This Vivo phone sees you in 3D from three meters away

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Trying to outdo its competitors, Vivo continues to show off its new smartphone features at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai. The latest is 3D face scanning technology that enables the phone to recognize people from three meters away – three times farther than the iPhone X.

It also has a resolution of 300,000 points, 10 times of Apple's latest phone.

The feature was released at the MWC Shanghai on June 26.

Vivo said the new tech can be used for more accurate face unlocking, as well as other 3D-related features like taking 3D photos and trying on clothes using AR.

The Chinese company calls the new tech "TOF 3D super-sensing."

It also said China's largest messenger app WeChat will support mobile payments using your face – instead of a fingerprint – on Vivo's new phone.

The new phone will be released later this year.

True innovation?

This new technology came after Vivo released two other world-first phone features: an in-screen fingerprint sensor and a pop-up front camera.

The fingerprint sensor was first introduced earlier this year with the help of US sensor maker Synaptics. The sensor lies under the screen so that users don't need to touch a home button to unlock the phone.

Vivo's NEX and X series smartphones are already equipped with this sensor.

Screenshot from Vivo's demo video in January

The pop-up front cam is a brand new feature introduced in the NEX phone. The front-facing camera is placed inside the top bezel of the phone and will pop out when you need it.

Both features can be seen as an effort to achieve a smartphone design where the front is covered solely by a touch screen.

The all-screen design became popular after Xiaomi introduced its Mix series and Apple launched its iPhone X.

But Xiaomi Mix has a bottom bezel, or a "chin," while iPhone X has a notch on top, or on the "forehead."

Smartphone enthusiasts have been asking for a phone that only has a screen on the front. And the manufacturers are trying hard to fulfill this wish and produce visually attractive phones.

Vivo's latest features have led many smartphone fans to see Vivo as a new innovator in the industry, after years of complaining that the company copies others' designs.

With that said, many other people still question Vivo's creativity, saying that the fingerprint sensor was bought and the pop-up camera a simple mechanic trick.

(Cover GIF animation is a screenshot from Tencent.)