vivo X50 Pro review

Wrap-up

The new vivo X50 Pro unlocks two achievements for the company. It is the first-ever smartphone with a gimbal system stabilization. And it is one of the few vivo phones to launch globally.

It turned out the vivo X50 Pro is so much more than just the first gimbal bearer and a skilled cameraphone. It is also great for gaming and video streaming. The design is cool, the sharp OLED screen is top-notch with HDR10+ and 90Hz refresh. Its new Funtouch UI is a massive improvement, too.

Indeed, the X50 Pro has a lot to offer and everything on this phone has premium written all over it. And that's why the premium price is hardly surprising. You are going to pay for all cool features, either pioneering or just flagship-grade.

But the X50 Pro is not the perfect smartphone - it is not the fastest, it doesn't have any water resistance, it screams for battery optimizations. Oh, and it would be while until the gimbal system becomes mainstream as in its current 1-axis state, it is good primarily for running. For everything else, 4-axis OIS with EIS easily outperforms it. That's the video side of things, of course.

The gimbal stabilization is of invaluable help at night for when shooting photos. It allows for lower ISO and longer shutter speeds in handheld mode. But there is a catch. For now, vivo cannot put a large sensor on this system as it would become humongous. And settling for an average imager compromises the quality, which leads to photos which are good but not outstanding.

Long story short, the micro gimbals may be the future, and the X50 Pro gives a glimpse of that. But if stabilization is what you are after, it may be better to look at some more refined products with good OIS+EIS.

The competition

Vivo will be selling the X50 Pro globally, but this is yet another murky aspect of the phone. For now, it is available in China and India, while markets from the EMEA and APAC regions, including countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Indonesia, will get it later on.

And for the asking INR 50,000 price in India, you can buy faster phones such as the Xiaomi Mi 10, OnePlus 8 (INR 45,000) or the top of the line OnePlus 8 Pro (INR 55,000). The Realme X50 Pro is INR 10,000 cheaper and yet - faster and more dependable as far as battery endurance is concerned. None of them will have gimbal stabilization or 5x optical zoom, so you should pick your priorities carefully.

Xiaomi Mi 10 5G • OnePlus 8 • OnePlus 8 Pro • Realme X50 Pro 5G

Vivo's own iQOO 3 5G is a tempting offer, being INR 10,000 cheaper, as it has the latest Snapdragon 865 chip and a similar screen but limited at 60Hz refresh rate. The iQOO 3 camera lacks the gimbal stabilization and the 5x shooter, but the rest stays the same. Oh, and the battery life is nothing short of impressive.

And finally, of the 5x zoom camera is of utmost importance and you are on the budget, then look no further than the Realme X3 Super Zoom. It sells for nearly half the vivo price and offers faster chipset and the same versatile setup sans the portrait camera (replaced by a macro one). It is a battery champ, and its IPS LCD screen supports even higher refresh rate at 120Hz.

vivo iQOO 3 5G • Realme X3 SuperZoom

The verdict

The vivo X50 Pro is not an easy case. And it's not because the X50 Pro is not a great smartphone - on the contrary. The X50 Pro is a high-tier handset with luxurious design, a premium OLED screen, gaming hardware, it supports 5G and has one heck of a camera.

But we can only recommend it for the novelty of its gimbal stabilization - and even that is not as groundbreaking as it sounds.

There are cheaper or faster phones that offer the rest of the features that vivo is offering. Yet, none of the competitors can match the vivo X50 Pro feature set. If the complete package is what works for you best, you should go for it. The X50 Pro is worth every penny and won't disappoint one bit those who appreciate the whole package.

Pros

• Attractive design with frosted glass, rather thin profile
• Superb OLED screen with HDR10+, 90Hz refresh, 180Hz sensing
• Capable Snapdragon 765G chip, great for gaming, has 5G modem
• Quad-camera with long-range zoom and macro mode, world's first micro gimbal stabilization in a phone
• Very good daylight photos, excellent low-light images
• The video quality is consistently good across the board, the stabilization works well
• Latest Android, clean Funtouch UI

Cons

• Pricey, Snapdragon 865 phones can be had for the same cash or less
• No water or dust resistance
• No microSD, no 3.5mm jack
• The gimbal stabilization works well, but 3- or 4-axis OIS with EIS often do better
• Scarce availability despite the promised global launch