Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition Review

Some say that innovation isn't a matter of creating something completely original because almost nothing these days is. Instead, it's about taking existing things and mixing them together in a new and exciting way. If that's true, then the Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition, the mouthful formal name of what most will probably simply call the Vivo NEX 2, is perhaps one of the most innovative smartphones these years. Or at least that's the claim that we're now putting to the test.

The Vivo NEX DDE is a pleasure to look at and hold right out of the box. It has an almost perfect balance of weight, which is surprising considering you have a bit more hardware inside. It feels solid but not too heavy and, at the same time, not too flimsy.

The NEX DDE uses the same glass-metal-glass sandwich but, of course, this time it's also screen-metal-screen as well. The aluminum frame now even has more responsibility in keeping things together and providing structural integrity for the entire phone. Fortunately, it doesn't have much around its edges, just the volume rocker and power button on the right, Vivo's "Jovi" AI assistant button on the left, the USB-C port at the bottom flanked by the SIM card tray and the speaker grille, and, thankfully, a headphone jack at the top.

While the NEX Dual Display Edition definitely feels comfortable to hold, there's always the fear of dropping such a glassy contraption. The fear is doubled when you realize that, whether it drops on its face or on its back, it will always land on a screen. Since you can't really put a case on this one, as even a transparent case will make the back screen untouchable, Vivo instead ships with a bumper that not only protects the edges but also provides a buffer between either screen and the point of impact. The bumper matches the color of the phone, which comes in either Blue or Red.

In contrast to the serene quiet of the front, the new NEX's back is very busy. It's where all the action is, after all. That means the triple (yes, triple) cameras and the 5.49-inch 1920x1080 16:9 AMOLED screen. We'll deal with the former later.

While that second screen is of course there to help frame the perfect selfie, it's a full-fledged normal touch screen as well. As mentioned, you can even live off this side of the phone if you don't mind the lower resolution and smaller area. You can easily switch between the two screens with the press of a button, usually that Jovi button by default. When you do flip, however, the power and Jovi button flips as well so that the latter is always on the left, no matter which side you're on. Alternatively, you can also just press both buttons at the same time if that proves to be too confusing.

There is, however, one thing that could keep you from fully living on the rear. Vivo calls it a Lunar Ring and its a design and notification gimmick that, for better or worse, eats into the back screen. Above the screen, it's an LED arc that surrounds the two main cameras. That arc, however, continues down into the screen to form a full circle. The Lunar Ring lights up with dramatic flair to call attention to notifications or shine light on your face with selfies. It's simply a visual trick thanks to some fancy glass design but it's always present nature might make it less conducive to use that side for prolonged periods.

As for the screen itself, being the same AMOLED panel makes it just as vibrant as the front. When it's off, however, it is clearly apparent that it's not of the same material as the frame around it. At the same time, gives it that Google Pixel dual-color vibe that might not be so bad, depending on your aesthetic tastes. That second screen also functions as a second game controller, Vivo promises. Think of it like playing a game on the main/front screen while all or some of the controls are on the second/back screen. You do get a full view of all the action, but whether your fingers will ever get used to controls you can neither see nor feel is probably the bigger question.

Vivo learned its lesson from the first NEX where it opted for a fingerprint scanner and nothing else. This time it has both fingerprint and face recognition, though you can't use both at the same time. Or, rather, you can only one use one or the other, depending on where you're facing.

There is only one fingerprint scanner and it's located in the front screen's display. This feature is like that of the Vivo NEX and other newer smartphones with fingerprint-on-display sensors or FODs. This time, though, the response rate and accuracy is a lot better. Almost as fast as Touch ID. Almost.

Without a front-facing camera, or at least a traditional one, there's really no way to use face unlock on the front. That, of course, is on the back side. The TOF 3D sensor advertises being able to detect 300,000 points up to a distance of 3 meters. With the IR illuminator, this simply means that face unlock works reliably even in dark places. Perhaps to keep things fair, the back side doesn't have a fingerprint scanner like the front. Understandable but unfortunate. ZTE's nubia solved the problem by putting the fingerprint sensor underneath buttons on both sides of the frame.

The Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition is one of the few smartphones that ship with Android 9 Pie already pre-installed. Of course, that also means it has Vivo's Funtouch OS customizations on top. International versions of the device, like the one we had for review, also get Google Play Store. There isn't much bloatware in that particular unit either and we're hoping the Chinese version would be the same.