Vivo X80 Pro review: Flagship performance, but could be smoother

- The Vivo X80 Professional continues a line of flagship-grade gadgets, trying to muscle into the worldwide market. Whereas well-known in China and Asian international locations, the push into Europe began with the Vivo X51 (referred to as Vivo X50 Professional elsewhere) in 2020.

We have been by means of successive fashions - the X60 Professional and X70 Professional+ adopted (each in 2021) and now the Vivo X80 Professional desires to seize your consideration.

And a spotlight is one thing that Vivo is throwing out: the sponsorship of the (delayed) Euro 2020 competitors highlighted how critically Vivo is taking issues.

Our fast take

It you listened to Vivo, you'd assume the X80 Professional was a digital camera. However it's not: it is a smartphone and there is much more to it than easy digital camera efficiency. Sure, that digital camera does carry out, however there's complexity, an abundance of options and that won't swimsuit everybody's desire. 

The remainder of the cellphone expertise is nice too: there's loads of energy, battery life that is first rate sufficient and an incredible show that appears good in just about each situation, however Vivo's software program in FunTouch OS appears to introduce issues that should not be there. That is what retains the X80 Professional from providing the smoothest expertise - and whereas no cellphone is ideal, to persuade a Pixel 6 Professional or Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely consumer to modify to Vivo, that you must make this expertise higher.

However there's nonetheless lots to become involved with right here, a verifiable flagship expertise from Vivo - all we're now ready for is the value. 

Vivo X80 Pro review: Flagship performance, but could be smoother

Vivo X80 Professional

4.0 stars
For
  • Nice end
  • Good show
  • Nice digital camera setup with wonderful low gentle capturing
  • Loads of energy
In opposition to
  • Some connectivity points
  • Digital camera app a bit fussy
  • Software program foibles - some notifications by no means arrive

Design and construct

  • 164.57 x 75.30 x 9.10mm; 219g
  • IP68

Vivo continues the design development it began with the Vivo X70 Professional+, with the most important speaking level being the large digital camera unit on the rear of the cellphone. It dominates the highest half of the cellphone as a giant sq. block, then containing a spherical part housing a number of the lenses - with one periscope digital camera dropping out of that roundel.

Vivo X80 Pro photo 13

It is much like the X70 Professional+ - which organized these lenses in a line to 1 aspect - however that is not the one similarity to the X70 Professional+. These telephones look very related, with curved edges, the identical button placement and that inscription throughout the highest that reads "skilled pictures".

We like that little addition, it provides a focal point, slightly just like the Redmi Word 11 Professional+'s "Sound by JBL" script.

The rear panel is glass, but it surely's a matte end. In actual fact it is a luscious end, referred to as Cosmic Black: it is silky easy and shimmers when the sunshine hits it. There is a case within the field which can actually solely shield the again of the cellphone, with a mushy contact feeling to it that is slightly like leather-based.

Vivo X80 Pro photo 4

In actuality, that provided case gives you no safety for the display, so in the event you're critical about holding your cellphone pristine, you may need to discover one thing extra substantial. And you may want a case, as a result of the Vivo X80 Professional is a reasonably slippery handset.

There are stereo audio system on the Vivo X80 Professional, bringing a lift to gaming or your social movies, however there is not any 3.5mm headphone socket.

To maintain the headset protected against mud or water ingress, there's an IP68 score.

Show

  • 6.78in, 3200 x 1440 pixels (517ppi)
  • LTPO AMOLED, 1-120Hz
  • HDR

There is a very succesful show on the Vivo X80 Professional. It is much like that of the X70 Professional+, with curved edges and pretty minimal bezels. The entrance digital camera sits in a punch gap within the centre.

It is an LTPO AMOLED show, which suggests it additionally gives adaptive refresh charges between 1-120Hz relying on what you are doing. The intention is to provide the greatest refresh price and save energy by slowing it down when it would not have to replace rapidly, like when studying static textual content.

There's the choice to decide on 60 or 120Hz too, in addition to the choice for FHD+ decision as a substitute of the complete factor. All these measures are designed to protect battery life.

Vivo X80 Pro photo 9

The show is shiny and vibrant, with good outside visibility, even in shiny circumstances.

The curved edges aren't as en vogue as they maybe as soon as have been: whereas it is nonetheless an indicator of huge flagship telephones (largely to assist one-handed use), it does imply that some content material can move over the perimeters and a few touches proper by the perimeters aren't registered as effectively.

Vivo X80 Pro photo 5

That is the rationale you may discover flat shows on gaming telephones, however we prefer to total impact right here and have discovered there's little or no to complain about - it’s an incredible show, completely able to making your content material look good.

Efficiency and battery

  • Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 12GB (+4GB) RAM
  • 4700mAh battery, 80W wired, 50W wi-fi
  • 256GB storage

The Vivo X80 Professional will get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the hardware that is powering plenty of flagship gadgets in 2022; this marks it out from the usual Vivo X80 which will get the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 as a substitute (and will not be obtainable in Europe).

Which means it is 5G enabled and we have discovered connectivity to be fairly good, with no issues on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, however often we have seen the X80 Professional pattern we now have drop the mobile connection and report that there is not any SIM - earlier than rapidly restoring all these companies and returning to regular. This could be a restricted blip - however we'll keep watch over it and replace as obligatory.

Vivo X80 Pro photo 3

As for the core hardware, it is a highly effective cellphone and delivers flagship efficiency; it gives a lag-free expertise and we have discovered that demanding video games like Name of Obligation Cellular are delivered with aplomb. There's some warming when taking part in intensive video games, however to not an extent that we would be involved about, but it surely positively will get toasty.

The battery is not the biggest you may discover on this measurement of gadget, with some pushing over 5000mAh. As an alternative it is 4700mAh, with 80W wired and 50W wi-fi charging. There's an 80W charger within the field of the UK pattern we examined and contemplating some will make you pay further for this, it is a welcome addition.

Whereas the charging is not the quickest round, it would get it juiced in about 35 minutes which is beneficial. The battery life is mostly fairly good from our expertise and we have discovered it getting by means of a day of blended utilization with out throwing up any considerations.

The software program expertise provided by FunTouch OS 12 sitting over Android 12 appeared secure sufficient. It seems and behaves largely like inventory Android, supplying you with some possibility like navigation controls once you first set the cellphone up.

screens photo 1

Dive slightly deeper and you will find an enormous variety of choices for customisation, equivalent to how the animation works, customized sound choices for headphones and an entire lot extra. It took some wrestling to get some capabilities to work correctly - Do Not Disturb, for instance refused to make use of the schedule, you may need to do plenty of digging to seek out the choice to get a brand new wallpaper on each the homescreen and the lockscreen - after which it appears somewhat random, or tougher than it must be.

We additionally discovered some notifications appeared somewhat random - together with, alarmingly, these for our video doorbell. These do not persistently get delivered, so whereas utilizing this cellphone, we have needed to preserve one other powered on to ensure we get these notifications. Then there's different irritations: Vivo's included Albums app threw out a notification for "Reminiscences" based mostly on three boring photographs we would taken the day earlier than - and restricts the power to disable notifications at a system stage, which is tedious to the acute.

So it is one thing of a blended bag on the software program entrance: it is near being a very nice expertise, however there's nonetheless some pre-loaded bloat and the addition of choices that do not at all times appear to be delivering something apart from adjustments.

Digital camera

  • Quad digital camera system
    • Major: 50MP, f/1.57, OIS
    • Ultrawide: 48MP, f/2.2
    • Portrait: 12MP, f/1.85
    • Telephoto: 8MP, f/3.4
  • Entrance: 32MP

Typically telephones boast a "quad digital camera" and few even have 4 usable lenses. Not so the Vivo X80 Professional, which delivers first rate cameras in every of these positions. It is a system developed alongside Zeiss, in a partnership we noticed launched on the X60 fashions.

Which means you are getting Zeiss T* labelling on the rear of the cellphone, offering some form of notion of high quality - though in actuality, it feels just like the Zeiss involvement has given rise to a lot of filters and choices throughout the digital camera app, replicating a number of the issues that Zeiss has completed in optics elsewhere.

Which means you will discover Zeiss portrait choices, you may entry some Zeiss-branded video choices, together with a cinematic 2.39:1 side ratio. There's a variety of filters or types too, but it surely does make you marvel how many individuals need this at seize, somewhat than enhancing in a method afterwards. Be warned too, as these usually keep in place as soon as you have chosen them, so once you return to seize a selfie, it would usually have the earlier filter nonetheless in place, which could catch you out - there's an possibility within the menu to "preserve settings" which you may need to change off.

Though Vivo permits you to edit photographs, any results you have utilized to the photograph on the level of taking are everlasting, apart from bokeh in portrait mode. There are filters obtainable within the Albums app you may apply to photographs later, however these seem to have completely different names to these provided within the digital camera app itself, so it is inconsistent at greatest.

As we mentioned, nevertheless the digital camera system is nice. One of many fascinating issues that Zeiss does in photographs is offer you a faucet possibility to interact Zeiss Pure Color. The concept right here is to sidestep the saturated look that smartphones usually produce - so faucet the Zeiss button and you will find the sky is much less blue, the grass is much less inexperienced and your photograph is much less thrilling.

Like a number of the options that Sony pushes on its Xperia telephones, there is a feeling the pursuit of photographic purity usually runs counter to what's really well-liked in smartphone pictures and on social media. Realism usually takes a backseat as folks tweat the distinction and increase saturation for richer outcomes, but it surely's there in order for you it.

Then there's the difficulty of getting a main digital camera with a shallow depth of area - f/1.57. Which means in the event you get too near a topic that has any depth, it is prone to blur since you've solely bought a slender distance over which it would focus - see the flower photographs we have included. Whereas the bigger aperture is nice for low gentle conditions, it'd imply that you must use a special lens for sharper closeups.

And in low gentle conditions the rear digital camera does carry out effectively, capable of get color in low gentle photographs that the Pixel 6 Professional fails to get, though probably the most worthwhile mode is 6 seconds lengthy and in the event you do not preserve it regular - or if something strikes - you simply get a blur.

Of specific curiosity is the breaking out of these two periscope cameras. These provide nice high quality over longer ranges and from the traditional viewfinder you may faucet or pinch by means of zoom, demarked as 2x and 5x - with as much as 60x digital zoom on the highest of that.

Utilizing the 2x as a portrait lens by default, it jumps in near the topic, however you may go for 1x or 5x too, the X80 glad to skip by means of its lenses. There's additionally a gimbal on the portrait lens, so it would counter handshake for sharp photographs and it does a very good job with edge detection for portraits.

Vivo is boasting about stabilisation on video and even this is not as easy correctly: firstly, you may interact varied ranges of stabilisation, however when you hit the Extremely possibility, there's one other toggle elsewhere for "Tremendous anti-shake Professional". There's additionally a horizontal lock (with possibility for portrait or panorama orientation) and this gives large stabilisation in the event you're transferring lots. It is all actually spectacular performance-wise, but it surely must be applied in a less complicated style.

In actuality, there's a great deal of choices for many who need to shoot video, together with 4K/60fps and 8K/20fps - but in addition inside cinematic you've gotten the choice for 1080/24fps. Actually, there is not any scarcity of issues to pay with.

The entrance digital camera is pretty is nice, when you flip off the pesky watermark, kill the mirroring and change off the sweetness mode that makes you appear to be your face is smeared easy, you may get good outcomes, however it's mounted focus and might get caught out in the event you're transferring. It simply doens't appear to have the AI intelligence in tough conditions that another cameras do, and will not clear up low gentle noise as successfully as some rivals in darker photographs.

photos photo 10

In actuality there's extra on this digital camera than we are able to presumably element in a single evaluation, however we return to the sooner level that Vivo appears to need you to do every little thing within the digital camera app, somewhat than tweak in an enhancing app after - and we do marvel if that is what folks need. As a result of in the event you shoot one thing that is particularly styled, there is not any going again - however shoot an incredible regular picture and you've got an entire world of enhancing you might be doing to be extra artistic.

General although, it is a compelling digital camera system and importantly, level, shoot and you will get a very good end in most circumstances, even in the event you resolve by no means to the touch any of the extra settings or choices.

To recap

The Vivo X80 Professional is a viable flagshp cellphone, placing all its emphasis on the digital camera. The digital camera is slightly muddled, making an attempt to do far to a lot for you and the identical might be mentioned for the FunTouch OS on the whole, which appears to introduce fuss that does not must be there - the worst of which is that some notifications by no means arrive. However at it is coronary heart, this can be a highly effective smartphone that delivers a flagship expertise.

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