Vivo claims its new X90 Pro phone can fully charge in 30 minutes

Vivo’s new flagship phone line has arrived on the heels of the company’s biggest Android rival. The Chinese phone maker announced the new X90 and X90 Pro on Friday, just days after Samsung Galaxy S23 launched. The main features of the X90 Pro are its 120 watt charger and the 1-inch Sony IMX 989 sensor, which is used in the main camera.

I had the chance to test the Vivo X90 Pro for a short time before launch, where I focused my attention on testing the camera. In my limited time with the phone, I found it offered a versatile range of shots with clarity day and night, and had a nice depth of field. Sometimes though, the photos didn’t turn out as bright as expected even during the day, which surprised me as this phone has a 1-inch Sony IMX 989 sensor. Larger sensors are designed to let in more light and are therefore intended to enable the production of brighter and clearer images.

Apart from the camera, the Vivo X90 Pro has all the hallmark features of a high-end flagship in 2023. There’s a 6.78-inch AMOLED display, three cameras accompanied by two 50-megapixel cameras, a large battery and a fast charge of 120 watts. . Xiaomi’s 12T Pro also has 120 watt fast charging and that was my favorite feature on this phone despite it also having a 200 megapixel camera.

It’s worth pointing out that the Vivo X90 Pro runs on the Mediatek Dimensity 9200 chip. This is a departure from Samsung’s latest line of Galaxy S23 phones, which run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Ge 2. There is also only one variant with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage.

Pricing information was not available at the time of this writing. But expect an international release in parts of Europe and Asia for the X90 series. There is no US release planned at this time.

X90 Pro’s odd design choice on the rear

For a phone in 2023, the design of the X90 Pro appears relatively ordinary from the front. The rectangular display has curved edges and features a punch-hole cutout in the center housing the selfie camera. But flip it over and you’ll see a narrow bar across the width of the chassis (underneath the camera module).

No, it’s not a camera bar as seen on Google’s Pixel 7 range, it’s simply a flat bar emblazoned with the words “Xtreme Imagination” on the back of the phone. Frankly, it makes for an odd choice that undermines the overall design of an otherwise sleek phone. Above that confusing bar is the circular camera bump housing three lenses. There’s also a bold vivo branding at the bottom, which I don’t particularly like, but I can see why it’s there.

Zeiss lenses of the X90 Pro

Vivo says this phone gives you professional photography gear in your pocket. That’s why it makes sense that the company has expanded its partnership with Zeiss, a 176-year-old company considered a pioneer in optical photography. There are three cameras on the X90 Pro: a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel portrait camera, and a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens.

The photos I took with the phone were respectable and I love how the portrait shots come out with a spectacular bokeh effect. However, as I said earlier, some photos turned out darker than expected, given the size of the sensor. You can see the cameras in action below.

Battery Vivo X90 Pro

The X90 Pro has a 4,780 mAh battery, which can be recharged with an included 120 watt charger or a 50 watt wireless charger (sold separately). The phone offers two charging modes, fast charging and balanced mode. Vivo says the X90 Pro can be charged to 50% in 8 minutes and 10 seconds using the old mode. Balanced mode is apparently ideal for daily charging and takes 29 minutes to revitalize the battery when fully charged, according to Vivo. I haven’t had a chance to test this feature, but be sure to come back to this page as I plan to update it once I have more information.

New Vivo X90 Pro Features

Vivo has tweaked an array of features from the phone’s predecessor, the V80 Pro. Along with replacing Qualcomm’s chip with a Mediatek chip, it ditched the ultrasonic fingerprint reader, telephoto lens, and reduced display resolution. The 3D Sonic Max feature was what set the X80 Pro apart from a number of Android flagships, so it’s disappointing to see it running.