Apple’s walled garden approach means you can’t use the Apple Watch with a smartphone other than the iPhone. But with its latest Android foldable, Vivo claims full support for the Apple Watch.
The Vivo X Fold 5 even promises deep iPhone and Mac integration, apparently mirroring your calls, messages, and notifications.
Vivo’s latest foldable is beauty with brains
Vivo has released some impressive phones in recent years. The X Fold 5 foldable builds on the company’s X Fold 3 from last year, packing a super-slim 9.2mm body. And yet, it manages to sport a massive 6,000mAh battery, an 8.03-inch inner folding display, up to 16GB RAM and triple 50MP rear cameras. It’s also the world’s lightest foldable yet, weighing only 217g.
While the X Fold 5 stands out based on the hardware alone, it packs some unique software features too. Vivo claims the X Fold 5 supports deep Apple integration. As part of this, the foldable will “seamlessly” connect to AirPods. With a Mac, you can use the X Fold 5’s inner screen as an extended display.
Photo: Vivo/Weibo
As if that’s not enough, Vivo says the X Fold 5 can pair with an iPhone — mirroring your calls, texts, and notifications. More importantly, the company claims the X Fold 5 can connect to the Apple Watch and sync your notifications, calls, etc. It can supposedly even sync your health and fitness data to Vivo’s Health app.
Install companion apps for the integration to work
However, there is a catch: you’ll need to pair your Apple Watch with an iPhone first. Plus, the Vivo X Fold 5 Pro won’t launch with Apple Watch integration out of the box; instead, it will come with a software update in the future.
Even for the other Apple ecosystem integration features, you must install a companion app on the iPhone or Mac. Still, that’s a small trade-off considering the deep level of integration Vivo promises.
On paper, the Vivo X Fold 5 promises impressive hardware and software features, especially with Apple devices. The only bummer? The foldable may not launch outside of China. And even if it does, Vivo won’t bring it to the U.S.
