Vivo X90 Pro review: Impressive cameras meet flagship hardware

Vivo is one of the many brands that has raised its bar and set flagship goals for itself in recent years. The Vivo X series is the company’s way of showing what it can do when price is not an obstacle and innovation has more room to develop. With Zeiss Optics, the X series is a true photography device that can equally meet the performance needs of a smartphone user.

The new X90 series is a continuation of this journey and all our eyes were on the value of the X90 Pro, launched as the most beautiful X series phone in the Indian market. The new Vivo X90 Pro is priced at Rs 84,999, which as many would say is Apple-Samsung territory. And like Xiaomi and OnePlus, Vivo wants to change the way buyers think and offer them a compelling product for much less than what you’d pay for these two brands these days. We used the X90 Pro for a few weeks to see if the phone lives up to those lofty goals and appeals to buyers.

Vivo X90 Pro Review: What’s Cool?

The first thing you’ll notice about the X90 Pro is its build quality, which moves from the X80 Pro’s textured panel to a premium leather finish and a curved design that feels good in the hand. Leather panels tend to wear out after some time, but Vivo claims to have used the finest materials for its panels, which last much longer.

Although the X90 Pro weighs around 214 grams, the overall balance of the device makes it easier to hold and use with one hand. On top of that, you have a phone with an IP68 rating that makes it resistant to water and dust.

The screen of the X90 Pro has an AMOLED 1B panel that supports Full HD+ resolution with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The colors are striking and the overall quality of the screen is impressive, as the colors look natural and pleasing to the eye at the same time. Watching videos or reading stories on the 6.78-inch screen will not cause any problems.

Vivo has taken a different and bold approach by choosing the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC as its main hardware. The device has been released for buyers in India with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. To be honest, we weren’t sure if the hardware helped Vivo enter the flagship category, but when we started using the phone and putting the phone to daily tasks, we found that this chipset is just as powerful as the latest Snapdragon 8. Gen 2 SoC.

It can handle heavy tasks and provide gaming at the highest supported settings and works without any glitches. You can use Chrome, play music and open several other applications in the background and still enjoy a smooth user experience. This performance is also supported by the Funtouch OS 3 version, which has surprised us equally with smoothness and less friction. Vivo has been talking about improving the software for its devices, and for the first time we saw it in action.

Now let’s talk about the cameras. Vivo uses a triple camera system and the star of the show is a 50 megapixel wide 1 inch type sensor tuned by Zeiss. It comes with OIS. You also have a 50-megapixel telephoto sensor with OIS and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The main sensor steals the headlines with its impressive clarity and detailed visuals.

You get plenty of detail even in low light. We tested the phone in various conditions and even managed to capture moving objects such as cars and scooters thanks to the custom sports mode developed by Vivo. You can’t help but look at the pictures and be amazed at the improvements smartphone cameras have made.

The telephoto sensor also helps to magnify objects and produce images that would be unheard of. Ultra-wide increases versatility. This year itself, we’ve seen Samsung, then Xiaomi, and now Vivo introduce camera advancements in smartphones, and in this space, it’s hard not to get excited about the future.

And finally, the Vivo X90 Pro fulfills the smartphone buyer’s criteria by packing a 4870mAh battery that supports 120W charging with the included charger. You also get 50W wireless charging support, but also via a proprietary charger that must be purchased separately.

The battery on this phone is a powerhouse, and thanks to efficient power management, we consistently got over 6 hours of screen time with heavy usage, which even includes using the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot for my drives. Even if you run out of juice, 120W charging ensures you’re ready in less than 30 minutes.

Vivo X90 Pro Review: What’s Not So Cool?

Even with so much praise, you can’t avoid talking about some of the downsides of the X90 Pro. First, the brand has opted for a non-LTPO panel, which means the display’s adaptive refresh rates depend on a smart switch or stay at 60Hz and 120Hz, depending on what you prefer. It’s hard to justify the absence of an LTPO panel in a phone costing more than Rs 80,000.

The phone’s design shows its good side, but these cameras have come at the expense of a protruding module that sits prominently on the back. Some may say that large sensors need more space especially if the overall dimensions are cut down. But even then, the lack of a case can be a problem for the user.

The hardware is mostly efficient, but we noticed the device getting warm when the stress on the chip was more than required. This was done to see how the phone would hold up in extreme cases. The first two cameras get all the love, and we can’t argue with the fact that the X90 Pro’s ultra-wide sensor is left out of the competition. The quality is not bad, but it does not live up to the promises of 50 megapixel duos.

The software has improved, but the bloatware is still there. Yes, you can remove/disable most of them and even disable notifications for others, but on a premium phone these are very avoidable.

Vivo X90 Pro Review: Should You Buy?

The Vivo X90 Pro is a flagship phone in every sense. It has the design, hardware and cameras to do the talking. The software has also come in leaps and bounds. The battery life together with those charging speeds is the icing on the cake. When you enter the Rs 80,000 segment, the demands are higher and the pressure to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung makes the challenge tougher.

But it’s impressive to see Vivo stand up to the giants and even give itself a good account when the Xiaomi 13 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro are on the same stand. With Vivo’s international warranty, you can definitely go for this if your budget and needs match well.

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