I have been using, or you can say testing, foldable smartphones for quite some time now. While I have always liked the idea of having a phone that can turn into a tablet, there is one thing I have always looked for in a foldable — camera performance. And honestly, this is where I have always felt that most foldable phones still have some room for improvement.
While brands have been focusing on making foldables thinner, improving the hinge and reducing the crease, camera performance has not always received the same attention. However, after spending a couple of weeks with the Vivo X Fold 6, I think I have finally found a foldable phone that gets the combination of design and camera performance right.
Now, it goes without saying that foldable phones are expensive and people buying them usually have specific expectations. The Vivo X Fold 6 is available in India at Rs 2,19,999. I reviewed the Nebula Teal colour variant and after using it as my primary phone, here is what I think about the iPhone Duo competitor.
Vivo X Fold 6 Camera
Let’s start with the biggest reason why I think the Vivo X Fold 6 deserves your attention. The phone comes with a triple rear camera setup developed in collaboration with ZEISS. You get a 200-megapixel primary camera with optical image stabilisation, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 50-megapixel 3x periscope telephoto camera.
On paper, this is already an impressive camera setup for a foldable phone. But what matters more is how these cameras perform in real life.
I clicked pictures in different conditions and I was impressed with the results. The main camera captures detailed images, colours look good, and the overall output is like what you expect from a premium flagship smartphone.
I was also impressed by the portrait mode. I took a few photos of me and my family during the Diwali celebration. The pictures looked detailed, with good colours and natural-looking skin tones.
Another camera feature that I really liked is the cover display preview. When you use the rear cameras to click pictures, the person in front of the camera can see themselves on the outer display. Vivo has also added animated characters on the cover screen to grab the subject’s attention and make them look towards the camera. I found this feature useful while clicking pictures of my 1.5-year-old son Vyom. Getting kids to look at the camera and smile is not always easy but the animated characters helped me grab his attention. It made clicking his pictures much easier and I managed to capture some really lovely expressions.
There is also a 100x digital zoom option. However, I would not say that the results remain equally good at every zoom level. While you can get some interesting shots of distant subjects, the details start getting affected as you move towards higher zoom levels. So I would suggest sticking to lower zoom levels if you want more usable pictures. I also tried the macro mode and it did a good job of capturing small details. The colours looked natural, and I liked how the pictures turned out. There are also different ZEISS portrait styles and focal length options that you can try to get different results while clicking pictures.
Coming to videos, the phone supports up to 8K recording at 30fps and 4K recording at up to 120fps. You can also switch between the ultra-wide, main and telephoto cameras while recording in 4K at 60fps. Overall, I feel Vivo has done a really good job with the cameras. For someone like me who has found cameras to be a weak point of foldables, this is a welcome change.
Design And Display
I got the Vivo X Fold 6 in Nebula Teal and I liked this colour. The matte glass back gives it a clean look, while the metal frame adds to its overall build quality. The Vivo X Fold 6 weighs around 235 grams and measures 9.4mm when folded and 4.4mm when unfolded. It is not the lightest foldable phone, but I did not find the weight uncomfortable during my daily usage. Considering the large battery and camera hardware packed inside, the overall form factor is quite good.
Coming to the hinge, it opens smoothly and does not require much effort. The small gap in the middle also gives you a better grip when unfolding the device. The crease is still visible when light falls on the display at certain angles, but I did not find it distracting during regular use.
Now, coming to the screens, the outer display measures 6.51 inches and offers a 1.5K resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is an LTPO AMOLED panel, which can adjust its refresh rate depending on what you are doing. I mostly used the cover screen for replying to messages, checking emails, scrolling through social media and making calls. Honestly, it feels much like using a regular flagship smartphone.
The display is bright, and the colours look good. It also supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. I enjoyed watching videos and other content on this phone. Unfold the phone, and you get an 8.02-inch AMOLED display with a 2K-class resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. This is where the bigger screen makes a difference. I found it useful while reading long articles, checking documents and watching videos.
You get more screen space, which also makes multitasking easier. However, because of its almost square shape, some widescreen videos appear with black bars especially on Netflix. The audio experience is also good. The phone comes with stereo speakers that get sufficiently loud for watching videos and listening to music. I also liked the haptic feedback, which feels good while typing and navigating through the interface.
Overall, I found the displays good for both regular usage and work. The outer screen works well as a regular phone display, while the larger inner screen gives you more room to read, watch content and use multiple applications.
Performance
The Vivo X Fold 6 is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 Super Edition processor, paired with 12GB RAM and 512GB internal storage. It also gets LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. Now, this is a flagship processor, and I did not face any major performance issues during my usage. I was switching between applications, browsing the internet, watching videos or using multiple apps together and the phone handled everything smoothly.
I also played a few games on this phone and my experience was good. However, I think gaming is not the main reason to purchase this phone. The X Fold 6 is more about productivity, multitasking and photography. And this is where the hardware and software combination makes a difference. For everyday usage, the performance is more than enough. I did not experience any major lag while switching between applications or using the phone for regular work.
Now coming to the OS performance, the X Fold 6 runs Android 17 with Vivo’s OriginOS 7 Fold. Vivo has made some changes to optimise the interface for the larger display and I think some of these features are really useful. One feature that I really liked is Origin Workbench. It allows you to keep multiple applications ready on the screen and switch between them without having to open and close every app separately. For example, I can keep X, YouTube, WhatsApp and Gallery ready and move between them depending on what I need. For someone who uses a phone for work, this can be quite useful.
The four-app split-screen is another interesting feature. You can open four apps together on the inner display and adjust their sizes depending on your requirements. I tried using this feature with multiple applications, and it worked quite well. You can also save a particular split-screen arrangement as a shortcut, which means you do not have to repeat the entire process every time. There are also AI features such as AI Recorder, AI Reader Mode and smart call assistance. I found the AI Recorder useful because it can record conversations and help with transcription and summaries. That said, I feel OriginOS 7 takes some time to get used to the menus and settings. But once you understand the features, the experience becomes easier.
Now coming to the battery part, the Vivo X Fold 6 packs a 6,900mAh battery, which is one of the biggest batteries you will find in a book-style foldable. This is also one of the reasons why the phone is slightly on the heavier side compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
During my usage, I found the battery performance good. You can use the outer display for regular tasks and switch to the larger screen whenever required without worrying about the battery percentage. The device lasted more than a day on heavy usage. The phone supports 80W wired charging and 40W wireless charging. For a premium foldable, I think Vivo has made a good decision by focusing on battery capacity instead of simply trying to make the phone thinner.
My Two Cents
After spending a couple of weeks with the X Fold 6, I can say that this is one of the most interesting foldable phones I have used. What I liked is that Vivo has not limited its focus to the folding mechanism or the display. It has worked on the camera system, battery capacity and software experience, which are important for someone spending over Rs 2 lakh on a smartphone.
But the phone is not perfect. The crease is still visible, the device is slightly heavier, and the software may take some time to get used to. So, should you buy it? If you are someone who wants a foldable phone but does not want to compromise on camera performance, the Vivo X Fold 6 makes a very strong case for itself.
