VivoX1
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BBK Vivo X1 hands-on
Even though we focus a lot of our CES coverage on the biggest (read: flagship) products announced at the show, we revel in the opportunity to find the little gems scattered in various corners of Las Vegas that may not receive quite as much attention. One such product is the BBK Vivo X1, a phone that was recently launched in China but hasn't seen any time on this side of the Pacific. Up until this week, this particular piece of circuitry was the title holder for "world's thinnest smartphone," measuring in at 6.55mm thick. (The Alcatel Idol Ultra now claims this title at 6.45mm, although it's technically not on sale yet.) Despite the small package, it also professes to pack a hefty audio punch, boasting a pair of Beyerdynamic MMX 71 iE earphones and Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC. We weren't able to test the audio prowess of the device in our brief interaction, but it felt reasonably good to hold in our hands overall. The Vivo X1 is one of the more sleek phones we've played with recently, but there's one piece of baggage that comes with that statement: it's slick. Our small concern with smartphones this thin is how well we can hang onto the ¥2,498 ($400) handset without dropping it on a regular basis, and its incredibly light chassis combined with its smooth plastic back add to that worry. At the very least, the 4.7-inch frame is easy to grip despite its slippery material. Spec-wise, you aren't looking anything out of the ordinary: a dual-core 1.2GHz MediaTek MT6577T processor and 1GB RAM help the phone get stuff done; it's powered by a non-removable 2,000mAh battery (rather large for such a slim phone) and offers a qHD IPS display, 16GB internal storage, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 8MP rear-facing camera and 1.3MP front cam. This device is geared primarily for China, so it's quite likely that we won't see it in many other parts of the world. But if you fancy a closer look at the Vivo X1, take a look at our extensive gallery of images below.
BBK's Vivo X1 is a phone for audiophiles, packs high-end DAC and Beyerdynamic earphones
We've never paid much attention to BBK's phones in the past, but today, this Chinese company -- who's actually the creator of the Oppo brand for the Western market -- announced a rather interesting Android 4.1 device. The idea of this Vivo X1 is that BBK wants to take audio very seriously on its new flagship phone, which is why it's been given a Cirrus Logic CS4398 digital-analog converter plus a CS8422 sample-rate converter -- a combo that's seemingly popular amongst Hi-Fi connoisseurs and manufacturers. And to match that audio performance, BBK's also throwing in a pair of Beyerdynamic MMX 71 iE earphones (20Hz-22kHz, 12Ω, 104dB) as part of the ¥2,498 ($400) package; though you can also choose the AKG K420 or the Sennheiser CX215 instead when buying from BBK's official online store. The rest of the Vivo X1, however, is more bog-standard in comparison: MediaTek MT6577T processor (1.2GHz, dual core, Cortex-A9), 4.7-inch 960 x 540 IPS display, 1GB RAM, 16GB built-in storage, eight-megapixel main camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and WCDMA 2100 3G radio. The only real highlight here is perhaps the 2,000mAh battery, which is non-removable but still rather impressive considering it's in a 6.55mm-thin body. Even the Oppo Finder has a 6.65mm thickness and yet lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, whereas BBK's thinner phone has one. What's missing here is microSD expansion, but there's 15GB of Baidu cloud storage should users wish to take advantage of that. The Vivo X1 may just be available for pre-order now, but the folks at BBK couldn't help but tease the highlights of its next-generation device already: bezel-free design, 1080p display, big battery and 13-megapixel camera. We look forward to that.
