vivo NEX 3 hands-on review

Internals and features

Like most of the late-2019 flagships, the NEX 3 sports a Snapdragon 855+ chipset too. It's paired with either 8 or 12GB of RAM while internal storage is 256GB of the UFS 3.0 kind, which means read and write speeds are as fast as they get.

Just to make sure everything is in check, we ran the AnTuTu 8 benchmark and the result was impressive, to say the least. As it turns out, the vivo NEX 3 5G is the highest-scoring AnTuTu 8 smartphone around, outperforming even the Asus ROG Phone II with the external fan mode attached to it. Maybe the heavy-duty vapor chamber inside makes all the difference or there's something else at play here. We will investigate once the handset arrives in our office.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• vivo NEX 3
  497858
• Asus ROG Phone II
  492907
• Sony Xperia 5
  416601

As we said earlier, the phone is built around 5G but there's also a non-5G variant. The handset uses Qualcomm's X50 5G modem supporting only sub-6GHz bands and vivo tackled all of the issues an early 5G adopter would have.

For starters, unlike the competition, the NEX 3 has six antennas instead of four, so it doesn't matter how you hold the device, there won't be any issues with connection stability. Secondly, there's a big vapor chamber dedicated to the 5G modem, which should reduce heat by 10ºC. And lastly - power consumption. Like every 5G solution where the modem is not built into the chipset, there's an increased power draw. The vivo NEX 3 tackles this the old-fashioned way - with a huge 4,500mAh battery, which in turn can charge really fast using the 44W SuperFlash Charge technology from the company.

Going back to the display itself, it turns out it's as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. The 6.89-inch Waterfall FullView display uses an E3 Super AMOLED panel by Samsung peaking at an impressive 800 nits maximum brightness. It also covers 100% of the DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces while supporting HDR10 video.

The camera array has a few cool tricks up its sleeve too. The main one uses Samsung's latest Bright GW1 64MP sensor coupled with f/1.8 aperture. There's no word of OIS, though. Effectively, the sensor outputs 16MP images, which should look great coming from the huge 1/1.7" sensor.

The two other cameras are the usual suspects - an ultra-wide one and a telephoto. The former is 13MP with f/2.2 aperture and autofocus capable of taking macro shots from a minimum distance of only 2.5cm. The telephoto snapper is again 13MP but with an f/2.5 aperture.

This leaves with the selfie camera, which is 16MP and has f/2.1 aperture. Sadly, fixed focus too. There's also a dedicated LED flash that should help in low-light situations.

More importantly, the pop-up mechanism has been significantly improved - it's faster and more durable. It takes just 0.65 seconds to bring out the camera - that's mighty impressive. The robotic sounds are still pretty entertaining, and you can disable them if that's not your thing.

While we are on the topic of cameras, there's one under the display too. Of course, it's not for your face but for your finger. Vivo says the under-display optic fingerprint reader is 25% larger than last year's generation ensuring faster readouts and less unsuccessful attempts.

Another notable feature is the independent AK4377A audio Hi-Fi chip for improved audio output quality.

Wrap-up

With a third model in the running, it's hard to associate the NEX lineup with a particular feature or form factor. The original NEX S brought us the first pop-up selfie design. The NEX Dual Display is yet to be matched by any of its competitors. And the NEX 3 is another innovative device in its own way.

It's fair to say, the NEX lineup is about experimentation - it's about breaking the mold and surprising us with innovation.

Having said that, it's only natural to expect a premium price tag. In its home country, the starting price of the handset is around €650 for the non-5G iteration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Going for the 5G modem will get you double the storage and 12GB of RAM, but the asking price is €800. Outside of Asia, with extra imports taxes and fees, the prices will definitely go up.

This means that the phone has to fight with the best in class flagships on all fronts - display, camera, battery life, features, etc. But vivo seems confident enough that the NEX 3 is a do-it-all flagship offering an exotic and innovative design.

Starting Sept 21, the phone will be available in the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia. Vivo says it's in talks with various US and European retailers and carriers, but nothing has been confirmed yet.