Vivo X Fold 3 Pro versus Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, OnePlus Open — Top foldable phones vying for India’s attention – Technology News

Foldable phones are back! For years, Samsung has single-handedly “dominated” the foldable device market in India. The first-mover advantage can’t be ignored but more importantly, it has never really been challenged, to a level where you’d expect it to break any sweat. Apple, its biggest rival, doesn’t make any foldable iPhone yet and so, all the onus fell on the “Chinese” to build a competitor. And they have, but the problem is, they’ve been shy of launching these devices outside of their home market, for some curious reason.

OnePlus broke the stereotype last year by launching the OnePlus Open—a rebranded Oppo Find N3—its maiden foldable phone to a lot of buzz and hype. The Open received a lot of positive acclaim specifically for its relatively low asking price. OnePlus had undercut Samsung by a good margin while offering a package deal which was as good, if not better. Plus, it had a more streamlined chassis that made the cover screen more useful. Today, if you happen to buy one, OnePlus is ready to give you a OnePlus Watch 2 worth almost Rs 25,000 for free, which sweetens the deal even more than it already is.

But the real formidable challenger—we believe—which has the potential to put a dent in Samsung’s foldable armour is the new Vivo X Fold 3 Pro. It has the sort of hardware that can give the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, a run for money. Vivo has also tied up with Google to bring Gemini Pro AI to its foldable and so, Samsung’s Galaxy AI is no longer the only AI system on foldable devices anymore. The X Fold 3 Pro has a powerful ZEISS backed camera setup and a huge 5,700 mAh battery, things that remain a tough ask among foldable devices.

Here’s how the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro stacks up against the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the OnePlus Open:

1. Design: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is billed as “India’s slimmest foldable phone.” And it is. It measures 11.2 mm when folded and weighs around 236 grams. The body of the phone is made of proprietary armour glass, which extends on to the cover screen. Unlike other foldable devices, Vivo is using carbon fibre in the hinge which makes it both slim and durable. The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has an IPX8 rating as well. The OnePlus Open is a close second—it weighs about 239 grams and measures 11.7 mm when folded. OnePlus doesn’t specify the type of glass it is using (the green variant has an eco leather back). It is only IPX4 rated. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a mammoth in comparison. It is 13.4 mm when folded and weighs 253 grams. Samsung does use more premium build materials though which is Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It is IPX8 rated.
2. Display: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has an 8.03-inch inner folding display with a 2,480 x 2,200 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 4,500 nits peak brightness. The 6.53-inch cover display matches these specs. The inner screen of the Fold 5 is a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with a 2176 x 1812p resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. It can peak 1,750nits. The outer/cover screen is a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED with 2316 x 904p resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. OnePlus Open features a 6.31-inch AMOLED folding display with a 2484×1116 pixel resolution. It can reach a peak brightness of up to 2,800 nits. When unfolded, the device unfolds to reveal a 7.82-inch display with a resolution of 2440×2268 pixels and a dynamic refresh rate ranging of up to 120Hz.
3. Processor: Powering the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. The Fold 5 and OnePlus Open are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
4. Memory: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro comes in only one memory configuration in India—16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 512GB of UFS4.0 storage. The OnePlus Open also comes in the same configuration. The Fold 5 comes in three memory options: 12GB/256G, 12GB/512GB and 12GB/1TB.
5. Software: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro runs Android 14. The OnePlus Open and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 launched with Android 13 and ate upgradable to Android 14.
6. Camera: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has a 50-megapixel primary camera with optical image stabilization, a 64-megapixel 3x telephoto camera, and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. Dual 32MP front cameras are included for selfies. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a 50-megapixel primary camera with optical image stabilization, a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto camera with OIS, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. It has a 4MP camera on the folding screen and a 10MP camera on the cover.
7. Speakers: All the three foldable devices have stereo speakers.
8. Connectivity: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro has dual-SIM 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC and an IR blaster. You also get USB 3.2 Gen 2 and a physical mute switch. The OnePlus Open has dual-SIM 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC. You also get USB 3.1 and a physical mute switch (alert slider). The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has dual-SIM 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC. You get USB 3.1.
9. Battery, charging: Powering the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is a 5,700mAh with support for 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. The OnePlus Open has a 4,805 mAh battery with 67W wired charging. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a 4,400 mAh battery and supports 25W wired and 15W wireless charging.
10. India price: The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is priced at Rs 1,59,999 for a version with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The OnePlus Open is priced at Rs 1,39,999 for 16GB/512GB. The Fold 5 comes in three memory options: 12GB/256G for Rs 1,54,999, 12GB/512GB for Rs 1,64,999 and 12GB/1TB for Rs 1,84,999.

Follow FE Tech Bytes on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.