vivo X Fold6 review

Design, build quality, handling

vivo did not go too wild with the design. The X Fold6 broadly looks and feels like its predecessor. Its defining feature, of course, is the huge round camera island on the rear. It protrudes a lot, but there's no escaping that if you want great cameras, including the largest sensor periscope telephoto on a foldable.

While similar to the camera island on the X Fold5, vivo moved some things around here. There are now two LEDs and the island itself seems to have some additional chamfers. The camera ring is nicely color-matched to the rest of the back.

The X Fold6 has generally gotten a lot "rounder." Both the inside and the outside display corners are a lot more aggressively cut in than last year. This is definitely in keeping with current design trends. Most phones these days do a flat frame and rounded display corners like this.

The displays themselves have changed a bit since last year. On the inside you get a slightly smaller 8.02-inch diagonal, but the new aspect means there's a slightly larger total display area of 206.8 cm2.

With a resolution of 2312 x 2504 pixels, this new display is technically a bit sharper at around 425 ppi than the X Fold5 and its 2200 x 2480 pixels and around 413 ppi of density. Not the kind of difference you will be able to spot in real life, though.

What is more noticeable is the different aspect ratio. Last year, the aspect ratio was 1:1.13, whereas now we are looking at 1:1.08 - closer to a square.

Not a vast difference obviously, as for media consumption in the usual 16:9 and 4:3 aspects, the difference in actual usable size is around 1%. Technically, the new X Fold6 display gives you around 5% more horizontal pixels, which could be beneficial for desktop-style websites, sidebars, or split-screen layouts. But actual browser usability will depend much more on the OS's DPI/scaling setting than these miniscule differences.

In practical terms, it's not like vivo radically changed anything about the experience. Both displays are still very square, which has certain benefits to productivity but does also mean that a 16:9 video only occupies roughly 61% of the screen area.

The cover display comparison between the X Fold6 and last year's X Fold5 is perhaps slightly more interesting. Technically, at first glance, it seems vivo downgraded the experience by putting in a smaller diagonal 6.51-inch display with a lower resolution of 1120 x 2528 pixels. The true story is the switch from a very tall 21:9 to a slightly more common 20:9 aspect.

If you plan on watching widescreen content on your cover display, this year is a worse experience. Realistically, however, the new display is better for every use cases. It is about 1.9mm wider than last year's while only about 1.4mm shorter. With a 16:9 image on screen, that translates to about a 6% bigger actual image area, and the same is true for 4:3 content. A slightly wider display is also better for web browsing. Text columns can be slightly wider, desktop-mode sites have a little more room, and UI elements can feel less cramped.

And while the older panel is slightly sharper, the difference is once again not visible in real life.

Rounding off the display (pun intended), we should note that vivo claims it has "industry-leading ultra-narrow bezels across both the main and cover screens. The main screen further features equal bezels - a rare sight among foldables. It's nice if someone points it to you, but we can't say it's hugely important in everyday use.

The inside display crease is shallower than before - one of the less noticeable around. Still not totally invisible, but pretty great out of the box.

The X Fold6 is around 10 grams heavier than its predecessor, and at 228 grams it is not light device. Still, it is surprisingly well-balanced, especially given the huge camera island. It feels pretty natural in the hand and handles surprisingly well considering all the impressive hardware inside. vivo claims the rounded corners and what it calls "2.5D flat-edge metal frame" contributes, and we see no reason to dispute that.

The choice of materials is the same this year: an aluminum frame, glass front and glass-reinforced plastic back. It's a very premium build, no question about it. However, there are either some omissions in the officially provided info or there are some downgrades. The X Fold5 has an IP58/IP59+ rating, which should theoretically allow it to survive for up to 30 minutes in up to 3 meters of water. All the while, the new X Fold6 has an IP58/IP59 rating, which means up to 1 meter of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. It is also worth noting that the X Fold5 specifies Armor Glass (2nd gen) surface protection, while we have no info on the surface material on the X Fold6. The X Fold6 does add a claim to be usable at -20 C temperature.

The hinge mechanism feels pretty similar. That is to say - it's smooth and solid. It has a satisfying snap at both ends and nice, equal tension in between. vivo says the hinge can do "underwater folding", which sounds quite impressive, but we are not sure anyone will ever need that.

The X6 Fold came in Gray, White and Azure colors in China, but overseas markets get Horizon Blue and Prism Black. Both are understated and blend in well in any environment.

Finally, let's do a quick controls tour. We'll start with the custom button in the top right of the phone, which debuted on the X Fold5 and toggles between Vibration and Ring mode, but can also enable the flash. It is technically positioned on the left frame when the phone is unfolded, while the volume rocker and power button are left on the right side.

vivo X Fold6

The buttons are unsurprisingly very thin, almost to the point of being uncomfortable, but that is one tradeoff you have to make with a thin, foldable device.

Whether thin or not, the power button was still large enough to accommodate a capacitive fingerprint reader. It is both snappy and accurate, and we don't mind the location either. That said, we still remember the X Fold3 Pro's dual under-display sensors. We are not sure if that was much more convenient, but it was unquestionably more premium.