Vivo X90 Pro review: a great show of strength

At the question “Is Vivo X90 Pro a competitor to iPhone 14 Pro or Galaxy S23 Ultra? » Alive be humble. “In France, Vivo does not claim to come and take market share from Apple or Samsung but to show its technological know-how” confided to us a spokesperson for the brand during the presentation of the product.

And what skill! The Chinese manufacturer is one of the market leaders in Asia and has even established itself as THE benchmark for mobile telephony in Southeast Asia. But like realme, OPPO or Honor, it is struggling to find its place in Europe.

With the X90 Pro, Vivo therefore wishes to demonstrate that it has nothing to envy to the two behemoths Apple and Samsung, at least technically. Marketed at 1,199 euros, does the X90 Pro deserve its ultra-premium smartphone status? Does it really compete with the iPhone 14 Pro or the Galaxy S23 Ultra? Answer in our comprehensive test.

The highlights of the Vivo X90 Pro

The Zeiss camera, of course

Let’s start with the main strength of the X90 Pro, or at least the criterion on which the manufacturer has put the most hope. We are obviously talking about photography.

Once again this year, Vivo is taking advantage of the partnership with Zeiss to integrate the best technologies from this photography giant. This year, the two acolytes are particularly innovative since they integrate a 1 ” sensor, a feature that can only be found in the Xiaomi 13 Pro.

The 8 lenses of the main module are all made of glass with Zeiss T coating. What lowers the reflectivity by 42.8% promises the brand. The camera module of the Vivo X90 Pro therefore consists of:

• a main sensor 1 ” Sony IMX989 of 50 MP with a wide-angle lens (f/1.6) and optical stabilization
• a 12 MP Sony IMX663 sensor (1/2.93”) with ultra wide-angle lens (f/2)
• a 50 MP Sony IMX758 sensor (1/2.51”) with 50mm (f/1.6) equivalent lens dedicated to portraits

More than the material, Vivo has always bet on the playful side of photography. The X90 Pro therefore has a large number of shooting modes, both in photography and in the exercise of video.

On the photo side, we therefore find the modes Astro, Super Lune, Zeiss (also for selfies), Snapshot, Perspective Correction, Miniature or Sportt. For the video, we can count on the modes night video or Zeiss kinematics.

Concretely, the Vivo X90 Pro stands out as one of the best photophones on the marketboth for its fun side and its excellent results.

The main 1” sensor allows you to shoot detailed and faithful to reality shots (even more so with the Zeiss mode activated). In good light conditions, we have nothing to reproach the flagship of Vivo except for the absence of a telephoto lens, reserved for the Pro+ model marketed only in China. From a distance, the X90 Pro therefore never competes with a Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max or Xiaomi 13 Pro.

The X90 Pro has no difficulty in the exercise of the portrait (provided you take a step back since he shoots in 2x zoom) with precise clipping and natural bokeh.

Portrait (2x zoom)

The ultra-wide-angle does pretty well with good detail retention and relatively controlled distortion.

At night, the main sensor and the one dedicated to portraits do very well, enough to come up against market benchmarks. On the other hand, the ultra wide-angle is struggling with too much loss of sharpness and poor control of contrasts.

On the video side, the X90 Pro can shoot up to 8K at 30fps (without stabilization) or in 4K at 60 fps with optical stabilization. In addition to producing very clean videos, the X90 Pro is particularly pleasant to use in this exercise thanks to its different shooting modes.

Finally, the front sensor of 32 MP (f / 2.45 mm) does the job although it tends to overexposure in a sunny environment. The self-portrait mode is also convincing.

Elegant and original design

Vivo has always known how to be creative when designing the design of its smartphones. The X90 Pro honors this philosophy since it is unlike any other ultra-premium smartphone.

It is distinguished first by its circular camera module positioned in its center. A choice as daring as it is practical since you do not suffer from the “rocking” effect when handling the smartphone laid flat, the module protruding from the chassis.

If other manufacturers have also made this aesthetic choice, few have bet on a vegan leather lining (which is actually nothing more than a soft plastic).

With the exception of the Find X2 Pro launched in 2020 by OPPO, we don’t recall having tested any recently. Vivo therefore plays the card of originality and it is a clear success.

Very pleasant, the vegan leather covering has another interesting characteristic: its effect grip ensures good grip. Even if it is IP68 certified, we prefer not to drop this beautiful baby of more than 200 g in water or on the ground.

Beautiful screen

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In the front, the X90 Pro displays a beautiful 6.78 ” HDR10 + screen slightly curved to dip towards the edges of the device. It is based on AMOLED technology with QHD+ definition (2800 x 1260 pixels) and an adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz.

Not surprisingly, the display quality is excellent. Whether browsing social media, gaming, watching videos or working, the Vivo X90 Pro’s display is sublime. According to the 01Lab results, it even rivals market benchmarks.

Vivo has also integrated an innovative eye protection mode since it does not rely on a simple yellowish filter that softens blue lights. The builder has found a formula (which he keeps secret) for dim the blue lights while maintaining the same display quality and the same colorimetry.

Finally, note that it is possible to choose a display mode calibrated to the natural colors of Zeiss. Users can thus actually see the rendering of the photos with the colors as imagined by the brand, without the constraints linked to the calibration of the screen in the factory.

Simple and lightweight software

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In the software field, Vivo plays the card of simplicity and minimalism. The X90 Pro is based on Funtouch OS 13, a version of Android 12 barely changed.

Choosing a light version of Android allows you to enjoy a fluid and fast interface, even if it means lacking panache and sacrificing customization options.

Despite pleasant daily navigation, we regret too many applications pre-installed on such a premium model as well as some unfortunate translations still present in certain menus.

Ultra-fast charging

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The Vivo X90 Pro comes with a 120 W Flash Charge charger, something rare enough in the ultra-premium segment to underline it. Failing to compete with the tenors of the market in terms of autonomy (we will come back to this), the X90 Pro can be recharged in a flash.

According to figures from 01Lab, it recovers half of its energy in just 9 minutes! A full charge only takes 25 minutes. Performance light years away from what Apple or Samsung offer.

On the other hand, the X90 Pro is not compatible with wireless charging, nor with the load reversed. Two absent who do not go unnoticed on a model sold at this price.

Weaknesses of the Vivo X90 Pro

Its somewhat fair performance

To propel its X90 Pro, Vivo continues to trust Mediatek, its historical partner and main competitor of Qualcomm in the semiconductor market.

Its flagship therefore embeds a Dimensity 9200 chip (engraved in 4 nm) accompanied by 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage.

This arsenal allows the X90 Pro to obtain excellent results in the various tests of our 01Lab. Nevertheless Mediatek’s chip performance remains a notch below that of its competitors (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 by Qualcomm and Exynos S2100 by Samsung).

Nothing to be offended since you can do everything with the Vivo X90 Pro without ever encountering a slowdown or overheating (thanks to a new, even more efficient steam chamber).

Average autonomy

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If these performances a bit below the competition remain acceptable, the autonomy of the X90 Pro poses more problems. The 4700 mAh battery combined with the chip from Mediatek does not allow to exceed the day and a half of standard use. More connected users will have to go through the recharge box every evening.

We could have been satisfied with these results a few years ago, but at a time when the iPhone 14 Pro Max or the Galaxy S23 Ultra reach the two days of autonomy without batting an eyelid, the performance of the Vivo X90 Pro is disappointing.

Our review of the Vivo X90 Pro

With the exception of slightly lower performance and average battery life, the Vivo X90 Pro is one of the few smartphones that can compete with market benchmarks.

Behind its elegant and original design, it hides photography talents that would make Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi or even Google tremble. With the bonus of a magnificent screen, a fluid and light interface or an ultra-fast charging system, the X90 Pro has it all.

Everything except its price. Offered at 1,199 euros, it remains a very expensive smartphone. Not sure that a consumer turns to this model if he can afford a state-of-the-art iPhone or Galaxy for the same budget. Anyway, that is not Vivo’s ambition. On the other hand, for the demonstration of force, it is a frank success.