Verdict
The Vivo X90 Pro is the phone to get for modest - light photography , packing a 1 - inch sensing element into a relatively slight and lightweight chassis that allow for for truly impressive image gaining control . There ’s also a lot to have intercourse about the high - reticuloendothelial system 6.78 - column inch AMOLED show , Dimensity 9200 chipset and 120W charging that ’ll take the phone from flat to full in less than half an hour , though FunTouch OS is rather unexceptional .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Vivo has had a great few year with its flagship Adam scope , and that tendency is set to continue with the impressively capable Vivo X90 Pro .
The flagship range has always been do it for its camera artistry and that ’s been taken to the next level with the X90 Pro and a whopping 1 - inch sensor that powers the main 50.3MP snapper . It ’s a true game - changer , especially in low - lightness conditions , and it ’s flanked by equal to 50MP telephotograph and 12MP radical - panoptic lens of the eye .
It ’s not just a decent camera phone though ; it packs flagship - vie features like a 6.7 - in AMOLED display , MediaTek ’s top - oddment Dimensity 9200 chipset and 120W tight charging that allow for a full charge in less than half an 60 minutes .
Due for release in the UK soon with an expected price around the same £ 1199 mark as the Vivo X80 Pro , can the Vivo X90 Pro vie with othertop - end flagshipslike Samsung ’s premiumSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ? Somewhat to my surprise , I conceive the result is a resonant yes .
Design and screen
Vivo ’s X90 Pro is a insurance premium smartphone with a in high spirits - end pattern to match . That include the regular combination of a slimline aluminum skeletal frame and border - to - edge display with two twist edges that reserve the sound to sit comfortably in the palm of the script . But flip the phone over , and you ’ll recover a vegan leather buttocks in place of the regular crank used by most gamey - ending option .
I must admit , Vivo ’s decision to only send the X90 Pro with a vegan leather ( say : pleather ) back is a bit of a divisive one .
Other members of the Trusted Reviews team eff the mild tactual feel of the textured bottom , but I ’m in person not a fan . I much prefer the solid , premium spirit of glass – specially on a flagship – though I will grant that it make the sound slenderly light than likewise sized counterparts ( like the 240giPhone 14 Pro Max ) at just 215 g.
It ’s all down to personal preference , of course , but not even giving the option of a field glass tail could potentially pain the overall popularity of the flagship . It ’d also be courteous to see a brighter colour option if you ’re not a fan of the all - black finish , but that ’s just me nitpicking .
Vegan leather back end aside , the other big feature you ’ll no doubt posting is the rear camera bump . Well , I say bump , it ’s more like a pitcher’s mound , protruding farther from the rump of the smartphone than any other that I can hark back in recent memory .
There ’s a very good reason for this that I ’ll get into in a piece , but there ’s no overlooking that it ’s a pretty giving centrally - put rearward camera swelling that ’ll make quite the wobble when placed down onto a mesa .
The circular camera housing is , at least , a little more subtle and bounty - looking than that of the X80 Pro and its vast rectangular protuberance with a smaller orbitual regalia of television camera within .
Elsewhere , everything is passably much as require ; there ’s a power button and bulk rocker on the right side , aUSB - Cport on the bottom and , rather interestingly , an IR blaster built into the top boundary of the phone . It ’s a turn of a niche these days , but a ready to hand improver nonetheless .
That just pull up stakes the display – and what a display it is .
mensurate in at 6.78 in , the AMOLED panel is exquisitely detailed with an telling 2800 x 1260 resolution that ’s more pixel - bundle than even theGalaxy S23 Ultra . That defecate on - screen schoolbook wait super crisp , while also packing in more detail when watching high - ray videos via the ilk of Netflix and YouTube .
That viewing experience is further boost with support forHDR10+with a prime luminosity of 1300 nits that allow for telling dynamic range , though it is missing support forDolby Vision .
Expect other stalwarts of the gamey - end display experience including a dynamic 120Hzrefresh ratethat’ll automatically aline look on what you ’re doing in a bid to provide comely battery life while making every tap and swipe feelimmediate .
I retrieve my only complaint is that the exhibit itself is curved – another rather dissentious judgement reckon there are plentitude of people that adore curved edge on smartphones . While the curving display for certain looks premium , there ’s a rather odd vignette on the left over and right-hand edges as the AMOLED panel begin to curve around the edge of the sound .
It ’s admittedly a little matter that most users will dominate within days of economic consumption , but I ’d be dwell if I said I would n’t prefer a nice flat display . The palm rejection technical school of the curved show is top nick at least , which does make it an easy pill to eat up .
Cameras
The reason for that huge tv camera protuberance I mentioned earlier ? Vivo is one of the first smartphones on the grocery store to pack a whopping 1 - inch camera sensing element into its 50.3MP main lens that’smuchbigger than that of most other smartphones including the open Galaxy S23 Ultra .
As you ’d wait , the bigger detector allows the television camera to capture even more light that , when combined with 16 - in-1 pixel binning tech , an f/1.75 aperture and simulacrum processing via the X90 Pro ’s dedicated V2 image mainframe . This captures unbelievably detailed , vivid images with a wide dynamical range even in dispute light scenario .
The chief snapper of the Vivo X90 Pro score light work of thought-provoking conditions , be it capturing a heavily backlit jibe of my dog at the park or catch the hustle and bustle of London at sundown on my commute home from workplace .
Results are n’t always quite as crisp as those from the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra , but with that telephone boast a whopping 200MP lens , it ’s not too much of a surprisal .
I ’d go as far as to say it ’s almost effortless ; only point , shoot and the phone will do the rest . I very rarely found myself taking more than one piece of cake because it unremarkably amount out perfectly focused the first time around .
That ’s principally down to the enjoyment of optical maser autofocus , though it ’s enhanced by a focus lock characteristic in the Camera app that lets you select your subject and keep it in focal point no matter where it moves in the shot – ideal for fast - moving study like German Shepherds flow full fur for the ball at the park , trust me .
That ’s all well and unspoiled but where the principal camera really excels is in scurvy luminance . I was very impressed with the Galaxy S23 Ultra ’s gloomy - brightness level performance a few week ago , and the Vivo X90 Pro somehow takes it even further .
The 1 - column inch sensor can suck in an unfathomable amount of light that , according to Vivo , appropriate you to take stab in environments with less than 1 lux ( the light produced by a wax light ) . allow that sink in for a mo .
It ’s not just selling guff either ; the telephone set fundamentally adjoin on night vision . Take the below shot of my garden as an example . It attend like it was taken on a cloudy twenty-four hour period , right ? Nope , it was taken at 11 necropsy at dark with only the light from the moon in the scene .
The amount of point , from the leave on the bushes to the cloudy mess that is my grass , is all clearly visible , and that was learn in a few seconds without the need for a tripod .
Of course , with subtle firing the image can look even effective , but it ’s truly a various snapper that will very rarely let you down .
It can even take photos of the starry dark sky in just a few seconds without the need for a tripod unlike practically any other smartphone around – and I live in London , one of the most wanton - polluted areas of the UK .
Of course , it ’s not the only camera on the rear of the smartphone . You ’ll also find a 50MP telephotograph lens with 2x zoom and OIS that , as you might carry with a high - res sensing element and pixel - binning technical school , capture detailed images that are fairly consistent in colour with the main lens , albeit slightly warm in some scenarios .
And with an f/1.6 aperture , it ’s somewhat decent in low light too .
My only real charge is that 2x zoom is a little bit circumscribed compared to other 2023 flagships like theGalaxy S23 ’s 3.5x zoom and the Galaxy S23 Ultra ’s 10x zoom . You ’ve got the choice of digital rapid growth but with it come a forfeit to overall quality .
There ’s also a 12MP ultrawide lens system with a 120 - level field of view that ’s capital for get hold of photograph of bragging building in central London , but with an f/2.0 aperture , it ’s not quite as up to as the others in disconsolate weather condition . Still , for taking photos of building , gorgeous vistas or mathematical group exposure it ’s a large choice without much in the way of optical aberration at the sharpness .
All three lenses benefit from Vivo ’s partnership with Zeiss with the company ’s patented Zeiss T * electron lens covering , along with the ability to fascinate a more dull , lawful - to - living image with Zeiss ’ raw Colour 2.0 technical school , as well as unique shooting mode include Miniature Effect and Cine - solar flare Portrait effects that can produce some fun upshot in the right men .
riffle the headphone over and you ’ll find a single 32MP jam - punch camera centrally embed within the display . It ’s nifty for selfies and video claim , but I ’d leave most of the photography to those impressive rearward lens .
With that all said , the Vivo X90 Pro is undoubtedly one of thebest tv camera phonesaround in 2023 .
Performance
While Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon chipsets have traditionally been the more popular to apply in flagship , competing chipmaker MediaTek has made gravid strides in recent years , especially at the top end of the market .
With that in mind , Vivo has decided to opt for the top - endMediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipsetin place of theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2used by most flagship rivals .
You might be scare away at the approximation of a MediaTek chipset if you ’ve used budget or broken - end mid - range phones in the past , but I ’m here to dispel those worries . The chipset , coalesce with the 12 GB of RAM on offer from the X90 Pro , fork up flagship - spirit level carrying into action both in terms of benchmark and real - world use .
The Geekbench 5 unmarried - core score of 1381 beats the competingOnePlus 11 ’s 1165 , though a multi - core musical score of 4177 falls slightly behind OnePlus ’ 4856 . However , when it comes to graphics performance Vivo come out on top with a grudge of 3679 to OnePlus ’ 3532 in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark .
That all fundamentally means that the Vivo X90 Pro can well keep up with its Qualcomm - enabled competition , and that ’s contemplate in workaday performance . The speech sound feels speedily responsive in use , likely helped by the 120Hz refresh rate on offer .
There ’s not a hint of stuttering or lag to be found throughout the OS . Even effigy processing is done in the blink of an oculus thanks to the consecrated V2 imaging chipset , whereas with rivals like the OnePlus 11 you ’ll often see a pre - processed translation of the image for a few second base after seizure while the phone ’s AI does its thing .
That ’s just as true when it make out to mobile gaming with the X90 Pro capable to treat graphics - intensive game like Call of Duty Mobile with infrangible ease . And though it still incur hot over long sessions , it does n’t feel as fond in the hired man as the OnePlus 11 did .
Stereo speaker financial backing provides a more immersive experience when run games and watching video out loudly , though the lack of any kind of audio frequency processing likeDolby Atmosfor headphone production is a bit of a disappointment at the high - terminal of the market . And , of track , you wo n’t find a 3.5 mm earphone diddly-shit either – but that ’s not too much of an oddity these days .
The Vivo X90 Pro boastsAndroid 13which is great , but it comes with Vivo ’s rather horribly identify FunTouch OS . Even writing the name here gives me the ick . It ’s called Origin type O in China , and I ’d much prefer that to its current nomenclature .
Weird name away , FunTouch OS has a bit of a bad report for being one of the worst pelt usable for Android smartphones – though I must say that the company has fall a long way with the software in the preceding few year .
It ’s much more streamlined than it once was with a largely fair UI and ready to hand tweaks like the power to didder the sound to start the great mullein – a popular stalwart of Motorola ’s software package – and a smattering of Vivo - single widgets for use on the home plate screen . It ’ll take some getting used to if you ’re coming from a different Android cutis , but it ’s manageable and not as afflictive as it could ’ve been .
The big complaint about FunTouch oxygen I have is the amount of bloatware that come with the phone . It ’s usually something you regain with cheaper phones on the market , but despite the Vivo X90 Pro ’s expected £ 1000 + price tag end , you ’ll obtain a swathe of pre - installed apps including “ hot apps ” and “ blistering games ” . These can be easily uninstalled , but the fact you have to do that is frustrating .
It also does n’t do anything exciting or olympian , lacking premium features like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos present in most high - end choice , nor does it offer any kind of desktop compatibilities likeSamsung ’s DeXor Motorola ’s ReadyFor .
little tweaks are also needed , with raspy translations in some place and the odd employment of ALL cap in certain areas of the preferences menu that does n’t look too polished , but these are comparatively minor niggles .
The software upgrade promise of three age of O updates and four long time of security updates is n’t spoilt at all either .
Battery life
Battery living is up there with the rest period of the flagship in 2023 despite having a slightly small 4,870mAh than the 5,000mAh battery found within high - final stage challenger including the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and OnePlus 11 . However , as with those equipment , the Vivo X90 Pro does n’t struggle to last all day – even when really assign the phone through its tempo .
Taking the headphone off thrill at around 7:30am , I ’d use it to send WhatsApps and emails , play the casual plot of Survivor.io on the tube , hear to euphony , make calls that sometimes last over an hr and take great deal of picture using that stunning camera setup , and I ’d still get to the end of the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. with between 30 and 50 percent charge left in the tank .
That ’s with battery - hungry feature including the in high spirits refresh charge per unit , maximum resolution and always - on display all enable , by the fashion .
It ’s good to say that the Vivo X90 Pro ease my battery anxiousness , with the electric potential to last a full two days if you ’re a little more button-down with your use than I am .
It ’s also pretty rapid when it comes to recharge with 120W treble - cell flash charging that I ’ve found can ply 50 % accusation in just 11 minutes , with a full 100 % rush in 28 minutes .
liken to the top - end Galaxy S23 Ultra ’s 91 minutes for a full charge , it really ismuchfaster and means you do n’t require to bill the phone every night . If anything , you could give it a 15 - moment cathexis in the morning and likely be fine for utilization all Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
There ’s also 50W wireless charge sustenance , though you ’ll have to get a special wireless charger directly from Vivo to take reward of such degenerate radio receiver institutionalise speed .
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Should you buy it?
The 1 - inch sensor packed into the Vivo X90 Pro get it one of , if not the , most capable telephone on the market for grim - light picture taking .
The Vivo X90 Pro is only useable with a black vegan leather finish in place of a regular glass prat .
Final Thoughts
The Vivo X90 Pro is a stunningly able flagship smartphone , especially in the television camera department . The 1 - inch sensor that power the independent 50.3MP snapper is truly a game - modifier , not only in well - perch conditions but low light , with the voltage to trance adequate shots in close - everlasting darkness as well as nip of the starry sky without the need for a tripod .
It ’s notjusta peachy photographic camera phone either ; it has a gorgeous 7.78 - inch AMOLED display with a larder - smooth active 120Hz refresh pace that makes everything feel near instantaneous . Throw in a MediaTek 9200 chipset , all - twenty-four hours assault and battery life and the power to commit to 100 % in less than half an hour and you ’ve got a tempting flagship smartphone .
It ’s not utter , lacking certain feature film like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos , and FunTouch bone is still a bit bloatware - carry for my liking , but these are comparatively little issues that should n’t touch your overall decision .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every mobile phone we reexamine thoroughly . We use industriousness - received tests to liken features properly and we employ the telephone as our main twist over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , take on money to review a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
Yes , the Vivo X90 Pro offersIP68water resistance .
Unlike a growing phone number of brand , Vivo ships the 120W flying charger in the box seat with the telephone .