Unboxing the all-screen vivo NEX flagship smartphone

This post is sponsored by vivo Malaysia.

The NEX is vivo‘s latest flagship smartphone to hit Malaysian shores and in addition to a bunch of high end specs, this handset also features an in-screen fingerprint scanner and a motorised selfie camera that pops up. Want to know what’s in the box? We find out.

The box itself is quite a premium item. It’s not your conventional rectangle and it has the phone’s name printed on the front in gold.

Lift the lid and you’ll be greeted with the handset it self nestled in its own little cutout.

Slide the tray out and you’ll find all the accessories you get in the box.

In addition to the leather case and a USB Type-C cable, the vivo NEX also comes with a pair of in-ear headphones and a fast-charging power brick capable of 5V2A/9V2A/10V2.25A charging.

The phone itself is a hefty beast with a large 6.59″ Full HD+ AMOLED display up front.

Inside, it’s powered by a flagship-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor mated to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There is also a 4,000 mAh battery inside.

Since it’s mostly all screen, the vivo NEX doesn’t feature a traditional earpiece. Instead it uses a screen soundcasting technology that can emit audio through the display.

That’s not all, because the vivo NEX also doesn’t have a traditional fingerprint scanner. Instead, it features an in-display fingerprint scanner so all you need to do to unlock the device is tap your finger on the designated area of the screen.

Since there is no notch — or space — for the selfie camera, vivo has hidden it in a small little motorised module that automatically slides the 8MP front camera up when you want to take a selfie.

The motor then tucks the camera back into the handset when you don’t. All of this happens in just one second.

Around back, the NEX packs a dual-camera system. The main sensor is a 12MP one with an f/1.8 aperture lens while the secondary camera features 5 megapixels and an f/2.4 aperture lens.

There is optical image stabilisation (OIS) and electronic image stabilisation (EIS) for steadier shots.

Although there’s a slight camera bump at the back, the whole module in general sits pretty flush with the body.

NEX also features a 3.5mm headphone jack which will undoubtedly delight traditional headphone users.

At the bottom you’ll find the SIM tray, USB-C port and a speaker grille.

On the left, there is a power button and volume rocker.

On the right, you’ll find a dedicated button that can be used to launch the AI assistant. In this case, it’s the Google Assistant.

The vivo NEX is currently available for purchase in Malaysia and is priced at RM2,799. You can purchase it at all vivo concept stores and authorised retailers nationwide.