SHANGHAI—The under display fingerprint sensor is real, but I understand why Apple isn't using it. At Mobile World Congress Shanghai, I got the chance to try the Vivo NEX phone, which achieves Apple's dream of a full-face, notchless screen via an under-screen fingerprint sensor and a pop-up camera.
The NEX is a $780 flagship phone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. On the back, there are 12MP and 5MP cameras. On the front, the 8MP camera pops up (more on that in a moment). But that's not what you're here for.
I came to Vivo's booth at MWCS because the NEX has a stunning 91.24 percent screen-to-body ratio, a huge 6.59-inch, 1080p AMOLED screen with only a slight bezel around the edges and no notch. You unlock the phone by pressing your finger to a designated spot about a third of the way up the screen, where the under-display fingerprint sensor lies.
That spot isn't obvious, so in the demo I was doing, the software was providing a guide—a little picture of a fingerprint on the unlock screen. It felt like it unlocked about as fast as other fingerprint scanners. That wasn't a problem.
The problem Apple might not be willing to put up with is that the NEX is a bit of a chunky monkey. It weighs more than 7 ounces, and it felt noticeably thick and heavy in my hand. I'm using a OnePlus 6 right now as my primary phone, and that's a little it too wide for me; the NEX felt distinctly thicker, and heavier, to the extent where I started to worry if that would limit its appeal. Now, some of that is because of the 4000mAh battery, but some of that has to be because of the other components.
The form factor is as comfortable to hold in the hand as possible—it's smooth and curved, with a warm, shimmery glass back. It's just that the device is really big.
The pop-up camera definitely makes the NEX thicker. Go into selfie mode, and the little guy pops up like a periscope. It takes about a second or so, so it's slower than a standard selfie camera. Notably, the camera doesn't automatically pop up when you're unlocking the phone, unlike on the Oppo Find X. That's because the Find X relies on Face ID-style face unlock, while the Vivo NEX wants you to use the fingerprint sensor.
As I was popping and retracting the camera, I was thinking about the difference between technology leaders and refiners/popularizers, because that shows the real difference between Vivo, out on the edge, and Apple.
Apple certainly wouldn't stand for an under-display fingerprint sensor that made its phone thicker, or a pop-up camera that delayed face recognition by a second. It's clearly going to wait for future versions of the under-display sensor tech, much as it waited for refinements in 3G, 4G, and other foundational technologies rather than being first.
The Vivo NEX is certainly striking. It makes waves and starts conversations. But there's a limit to the appeal of such a big, heavy phone with only a 1080p screen, even though the screen is bright and sharp. Someone needs to go first with these new technologies to blaze the trail for them to become mainstream, though, and I'm glad Vivo is doing it.