Vivo's forthcoming foldable could be a Galaxy Z Fold 5 beater when it comes to photography

Foldable phone photography seems to be the new battleground

Vivo X Fold 3
(Image credit: Vivo)
Quick Summary

Vivo is taking the fight to Samsung and OnePlus with a new foldable expected for release in China later this month.

It'll sport a camera unit with Zeiss lenses, as demonstrated with photo samples posted on a vice president's Weibo page.

Vivo has shown off camera samples from its upcoming folding phone, the Vivo X Fold 3, alongside some other key details. 

A Weibo post from Jia Jingdong, Vivo’s vice president, features plenty of tidbits about the upcoming phone, which is set to launch in China alongside the X Fold 3 Pro on 26 March. 

The post confirms that the phone will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, with some benchmark scores mentioned that should mean it impresses in terms of raw speed. 

The interior screen, meanwhile, is apparently a Samsung panel that will measure 8.03 inches, so you'll be able to rely on an extensive surface when the phone is open. The photos attached to the post don't really give us a look at the exterior display, meanwhile. 

The X Fold 3 will also seemingly have solid battery life - the post says it can last two days, something that would be impressive given the size of the display that it has to power. 

The images of the phone itself show a really large camera bump, though, and the post shares a range of (admittedly somewhat low-res) photo samples apparently taken with the phone. 

Jingdong's post says the phone will have Zeiss T* lenses and a 50MP main shooter, and while that actually still leaves us with a decent amount of information yet to be confirmed, the camera samples are clearly impressive. 

They show close-up capabilities, low-light chops and stabilisation, taking in sunsets, insects and roiling seas to deliver crisp photos each time. A dedicated imaging chip will power some of this, as it has in other flagship Vivo phones. 

Of course, these sample photos do tend to always look amazing - they might look off-the-cuff but they're more likely quite carefully composed.

After all, Apple might shoot whole event videos using the iPhone now, but that doesn't mean videos we take of our cats will look professionally lit and perfectly shot. 

Still, even with that pinch of salt, the Vivo X Fold 3 is looking very promising, and while this Weibo post has given us plenty to chew on, there will be far more details to digest once it's been properly unveiled later this month.

Max Freeman-Mills
Staff Writer, Tech

Max is T3's Staff Writer for the Tech section – with years of experience reporting on tech and entertainment. He's also a gaming expert, both with the games themselves and in testing accessories and consoles, having previously flexed that expertise at Pocket-lint as a features editor.