Last year, the majority of high-end smartphones were offering screen resolutions of 720 x 1280. At least until the HTC Droid DNA / Butterfly came along and established that the new standard for high-end smartphones is 1080 x 1920. Unsurprisingly, most flagship handsets this year have delivered screen resolutions of 1080 x 1920. All fine and dandy, but the end of the year is closing in, and we get the feeling that 1080p is soon going to be replaced by something even greater. The question, however, is what smartphone will be the first to push the boundaries? Will it be a Samsung device? Or perhaps a new HTC gadget? Apparently not. The first smartphone to break the 1080p barrier will be the VIVO Xplay 3S, a 5.7 inch model that is expected to be unveiled in just over a week from now.
While the device has not been officially announced yet, there have been hints, leaks and rumors that have helped us better understand what the Xplay 3S is all about. Join us below and we’ll discuss all we know about this record-breaking handset.
VIVO Xplay 3S – Rumored Specifications
The first leak suggesting that VIVO is working on the Xplay 3S have surfaced back in October, when we’ve learned that this mysterious device will boast a display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440. At that time, the screen’s size was unknown, thus there was no way to determine the exact number of pixels per inch either.
Nevertheless, the device seemed to be quite large. Near the end of October, an alleged Xplay 3S prototype wrapped in a “mule” case was spotted, and it looked as if the handset might have a screen larger than 6 inches.
That, however doesn’t seem to be the case. About a month ago, a screen close-up comparison between the Xplay 3S, the HTC One and the iPhone hit the blogosphere, revealing that the Xplay’s display features 515 pixels per inch. This results in a 5.7 inch diagonal, so we can assume that the Vivo Xplay 3S is to be equipped with a 5.7 inch panel boasting a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and a pixel density of 515 ppi.
Aside from the impressive display, the Xplay 3S continues to offer many of the components that you would expect from a top-tier smartphone, including a Snapdragon 800 processor and 3 GB of RAM. The SD 800 CPU is the overclocked version (8974AB) which delivers higher RAM and GPU frequencies.
The handset will allegedly support 4G connectivity, USB 3.0 support, a camera with an aperture of f/1.8 and a dedicated Hi-Fi chip that “sounds” very promising. The camera itself is supposed to be a 13 MP unit, and it should be paired with a 5 MP front-facing sensor. The components are allegedly being powered by a generous 3,400 mAh battery.
Sources have also claimed that the back panel will be wrapped in Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which means that the handset will most likely adopt a unibody design. This theory has been strengthened by the leaked photos that were depicting the alleged final design of the handset, and five colors to choose from.
VIVO Xplay 3S – Unveiling
The Xplay 3S certainly sounds like a very appealing smartphone, and the device has already managed to attract a lot of fans. As such, many enthusiasts are eagerly waiting for the company to lift the veil on the device.
Recent rumors have suggested that VIVO will make the Xplay 3S official on December 12. This date has been circulated around the blogosphere during these past couple of days, although nothing is set in stone yet.
In fact, a recent leak depicting a press invite for the unveiling event of the Xplay 3S has suggested that the handset will actually become official on December 18. The event is supposed to take place in China at the Water Cube.
All in all, the VIVO Xplay 3S is a very interesting smartphone. It delivers hardware specifications similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (including the CPU, amount of RAM and screen size), but also pushes the limits even further. Could the Xplay 3S become a real threat to the Note 3? It might, but not unless VIVO will launch the device on a wider market.
Until the handset is unveiled, feel free to share your opinions in the comment section. Would you like to be able and buy the Xplay 3S through your carrier of choice? Do you think that a QHD resolution is necessary, or simply a demonstration of strength?
Vlad Andrici is editor for gforgames.com and writes about technology issues. Follow Vlad on Google Plus.