Vivo's X90 and X90 Pro flagship phones are finally going global to combat Samsung
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The first Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered phone is the Vivo X90 Pro+
In the world of tech, the 1st week of February 2023 was pretty much all about Samsung's Galaxy S23 launch. For those not really a fan of Samsung, you'll be happy to know that the once China-only Vivo X90 series (read the below earlier story) is starting to ship internationally. Considering the Vivo X80 Pro is our current top pick for the best camera smartphone, the availability of the successor (outside of China) sporting updated internals is exciting news that couldn't have come at a better time.
However, the official notice from Vivo has been vague on where to expect it to be available. According to Android Authority and Android Central, you can expect the X90 and X90 Pro to be available in UK and many parts of Europe, some countries in South Asia like India, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
Note that the top-end X90 Pro+ is still not yet available outside of China.
Plus, there is no word yet for Singapore to get any of the X90 series, but stay tuned to us for any updates in the near future. Until then, check out what the X90 series has in store for you from our previous reporting below.
The following was first published on 24th November 2022:-
Vivo just announced three new flagship phones, one of which is the first in the world to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform.
The new flagship Vivo phones are the X90, X90 Pro and X90 Pro+. While the Vivo X90 Pro+ is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the other two models run on MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipsets.
All three phones sport a 6.78-inch 120Hz OLED display, Android 13 operating system, have RAM options up to 12GB, support even faster 120W Dual-Cell FlashCharge (along with 50W wireless FlashCharge) and Zeiss-branded cameras with a fixed-focus, 2x telephoto lens.
While all three pack 50MP main cameras on the rear, the overall number of rear cameras and the type of camera sensor and lens combinations differ across the board:-
| X90 Pro+ | X90 Pro | X90 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Camera |
50MP Zeiss 1-inch T*, f1/1.75 with OIS, 1G + 7P lens (Sony IMX989 1-inch sensor) |
50MP VCS bionic spectrum camera, f1/1.75 with OIS (Sony IMX886 sensor) |
|
| Portrait Camera | 50MP f/1.6 50mm fixed focus with OIS (Sony IMX758 sensor) |
12MP 50mm fixed focus (Sony IMX663 sensor) |
|
| Ultra-wide Camera | 48MP, 114o wide-angle | 12MP, 108o wide-angle (Sony IMX 663 sensor) |
|
| Telephoto Camera | 64MP periscope telephoto with OIS 100x hybrid zoom capability |
-- |
|
| TOF Sensor? | Yes, Direct Time of Flight (dToF) laser focus sensor | ||
Both Pro+ and Pro models get a large 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, which has 77% higher photosensitivity area over the already awesome Samsung custom 50MP ISOCELL GNV sensor used in the Vivo X80 Pro's main camera. Plus, it uses an eight-element lens which is a little more than usual to improve optical aberrations from your imaging shots. Here's an example of what it could mean for those unaware.
However, the Pro+ has the most robust camera system with an additional 64MP periscope telephoto (3.5x optical zoom), 48MP ultrawide camera and another 50MP portrait lens (2x optical zoom with fixed focus). That's a total of quad rear cameras.
The Pro and non-Pro get three rear cameras instead, but the Pro model has more in common with the Pro+ using top-nothc main and portrait cameras and just forgoes the telephoto camera and a lower tier ultrawide camera. The regular non-Pro X90 has a very different tri-camera system it doesn't use the same 1-inch sensor type as the other two pricier ones.
Like the dedicated Vivo V1+ imaging chip on the X80 Pro series, the new X90 series employs a newer V2 imaging chip with updated in-house developed AI and noise reduction algorithms at high ISO settings for improved night video shooting and exceptional photosensitivity in dark environments as claimed by Vivo. Here are a few new interesting shooting modes available on the X90 series:-
- Handheld Astro mode to capture the starry sky with greater clarity without needing a tripod.
- Super Moon mode takes advantage of blue hour, the period right after the sun sets, Vivo's sky-segmentation technology optimizes blue-tone colours while its Double Exposure algorithm integrates the landscape and the moon into one stunning image.
- AI Night View tackles getting the tone just right in night photos. Powered by AI network learning, AI Night View shoota up to 10 frames in RAW while maintaining a high dynamic range. It recognizes elements such as the sky and human faces in night scenes and carries out segmentation to fine-tune the tone and colour of each segment.
- In Sports mode and Night Sports mode, the combination of the high-speed shutter and motion detection algorithm can instantly freeze frames, keeping any fast-moving subject clear thanks to Zero-Shutter-Lag Motion Snapshot.
Vivo's latest X90 phones are only available in China, with prices starting from CNY3,699 (8GB RAM + 128GB storage) for X90, CNY4,999 (8GB RAM + 256GB storage) for X90 Pro, and CNY6,499 (12GB RAM + 256GB storage) for X90 Pro+ respectively. Pro+ comes later with a China-only pre-order starting on 28 November, while the other two are available for pre-order in China at launch.
Source: Vivo via The Verge, GSMArena
Additional reporting sources: PR Newswire, Android Authority, Android Central
