Vivo NEX 3 Review: The Dark Horse

INTRODUCTION:

After teasing us with numbers of concept smartphones, Vivo finally released its real flagship handset – the NEX 3 – that can battle out other premium devices from its rivals Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. Luckily, our team got a chance to play around with the phone for a longer time, allowing us to determine its real worth.

Vivo NEX 3 Review: The Dark Horse

Meeting the NEX 3 was love at first sight for us, but do first impressions really last? Let’s find out!


PHYSICAL:

The NEX 3 is a total head-turner. At first glance, you’d notice its simple yet striking build, which is quite unique compared to other flagship smartphones available today. Then, your eyes will start focusing on its beautiful curved screen dubbed as waterfall display. The entire phone itself screams sophistication, made possible by its glass body and classic colorway. The NEX 3 is tall and heavy at 218.5 grams, hence, one-hand usage isn’t advisable.

Premium Design!

Its front is dominated by a 6.89-inch Waterfall display, which has no notch. And because its screen extends to its side, the phone has no physical buttons unlike other conventional handsets. Instead, it has pressure-sensitive power and volume rocker that provide haptic feedback. To locate it easily, Vivo mounted the NEX 3 with a ridge on the right side of the device.

Right Side

On top, you’d see its headphone jack, microphone, and the pop-up camera, while its speaker, USB-C port, and SIM card tray are located at the bottom.

On the flip side, its glass-like body accommodates its triple-rear camera. Its lenses are thoughtfully arranged in a circular module, while its LED light is placed outside the camera bump.

DISPLAY:

6.89-inch POLED FHD+ Waterfall FullView display

The NEX 3 flashes an immersive 6.89-inch POLED screen with FHD+ Waterfall FullView display, and 2256 x 1080 resolution. Since it has no notch, the phone gives off a jaw-dropping 99.6% screen-to-body ratio, and 18.8:9 aspect ratio. It has HDR10 support, too.

Good on paper, its actual usage won’t disappoint you. It has accurate and sharp colors, while its brightness also works fine in outdoor settings. Considering that it has good viewing angles, users will surely love playing games and watching videos using the NEX 3.

SOFTWARE:

Vivo loaded the NEX 3 with Android 9.0 Pie OS with Funtouch 9.1 skin on top. Of course, it has a clean interface, which is also easy to navigate. However, you can change some settings to make your experience more comfortable. These include system navigation, hidden pressure-sensitive buttons, Jovi, and more.

Android 9.0 Pie OS with Funtouch 9.1 skin on top

Just like other Vivo smartphones, the NEX 3 also boasts an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is really fast and responsive most of the time. Users can also add an assistant face unlock, which will be enabled after three failed attempts using the fingerprint sensor.

In-display Fingerprint Scanner

The phone comes with numbers of pre-installed apps, including Google native apps, Lazada, Opera, and more. Good thing, Vivo packed the NEX 3 with a large 128GB storage to accommodate numbers of apps, files, photos, and more.

PERFORMANCE:

The NEX 3 is powered by a flagship Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, clocked at 2.96GHz. It is also armed with Adreno 640 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage, making sure that it can handle heavy mobile activities such as gaming and multitasking.

Knowing that it can give us smooth smartphone experience, we still ran it on various benchmark apps to give us a preview. Here are the results:

Benchmark Scores

• AnTuTu - 497,439
• Geekbench - 765 (single core)
• Geekbench - 2,644 (multi core)
• PCMark - 9,466 (Work 2.0)
• 3DMark - 72,901 (Ice Storm Unlimited)
• 3DMark - Max (Ice Storm Extreme)
• 3DMark - 7,960 (Sling Shot)
• 3DMark - 6,082 (OpenGL ES 3.1)
• 3DMark - 5,335 (Vulkan)

See Also: Vivo Launches X30 and X30 Pro with Exynos 980, 5G, and 64MP Cam

Call of Duty Mobile

As expected, the NEX 3 can deliver fast and smooth overall performance. Tapped as our main driver, the device didn’t fail us with its almost flawless works. Switching from one app to another was never an issue, while it didn’t warm up when we’re using it intensively. This is quite impressive, as its rivals tend to heat up when playing games at low battery level.

Speaking of, playing games with heavy graphics was a great experience, as it can easily run PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, Mortal Kombat, Asphalt 9, and Mobile Legends.

CAMERA:

Banked with great photography capabilities, Vivo armed the NEX 3 with triple-rear cameras, consisting of a 64-megapixel main shooter, 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide lens, and 13-megapixel f/2.5 telephoto sensor. For selfies, its pop-up camera mechanism houses its 16-megapixel snapper along with its LED light.

However, if you want to take 64MP photos, make sure that you have enough storage because 64MP images will surely consume a large space.

Sample Photos:

Outdoor

Ultra-Wide

Food

Night

Night

Selfie (Outdoor, Indoor, Low-light)

The NEX 3 can deliver great photos in places with good lighting. The images are clear, and have sharp colors. Taking wide shots were impressive, as you can really include more details in just one frame. Moving on, its telephoto sensor can also shoot photos with lower noise. The device can produce clean night shots, too.

Taking selfie and portraits were also fun but it tends to overdo its job sometimes. For instance, it would still enhance your images even if you disabled its beautification feature.

CONNECTIVITY:

The NEX 3 is a dual-SIM device that supports 5G connectivity, which is not yet commercially available in the country. Meanwhile, its 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS worked fine during our tests. We also have good signal receptions throughout our experience.

USB Type-C Port

In addition, the device is armed with a USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm audio jack for a complete smartphone experience.

BATTERY:

The NEX 3 is equipped with a large 4,500mAh battery that supports 44W Super FlashCharge solution. As our main driver, the phone can last until the next morning. Our usual mobile activities include basic communications, heavy social media browsing, streaming videos, and casual gaming.

Its Super FlashCharge tech impressed us, too, as charging the phone from 20% to 100% won’t take too much time.

VERDICT:

Vivo NEX 3

The Vivo NEX 3 came in like a dark horse. Unlike its rivals, Vivo didn’t have extravagant marketing gimmicks to hype up its flagship smartphone. Instead, the NEX 3 was able to steal the spotlight through its own offerings.

The NEX 3 is one of the most complete flagship smartphones available in the market today. It has a stunning display that is perfect for watching videos and playing games, powerful specs that can accommodate heavy mobile tasks, great photography capabilities, and long battery life.

Moreover, the Vivo NEX 3 is cheaper than other premium devices from its rival brands like Samsung and Apple, as consumers can get it for the price of Php39,999.

So, is it a yay or nay? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!

Vivo NEX 3 Specs (Philippines):

• Dual SIM, dual stand-by, supports 5G connectivity
• 6.89-inch FHD+  Waterfall FullView POLED (2256 x 1080) display, HDR10
• Dimensions: 167.4 x 76.1 x 9.4mm
• Weight: 218.5 grams
• Android 9.0 Pie with Funtouch 9.1
• 2.96GHz octa-core CPU, Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, Adreno 640 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB storage
• 64MP f/1.8 + 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide + 13MP f/2.5 telephoto rear cameras
• 16MP f/2.1 pop-up camera
• Multimedia Player
• 3.5mm audio jack
• USB Type-C
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 5.0
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
• Others: in-display fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock
• Battery: 4,500mAh non-removable, 44W Super FlashCharge solution
• Color: Black
• Price: Php39,999