Phone check: A look inside the Vivo X5 Max, worlds thinnest phone!


vivo x5 max tear down

Making a super slim phone isn’t an easy task so how, and why do they actually do it? Let’s delve inside the Vivo X5 Max to find out!

Before the Vivo X5 Max was launched, I was lucky enough to visit Vivo in Shenzhen and speak to them about the new phone and even managed to bag myself an early preview.

Like many of you I wondered what where Vivo’s motives behind the building a super thin phone and was given a few answers as to why a company should build a 4.75mm slim Android phone.

The Vivo representative we spoke to explained that building a new phone with a slim body presented new engineering challenges and allowed Vivo to make break through in design and manufacture that we will see on future phones. So expect slimmer and strong phones from Vivo this point on.

vivo x5 max tear down

Another interesting reason for a slim phone was marketing. In China having the biggest, fastest or thinnest of something accounts for a lot when showing off friends or business partners. Having a super thin phone impresses friends and also spreads Vivo and their phone via word of mouth and social marketing.

So those are the whys, but what about the hows?

The secret behind the Vivo X5 Max’s thin body is the internal placement of the key components. Vivo claim that 90% of the internal hardware sits on the left hand side of the phone, with the 2000mAh battery living on the right.

vivo x5 max tear down

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The battery position is key too, as it sits almost in the center (lengthways) on the phone and is the most heavy component. This helps to create a nice balance when in your hand.

The X5 Max also uses the world’s slimmest external speaker (less than 3mm). With these design choices Vivo were able to shave off 1.7mm of the overall thickness of the X5 Max, while retaining a large (for the size) 2000mAh battery , Super AMOLED display, HIFI Audio components, dual SIM (or single sim with SD), and 3.5mm headphone jack! Quite impressive if you can afford the 2998 Yuan price tag.

Read Also:  Samsung Welcomes Apple to the Future of Messaging with RCS

vivo x5 max tear down 7 vivo x5 max tear down 10 vivo x5 max tear down 8

We have already spoken with Vivo and will be receiving a review unit early next year, we also hope to score the next generation Xplay soon after too!

[ Photos via GizChina.it ]
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15 Comments

  1. Muhammad Yasir
    December 14, 2014

    too expensive 🙁

  2. Konstantinos Natsios
    December 14, 2014

    yup too expensive and too big for me, yup too big, aside from being slim they should have thought that with those bezels its too long, it should have been 5intches… then maybe i would splash the cash to get it, but at that pricepoint there is huge competition,heck you can get mx4 pro way cheaper.

    i saw in your 18 64bit phones to come out, that vivo has a x5 max small edition with 5intch screen, any news on that phone? maybe that will be the one to get

    i dont care that much about thickness, the perfect for me would be 6-7mm , current flagships have 9 and those slim phones have 4, so something in between with better battery life and specs would be ideal

    those companies should stop worrying about records and bigger phones with 2k screens, most people i know want 5intch phones at max and 1080p at max(for battery,also no point on 2k on a 5intch screen), sure there are people that want phablets 5,5+ but i think thats less than 10% of smartphone users….

  3. Paul
    December 14, 2014

    Can’t wait to have it, my current phone is Vivo Xplay 3s and I lovn’t.
    Not all phone from China are cheap. such as Vivo. High price with high quality.

  4. December 14, 2014

    The layout seems very similar to that of an iphone 4’s internals (not a dig or a bad thing), having had a fair few apart the resemblance is uncanny, obviously vivo have made their’s a lot thinner and sexier lol.

  5. Rob
    December 14, 2014

    Hi Andi, any idea when exactly we can expect the xplay? My phone is broken and I don’t want to buy another to use temporarily if this is due out soon? Also, any idea on spec??

  6. Flow
    December 14, 2014

    Wenn will they release a WCDMA + FDD-LTE version?

  7. Guest
    December 14, 2014

    too expensive 🙁

  8. Konstantinos Natsios
    December 14, 2014

    yup too expensive and too big for me, yup too big, aside from being slim they should have thought that with those bezels its too long, it should have been 5intches… then maybe i would splash the cash to get it, but at that pricepoint there is huge competition,heck you can get mx4 pro way cheaper.

    i saw in your 18 64bit phones to come out, that vivo has a x5 max small edition with 5intch screen, any news on that phone? maybe that will be the one to get

    i dont care that much about thickness, the perfect for me would be 6-7mm , current flagships have 9 and those slim phones have 4, so something in between with better battery life and specs would be ideal

    those companies should stop worrying about records and bigger phones with 2k screens, most people i know want 5intch phones at max and 1080p at max(for battery,also no point on 2k on a 5intch screen), sure there are people that want phablets 5,5+ but i think thats less than 10% of smartphone users….

  9. Konstantinos Natsios
    December 14, 2014

    yup too expensive and too big for me, yup too big, aside from being slim they should have thought that with those bezels its too long, it should have been 5intches… then maybe i would splash the cash to get it, but at that pricepoint there is huge competition,heck you can get mx4 pro way cheaper.

    i saw in your 18 64bit phones to come out, that vivo has a x5 max small edition with 5intch screen, any news on that phone? maybe that will be the one to get

    i dont care that much about thickness, the perfect for me would be 6-7mm , current flagships have 9 and those slim phones have 4, so something in between with better battery life and specs would be ideal

    those companies should stop worrying about records and bigger phones with 2k screens, most people i know want 5intch phones at max and 1080p at max(for battery,also no point on 2k on a 5intch screen), sure there are people that want phablets 5,5+ but i think thats less than 10% of smartphone users….

  10. Guest
    December 14, 2014

    Can’t wait to have it, my current phone is Vivo Xplay 3s and I lovn’t.
    Not all phone from China are cheap. such as Vivo. High price with high quality.

  11. Shanos
    December 14, 2014

    The layout seems very similar to that of an iphone 4’s internals (not a dig or a bad thing), having had a fair few apart the resemblance is uncanny, obviously vivo have made their’s a lot thinner and sexier lol.

  12. Rob
    December 14, 2014

    Hi Andi, any idea when exactly we can expect the xplay? My phone is broken and I don’t want to buy another to use temporarily if this is due out soon? Also, any idea on spec??

  13. antidumb
    December 14, 2014

    am i the only one think the under phone part still has many room. they should move speaker and micro usb part to the left and make battery longer to the bottom

  14. Flow
    December 14, 2014

    Wenn will they release a WCDMA + FDD-LTE version?

  15. Guest
    December 14, 2014

    am i the only one think the under phone part still has many room. they should move speaker and micro usb part to the left and make battery longer to the bottom