Vivo APEX With Pop-Up Camera Could Go On Sale In Late-2018
Vivo became the first-ever company to embed a fingerprint sensor under the display of a consumer-ready smartphone. However, at MWC 2018, the company unveiled an even more exciting product. At its unveiling, Vivo conceded that the Vivo APEX was just a concept phone. However, the response to the device and excitement around it has convinced Vivo to change its plans.
Subsequently, Vivo has officially unveiled the APEX in China and announced that its mass production will begin in mid-2018. However, the company has not spilt the beans on all the specifications of the Vivo APEX as of now.
Vivo APEX Specifications
The APEX has a 5.99 inch OLED display with COF technology. The smartphone has the thinnest bezels yet on a smartphone. In fact, the company claims it has a record screen-to-body ratio of 98%. The thickest bezel on the phone is its chin, which is about 4.3mm thin. The size bezels measure at 1.8mm.
Vivo has confirmed that the APEX will be powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset. This is a great step by Vivo considering the X20 Plus UD skimmed out on a lot of specifications to accommodate the Clear ID technology. For a price close to US$ 700, it was powered by the Snapdragon 660 chipset. While the X20 Plus UD had an impressive fingerprint sensor, albeit a few limitations, the APEX takes it a notch further.
The Vivo APEX has a fingerprint sensor which covers almost half the display. This simply means that a user has a larger area to access Clear ID rather than a tiny space found on the X20 Plus UD. The company has also placed the ambient and proximity sensors under the display. The whole display will work as an earpiece, similar to the Xiaomi Mi MIX from 2016. According to Vivo, the new SoundCasting Technology essentially transports the sound across the glass of the display.
The most talked-about feature of the Vivo APEX is its front-camera. The APEX features a pop-up front camera which takes about 0.8 seconds to be completely out of the device. It is an 8MP camera with HDR and a dynamic range of up to 14 EV.
Conclusion
While the APEX comes across as a futuristic smartphone with a seemingly great solution for bezel-less devices, it has its caveats. It will be interesting to see how so many moving parts inside a smartphone will age. Accidental drops might also have much more severe implications now. However, all of that is secondary as the company prepares to mass produce the APEX from mid-2018. It might subsequently go on sale in late-2018.
