Vivo X Fold5 review: Busts all myths about foldable phones

Vivo X Fold 5

You know how foldable phones have always felt somewhat unconventional. Eye-catching, futuristic, but also a little impractical. Too chunky, too fragile, too gimmicky, never really convincing enough to become your main phone. I have been through that frustration every time I have tested one. Though, to be fair, impracticality hasn’t stopped them from becoming a bit of a status symbol. Just ask the uncles from DLF Camellias or nearby posh pockets, many of them have happily ditched their iPhone Pro Maxes to flaunt a foldable at golf courses and dinner parties.

So when Vivo launched the X Fold5, promising it’s light, powerful, and genuinely reliable, I was intrigued, though still skeptical. Could this finally be the foldable phone that doesn’t just make an impression on day one, but actually stands up to the grind of daily life? A phone that gives you flagship-grade cameras, proper battery life, and real productivity, all in a folding body?

As someone who’s obsessed with both cameras and phones, I had to find out. So I tested it the only way that matters in real life, as my primary phone for more than two weeks. Here’s everything you need to know before you decide to take the foldable leap.

Design and Build
Vivo gets the basics spot on, this is the first foldable that doesn’t make your pocket sag. At just 217 grams, the X Fold5 is lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which makes a huge difference when you carry it around all day. Folded, it’s a practical 9.2mm thick, and when unfolded, it’s as sleek as a tablet at 4.3mm. The Titanium Gray version I used is minimalist, elegant, with a matte dual-layer finish that resists smudges and looks expensive.

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The curved edges nestle nicely into your palm and the raised metal frame gives you that satisfying sturdiness. The hinge deserves special mention, it opens and closes smoothly with no creaks, and you can feel its durability.
Vivo has used second-generation Armor Glass on the cover screen, which they claim is 30% more puncture-resistant, while the main screen is protected by Microcrystal Glass. After almost two weeks of fairly careless travel, including airport security checks and dust-laden car rides, the phone stayed scratch-free. Plus, with IPX8 water resistance and a hinge tested for 600,000 folds, Vivo sure isn’t playing around with durability.Display

I took this phone to Udaipur, and it completely replaced my tablet. The main 8.03-inch 2K+ AMOLED screen is genuinely a visual treat, it is bright, vivid, and ultra-responsive with a 120Hz refresh rate. It hits a crazy 4500 nits peak brightness, which meant even under Rajasthan’s harsh afternoon sun, I could comfortably use it without squinting.

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Movie watching on flights was genuinely enjoyable. The rich colours, deep blacks, and crisp resolution made Netflix shows look phenomenal. I didn’t miss my tablet at all, and that’s saying something. The stereo speakers are loud and well-balanced, adding to the cinematic experience.

Gaming on this phone is equally rewarding. Call of Duty Mobile, Asphalt, and Genshin Impact all ran buttery smooth with zero frame drops. Now, yes, the crease is there, it’s visible when you actively look for it, and you can feel it when you swipe across. But within a day, it fades into the background of your experience. It never disrupted gaming, content viewing, or productivity.

Performance and software

Vivo has used the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 under the hood, not the newest chip on the block, and yes, that might irk spec-obsessed users who always want the latest and greatest. But truth be told, I didn’t feel shortchanged even once.

Throughout my testing, everything felt seamless. Be it multitasking, gaming, switching apps. The X Fold5 scored 2055 in single-core and 5617 in multi-core tests on Geekbench 6, numbers that translate into reliable performance in real life, not just synthetic scores.

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Where it truly impressed me was sustained performance. Even after extended camera usage, heavy gaming, or editing on the go, the phone remained cool and responsive, never turning too hot, something that’s a common flaw in many flagships today. Vivo’s optimisation game is on point, and it shows in every swipe and tap.

Using the Vivo X Fold 5 has been a really smooth and satisfying experience. Funtouch OS 15 on top of Android 15 feels snappy, and it’s clearly built with the foldable design in mind, apps resize neatly, and moving between the cover screen and the big inner display is seamless.

My favourite feature is the Origin Workbench. If you’ve ever wished your phone could handle multitasking like a proper desktop, this is as close as it gets on a foldable.

On that massive inner display, you can have up to five apps running side-by-side, well, technically, one in focus and four tucked neatly into a tab layout on the left edge. At first, I thought I’d barely use it, but it’s addictive. For example, I can have my email open in the main window, quickly glance at a news app in another tab, keep Slack running for work updates, and still have Spotify and a to-do list app ready to go.

It feels very desktop-like, which is honestly rare for foldables. The tabs are so accessible that you can switch apps without breaking your flow. And compared to Apple’s Stage Manager, which it’s clearly inspired by, Vivo gives you more control and flexibility over what stays active and how your workspace looks.

That said, it’s not perfect. I still wish I could freely resize and drag windows anywhere on the screen, something that would make it even more like a laptop replacement. But even in its current form, it’s incredibly handy for managing work tasks, research, and even casual browsing without the constant open-close cycle of regular phones. And the best part is once you get used to it, going back to a single-screen phone can feel cramped.

Battery and connectivity

Battery is where Vivo completely outshines competition. It features a 6000mAh battery as compared to Samsung’s 4400mAh battery. It  handled my power user routine like a champ. I could shoot videos, edit, binge, game, and doom-scroll through social media, and still wrap up the day with 25-30% battery to spare.

And if I did need to charge, the 80W wired fast charging was almost extremely fast, zero to full in around 50 minutes. The 50W wireless charging was equally convenient for quick top-ups. Vivo has seriously turned one of foldables’ biggest flaws into one of its strongest points.

Connectivity is another key area where this device does not disappoint. Vivo’s advanced antenna system, with its Dual-Screen Antenna setup and Hinge Antenna 2.0, gave me a noticeable upgrade in connectivity. Places where my iPhone 16 struggled was inside heritage hotels, remote Udaipur highways, or Delhi’s packed metros, the X Fold5 maintained strong 4G and 5G signals. Call quality was consistently crisp, data speeds were reliable, and I never once had to deal with frustrating network drops.

Camera 

During my recent trip to Udaipur, a city that’s a photographer’s paradise with its mix of regal architecture, lakes, and vibrant street life, I had the perfect setting to put the Vivo X Fold5’s camera system to the test. Unlike other foldables that often compromise on optics, Vivo brings in a true flagship experience with ZEISS optics.

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The Vivo X Fold5 comes equipped with a versatile quad-camera setup on the rear, featuring a 50MP primary sensor with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, a 50MP portrait telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom, and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. On the front, both the cover display and the inner display have 32MP selfie cameras, ensuring high-quality selfies and video calls from any angle.

The first shot, taken at night with the moon rising over a heritage dome, perfectly captures the phone’s low-light prowess. Handheld, without any tripod, the phone managed to produce sharp details on the moon while retaining the warmth and intricate carvings of the dome. The subtle glow around the moon wasn’t blown out, and despite the challenging conditions, the noise levels remained impressively low. This is where the large sensor and Vivo’s superior night mode algorithms come together beautifully. As a photographer, I noticed the gradation in shadows was smooth, and the highlights didn’t clip, which is rare for handheld night photography on phones.

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Moving to the wide landscapes, the shot of the iconic City Palace from across Lake Pichola is a testament to the dynamic range and ultra-wide lens sharpness. Many ultra-wide smartphone cameras tend to produce soft edges and introduce barrel distortion, but the X Fold5 kept the lines straight, the corners crisp, and the clouds dramatic without overprocessing. The water textures remained intact, the shadows under the palace had depth, and the sky retained its gloomy character without turning into a blotchy mess. This combination of wide perspective with flagship-level detail makes the camera a reliable companion for travel photography.

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Food photography, a real challenge for most phones due to indoor lighting, came out stunningly well with the X Fold5. Take the close-up shot of watermelon cubes with cream and olives—the textures pop, the reds and greens stay true-to-life, and the depth of field creates a creamy, natural background blur without any obvious software trickery. I particularly appreciated how the phone handled the skin texture of the watermelon, keeping it sharp while rendering the highlights on the cream without any ugly reflections or glare spots. Even at 50mm, the color tones were accurate, which often tends to get warmer indoors.

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One of my personal favorite captures was the cocktail glass shot in a dimly lit lounge. The phone handled mixed lighting exceptionally well, highlighting the translucent amber of the drink while keeping the glass stem crisp and reflections controlled. The bokeh effect created by the background lights was smooth and organic, almost reminiscent of DSLR-level results. Even the fine bubbles on the rim of the glass were visible, a detail that budget or mid-range flagships often miss in low light. This showcased how the camera handles complex light sources, depth, and subtle gradients.

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Finally, the portrait shot of the elderly flower vendor in New Delhi captured the raw emotion and detail remarkably. Shot at 100mm, this image highlights the telephoto capabilities of the X Fold5. The folds in his skin, the piercing eyes, and the delicate textures of the plastic-wrapped bouquet all came through naturally, without the overly smoothed effect many smartphone cameras tend to apply. The background separation was clean, and even in natural daylight, the tones were balanced, with no unnatural contrasts or shadows.

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Throughout this trip, whether it was clicking spontaneous street portraits, heritage structures, food, or nightscapes, the Vivo X Fold5 consistently delivered results I could confidently share without heavy post-processing. The color science, sharpness, and versatility of focal lengths from ultra-wide to telephoto make this phone a genuine powerhouse for photography enthusiasts who crave quality without compromising on style or portability.

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Should you buy the Vivo X Fold5?

The Vivo X Fold5 is one of the few foldable phones that feels ready for everyday life, not just to show off at parties. It’s lighter and slimmer than most foldables, so it’s easier to carry around, and the hinge feels sturdy enough for daily use. The big inner display is bright, sharp, and great for work, movies, or gaming, while the cover screen is perfectly usable on its own.

Performance is smooth, whether you’re multitasking, playing games, or using camera features. The Origin Workbench adds real productivity value, letting you run multiple apps side by side. Battery life is impressive for a foldable, and fast charging, both wired and wireless, makes it convenient to top up.

The camera system stands out with sharp, versatile shots in different lighting conditions, something many foldables still compromise on. That said, the crease is still visible, and you can’t fully resize windows like on a laptop.

At almost Rs 1.5 lakh, it’s a serious investment. But if you’ve been curious about foldables and want one that nails weight, battery, and camera quality, the Vivo X Fold5 comes closer than most to being a true everyday flagship in a foldable body.