Vivo recently unveiled its new ‘NEX’ series of smartphones with a notch-free fullscreen display, dual rear camera setup and pop up selfie camera, no speaker grille and AI-assisted features. Currently, the flagship line has the high-end Vivo NEX S, which is backed by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 mobile platform and the slightly less powerful Vivo NEX A – backed by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 mobile platform.
Vivo NEX S
The Vivo NEX S sports a huge 6.59-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution, 19.3:9 aspect ratio and an impressive 91.24% screen-to-body ratio, a 8MP pop up selfie camera, an in-screen fingerprint scanner (like the Vivo X21 UD), 3.5mm headphone jack, and boots Android 8.1 Oreo OS with Funtouch OS 4.0 along with Ai-powered Energy UI and Jovi AI, which has a dedicated hardware button launcher.
The Vivo NEX S has a primary 12MP (f/1.8) camera paired by a secondary 5MP (f/2.4) camera, both with OIS and EIS. The camera app comes with AI features such as AI beauty mode, AI scene detection, AI HDR, and AI Filters. The front facing pop up 8MP camera offers the usual bokeh portrait mode.
To accommodate the notch-free fullscreen, the smartphone ditches the traditional earpiece speaker for Vivo’s ‘Screen SoundCasting Technology’, which uses vibration motors to transmit sound through the whole screen. There is no NFC, microSD slot, wireless charging and IP rating.
The NEX S packs 8GB of RAM, 128/256GB built-in storage, USB Type-C port, Dual 4G VoLTE connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0 LE and a 4,000mAh battery with 22.5W fast wired charging. It will arrive in Diamond Black and Red colours, and go on sale for CNY 4,498 (USD 676) for the 128GB storage model. The 256GB option is available for a pricier CNY 4998 (USD 752) price tag.
Vivo NEX A
The Vivo NEX A (or Standard Vivo NEX) is basically the NEX S with some reduced specs. This model packs 6GB of RAM, 128GB built-in storage, rear fingerprint sensor and powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 mobile platform. It will also arrive in Diamond Black and Red colour options, and will go on sale for CNY 3898 (USD 600).
