Vivo is joining the foldable craze with the new X Fold

What you need to know

• The first folding phone from Vivo, called the X Fold, has been announced. 
• Vivo went with an external display of 6.53 inches and an 8.03-inch screen when unfolded.
• The X Fold is currently only available in China and starts at ¥8,999 (around $1,413). 

The options for folding phones are starting to ramp up, with more and more brands getting in on the new form factor. Today, Vivo joins the mix by announcing its first foldable — the Vivo X Fold.

According to a report from GSMArena, the X Fold sports the same folding style as the popular Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, with an exterior display and an inner display that is protected when the device fold shut. The two screens both support a 120Hz high refresh rate, with the external measuring 6.53 inches and 8.03 inches on the inner display. 

For the flexible screen, Vivo is using an Ultra Thin Glass, UTG, similarly to Samsung foldables. However, Vivo says its X Fold can handle 300,000 folds, whereas Samsung only claims 200,000. As for the hinge mechanism, the X Fold uses an aircraft-grade floating wing hinge that allows the phone to close completely flat, like the OPPO Find N, instead of leaving a slight gap that other folding phones suffer from. Vivo’s hinge can also stay open at various angles between 60 and 120 degrees. 

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Vivo packed the X Fold with modern flagship specs with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 4,600mAh battery, fast charging with up 50W wireless and 66W wired, and 12GB RAM with up to 512GB storage. The X Fold features an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader for both displays for security. 

But to further push the phone into top-tier status, Vivo included a total of six cameras in the phone. On the back, there are four lenses - a 50MP primary camera, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 2x telephoto, and an 8MP 5x periscope. Both displays feature a 16MP hole-punch style selfie camera.

As of now, the Vivo X Fold will be a China-only device, much like the OPPO Find N, which is also part of the BBK family. The other two major brands in the BBK group are Realme and OnePlus, both without a foldable in the market. But according to a report from last week, OnePlus could have one in the works. More competition is great for the market, and it will only make the best foldable phones even better.