The new Vivo NEX has two screens and 10GB of RAM

Vivo has officially unveiled a new successor for its all-screen NEX flagship but it isn’t the named the NEX 2. Instead, it’s called the NEX Dual Display Edition. Gone is the motorised selfie camera but it now comes with an extra screen at the rear.

Upfront, it features a 6.39″ edge to edge Full HD+ display which is smaller than the current NEX’s 6.59″ screen. The rear gets a 5.49″ display and it pushes a more traditional Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) resolution in 16:9 aspect ratio. Both screens are Super AMOLED and the front boasts a screen to body ratio of 91.63%. 

Similar to the current NEX, the Dual Display edition is powered by a Snapdragon 845 processor but it now comes with 10GB of RAM instead of 8GB. On-board, it gets 128GB of internal storage which is still non-expandable. 

Since there’s no space for anything on the front, selfies are taken from the rear. The NEX double display gets a triple-camera setup that’s placed horizontally at the top. It has a 12MP main camera using Sony’s IMX363 sensor with 4-axis OIS, a secondary 2MP shooter and a third TOF camera that’s used for 3D depth sensing.    

Like the original NEX, it also features an in-display fingerprint sensor. If you prefer to unlock at a glance, it also supports face unlock but you’ll have to turn to the rear cameras. 

Another interesting addition is a “Lunar Ring” feature at the back. The circular element overlaps with the display and its main dual-cameras. This ring can illuminate in different colours for various notifications and it also doubles as a soft light for selfies. 

Since the rear display is also touch-enabled, the new NEX offers additional controls for gaming as it allows you to tap on either side of rear display. This is similar to the Nubia X.

The battery on the NEX Double Display edition is smaller at 3,500mAh, which is 500mAh less than the current NEX. With twice the number of displays, we expect battery life to be shorter than its predecessor.

In China, the Vivo NEX Dual Display edition is priced at 4,998 CNY (about RM3,037) and it will be available on 29 December 2018. As a comparison, the current NEX with a pop-up selfie camera is currently priced at 4,298 CNY (about RM2,611).  So far there’s no word on its availability outside of China. 

Which is a better solution for an all-display smartphone? A phone with two screens or a phone with a slider mechanism like the MI MIX 3 and Honor Magic 2? Let us know in the comments below.