The vivo X Fold3 and X Fold3 Pro were released this week, each with their own claim to fame – the vanilla model is the lightest book-style foldable phone yet, while the Pro is the first foldable phone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 .
We detailed the differences between the two in the announcement message, here we’ll just give you the highlights. The Pro model comes with an 8th Gen 3 chipset, a 50MP main camera with a larger sensor and a 64MP 70mm periscope, and a large 5,700mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. It has an IPX8 protection rating and can be submerged in water.
The regular model uses the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, with a smaller 50MP sensor on the main camera (1/1.49″ vs. 1/1.3″) and a more modest telephoto camera (50MP, 2x zoom). The battery capacity is 5,500mAh and supports 80W wired charging. The phone has an IPX4 protection rating.
There are a few other details, such as dual ultrasonic fingerprint readers on the Pro (versus a single side-mounted reader on the regular version), but that’s about it. Crucially, the displays are identical – an 8.03-inch 120Hz 10-bit LTPO OLED on the inside and a 6.53-inch 120Hz OLED (21:9) on the outside.
The regular vivo X Fold3 weighs an impressive 219 grams. Leaving aside clamshell foldables (which are much smaller), only the Honor V Purse is lighter (5 grams lighter), and it folds outwards (so there’s no second display to save weight), and it The battery is much smaller at 4,500mAh.
Speaking of battery, the vivo X Fold3 Pro is a beast—it has a capacity of 5,700mAh, which is more than most candy bar phones, let alone foldable phones. By comparison, the X Fold2 has a 4,800mAh battery, the Galaxy Z Fold5 has a 4,400mAh battery, and the closest one is the Huawei Mate X5, which has a 5,060mAh battery. Both X Fold3 models are well ahead of the competition, even the lighter regular model (the Pro weighs 236 grams).
Of course, you get what you pay for. Prices for the regular vivo X Fold3 start at CNY 7,000 ($970/€895/Rs 80,800) for the 12GB/256GB model. The Pro starts at CNY 10,000 ($1,385/€1,275/Rs 117,000) for the 16GB/512GB model, which is about 43% more.
There’s no official confirmation yet, but at least the Pro model is expected to launch internationally. In terms of competition, even in China, there isn’t much competition at the moment. There are a few options here, but be aware that they all use the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, some of which will be replaced soon (the Z Fold6, for example, is a few months away).
Galaxy Z Fold5 (12/512GB) costs 13,000 yuan, weighs 253 grams, and has a battery capacity of 4,400mAh. Honor Magic V2 (16/256GB) is priced at 9,000 yuan, weighs 231g, and has a battery capacity of 5,000mAh. Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 (12/256GB) is also 9,000 yuan. The OnePlus Open is not sold in China, but it weighs 239 grams and has a 4,805mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 • Honor Magic V2 • Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 • OnePlus Open
So, does anyone accept it? Let’s vote for the ordinary vivo X Fold3 first:
Now it’s vivo X Fold3 Pro: