The Vivo X Fold3 Pro going global has me excited for foldable phones again

Finally, some good news for global phone fans jealous of China’s bountiful selection of foldables. The Vivo X Fold3 Pro is officially going on sale in other territories, bringing the fight to Samsung, Google and OnePlus. And unlike a lot of upcoming phones that fold, this one doesn’t skimp out on the photography front – while yet still stays as slim and light as regular handset.

The X Fold3 Pro is heading to India first, with other countries set to follow later. Even though it’s been on sale in Vivo’s native China for a few months now, this is still one of the most potent foldables around, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset beating beneath the 6.53in outer and 8.03in inner OLED screens.

16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a huge 5700mAh battery (with rapid 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, no less) promise epic longevity as well as performance, despite weighing just 236g and measuring only 11.2mm while folded. IPX8 waterproofing, an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor for each screen, and a physical alert slider are all top-shelf additions, too.

While there’s not enough room inside for a 1in main sensor like the Vivo X100 Pro, Vivo has still managed to equip the X Fold3 Pro with a trio of high-end cameras. There’s a 1/1.3in lead snapper with 50MP pixel count, f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilisation and phase-detect autofocus; a 50MP, f/2..0 ultrawide with PDAF and a 119-degree field of view; and a 64MP periscope telephoto with f/2.6 aperture, OIS, PDAF and 3x optical zoom. Oh, and don’t forget optics and lens coatings courtesy of glass experts Zeiss.

That could give it an edge over the OnePlus Open – currently Stuff’s favourite foldable for photography – and school the bigger brands including Google and Samsung. Not even the rumoured Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is expected to pack that kind of hardware.

Vivo has yet to confirm pricing. I’m expecting the India variant to be similarly priced to the OnePlus Open, and considerably more than what the firm is asking in China.

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