vivo X90 Pro review

The competition

The vivo X90 Pro is one of the few smartphones vivo has decided to launch on the international markets. But the global rollout is not exactly global; the availability is just expanded to include Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Malaysia and select European markets.

The vivo X90 Pro costs RM 4,999 in Malaysia (or about €1,050), which is in line with other flagships. The price seems well justified as the X90 Pro is a flagship product, jam-packed with top-tier features like a high-res 120Hz AMOLED, the fastest MediaTek chipset, a premium triple camera with a 1" sensor, and incredibly fast 120W charging. Let's not forget the exquisite camera-centric design that's also IP68-rated too.

The vivo X90 Pro is an excellent smartphone, and we found it to live up to the hype and vivo's promises. Of course, the competition is fierce out there, so let's explore a few alternative offers which you may want to consider too.

The first phone that comes to mind is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. Yes, it's a China-exclusive smartphone, but it's the X90 Pro's worthiest rival in existence. It offers an even better 6.73-inch LTPO2 AMOLED screen, similarly fast performance via the SD8+G1 chipset, but most importantly - an equally interesting camera kit, powered by Leica. The main camera uses the same 1" Sony sensor, the telephoto one relies on a 48MP sensor with 5x optical zoom lens, and the ultrawide camera has a 48MP sensor with AF lens, too. There is also a TOF 3D system for enhanced portrait and focus capabilities. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra uses a Chinese MIUI ROM, but we believe people would still choose it for its outstanding quality despite that.

Okay, but what about the vivo X90 Pro? Well, the 12S Ultra has one thing that's notably better than the X90 Pro, and that's the longer zoom. On the other hand, the vivo X90 Pro is faster to charge, offers more reliable color rendition, consistently great telephoto performance and video quality, and, oh well, it has proper Google support.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra next to the vivo X90 Pro

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is widely considered as one of the best smartphones right now, and it's about 20% more expensive than the vivo X90 Pro. For the premium price, you will get Samsung's best AMOLED with S-Pen support, the fastest Snapdragon chip, better battery life, and a quartet of high-end cameras with a 200MP primary and two telephoto cams for 3x and 10x optical magnifications. The selfie camera is years ahead of the vivo's too. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is available worldwide, and the premium it charges gets you the S-Pen, a longer zoom, and even better-performing hardware.

The Huawei Mate 50 Pro is not your ordinary smartphone because it lacks Google Services and 5G support. Huawei has made tremendous efforts to expand its ecosystem, and we believe it's starting to pay off, at least in Asia. The Mate 50 Pro is a bit cheaper than the vivo X90 Pro, and while it doesn't have a 1" camera sensor, it impressed us with the variable aperture on the main camera, and overall excellent photo and video quality across all cameras, selfie included. If cameras come first, we suggest trying out this Mate 50 Pro before making your final decision.

And, finally, let's throw the latest iPhone 14 Pro Max in the mix, which is a bit more expensive, though. It has a superb display, more powerful hardware, better battery life, and an excellent camera system with similarly good video quality, but a rather uninspiring photo one. It's still one of the best flagships worldwide, so it's worth considering for its fine-tuned hardware and long software support.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra • Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra • Huawei Mate 50 Pro • Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Our verdict

The vivo X90 Pro turned out to be an excellent smartphone and an impressive cameraphone with few if any, caveats. It has a likable and grippy design, and it is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance. The X90 Pro also impresses with an excellent AMOLED with great color accuracy and high brightness. The HDR10+ support is recognized by all popular streaming apps, too.

Then there is the new Dimensity 9200 chipset, which scored slightly behind the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, but it is still impressive by being the second-best silicon on the market right now. The vivo X90 Pro is well-equipped to handle whatever you throw at it, though running GPU benchmarks may heat it up to an unpleasantly hot degree.

We were satisfied with the vivo X90 Pro battery life and impressed by its 120W fast charging. The stereo speakers turned out pretty good, too. But what was outstanding across the board was the rear camera photo and video quality. The partnership between Vivo and Zeiss has produced one of the best and most consistent image-processing outputs we've seen. All photos and videos we took with the rear cameras are simply stunning. There is no doubt that this alone is enough to rank the vivo X90 Pro among the best cameraphones in the world.

The selfie is still behind the curve as it uses a Quad-Bayer sensor and doesn't even offer 4K video capturing at the time of writing. The zoom options are limited to 2x, which is another aspect that doesn't sit well in light of what the competition is doing. A cameraphone of this magnitude deserves better!

All things considered, however, the vivo X90 Pro is an exemplary flagship smartphone that delivers on every promise and offers impressive imaging skills. It's not insanely expansive, too. And it sure gets our unreserved recommendation.

Pros

• Excellent design, grippy, IP68-rated.
• Great AMOLED, high-res, bright, color-accurate, HDR10+.
• Good battery life.
• Incredibly fast charging.
• Second-best chipset on the market.
• Class-leading photo and video quality, great portraits.
• Very good stereo speakers.

Cons

• At 2x zoom, the tele camera has a reach that's too short
• Screen refresh rate not as adaptive as last year.
• Can get hot under heavy graphics loads.
• Uninspiring selfie camera.