Vivo X Fold 5: The blistering heat of June has done little to slow the smartphone market down, and as of now, Vivo is mobilizing for what could be the most bizarre foldable of 2025.
Having spent a week or so with a pre-production version of the Vivo X Fold 5, lent to me by an industry contact, these are my early impressions before the Chinese cell phone maker officially unveils it on June 25th.
The most important thing about the X Fold 5 is the weight – and the first thing I noticed when I picked it up was just how light it is.
Vivo’s engineers have seemingly somehow pushed the impossible into being – flagship-level specs embedded into what seems like a phone made of air.
Customers can judge for themselves which would provide the better grip, but the lighter Flip looks to potentially unseat the X Fold 3 as the world’s lightest book-style foldable (alas, the packable scale I’ve used to weigh Samsung phones in the past is not immediately at my disposal, but by this baby scale’s reckoning, the Flip weighs less than 209 grams — 10 less than the X Fold 3).
Unfold the device and you’re treated to an 8.03-inch inner display that is a testament to how far foldable display technology has come. The crease is still visible in some lighting conditions, yet less apparent than the competition.
The Main Screen and 6.53-inch Cover Screen both housing 8T LTPO panels, have adaptable refresh rates that balance smoothness and battery.
And speaking of the battery – somehow Vivo has squeezed in an absolutely massive 6,000mAh power cell into this slender body, complete with fourth-generation silicon-carbon anode technology.
From my limited testing, I was able to get almost two full days of moderate use before needing to recharge.
When the time to recharge does arrive, 90W of wired and 30W of wireless charging make sure the laptop is off your lap for as little time as possible.
You won’t be left wanting for performance, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering day-to-day tasks, intensive gaming, and multitasking across both displays with no slow down.
The pre-installed software seemed surprisingly slick, with some clever tweaks to the foldable form factor.
The most surprising thing might be how well it works with Apple’s ecosystem, which is hardly ever the case when you have a flagship Android phone.
Logging into iCloud, easily pairing AirPods with their custom animations, and sharing Apple Watch health data using the Vivo Health app is an interesting meld of ecosystems that have historically been kept stand what.
The Zeiss-developed camera system performs admirably even in more challenging lighting scenarios.
Although we weren’t able to put it through the paces, initial shots indicate the X Fold 5 will go toe to toe with other flagship camera setups, especially if the rumors of its novel telephoto implementation are proven true.
You can pick up the case in three colors: Pine Green, White, and Titanium – the Pine Green model which we’re looking at has a very light texture to it, which does as decent a job as any at not picking up fingerprints.
Build quality is top notch, and the tough hinge mechanism gives confidence in continuous opening and closing.
Set to debut with a release price that could be cheaper than its predecessor (which costs around $1,390), the X Fold 5 seems like a clear challenger to the premium foldable segment’s Oppo Find N5.
Pros:
Extremely light design for long game play comfort
6,000mAh battery that goes on and on, with fast charging
Never-before-seen Apple ecosystem support on an Android phone
Small display crease versus the competition
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 packs punch, thanks to nuance in software tweaks
Camera system optimized by Zeiss
Robust housing and built in weather resistance (IP5X, IPX8, IPX9)
Probably cheaper than predecessor despite being more advanced
Vivo X Fold 5: Cons:
Initially expect limited global availability (China first)
Some software inconsistencies remain on pre-production unit
When folded out, size is likely too big to use one-handed
May not be as durable because of ultra-thin frame
Ecosystem integration gives limited benefit to non-Apple users
It’s still expensive for what is essentially now a mainstream flagship.
Replacement costs probably expensive if they break
Software update unclear beyond first release
The Vivo X Fold 5 is also a major foward shift in folding technology, tackling pain points like weight, battery life, and ecosystem integration and pushing the envelope in terms of tech.
Whether these are enough to hasten cohesive foldable adoption is a question for the future, but one thing’s certain – the battle for dominance in the high-end foldable space is more exciting than ever.