At the Mobile World Congress 2018, Vivo showcased the Apex smartphone concept with a true bezel-less design and today, the phone has materialized in what the company calls Vivo Nex. And no, this one won’t be easily accessible, unless you are willing to fly across the globe to China and grab one for yourself.
The Vivo Nex comes in two variants dubbed Nex A and Nex S and like the Apex, it doesn’t take any of that notch crap and instead, the selfie camera has an elevating design that makes it pop out from the top end of the phone when invoked. With this design, the Nex delivers an impressive 91.24% screen-to-body ratio, however, the chin on the lower end is still noticeable.
In order to ensure that the Nex achieved the full-screen dream teased at the MWC, Vivo also went for a glass-vibrating screen soundcasting technology that obsoletes the need for the traditional earpiece that usually lives in the top bezel (read notch). Like the Vivo X21 UD, you are also getting an in-display fingerprint scanner that Vivo says is faster compared to the one used on the UD.
Vivo Nex specs
Nex A
- 6.59-inch Super AMOLED, FHD+ (2316 x 1080)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor
- 6GB RAM and 128GB storage
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- Dual 12MP + 5MP main camera
- 8MP front camera
- 4000mAh battery
- 162 x 77 x 7.98 mm
Nex S
- 6.59-inch Super AMOLED, FHD+ (2316 x 1080)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
- 8GB RAM and 128/256GB storage
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- Dual 12MP + 5MP main camera
- 8MP front camera
- 4000mAh battery
- 162 x 77 x 7.98 mm
From a design perspective, the Vivo Nex A and Nex S are the same device. You only start noticing the difference when internal specs are on the table and in fact, the only notable difference on the inside is the processor and RAM, where the Nex A has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 and the Nex S, the premium version, has a Snapdragon 845 chipset. As for the memory, both have 128GB storage, but the Nex A has 6GB RAM while the Nex S gets a massive 8GB RAM alongside a second storage option of 256GB.
Vivo Nex price and availability
In China, the Vivo Nex A has a price tag of CNY 3,898 or about $610 while the Nex S starts from CNY 4,498 (about $700) all the way to CNY 4,998 (about $780) for the high-end variant. The phones will be sold in two color variants of Red and Black.
As pointed out earlier, you’ll have to contain your lust for the Vivo Nex will only be available in China. There are no known plans of if and when the phone will make a trip outside China, but given the attention the Nex is getting on a global scale, it’s likely that Vivo will launch it in a handful of markets outside China.
