Worlds Thinnest Smartphone: Vivo X3T

I have had a number of different smartphones over the past few years, some have felt like a brick in my pocket, others felt slim and lightweight, but nothing prepared me for the BBK Vivo X3T, at a extremely thin, almost wafer thin if you will, 5.75mm thick it has passed its Chinese certification for sale and is expected to launch as early as August 22! on the world’s largest carrier, China Mobile.

The specifications for this marvellous piece of kit are as follows:  5-inch FHD at 1080 x 1920 Resolution, MediaTek 1.5GHz Quad-Core Processor, 1GB RAM, 8MP Camera, 5MP FFC (Front Facing Camera), 143.27mm x 71.03mm x 5.75mm, weighing only 150 grams and running Android Jelly Bean 4.2


The war continues to drag on for who can build the slimmest smartphone, but at only 5.75mm, the BBK Vivo X3T is the hands down, winner for now.  Only the other day at 6.18mm, Huawei’s Ascend P6, was the thinnest ruling smartphone on the market. The next in line was the Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra which comes in at 6.5mm.  We need to just remember though, with thinness, comes less room, coupled with that comes a smaller battery, which means, obviously, shorter battery cycles and increased recharges. There is no battery size specified, as yet on the BBK Vivo X3T, but Huawei’s Ascend P6 has only a 2000mAh battery, so we should be expecting that or even smaller in the Vivo X3T.

The amount of stories I have heard regarding a screen being broken, due to a person’s smartphone (Galaxy S3 comes to mind) being left in a pocket is unreal.  However, it doesn’t help the situation when manufacturers and developers make the devices even thinner, does it? I would be happy with a slightly bigger phone with a  larger battery to give increased battery life, not to mention a sturdier handset!  Small and think is great, but at what cost?

Sony Release The Xperia Z Ultra

Sony has announced the release of the Xperia Z Ultra, a waterproof Android smartphone with a 6.4-inch screen. They claim it is the slimmest large-screen handset on the market.

The company say they intend for this device to challenge Samsung’s dominance in the jumbo-sized handset sector.

                The Xperia Z Ultra is waterproof

The Ultra follows the previous Sony Xperia Z, which was unveiled in January. It will go on sale in China, Indonesia and Singapore in July and reach Europe in September.


Calum MacDougall, Xperia’s director has said that “Southeast Asia is the key market for the product because the trend towards large-screened smartphone devices is stronger there, but we also see the trend in Europe as well.”

“In the large-screen segment at the moment most consumers are looking at the Galaxy Note. Now we can offer something that is really distinct: a stronger screen, greater portability, waterproofing and something different around the stylus and the pen.”


The Xperia Z Ultra can accept sketches or notes written not just from the optional stylus, but also from a standard pencil or metal-tipped pen.

                                             You can use a plain old pencil for writing or
                                                                  sketching on the Xperia Z Ultra
It is only 6.5mm thick, making it it only slightly deeper than the Huawei’s Ascend P6, the thinnest device on the market.

Sony have done away with the flap over the headphone socket, which featured on the original Xperia Z, after there were complaints that it was fiddly to use.

The handset can be submerged in freshwater for up to half an hour at a depth of 1.5m, that’s deeper than its predecesor.

Some other features that the Xperia Z Ultra offer are:

• A 1080p resolution screen with in-built software to upgrade lower definition videos and photos
• 16 gigabytes of internal storage with support for 64GB microSD card
• An 8 megapixel rear camera
• A battery offering up to 11 hours talk time or 120 hours of audio playback – a figure which Sony claims is a record

Sony is not the only company trying to undermine Samsung’s lead in this market; Huawei, ZTE, Acer, Asus and Lenovo have all released devices, trying to compete for popularity. But with Samsung releasing their own Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Mega, have they already missed the boat?