What has Vivo Done Now, The Apex

The Vivo Apex is nothing more than a concept phone right now, but it’s tremendously impressive. Not only are the bezels practically non-existant — 1.8mm on the top and sides, 4.3mm on the chin — but there is no notch at all. It begins with a massive 6-inch screen that has eliminated the bezels to an impossible 1.8mm on three sides and 4.3mm on the bottom.

The Vivo Apex is almost completely bezelless. The frame around the face is so slim, there is no  room for the front-facing camera.Flip over the front-facing camera and in 0.8 seconds an 8-megapixel lens rises up from the phone’s top edge. then wham, there is your selfie camera. The lens rises fairly slowly in the prototype. Im worried about a movable or mechanical piece on my smartphone. It will break somehow.

To produce in-call sound, the company has developed what it calls Screen SoundCasting Technology. A vibration motor under the display vibrates to produce sound through the screen. Yes you read that correctly,  the Apex OLED panels that vibrate to create the sound for your videos, calls and gaming.  the speakerphone demo  on the prototype sounded loud and rich.

Vivo showed us at the CES in January an in screen fingerprint reader. Now Vivo has expanded the in-screen fingerprint reader. On the Apex, the target takes up almost half the bottom of the phone, instead of just a small circle. That opens all sorts of doors to simultaneously scan two fingerprints for added security, or place your finger down at any odd angle, instead of hitting it perfectly dead center.

The last truly impressive thing to take from this is the Vivo Apex  software seems to be a complete copy of iOS, down to the graphics assets on the homescreen and in menus. It would be nice to see another iOS inspired software option. especially in a truly cutting edge phone.

Quick Specs Look

• 6-inch edge-to-edge OLED display with 1.8mm bezel on top and sides and 4.3 mm on the bottom.
• Screen resolution: 2,160×1,080 pixels
• 8-megapixel front-facing camera
• In-screen fingerprint reader supports dual fingerprint recognition
• Dual rear camera
• Hi-Fi audio chip creates more room for the battery by consolidating the DAC and three amplifiers into one

The Final Thought

it’s an incredibly baller phone, but it’s just a concept. That screen shows remarkable engineering and the pop-up camera isn’t as strange as you might think. I’d be happy to spend more time with the device if Vivo ever decides it’s ready for the show. I am anxious to see if the Chinese manufacturer continues innovating to fruition.