Vivo Nex all-screen phone with pop-up selfie camera debuts

Apart from Xiaomi Mi Mix, there are barely any phones that have met the promise of delivering an all-screen phone. While most of the brands have succeeded in increasing screen-to-body ratio, the new crop of phones comes with an ugly notch on the front, without advanced features of iPhone X. Vivo, however, is trying to stand out in the crowd with its latest Nex.

Vivo Nex takes the all-screen-phone game up a notch (pun intended) with an impressive 91.24% screen-to-body ratio. Vivo Nex is another concept Vivo phone that has become a commercial reality. The phone was first unveiled at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2018 as Vivo Apex.

To make an all-screen phone a reality, Vivo Nex has to adjust a few elements of the phone that we have grown accustomed to. For instance, the front camera is tucked in the top edge and pops out whenever you need to take a selfie. Vivo claims the pop out time is ultra fast, less than a second, to make the experience fluid. The camera goes back to its housing when you're done using the front camera.

Other adjustments include fingerprint scanner embedded into the screen, similar to the company's recent X21 smartphone that launched in India. Earpiece speaker is also under the screen - which Vivo claims is a new technology called "screen soundcasting" that turns a display into audio output.

Rest of the stuff is pretty much standard. The volume and power buttons are located on the right edge while the top edge also houses the 3.5mm headphone jack. The base has the USB port.

In terms of specifications, Vivo Nex comes with a 6.59-inch Ultra FullView display. It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor with 8GB of RAM. On the back it has 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors as part of a dual-camera setup. Like other Vivo phones, the camera comes with AI integration of smarter scene and subject recognition. The phone comes with 256GB storage. It is powered by a large 4,000mAh battery.

Vivo Nex will be available in China initially followed by roll out in other Asian markets like Singapore and Hong Kong. There's no word on the availability of the phone in India.