Introduction, unboxing
The rather unaffectionately named “slab” design has been, more or less, a staple of the smartphone realm for quite a few years now. Admittedly, it has become a little boring for many users. Even so, we can’t, holeheartedly refer to it as stale or stagnant. On the contrary. The standard bar phone from a few years back is vastly different from current models. Beyond curved panels and rounded edges, the general development path is pretty clear – all display and no bezels.
Overall, it has been a slow and steady grind, slimming down chins and side bezels systematically. However, on occasion, devices like the concept vivo APEX come along and with them, a major step forward in all-screen design. But there’s more to it than meets the eye as well.
vivo NEX S specs
- Body: Glass back; 162 x 77 x 8mm, 199g; Black, Red color schemes;
- Display: 6.59″ Super AMOLED display, FullHD+ 1080×2316 px, 19.3:9 ratio, 388ppi pixel density.
- Rear camera: Dual: 12 MP, f/1.8 aperture, 1/2.5″, 1.4µm; Dual Pixel PDAF, 4-axis OIS; 5 MP, f/2.4 aperture, dual-LED flash. 2160p@30fps video recording.
- Front camera: Pop-up 8MP, f/2.0 aperture; fixed focus; 1080p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 8.1 Oreo; Funtouch OS 4.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: 4×2.7 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4×1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver CPU, Adreno 630 GPU.
- Memory: 8GB of RAM, 128/256GB of non-expandable storage;
- Battery: 4,000 mAh Li-Po (sealed); 22.5 W charger in the box (likely Quick Charge 4+)
- Connectivity: Dual SIM; LTE Cat16 1024/150 Mbps; USB 2.0, Type-C port; dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS, BDS, GNSS; Bluetooth 5.0; 3.5mm jack.
- Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader; single speaker on the bottom; piezoelectric earpiece, Jovi digital assistant with dedicated button
Like the APEX, the NEX S actually marries quite a few interesting technological solutions. All screen and no chin kind of necessitated the intriguing motorized, periscope selfie camera design. A feature that has already become the main attraction of the NEX family. It’s even stealing the spotlight from the gorgeous Samsung-made Super AMOLED display as well as the fingerprint reader hiding underneath it – all exciting features on their own.