For years, foldable phones have been synonymous with compromise. They offered a huge display, but their owners often paid for it with a weaker camera or smaller battery. vivo X Fold6, whose sales in the Czech Republic will start on October 27, tries to show that similar concessions may no longer be a given for the new generation of jigsaw puzzles.
The reason for the previous limitations was primarily structural. A foldable phone consists of two halves connected by a hinge and when opened, its thickness is only around four millimeters. This left manufacturers with significantly less space for large photo sensors, optics and a high-capacity battery. Compromises therefore often concerned the telephoto lens and endurance.
The telephoto lens no longer has to be the weak link
High-quality main cameras have gradually found their way into foldable phones. However, the most significant difference from classic flagship cameras was when it came to zooming. This is exactly the area that vivo decided to focus on with the X. Fold6 significantly shift.
The phone has a 200MP ZEISS main camera with a Samsung HPB sensor and CIPA 4,5 stabilization. It is accompanied by a periscope telephoto lens using a Sony LYTIA 602 sensor, which offers a three-times optical zoom and a focal length equivalent to 70 mm. According to vivo, it is also the first ZEISS APO-certified telephoto lens used in a folding phone. Its optics therefore also focus on suppressing color defects at the edges of images. There is also the possibility of macro shooting and digital zoom reaching up to 100x.
Photographic accessories are also heading into the world of jigsaw puzzles
But the telephoto lens alone is the photographic ambition of X Fold6 doesn't stop there. It's the first vivo foldable phone to support the vivo ZEISS Telephoto Extender Gen 2 external teleconverter with a 200mm equivalent. The same accessory is also supported by the new X500 Pro and X500 Pro Maxwhich vivo introduced in the Chinese market.
X Fold6 enters the world of photographic accessories, which has so far been associated mainly with classic photo flags. The teleconverter can be used in eight camera modes, including Portrait, Stage or Pro. It can be interesting, for example, when photographing sports or concerts, where the possibility of a more significant optical zoom is most useful.
6,900 mAh packed into just 4,4 mm
Another typical compromise of foldable phones used to be battery capacity. vivo X FoldThe 6 packs a 6,900mAh battery, despite being just 4,4mm thick when unfolded and starting at 228g. This is helped by BlueVolt technology, which uses a silicon anode to pack more power into the same space than a traditional lithium-ion cell.
The durability has also improved significantly. The phone meets IPX8 and IPX9 for water protection and IP5X for dust protection. The IPX9 certification means resistance to a stream of hot water under pressure, which is quite an interesting parameter considering the design of a folding phone with a hinge.
Vivo wants to take full advantage of the large display
After opening it will offer X Fold6 internal ZEISS Master Color display with a diagonal of 8,02″, while on the outside there is a 6,51″ screen. Both panels can locally reach a brightness of up to 5,000 nits. The large display area is not intended to be used only for consuming content. OriginOS 7 Fold It offers Origin Workbench and Multi-Split Screen features, allowing you to work with up to four apps simultaneously. The necessary performance is provided by the Dimensity 9500 Super Edition, which vivo collaborated with MediaTek to develop specifically for this model.
The Czech market for foldable phones is still not nearly as broad as the range of classic smartphones. vivo X Fold6 will expand it with another interesting alternative from October 27th, with pre-sales starting on October 16th. The novelty tries to show that a large folding display no longer automatically means significant compromises in the camera or battery area. If other manufacturers take a similar direction, folding phones can gradually get rid of one of their long-standing disadvantages.
