Vivo has launched its latest flagship smartphones internationally, and they look pretty enticing, especially if you’re into mobile photography.
In the west, we get access to two models, the X90 and X90 Pro, while the ultra-premiumX90 Pro+is still only available in China.
So, which one should you pick? We’ve done a deep dive into the specs, and here’s what we’ve learned.
The X90 and X90 Pro are very similar in size, but the Pro comes in a touch heavier than its cheaper sibling. Both benefit from water and dust-resistant designs, but the Pro is more secure with itsIP68 rating, compared to the X90’s IP64.
The X90 has an AG glass back, with a similar finish to theVivo V25 ProandiQOO 11, whereas the X90 Pro has a vegan leather back panel, that somewhat resembles the grip of amirrorless camera.
We love the feel of Vivo’s silky-smooth AG glass designs, but we tend to find them a little slippery and hard to hold on to, the vegan leather option should be much grippier without the need for a case.
However, you’ll have to like black if you opt for the Pro, as that’s the only colour available on this side of the globe. The standard X90, on the other hand, is available in either a light blue or black finish.
Display and speakers
Both models carry the same display specifications, and while the resolution is a step down from last year’sVivo X80 Pro, everything else seems to be upgraded, plus the lower resolution panel will be a little kinder to the battery.
There’s 100 per cent coverage of DCI-P3 colour gamut, which is critical for photo editing on the go, and the display isHDR 10+ certified- which is great for content consumption.
Vivo has a new feature on these models, which it calls Ultra Vision eye protection. This means the display can handle pulse-width modulation at a frequency of up to 2160Hz, which dramatically reduces screen flicker and helps reduce eye strain in dark environments.
There’s also a blue light reduction feature, developed in partnership with MediaTek, that can analyse the blue light emissions in real-time and dynamically adjust colour temperature.
Performance and hardware
Both handsets utilise MediaTek’s latest flagship chipset, theDimensity 9200. We’ve yet to test this in-house, but on paper, it sounds very promising indeed.
A rival to the more widely-adoptedQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Dimensity 9200 promises 32 per cent performance gains over its predecessor while reducing power consumption by 41 per cent. It also features support for hardware-based ray tracing and could prove to be a good option for mobile gamers.
The X90 is available with either 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage or 12GB and 256GB. The X90 Pro comes with 12GB and 256GB only.
Both phones have similar battery capacities, though the X90 Pro has the slight edge, and both can charge extremely quickly, thanks to 120W FlashCharge tech. This gets you from flat to 50 per cent in just 8 minutes.
In terms of camera hardware, the X90 Pro is clearly superior. The standout feature is the main camera with its 1-inch sensor, and while it’s not the first smartphone to use this particular camera, it joins a very small club, alongside theXiaomi 12S UltraandSony Xperia Pro-I.
Photographers will be well aware of the benefits of a larger sensor - better low-light performance, shallower depth of field and increased image fidelity being the main ones.
But, it’s not just the main camera, the portrait camera also gets a significant boost. It’s 50 megapixels on the X90 Pro, with an f/1.6 aperture, while the standard X90 has a 12MP f/1.98 portrait snapper.
Both models benefit from Vivo’s self-developed V2 image-processing chip. This is said to perform better, and with greater efficiency, than a traditional CPU when it comes to image-based tasks. The result should be improved AI noise reduction and HDR compositing with less latency.
There are also some new effects and editing features developed in partnership with Zeiss, available on both models. These include a faux tilt-shift miniaturisation effect, cinematic artificial lens flares and numerous bokeh styles for portrait mode photos and videos.
Availability and conclusion
So which should you choose, well, depending on where you live, Vivo may have already made that decision for you. Initially, Indian and Asian markets will be the only regions to get both handsets. While in Europe, we’ll only be getting the X90 Pro.
If you’re in a position to choose, or thinking of importing, we’d still steer you towards the X90 Pro. For photographic performance, the X90 Pro with its 1-inch sensor and 50MP portrait lens is the obvious choice.
However, the X90 is an excellent phone in its own right, and definitely a capable shooter. If you’re happy to live with a slightly downgraded camera system, you’ll still get the same excellent image processing and blazing-fast performance from MediaTek’s flagship chipset - plus you’ll save some cash.
At the time of writing, we haven’t been told the European pricing, we’ll update this article when we find out. In Malaysia, which is the first region to receive the global version, the X90 retails for 3,699 MYR (~$868) and the X90 Pro goes for 4,999 MYR (~$1175) - This should be a fairly good indication of the pricing we can expect.
Both are excellent options, but it’s the Vivo X90 Pro that’s really piqued our interest.
