It was March 2020 when the Vivo NEX 3S was presented, but it seems that the time is ripe for the official presentation of the next Vivo NEX 5. The name is not certain yet, but Vivo NEX 4 may not exist due to Chinese culture, according to which 4 is an unfortunate number. After a period of silence, here are the first rumors about the future flagship of the company.
Design & Display
Like all models in the series, we expect a lot from Vivo NEX 5. Since its inception, NEX represents excellence in terms of aesthetics and technological research. The first series was equipped with a full screen and pop-up camera, the second with a second display on the back and the third again with a retractable camera. For this very reason, there is a good chance that the new Vivo NEX could adopt the much-talked-about camera under the screen.
And according to the first rumors, there are two versions, which could differ precisely in this sense. We should have a basic variant equipped with a punch-hole to accommodate the selfie camera, a design that is now widely tested, while the top variant would have the selfie camera under the display. A novelty he has already been working on for years, as Vivo APEX 2020 demonstrates: after the release of Xiaomi MIX 4 on the market, it could be the right opportunity to present a rival.
As for the display, in both cases, we should have a 6.78 ″ panel. Obviously, it is legitimate to imagine an OLED panel, necessary for the use of an integrated selfie camera, which would be provided by LG Display. To these rumors are added those for the design, which as anticipated could certainly be innovative.
From a very embryonic concept render, we are shown a smartphone with a very large camera bumper, in the style of the iQOO 9 series, whose sensors would be enclosed in a porthole, already seen for the possible rival Xiaomi 12 Ultra, but married to the left instead than in the center.
Hardware
As the leaks rumored, Vivo NEX 5 will be the first smartphone in China to be equipped with the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 high-end SoC. Codenamed V2102A, the smartphone appeared in the certification and in the GeekBench database confirming these specifications. The leaks reveal an SoC configuration consisting of an octa-core Cortex-X2 CPU at 3.09 GHz and an Adreno 730 GPU, as well as a renewed 4 nm production process. For memory, it seems we can still start from 8 GB RAM. For the battery, it is also rumored the use of the 120W Super FlashCharge recharge, inherited from the dozer iQOO 8 (now experimental series per Vivo) and 60W wireless charging. On the software side, however, the presence of Android 12 and the latest version of the proprietary interface OriginOS Ocean is taken for granted.
Camera
For the moment, not much is known about the photographic sector of Vivo NEX 5, even if the camera phone series is the X series. Therefore we do not expect more advanced solutions than what we saw with Vivo X70 Pro+. We will almost certainly find again the Carl Zeiss optics and T * lenses. To this, we will add a 5x ultra-periscope camera that will raise it to the top of the category in these terms.
Price & Release Date
According to the leaker Digital Chat Station, Vivo NEX 5 should have been released in early 2021, but the dissatisfaction on the upper floors would have led to postponing the release. It seems that the main reason is the camera below the display, which would not have met the very high multimedia requirements demanded in vivo.
At this point, the company’s plans would speak of early 2022. And the confirmation of these rumors comes from the words of the Executive Vice President of Vivo, Hu Baishan, who stated that the new range will be made during the first half of 2022. The reason, apparently, could be due to the efforts that the brand is making to release its first leaflet, which in any case will bear the word NEX in the name.
The presentation, however, could take place as early as the end of 2021. Also according to Digital Chat Station, Vivo NEX 5 will be the next smartphone presented by the company, followed by iQOO 9 and Vivo X80.