After Samsung and Oppo released their flip phones for 2023, Vivo may soon be coming out with one of its own.
An image of the so-called Vivo X Flip was leaked on Chinese social media by a well-known tipster on Monday. It shows a clamshell-style phone with a large cover screen in a horizontal orientation on the upper section of the device. This is a significantly larger screen than the one on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, and stands in contrast to Oppo’s Find N2 Flip, which has a large screen in a vertical orientation.
Smartphone companies are betting foldable phones will be the next big thing in smartphone tech, but these bendy devices have yet to break into the mainstream. The flip phone, however, seems to be paving the way for the segment, as it stages a comeback partly thanks to its compact design and the perception that it’s more disconnected than regular phones.
This year, Oppo released its first flip phone to international markets, in a move that deepens the phone maker’s commitment to the foldable phone category.
Earlier reports on the Vivo X Flip say that it has a 6.8-inch inner screen and will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. There is no word yet on when Vivo’s flip phone will be announced or if it will receive an international release, but the the Chinese phonemaker is reported to unveil its bookstyle foldable phone, the Vivo X Fold 2, as early as April.
Vivo didn’t respond to a request for comment.
