB- C port and a dedicated button for summoning Google Lens/ Assistant.

With all sensors and the selfie camera hidden, the NEX flaunts a true bezelless display with a slim chin and no notch. The 6.5- inch AMOLED panel renders sharp images with vibrant colours and contrasts. The viewing angles are wide and sunlight legibility is also decent too. Vivo now uses a 3rd- Gen in- display fingerprint sensor that reduces scanning time and improves accuracy.

The NEX is built around the SD845 chip with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Vivo’s FunTouch OS 4.0 looks after the errands and is based on Android 8.1 Oreo. With the latest internals, NEX is easily one of the quickest smartphones we have seen in 2018, despite sporting a heavily customised UI – no lags, no stutters, no frame drops. As for the rear optics, the 12MP + 5MP duo with 4axis OIS manages capture good- looking photos in daylight situations. Photos exhibit vibrant colours and contrasts, albeit average levels of details. AI algorithms tend to enhance photos by bumping up ISO ratings. The front 8MP pop- up camera takes decent selfies — weirdly, there’s no portrait mode for selfies.

With its huge 4000mAh battery, the NEX manages almost a full- day of stamina and the bundled 22W fast charger can top up the battery from 50 per cent under 40 minutes.

Factor in the flagship performance and decent photography capabilities, and the NEX comes across as a great allrounder smartphone at a price of ` 44,990.