Vivo’s minimalist APEX 2019 concept smartphone does away with ports and plugs

If 2018 was the year of the notch, then 2019 might be the year our smartphones wave goodbye to ports and plugs. Earlier this week Meizu turned heads by unveiled “the world’s first holeless phone,” and now fellow Chinese manufacturer Vivo has whipped the curtain of its futuristic APEX 2019 concept unibody mobile. Like the Meizu, the APEX 2019 sports a decidedly unconventional design that does away with physical buttons, usb ports, headphone jacks, and even the humble speaker grill. Instead, the minimalist handset is equipped with a fingerprint scanner, a magnetic power connector, and Body SoundCasting tech that can turn its edge-to-edge display into a speaker. It all sounds decidedly future-perfect on paper, but whether consumers will actually bite is the real question.

Chris Kerr Contributor, Stuff.tv

About

I’m a freelance games and technology journalist currently mashing my keyboard in the name of fine institutions like Stuff, where you'll usually find me waxing lyrical about the latest mobile morsels. I've also been known to cook up some decidedly delicious reviews from time to time, and was once dubbed 'the games industry's answer to Nigella Lawson' by someone probably somewhere.

Areas of expertise

Video games, computing, smartphones, home entertainment, lamps