vivo X90 Pro review

Next generation Zeiss camera

Vivo has always been unpredictable when it comes to its camera systems. Each new generation offers a different number of cameras, different sensors, different lenses, different stabilization methods, and different optical zoom. The only constant is the partnership between vivo and Zeiss - the collaboration once again means the lenses have what the German optics specialists call T* coating for combating ghosting.

The vivo X90 Pro has three cameras on its back - a 50MP primary, a 50MP telephoto (portrait), and a 12MP ultrawide - all featuring autofocus and 4K video capturing.

The X90 Pro is the first vivo phone to use 1" sensor, the same Sony IMX 989 we saw on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, and it's the highlight of this new system. We have already explained what the 1" means in our 12S Ultra review - it's not the actual sensor size, but a legacy concept that refers to the diameter of the video camera tube needed to project an image that would cover the size of the sensor. You can learn more about that here.

What you need to know about that 50.3MP Sony IMX 989 sensor is that it's the largest sensor available on a smartphone with 1.6µm individual pixels and Quad-Bayer RGB color filter. The sensor sits behind a 23mm f/1.75 stabilized (OIS) lens with high-transmittance glass (1 glass + 7 plastic pieces and Zeiss T* coating.

The primary camera supports laser-assisted autofocus and up to 8K24 video capturing.

The telephoto camera relies on a 50MP Sony IMX758 1/2.4" sensor with a Quad-Bayer color filter and a 50mm f/1.6 stabilized (OIS) lens. There is autofocus, of course, and 8K24 video recording is once again available.

The ultrawide camera uses a 12MP Sony IMX663 1/2.93" sensor with 1.22µm pixels, and it supports dual-pixel autofocus. The lens for this camera is 16mm f/2.0. The video capabilities here max out at 4K60.

Finally, the selfie camera packs a 32MP Samsung S5KGD2 sensor with 0.8µm pixels and a Tetracell color filter. The sensor sits behind a 24mm f/2.45 lens, the focus is fixed. This camera supports video recording up to 1080p60fps.

Camera app

The camera app is quite familiar as it is similar to the one presented on the X80 series. 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 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

The Zeiss Natural color mode is present here and it should make for realistic colors, in contrast of the more saturated default look vivo's processing is offering (called vivo Vivid).

There is also a Zeiss miniature mode, which blurs everything outside the center of the photo and, given the right scene, will make for a miniature-like look you get from tilt-shift camera lenses.

Finally, the Portrait mode also includes Zeiss modes, Zeiss lens simulations to be specific. They are found in the Styles section and aim to reproduce the characteristics of specific lens ranges by the German optics specialists. They're most noticeable in the way out-of-focus specular highlights are rendered, but also in the smoothness of the bokeh.

Camera app

Night Mode is present, and it supports Auto Tripod Night Mode, Panorama Night Mode, Super Moon and Astro versions. There are also different Long Exposure presets.

Daylight photo quality

Naturally, the main camera saves 12.5MP photos by default, and unless you've specifically turned on the Zeiss color mode, those are shot the way vivo intended them to look (also called vivo vivid color). We also left the HDR option on Auto, but it's rarely triggered, if at all.

The photos are incredibly detailed, with balanced sharpness and a rather natural look. There is no noise across the samples, and no visible traces of its removal, too. All photos exhibit outstanding dynamic range, though it sometimes comes at the expense of a bit lowered contrast.

The colors are punchy and lively, a bit over-saturated than what they looked in reality, but likable anyway.

Overall, the photos we took with the main camera are some of the best you can get from a smartphone these days, similar to what we experienced with the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and its primary cam.

Main camera, 12.5MP

Now, we've talked about how the Zeiss mode was intended to capture accurate colors, and it does exactly that - renders true-to-life colors with excellent white balance and spot-on saturation.

Main camera, ZEISS mode

You can shoot in high-res mode, and the 50MP photos are quite impressive. Their properties are as great as the binned output, and while the resolved detail is not stunning, it is a lot more than what we've seen other phones offer with their high-res mode. In fact, it is almost on par with the regular photos from the telephoto camera, but almost.

Main camera, 50MP

And speaking of the telephoto camera, let's look at the same scenes but taken at 2x optical zoom. All samples offer enough detail, though not as excellent as on the main camera. This clearly demonstrates the superiority of the 50MP 1" sensor over the 50MP 1/2.4" one. There are also barely noticeable exaggerated textures due to oversharpening of high-frequency details such as grass or foliage.

Everything else is great - dynamic range, noise reduction, the contrast is likable, and the colors are a bit punchy, but quite good, too.

Telephoto camera, 12.5MP

Of course, if color accuracy is what you are after and not the Vivid look, then the Zeiss mode will do the job. All Zeiss samples offer realistic, natural colors, which are more true-to-life.

Telephoto camera, ZEISS mode

And here are a bunch of 50MP samples taken with the telephoto camera. Their detail is average, and some noise is present, but they are still quite good and sometimes may help you get a more detailed 12MP image than if you were using the regular photo mode.

Telephoto camera, 50MP

Moving on to the 12MP camera. The resolved detail is satisfying, the sharpness is alright, and the noise is low. The corners are proficiently straightened.

The dynamic range and the contrast are both above average. The colors in these shots are as vivid as on the other cameras.

Ultrawide camera, 12MP

The Zeiss mode seems to be preferable for the ultrawide camera as not only it offered realistic colors, but it improves the dynamic range on most occasions and makes for overall better-looking shots.

Ultrawide camera, ZEISS mode

The ultrawide camera supports autofocus, and hence it can capture macro-like photos from as close as 4cm away. There is an auto-macro mode, which we did not prefer as it crops and upscales the ultrawide photo to match the field of view of the primary camera.

The closeup photos we took with the ultrawide camera are superb - the center is always detailed, sharp and colorful, with excellent contrast and good dynamic. There is no noticeable noise. The bokeh is impressive, too, and makes for easily lovable closeups.

Ultrawide camera, macro

Back to the 2x telephoto camera, also referred to as the portrait camera. There is a dedicated Portrait mode, which works on both the main and the zoom shooters, but it was intended to be used with the 2x cam. There are various effects, including Zeiss developed ones, and you can tweak the blur intensity by changing the simulated aperture.

The 2x portraits are impressive - the subject is well-exposed, detailed and sharp, free of noise, and with likable color saturation. The blurred background is always great, and we liked most of the effects vivo and Zeiss offer.

Finally, the subject separation is simply outstanding, but that's because the portrait camera has an already great starting point with the bokeh thanks to the wide f/1.6 aperture.

The different Zeiss effects do come in handy if you want to spice your portraits a little bit.

Portraits, portrait camera

The portraits we took with the main camera are equally impressive, with excellent subjects, backgrounds, and separation.

Portraits, main camera

The 32MP selfie camera uses a Quad-Bayer sensor, but it still saves 32MP pictures instead of 8MP. This means their detail is average, but everything else looks good - contrast, dynamic range, colors. The subject rendition is good and the noise is rather low.

We would still prefer to get the 8MP binned photos instead of these, at least by default.

Selfies, 32MP

Low-light photo quality

The low-light photos taken with the main camera are exemplary - the resolved detail is excellent, the exposure is great, the noise reduction deserves praise, and the color saturation is lovely. Even better, we liked the dynamic range, too, and there are few blown highlights.

There is some multi-image stacking involved as we had to wait about a second for the photo to be taken (there is an animation on the virtual shutter).

Main camera

The Night Mode doesn't make a difference in most cases, as we suspected the default output is already a Night Mode-like one - stacked and enhanced.

Main camera with Night Mode

The camera app always uses the telephoto camera at night, you just need to give it a second or two to switch otherwise you will capture photos with the main camera. The ones we took with the zoom camera at night are solid - detailed, with low noise, very well exposed, with high contrast and good dynamic. The colors are great, too. We have absolutely no complaints here.

Tele camera

And, as we said, the Night Mode is almost identical to the default mode.

Tele camera with Night Mode

The ultrawide photos we took at night are solid, too. Their detail isn't that impressive, and we can see some smeared noise, but they are still quite good with enough detail for the low-light purpose, great dynamic range, good exposure, punchy colors, and an overall realistic look.

Ultrawide camera

The Night Mode on the ultrawide camera sometimes yields more detail and a touch of extra sharpness, in addition to somewhat brighter skies. The difference is once again minimal, but it's more evident on this camera.

Ultrawide camera with Night Mode

Finally, when using the Night Mode, there is this option called Automatic Tripod Detection. If enabled, the camera will know when the phone is steady enough for a long exposure shot and will use shutter speeds between 5s and 10s.

As you can imagine, the Tripod Long Exposure photos are absolutely stunning. They are incredibly detailed, free of noise, with excellent dynamic range and popping colors.

Main cam • Tele cam • UW cam

And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the vivo X90 Pro. You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.

vivo X90 Pro against the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our Photo compare tool