vivo X80 Pro review

Quad camera with a couple of teles

vivo got the camera configuration right, in principle, on the X60 Pro+ and only tweaked it slightly for the X70 Pro+. A generation later, it's more of the same - essentially the same quad setup with a couple of telephoto cameras, but with a few changes here or there.

vivo labels the primary camera's sensor as Ultra-sensing GNV, and it's a Samsung unit that's a vivo-exclusive variant of the generic GN1 found in both previous iterations (which vivo also called Ultra-sensing). It has 1/1.3" optical format, 50 million 1.2µm pixels, and a Tetrapixel color filter array (Quad Bayer, if you're into Sony's lingo). The lens maintains the focal length and aperture of the predecessor at 23mm and f/1.6, and it features OIS. Just like last year, the front element of the lens (the outermost of the 7 lens elements) is made of glass.

The ultrawide camera is sort of the same as before, only not quite. It's based on the 1/2.0" 48MP Sony IMX598 sensor and the 14mm f/2.2 lens has autofocus so closeups are a go. What's missing compared to the X70 Pro+ is the gimbal.

The X80 Pro isn't gimbal-less though - this time around it's the short 2x telephoto camera that gets the extra stability. That's meant some redesign on the lens, apparently, and the aperture has gotten slightly dimmer at f/1.9 (f/1.6 on the old one), but the sensor is the same Sony IMX663 - a 1/2.93" imager with 1.22µm pixels and Dual Pixel autofocus.

The 5x zoom tele, too, looks the same on the surface, but isn't entirely. You still get a 5x zoom stabilized periscope lens with an f/3.4 aperture. The 8MP sensor has a 1/4.4" optical format and 1.0µm pixels, only it's not the OmniVision OV08A10 from the previous model, but an SK hynix Hi-847 unit.

The Zeiss collaboration once again means the lenses have what the German optics specialists call T* coating for combating ghosting. There's also an improved version of the in-house image processing chip seen last year, now with a plus - V1+.

The trend continues into the selfie department, where the numbers are the same - a 32MP 1/2.8" Tetrapixel sensor with 0.8µm pixels is placed behind a 24mm f/2.5 lens with fixed focus. Only difference is the sensor is now listed as the S5KGD2, as opposed to the S5KGD1 on the previous model. Samsung doesn't seem to have an official specs page for this new sensor, but it's looking like a refresh without changes in the basics.

The camera app has seen a massive overhaul coming from the X70 series, and it would have come as a surprise to us, had we not already encountered it on the iQOO 9 Pro, which softened the blow. A case could be made, however, that it's better suited to that flashier model, and less so to the X80 Pro with it more serious photo aspirations. The italic font, the yellow accent color, the oversized buttons - it's just out of place, stylistically.

Mind you, it's mostly the fonts, iconography, and color palette that are giving us pause. Functionality isn't compromised - or, for that matter, changed.

There's a straightforward zoom selector which gives you direct access to each of the four cameras. Accessing the Super Macro mode is done from the flower icon next to the hamburger menu, but it has an auto-on option too that kicks in when you get very close to a subject.

The main modes are arranged in a carousel formation, and you can switch between them by swiping or tapping on one of the visible modes. The More tab lists the rest of the modes, and from there you can also customize the modes you have available in the viewfinder.

The Pro mode gives you all the freedom to adjust the autofocus, white balance, shutter speed, ISO and exposure. You can do so on all of the four cameras too. There's helpful information explaining all of the options above in case you are just getting into photography. Shooting in RAW is also an option. A bracketing mode is available - that one we don't see often, but focus peaking or zebras for overexposure are missing.

Camera UI