This is probably the best all-screen smartphone without a notch

Just last month, Lenovo had started teasing their very own all-screen smartphone that’s called the Lenovo Z5. A lot of people got excited when Lenovo released teasers of the phone that doesn’t come with a notch. Turns out, the Z5 was just another typical “FullView” smartphone with a notch and everyone was fooled, us included.

If you’re still searching for a truly all-screen experience, vivo probably has the device you’ve been looking for. They have announced the vivo NEX and this is probably the closest thing to an all-screen bezel-less smartphone.

The first thing you’ll notice on the vivo NEX is its large 6.59″ AMOLED display. It pushes 2316×1080 pixels resolution in 19.3:9 aspect ratio and overall, it has 91.24% screen to body ratio. The top of the display stretches edge to edge without a notch but it does come with a noticeable chin at the bottom.

Underneath its glass and metal body is a top of the line Snapdragon 845 processor with 8GB of RAM that comes with either 128GB or 256GB of storage. There’s also an affordable variant that is powered by a Snapdragon 710 processor, which is the same workhorse that’s found on the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE.

The NEX comes with AI-powered cameras consisting of a 12MP f/1.8 shooter with Sony IMX363 sensor and a secondary 5MP f/2.4 camera for bokeh effects. For steadier shots, it also comes with 4-axis optical image stabilisation.

Since there’s no notch, the NEX comes with a front-facing pop-up camera which is similar to vivo’s APEX concept smartphone. If you need to take a selfie, the hidden 8MP f/2.0 camera pop-ups in just 1 second. According to vivo, the module uses stainless steel and it has been tested to withstand over 50,000 pop-ups without any failure.

For the earpiece, vivo uses sound casting where it emits sound through the display instead of speakers. This sounds somewhat similar to Xiaomi’s peizoelectric speaker on the original Mi MIX.

Like the recently launched vivo X21, you also get an in-screen fingerprint sensor which allows you to unlock your phone by placing your thumb on the display. This feature is only available on the high-end NEX, while the standard Snapdragon 710 version settles for a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Powering both versions is a 4,000mAh battery which is more than adequate for a full day of use. It charges via USB-C and it also retains a headphone jack at the top of the device. Out of the box, it runs on Android 8.1 with vivo’s own FunTouch OS 4.

The high-spec vivo NEX is officially priced at 4498 CNY (about RM2,805) for 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 4998 CNY (about RM3,117) for 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. Meanwhile, the cheaper vivo NEX that comes with a Snapdragon 710 processor and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor is priced at 3898 CNY (about RM2,430) which comes with 6GB RAM + 128GB of storage. Is this the bezel-less phone you’ve been waiting for? Let us know in the comments below.