Vivo Nex S Seen Passing Bend, Burn, and Scratch Tests Ahead of India Launch

Vivo Nex S and Vivo Nex A were launched in China as the company's latest flagship smartphones earlier last month, and the big highlight was its 91.24 percent screen-to-body ratio. To make room for all the screen, the company had integrated a motorised pop-up camera in both the phones. Vivo Nex S, the premium model featuring a Snapdragon 845 SoC, 8GB RAM, up to 256GB inbuilt storage, and an in-display fingerprint sensor, is set to be unveiled in India on July 19, where it is expected to be called just the Vivo Nex. While the performance of the new Vivo smartphone is yet to be reviewed, the handset has undergone a bunch of durability tests to help you determine its toughness. These come in the form of scratch, burn, and bend tests.

YouTuber JerryRigEverything, who is popular for stress testing flagships, has this time picked the Vivo Nex S. One of the first things to get tested in the video is the integrated motorised pop-up camera. The smartphone has a motorised slider with the camera sensor, that moves up and down from the body. The block does not seem to wobble and makes a sound while opening it. Also, when the YouTuber pressed the camera it either pops back up or automatically retracts to its position depending on the force applied. Interestingly, when he tried to grab the camera while retracting, the mechanism still seem to have enough power to pull free of his grip.

The narrator then continues his video with a scratch test that uses the Mohs scale to examine the hardness of the front glass panel of the Vivo Nex S. Scratches on the Vivo smartphone surface at the sixth level of the scale, while some deeper signs appear at the seventh level. This is somewhat similar to the OnePlus 6 that also resisted scratches until the Moh level six of hardness.

Furthermore, the narrator in the video shows how the sound coming out of the Vivo Nex S is like. One of the most interesting new features in the Vivo Nex S is the Screen SoundCasting technology. It replaces the earpiece from the front side to achieve a bezel-less display. It leverages screen vibrations through a micro-vibration unit to generate the sound - similar to the first generation Mi Mix bezel-less smartphone. According to the video, the sound is a bit different than the ones coming out of regular smartphones.

Notably, Vivo claims the Vivo Nex S comes with the third-generation under-display fingerprint sensor that is said to be 10 percent faster with 50 percent improved accuracy. The video suggests that the functionality is not affected even when there are a few scratched on the display.

Vivo has also bundled a screen protector to make the smartphone look fresh for a longer time. The sides of the Vivo Nex S are covered with the metal frame that seems to have a paint on top that can receive scratches.

Coming towards the burn test, the screen of the Vivo Nex S withstood an open flame for about 16 seconds before the pixels become completely dead. The frame of the smartphone does get bent a bit. The YouTuber found some flex, though the build didn't result in any cracks or kinks.

Are Vivo Nex and Oppo Find X revolutionary phones or overpriced prototypes? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.