According to latest rumors, Vivo is planning to debut two foldable devices within the next month or so. While one will use the previous-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Vivo X Fold3 Pro could be the first foldable to use Qualcomm’s current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which presently powers a number of candybar flagships such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in October, and the Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro followed shortly thereafter. Since then, Xiaomi has released a third Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 handset, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, with Honor, OnePlus, and Samsung all using the processor in their current-generation flagships. However, all of their efforts have been directed toward traditional candybar smartphones, such as the Magic6 Pro and OnePlus 12.
By contrast, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 remains the chipset of choice when it comes to high-end foldable smartphones, most recently with the Magic V2 RSR Porsche Design. According to Digital Chat Station, Vivo hopes to change this situation soon with the X Fold3 series. While the X100 series relies upon one of MediaTek’s latest flagship Dimensity chipsets, the leaker claims that Vivo has returned to Qualcomm for the X Fold3 series. On the one hand, the likely cheaper X Fold3 is expected to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the same chipset that powers Vivo’s current flagship foldable.
On the other hand, the X Fold3 Pro is rumoured to step up to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which Vivo will complement with 50 MP primary, 50 MP ultra-wide-angle and 64 MP periscope telephoto cameras. By contrast, Digital Chat Station believes that the regular X Fold3 will eschew the latter sensor for a 50 MP camera that provides 2x optical zoom. Currently, the exact release date of both tablets remains unknown for now. Nonetheless, Digital Chat Station expects the Vivo X Fold3 and X Fold3 Pro to debut simultaneously later this month. As always, Vivo will release the pair in China first, as was the case with the X100 and X100 Pro.
