“As a product manager, if you don’t know your consumer, you can’t create a product, it will be just another commodity,” Vivo India’s head of product management, Vikas Tagra, told FE on the sidelines of the Vivo X100 Pro launch earlier this year. In the same interview—which you can read here—Tagra had emphasised that while Vivo was trying to gain some share in the premium market, it did not want to do it on the back of fancy numbers—like chip core or camera megapixel count—alone, but by understanding its consumers’ needs better.
It’s been four years since Vivo started its premium marathon in the country, but June 6, 2024 was the day, it took its biggest leap, both in terms of innovation and ambition. Today, Vivo launched its first foldable smartphone—Vivo X Fold 3 Pro—in India. But it’s more than just another smartphone, for Vivo, even from a foldable perspective. It’s a statement, is what I can tell after having spent a good amount of time with it. Tagra is probably one of the most “easy to talk to” spokesperson I have had the pleasure of interacting with. He’s like an open book (probably not a good thing for PR for obvious reasons), which leads to conversations that go far and beyond marketing. A journalist can’t ask for more.
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro — AI overview
During my X Fold 3 Pro briefing recently, Tagra maintained the same level of candour. Coming hot on the heels of becoming India’s top smartphone player, you’d expect a bit of high-handedness at least. Tagra was as calm, composed, and humble as ever. While he spent a good amount of time explaining the inner workings of the X Fold 3 Pro, I was more interested in AI since that is—one of—its big selling features. Though Tagra was quick to dismiss the “scale” of it all—inside its maiden foldable—unlike other brands that tend to send out press releases promising the moon, with barely any gas in the tank.
Tagra mentioned that this was Vivo’s first stint at generative AI and the company was still trying to figure out real-time use cases based on feedback. Being a foldable, productivity was a no-brainer use case and so some of the features it is kicking off with are tailored specifically to enhance productivity. The phone’s Al Note Assist feature can automatically generate clear and concise layouts, extract key information, and create to-do lists for the user, saving time. AI Screen Translation can translate content directly on the current page, eliminating the need to switch apps or interrupt the workflow. Al Transcript Assist helps convert recordings into text in minutes, making accessing, analysing and extracting information from meeting recordings more convenient. All these features will require an active Internet connection to work. AI Note Assist and Transcript Assist will additionally require a Vivo account login.
Tagra acknowledged that some of the other brands may offer you more number of AI features, but the technology landscape is such that you could keep building on top of existing hardware, and while you should never buy new hardware on promises of software you might get in future alone, at least Tagra is being honest with what Vivo has in store now—and what it does not have. He also reiterated that he didn’t want to “overhype” anything at this juncture until the time Vivo was ready with a comprehensive solution. Going forward, Vivo plans to expand AI across photography, hands-free interactions, and of course, productivity spaces.
A little probing revealed that Vivo is using the Gemini Pro large language model (LLM). Gemini, previously known as Bard, is billed as Google’s “largest and most capable AI model.” You can think of it as its answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Transcript Assist uses Google’s Chirp algorithm which supports 100 languages, “not even Samsung can do that.”
On plans to charge customers for using AI features in the future, Tagra said, “Right now, it is free. There is no asterisk in our terms and conditions. We are very vigilant about consumers’ needs and the technology trends. This is just the first generation of AI, we will see how it evolves. If they are really willing to pay for it? We’ll have a learning from others also, if they charge, and if yes, what is the traction rate. Even if we start charging for it, we will give enough time to consumers to decide, to opt out or opt in.”
Vivo X Fold 3 Pro hardware— fully loaded
Vivo has launched its first foldable phone in India at an eye-watering price of Rs 1,59,999. The obvious question is — who would buy it? Tagra is hoping the phone will be an obvious choice for Vivo X-series loyalists— a number that’s growing, as per market reports. The company is targeting “white-collar” people and for that TG, the X Fold 3 Pro will be a no-compromise device.
It combines lightweight design and durability, featuring a carbon fibre hinge weighing 14.98 grams and certified by TÜV Rheinland to withstand 500,000 folds. It boasts IPX8 water resistance, too.
The device 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. Both screens include ultrasonic fingerprint readers for security. The battery is huge at 5,700mAh—largest on any foldable—and supports 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, it comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The 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. Vivo has also put its V3 imaging chip inside it and partnered with ZEISS to make for one of the most powerful camera setup, on any foldable yet.
The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro practically leaves no spec behind, if anything, it punches above its weight class even if it stands tall as the most expensive foldable in the Indian market today. It’s got the goods. Whether or not it will deliver, only time will tell.
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