vivo X90 Pro review

Introduction

Vivo's flagship crop is the strangest bunch we've ever seen - each new generation is different than the previous one, with shuffled features, different types of cameras, and changed screen resolutions. The only certain things we always expect to see are camera tech upgrades and chipset improvements. And that describes the new vivo X90 Pro.

The latest X90 top-tier lineup once again consists of three smartphones - the bleeding-edge X90 Pro+, the regular X90 Pro and the toned-down X90. Today, we'll be exploring the vivo X90 Pro - the first smartphone we meet powered by the new Dimensity 9200 chipset and among the few to offer a 1-inch camera sensor.

The innovations begin with the design - the vivo X90 Pro now has an even larger camera housing with a perfectly round shape. The back panel is covered with black vegan leather, and there is no other color option, at least not on the international markets anyway.

Underneath that screen, the X90 Pro hides MediaTek's flagship SoC - the Dimensity 9200 with modern CPU cores, X3 included, an 11-core GPU, and more than enough RAM and storage. There is also a massive heatsink, probably one of the largest put in a phone, and it should help offer greater sustained performance.

The charging capabilities of this new vivo X90 Pro are thoroughly impressive, too - it supports 120W fast wired charging (50% in 8 mins per official specs) and 50W fast wired charging.

The X series has always been about cameras and the vivo X90 Pro has an impressive kit on its back. There is a 50MP primary camera with 1" sensor, the same Sony IMX 979 used on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. There is also a 50MP 2x telephoto, followed by a 12MP ultrawide camera with autofocus capabilities. The whole imaging system relies on the latest version of vivo's X2 image processing chip, and Zeiss lenses.

This year, none of the X90 models have gimbal stabilization, a feature that several vivo phones offered across their primary, telephoto, or ultrawide cameras in the past. Instead, the primary and the portrait cameras rely on traditional OIS systems.

We talked about the shuffled features, and the display has been one of these features we just can't predict. This year, the vivo X90 Pro uses a 6.78-inch AMOLED with a 1260p resolution, 10-bit color depth, 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ certification. For comparison, the X80 Pro had a 1440p display, while the X70 Pro relied on a smaller 1080p OLED.

The vivo X90 Pro uses Android 13 with Funtouch 13 UI, while the Chinese version runs on Origin OS 3.

vivo X90 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.1x74.5x9.3mm, 215g; glass front, vegan leather back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins).
• Display: 6.78" AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1300 nits (peak), 1260x2800px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 453ppi.
• Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 9200 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.05 GHz Cortex-X3 & 3x2.85 GHz Cortex-A715 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Arm Immortalis-G715.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Funtouch 13 (Global), Origin OS 3 (China).
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50.3 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1.0"-type, 1.6µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/1.6, 50mm, 1/2.4", 0.7µm, AF, 2x optical zoom, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.0, 108˚, AF.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, 24mm (wide), 1/2.8", 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4870mAh; 120W wired, 50% in 8 min (advertised), 50W wireless, Reverse wired.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers.

There is little missing on the vivo X90 Pro in terms of modern day features. The phone is IP68-rated, made for the global markets, it uses flagship screen, cameras, chipset, charging solutions. Maybe a bit longer telephoto lens, say 2.5x or 3x would have been better, but vivo is marketing this camera as a portrait one, so 50mm lens is sort of par for the course.

And now, here is the vivo X90 Pro unboxed.

Unboxing the vivo X90 Pro

The vivo X90 Pro arrives in a large black box, something we've grown to like and expect from this maker. Inside, you will find the X90 Pro, accompanied by a large 120W charger and a 6A-rated USB-C-to-C cable.

That's not all, of course. The box also contains a transparent silicone case, while the phone comes with a thin protective film that was applied at the end of the manufacturing process. It's not of the worst quality we've seen, though far from the best either (meaning it is still a smudge magnet).