Vivo shows off Nex 3 sketches and ‘waterfall’ curved glass

Vivo has started to ramp up the hype cycle on its next Nex phone. Following a leak last month of glass panels with extreme curvature, Nex product manager Li Xiang posted a picture himself of the glass this week on Weibo and has followed up today with sketches of the new device.

The sketches show that Vivo is also using the waterfall metaphor to describe the near-90 degree curvature of the glass’ edges, as with the prototype device that sister company Oppo unveiled last month. The back panel of the new Nex has a circular protrusion to house three cameras, which appears to have been inspired by watch design.

Vivo’s first Nex was the first phone with a pop-up selfie camera and one of the first with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The second Nex design, the Dual Display Edition, was a technically impressive but occasionally awkward phone that came out late last year. There hasn’t been a new Nex since, and expectations will be raised for Vivo to turn in some characteristically unique hardware soon.