Rumor | The Vivo NEX 2022 will be China's first Snapdragon 898-powered phone

If 2021's mobile-device product cycle is anything to judge by, smartphone OEMs such as Xiaomi are already racing to be first to launch flagships with the successor to the top-end Snapdragon 888 processor, especially in China. According to the reliable leaker Digital Chat Station, the BBK Electronics company Vivo will be the one to win this often hotly-contested marathon in 2022.

The device now slated to take this title may not be of the current X series, but will be a NEX device instead. Vivo has strongly hinted that this smartphone flagship series would make a comeback in the first half of 2022, despite having dropped it years before. Now, Digital Chat Station asserts that not only is this 3S successor on the way, it will be "new" in every conceivable way possible.

This might involve a significant update for the upcoming flagship's appearance, form-factor and "imaging solution". The latter might well imply scope for one of Vivo's new in-house ISPs, which launched in the Vivo X70 series and is intended to confer an improved level of optimization and control over camera performance and function for the OEM.

Finally, Digital Chat Station's NEX-related hints might spark speculation that the 2022 model could also be Vivo's inaugural foldable smartphone. Given previous reports of the OEM's ambitions in this area, that just might be plausible.

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