Vivo X Fold5 or Galaxy Z Fold6: Why there’s only one winner here at Rs 99,000

Foldable comparison

Foldable buyers weighing options in 2025 face a choice between the newly launched Vivo X Fold5 and Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold7. While, the Fold7 comes with the 2025’s flagship processor and X Fold5 features last-generation flagship processor, the worthy competitor when it comes to the processor is the Samsung Z Fold6 (launched in 2024).

On paper, both share the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 class chipset, but real-world pricing shifts the balance. The Vivo X Fold5 carries a price tag of around Rs 1,49,000, while Samsung’s Fold6, despite being a generation older, is widely available in major sales for under Rs 1 lakh—creating a Rs 50,000 gap.

With all this, the big question to ask here is: Whether you should spend more on Vivo X Fold5 or just go with the Samsung Z Fold6 and save some money?

We’ve compared both the phones in detail. Let’s take a look.

Vivo X Fold5 or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6: Performance party

Both foldables use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 generation, keeping performance closely matched. Samsung, however, benefits from software tuning that results in steadier thermals and smoother everyday operation, giving the Fold6 a slight advantage here. However, overall performance from both the phones will be similar.

Software advantage
Samsung’s One UI is designed with foldables in mind and that brings added features and functions too. Not that Vivo's FunTouch OS is lacking, but Samsung has spent almost 7 years now making the user interface for the foldable smartphones. The One UI 8 is overall more stable and polished. Features like a persistent taskbar, split-screen multitasking, app pairs, and drag-and-drop workflows make the Fold6 more efficient.

S Pen integration

The Fold6’s support for the S Pen turns its inner display into a tool for note-taking, sketches, document markups, and precision edits. This functionality extends its role beyond a large-screen phone, giving it a tablet-like edge that the Vivo X Fold5 lacks.

Battle of AI features

Samsung was the first brand to bring generative AI features to the smartphones with the entire Galaxy AI integration into the One UI. The Fold6 is no different here. It comes with Circle to Search streamlines research by letting users ring any on-screen item for instant results, which shines on the large canvas.Other than this, the Z Fiold6 also includes Note Assist transcribes, translates, summarizes, and auto-formats meeting notes, while Interpreter and Live Translate turn the Fold6 into a real-time communication bridge in dual-screen mode. Photo Assist and Portrait Studio speed up edits and stylized outputs, and Instant Slow-mo generates extra frames for smooth slow-motion clips without re-shooting. This is just a trailer, there’s Writing assist, Browsing assist and several other AI features baked right into the operating system.

Vivo also comes with some AI features like Circle to Search, like real-time call transcription, smart captions, AI-powered photo editing, instant text extraction, etc. Vivo has also added AI erase, AI Magic Move, AI call transcript and more.

But, one thing to keep in mind is that Samsung also offers the option for on-device processing which Vivo does not.

Durability and usability

Both the phones have durable hinges and has been tested for long-time opening and closing mechanisms. Moreover, the Z Fold6 comes with IP48 rating which makes it resistant to both dust and water. On the other hand, the X Fold5 has better protection with IPX58 and IP59 rating.

Cameras that work reliably

The Vivo X Fold5 features a Zeiss-powered triple rear camera setup (50MP main, ultra-wide, 3x telephoto) delivering sharp stills and detailed zoom, plus a 20MP selfie camera. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 matches with a 50MP main but offers reliable 12MP ultra-wide and 10MP 3x telephoto cameras. Vivo here has a more capable camera setup with versatile portrait mode, Zeiss tuning and more. Samsung’s camera is a tried and tested philosophy here that delivers good results.

Dex mode
Well, this mode might not be that popular, but Samsung’s Dex mode transforms the phone into a PC-like interface with support for keyboard and mouse and allows users to run multiple windows the same just like a Mac or Windows PCs. X Fold5 does not have anything like this. Well, this might change once Google introduces the dedicated desktop mode with Android update in future.

Battery trade-offs
Vivo X Fold5 comes with a massive 6000mAh battery with support for 80W wired fast charging. Samsung on the other hand has a 4400mAh battery with 25W fast charging.

Price decides it
At nearly Rs 1,49,000, the Vivo X Fold5 is significantly costlier than the Fold6, which frequently dips below Rs 1 lakh during sales. This Rs 50,000 gap makes Samsung foldable the value pick. With comparable performance, more refined foldable software, dependable cameras, and real-world pricing that undercuts Vivo by a wide margin, the Galaxy Z Fold6 stands out as the smarter buy in 2025. But, if you are out there just for the good camera and slightly bigger display size, then the X Fold5 makes sense.