In an area where smartphones seem to be all standardized and firm from the point of view of the creativeness there are still those who dare to venture out of the pack. Specifically we are talking about the Chinese company Vivo, which in recent years has seemed to be one of the few companies to want to shake in this landscape. The latest creation of the brand was the Vivo NEX Dual Display, which has a panel on the back cover to take advantage of the rear camera to make selfie, allowing us to have a full screen front display.
A truly original solution that could amaze many of your friends, but in everyday use how useful is it? We just have to find out in our review.
Review Vivo NEX Dual Display
Unboxing
The sales package is very elegant and cared for. In fact, this is made with a good black cardboard and inside there is a rich endowment:
- Vivo NEX Dual Displays;
- Very good quality rubber cover (in fact we could call it a bumper that protects the side frame since it can not cover the back);
- wall-mounted power supply with Chinese plug and quick charge with 5V output = 2A / 9V = 2A / 10V = 2.25A;
- USB data transfer cable - USB Type-C;
- good quality earbuds;
- pin for the SIM slot;
- instruction manual.
Design and construction
Who knows Vivo or who has already tried one will know very well that the company is characterized by one constructive quality of level. This Vivo NEX Dual Display is not for less, as we have one solid construction, compact and extremely accurate. Laterally we have a frame made in a very good one aluminum, while posteriorly we find one glass back cover, which has slightly shaded colors at the ends that give it a truly remarkable look.
The dimensions are generous, that is 157.19 x 75.3 x 8.09 millimeters for a weight of 199 grams and one-handed use it is not very simple considering that very often we should turn the smartphone around to change the display. Probably the fear of dropping it during this operation will make you use the cover supplied, which will further increase the size of the device.
As regards the designon the other hand, one can not but be amazed at one so large display and without any kind of notch or frame but, as mentioned previously, to allow this we have had to make some renunciations and in this case we talk about the front camera. In fact, instead of inserting a pop-up camera as seen on the other models of the Chinese house, this time it was decided to insert a second display on back cover to take advantage of the rear cameras. I personally don't like the look that was adopted, as there is a LED circular that half is located above the display and this bothers me not poco.
Frontally we find the capsule with the sensor of brightness and proximity unlike the opposite profile in which there is a triple camera with two LED flash for selfie mode and a more powerful LED flash for classic shots, a circular LED for notifications, over that another capsule with attached sensors.
On the right frame there is the volume rocker and the power button, while on the left there is another button that acts as a power button if you use the rear display and a button to change the display if you use the main one. Below we note the system speaker with the main microphone, the USB Type-C input and the dual Nano SIM slot, unlike the opposite side where you can only see the mini-jack input and the microphone used for noise reduction environmental.
Small criticism regarding the proximity sensor that occasionally while listening to audio su Whatsapp e Telegram he did not perceive the proximity of the ear, forcing me to press Play on the sound for a second time and listen again. I do not deny that during the use of every day this is quite a lot annoying also because for the first fraction of a second the volume from the speaker and to make matters worse our ear will press several things on the display.
Display
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display has a front panel Super AMOLED da 6.39 inches diagonal with resolution Full HD + (2340 x 1080 pixels), density of PPI 403, format 19.5:9 and protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5, while later we find a unit Super AMOLED da 5.49 inches in Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) and always a protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
In this sector there really is poco to say, the front display is a real one pleasure for the eyes thanks to an excellent definition and colors that seem printed on the screen. The total absence of notches or frames (actually there is a very fine on the bottom) makes this device perfect for watching multimedia content. The viewing angles are very good and the maximum brightness is more than enough.
Within the settings we find different customizations that allow us to activate the mode eye protection, download others font, calibrate the colors at will and change the font size.
Speaking instead of the second panelThis turns out to be very good both in terms of definition and in terms of i colors which, however, seem to be slightly more saturated of the main display.
Thanks to Funtouch OS we have a myriad of more or less useful settings. Among these we remember the one that allows us to always keep active the two displays when blocked or the one that allows us to "Transmit your mood" on the second panel simply drawing a "V" on the primary one. The translation is a bit 'rough and the function is not very relevant, but in doing so we can show any photo to another person who is on the opposite side of ours.
I would like to conclude this aspect by talking to you aboututility of this dual display. Personally I did not feel good in everyday use because too much intricate e poco practical. Very often we will find ourselves turning over again and again the device, forcing us to slow down even the simplest operations and now I'll explain why. In fact, very often it happened to me that to publish one Story su Instagram I had to turn the device the first time to change camera and turn it over again to take the picture. The same thing happens if you want to send some video messages o video su Telegram or any other app.
To really realize how inconvenient it is, I suggest you look at the video review you find above.
Hardware and Performance
Under the body of the Vivo NEX Dual Display we find a chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, which is inclusive of an octa-core processor with a maximum clock frequency of 2.8 GHz, GPU Adreno 630, 10 GB di RAM LPDDR4X e 128 GB di internal memory not expandable via microSD.
Needless to say, the smartphone is rapid e reactive and that we did not find any kind of problem with app management in the background. However the only small flaw is the software that during these days of use has made some whim suddenly closing some app from nothing or still not allowing me to access the info on the battery. I want to clarify that they are occasional events, but it is always good to make it present, because with such hardware one would expect the best.
No problem even in the Gaming, as the GPU can reproduce al maximum details even heavier games like PUBG o Asphalt 9. The titles are played in a manner fluid e without frame drops.
Camera
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display has a photographic sector characterized by three sensors: the first is a Sony IMX363 da 12 mega-pixels with opening f / 1.79 e optical stabilizer at 4 axes, the second is a sensor from 2 mega-pixels with opening f / 1.8 dedicated to improving the night photos and the third is a sensor TOF 3D with opening f / 1.3 that goes to look after the appearance of the depth of field offering gods best bokeh compared to the average.
In conditions of good brightness the shots are really noteworthy thanks to a high level of detail and good colors albeit sometimes with theHDR they tend to be slightly too saturated and with a slightly too accentuated structure.
With little light or predominantly artificial light, the photos drop in detail and despite the optical stabilizer we will have to keep your hand steady so as not to make the shots micromosso.
In general the color management and shine è good and the sector is far beyond sufficiency, but there are smartphones that are able to shoot better even in night conditions.
As regards the Selfie what is said above is valid, with the right light the photos are really fantastic and what impressed me the most was the backlight HDR, which can also highlight the portions of the photo backlight and that with other cameras would inevitably be overexposed. In some situations, however, theHDR seems to act too heavily as well as the beauty mode (if activated obviously).
In the evening, the overall quality is still good despite a slight digital noise. Also in this case it is necessary to have a good steady hand, but overall I was satisfied with the selfie.
I video they can be registered up to a maximum resolution of 4K a 30 fps and I must say that, thanks toPDAF + Laser autofocus, the focus is really very fast and precise. Fairly stable stabilization and good colors as well as the audio captured by the microphone.
The camera application has many customizations and shooting modes, many similar to those on Huawei e Honor or on iPhone, others very original like "Pose", which shows us a series of photos of people posing and selecting one will insert it in the interface during shooting in order to imitate it. Also present the various masks and filters to be applied on our face, the "AI facial photo editing function" and the possibility of activate both displays to take the picture so you can see if we are coming well or not.
Audio
The audio output from the lower speaker is rather powerful ed balanced in the reproduction of frequencies, which therefore guarantees a clean listening and definitely enjoyable. However, the Vivo NEX Dual Display gives the best of himself with a good pair of headphones thanks to the Hi-Fi DAC dedicated, which allows us to fully enjoy our favorite songs thanks to an above average quality.
Lastly, the audio in the headset capsule and the one captured by the microphone are also good during calls.
Connectivity
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display supports Dual SIM with connectivity LTE Cat. 16. Despite this, connectivity has proven to be slightly lower to other top of the range such as OnePlus 6T.
For the rest we find the Wi-Fi Dual Band, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS, OTG, but unfortunately missing be the FM radio that theNFC.
The device is released via the fingerprint sensor post below the display and I must say that this works pretty well, because Quick e reactive, but always presents the same defect of others, or you must press the exact point and sometimes you will be forced to try at least twice before unlocking the device. We can say, however, that about 8 times on 10 the operation is successfully performed.
However, we also find the facial recognition as a further means to unlock the device, which is managed by the TOF sensor 3D. This turns out to be rather uncomfortable, because it forces us to turn the smartphone and to initially use the rear display. Nevertheless, the recognition is impeccable in any situation and it's really very fast. I think it is one of the best sensors in circulation.
Software
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display in our possession is the international variant, which is based on Android 9 Pie with personalized interface Funtouch OS 4.5, which he owns lots of personalizations. In fact, Vivo has always been attentive to its users, guaranteeing them the ability to manage anything within its own UI. In fact, we could change the system font, manage its size and change the theme.
Furthermore, we find several goodies like it Smart Mirroring, cloning of the app, shortcuts with physical buttons and gestures, the one hand mode, the possibility of using the gestures for system navigation and much more.
Too bad for some aspects that go to ruin the experience of daily use. For example, sometimes it happened to me that an application was forcibly closed or that I could not open the battery graph. These are small things that can be solved with an update, but that is always good to point out.
The appearance more problematic it concerns the notification management, because you'll have to fiddle around in the settings to make sure that instant messaging apps or social media apps do not go deep sleep and therefore continue to remain active in the background in such a way send notifications. Although I have set everything I need, very often I have failed to receive notifications Whatsapp (not even those floating) and sometimes not even those of Telegram.
Finally, we specify that, being the international variant, on board we find the Multilingual ROM and of preinstalled Google services.
Autonomy
Under the body of the Vivo NEX Dual Display we find a battery from 3500 mAh, which allows us to arrive in the evening without too much trouble. As mentioned previously, due to the slightly unstable software, sometimes I did not have access to the battery information but, with a stressful use, a Paris I managed to get there 5 in the morning until 9 in the evening without criticality. Of medium we can get a day of autonomy.
La recharge through the supplied power supply it is very quick and uses poco more than 60 minutes to fully charge the smartphone.
Conclusions
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display it's a smartphone really a lot particolare e design. Eliminating the front camera the company could enter a magnificent full screen display, forcing the user to make sacrifices and to change the way he has always used his device. This is definitely a 'revolutionary ideabut I think I can say that we will not see other similar models in the future, because too cumbersome to use. Over and over again the smartphone during the day turns out to be heavy and soon we get tired of using it.
For the rest we are certainly faced with a device lending and with good photographic qualities, but the small software defects make that at the moment this Vivo NEX Dual Display is a nice style exercise and nothing more.
If you want to buy a particular and unique smartphone for the simple taste of having something different from the others then it could be the perfect product for you, but if you prefer a more practical device then I suggest you to turn on something else.
Il Vivo NEX Dual Display is available on GearBest in international variant (Multilingual ROM and Google services pre-installed) for the price of 672 €.
