Vivo’s latest offering plays in the big league
Vivo phones probably haven’t been on your radar much, but that could change. Vivo is slowly expanding into more and more international markets, having just made the jump to Europe with its excellent X70 series last year. The company has even struck a deal with FIFA to become one of the 2022 World Cup sponsors, making clear that the BBK Electronics subsidiary has big plans for the future. The X80 Pro that just launched in India for roughly $1,100 represents just that — it’s the X series’ most expensive conventional flagship to date, and a bet that Vivo can play in the big league alongside the best phones from the Samsungs, Googles, and Apples of this world.
The Vivo X80 Pro has everything it needs to be a proper first-class flagship. It comes with an enticing design, state-of-the-art specs, and a versatile camera array. But is that enough to stand out from the crowd given the software woes?
The Vivo X80 Pro is the company’s first serious foray into the flagship space. It’s an excellent camera phone and a performance powerhouse, making for a great experience overall, only packing smaller software issues and hiccups.
The Vivo X80 Pro is a beautiful piece of hardware that’s well put together, sporting an understated look with its curved display and rear panel. It’s just a tad taller than the Pixel 6 Pro, but has otherwise comparable dimensions. It has a similarly curved screen, a glass back, an aluminum frame, and a centered hole-punch selfie camera. In contrast to the Google phone, it even has a pre-applied screen protector, which is probably much appreciated by those who prefer to protect their expensive purchases as best as possible.
It sparkles in sunlight, like a certain kind of vampire
On the back, the X80 Pro features a prominent raised glass window that houses the cameras and the flash, along with some Zeiss branding as part of the collaboration between Vivo and the lens maker — not too dissimilar from its predecessor, the X70 Pro+. The details are unique, though. Three cameras and a sensor sit inside a circular section in the top left of the window, while the periscope camera sits in the bottom left corner below the circle. Zeiss and Vivo claim that this design was chosen to represent a camera of old more closely, and it does have something going for it, even if it’s overly prominent. The rest of the back is clad in so-called AG Fluorite Glass that’s silky smooth to the touch — quite reminiscent of the OnePlus 10 Pro. It’s almost a shame that most people will probably use the X80 Pro with the included case on it most of the time. That said, the case itself is high-quality, almost not altering the footprint and height of the device and coming in a black design featuring a fake leather texture. The phone itself only comes in a black colorway— no funky colors to choose from, at least if you want the version of the phone that comes with Google services.
The Vivo X80 Pro comes with excellent haptic feedback that Vivo pitches as a great gaming feature, though you will also appreciate it when receiving notifications or when typing on the pre-installed Google keyboard. Vivo says it has achieved this by pairing a large X-axis linear motor with a self-developed vibration algorithm. Whatever magic the company worked here, it makes for a quiet but tactile experience that lacks any of the usual mushiness we know from many other phones.
The X80 Pro also has the specifications to match its flagship look and feel. It comes with the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (disregarding the 8+ Gen 1 that isn’t available in any phone just yet), joined by 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. In China, the X80 Pro is sold with a Mediatek Dimensity 9000, but this version isn’t available internationally. As for connectivity, you get the usual highlights. 5G with dual SIM slots, dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and a USB 2.0 Type-C port are all on board. There’s even an infrared blaster, allowing the X80 Pro to double as a remote for your TV. As for audio, the dual speakers at the top and bottom get pleasantly loud without distorting. Like many manufacturers, Vivo has opted for the standard bottom-firing speaker next to the USB-C port and another one doubling as an earpiece at the top of the screen. I’m surprised that the sound is still balanced, with little to no differences to be heard from either side of the stereo experience.
The Vivo X80 Pro box is significantly bigger than those made by other manufacturers these days, but it contains quite a few goodies. Other than the phone, you’ll find the aforementioned case in it, an 80W fast charger with a USB Type-A to C cable, a SIM ejector tool, and even a set of wired USB-C headphones — I haven’t seen those in a box for a while.
The X80 Pro’s front is almost completely filled with its 6.78-inch display, save for small, evenly sized bezels at the top and bottom and the punch-hole selfie camera in the top middle. The screen curves gently over the sides, which sadly makes abundantly clear that it doesn’t have the best viewing angles. When looking at the phone head-on, you can see slight discolorations at the edges. It’s not a terrible display, by any means, though — you’ll be hard-pressed to notice this in everyday usage, and it’s an issue with many curved screens. In any case, the X80 Pro has a state-of-the-art third-gen LTPO display that can dynamically adjust its refresh rate depending on content up to 120Hz and an absolute boon for enjoying photos and videos. The 1440 x 3200 resolution and the capability to go up to 1,500 nits of brightness just further cements the positive impression and makes the screen easily viewable in sunlight. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra goes all the way up to 1,750 nits, which we described as so bright it was almost unreal in our review.
The fingerprint scanner underneath the display is the latest ultrasonic sensor from Qualcomm — the same one that Vivo also added to the X80 Pro’s sister model, the iQOO 9 Pro. In contrast to the small ultrasonic sensor Samsung is using, the sensor is about four times the size, taking up a space of 20x30mm in the bottom third of the display. It really requires next to no coordination when you want to unlock the screen. It’s also generally a pleasure to use it, starting with the setup process which requires you to press the sensor firmly only once, with no repeated lifting and tapping required. Thanks to the size of the sensor, you can even add app shortcuts to the lock screen, which you can read all about in our deep-dive into the fingerprint sensor on the iQOO 9 Pro.
Vivo is part of the same BBK Electronics conglomerate that also encompasses the likes of Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme, and the software makes this clear. While Vivo’s internationally available FuntouchOS doesn’t resemble Oppo’s ColorOS as closely as the latest OnePlus skin, it still comes with some of the same ColorOS quirks we’ve complained about in earlier reviews, including the Oppo Find X5 Pro. FuntouchOS 12 is less heavily modified than ColorOS, complete with optional Material You theming support, but under the surface, Vivo has also made substantial tweaks to power management that makes notifications a hit-or-miss business, which is something we’ve complained about on many BBK phones already.
Let’s start with the good parts, though. FuntouchOS 12 is recognizably Android, and if you switch from a Google or Samsung phone, you should have next to no issues finding your way around. Vivo has added thoughtful improvements to the stock Android look and feel, like a three-finger swipe-up gesture to quickly enter multi-window mode, which I’ve found myself using much more frequently on Vivo phones. The only thing I really miss on the Vivo X80 Pro is a quick shortcut to Google Assistant by holding the power button, but the good old swipe-from-the-corner gesture does the trick just fine, too, when you use gesture navigation.
When it comes to Android updates, Vivo wants to play in the big leagues. The company promises three Android version upgrades, though it doesn’t look like there is a specific promise on security patches beyond that. The company isn’t exactly surpassing the Google Pixels and Samsung Galaxy S in the process, but it’s doing a better job than many other Chinese brands. The only question is how timely these updates will be. The company told us that whenever there is an update from Google it will be ported to users in a timely manner, but no firm promises were made.
As for performance, there is nothing to complain about, either. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is a great chip, and Vivo has worked around Qualcomm’s overheating issues with its vapor chamber cooling mechanism, which keeps the phone cool in most circumstances safe for the most demanding tasks. As mentioned earlier, I just wish that apps would stay in memory longer. The Vivo X80 Pro is definitely too aggressive when it comes to multitasking.
It’s just a bummer that Vivo has decided to butcher app notifications in a quest to save battery life at all cost. Apps are aggressively sent into deep sleep quicker than I’d like them to, especially considering the 12GB of RAM the phone boasts. Worse, apps that I haven’t opened in a while will outright stop sending me notifications. This isn’t a problem when it’s a shopping app, but I’ve hardly ever received notifications from Duolingo or my banking apps. Even Telegram forgot to notify me of messages after I hadn’t opened it for a few days. You can work around some of these issues by exempting apps from restrictions in settings, but I haven’t been able to find a reliable way to make notifications surface at all times. You shouldn’t downright have to fight your phone to make it work properly.
The battery optimization shenanigans described above plainly feel very unnecessary, too. The Vivo X80 Pro already offers superb battery life thanks to its 4,700mAh battery, easily lasting me more than a single day of moderate to high usage even when out and about. Use cases will always vary from person to person, but for me, it’s one of the more enduring flagship phones. In one 24 hour instance, I was on the move for about half a day, using the X80 Pro to navigate public transit, walking directions, and photos and videos, followed by moderate usage at home. I managed to get through with a total of 6 hours of screen-on time before it turned off. I’m positive that the X80 Pro would still achieve great enough results without all these additional battery optimizations.
It’s also great that charging the X80 Pro isn’t a hassle at all, either. Thanks to the included 80W fast charger, you’ll get a topped up phone in less than an hour. Under ideal conditions, it should take no longer than 35 minutes to get from 0 to 100. During testing, I found it possible to plug in the X80 Pro before beginning my morning routine to find a fully charged phone afterward. This makes it really easy to top it up when you do prefer an extra bit of juice for peace of mind before leaving for a night out, too.
Zeiss has worked with Nokia and Microsoft to create phones in the past, and since 2020, the German lens manufacturer is collaborating with Vivo, lending the smartphone brand hardware parts and software expertise. Vivo might just be a little too proud of this partnership, though. By default, the camera app spits out images with a prominent “vivo x80 Pro - ZEISS” watermark in the bottom left corner, ruining otherwise perfectly beautiful photos. You can turn this off in settings for future images, but in 2022, no phone should launch with such an obnoxious feature enabled out of the box.
Once you’ve got the watermarks turned off, the camera experience is mostly great. The camera app is quick to react to gestures and taps, and there are little to no delays or stutters when hitting the shutter button. The resulting images can also speak for themselves. The X80 Pro produces great photos in both good and bad lighting, with HDR automatically kicking in as it is needed. There isn’t much you need to tweak or work around when shooting images, which is the ideal experience on a smartphone. The exception here is portrait mode and its default beautify settings, but we’ll get to that later.
To dive into the actual numbers, the X80 Pro comes with a quad camera array composed of actually useful parts — no poor-quality macro or monochrome lenses just to boost the camera count. The primary 50MP wide-angle is joined by a 48MP ultrawide, a 12MP telephoto 2x zoom camera, and an 8MP periscope 5x zoom camera. On the front, you can find a 32MP selfie shooter. The rear lenses are covered by Zeiss’ special T* coating, which is supposed to enhance light transmissions and reduce unwanted reflections leading to glare and lens flares. On the computational side, Vivo’s latest dedicated imaging chip, the V1+, is doing the heavy lifting, alleviating pressure on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
While you’re only achieving actual optical zoom at the predefined points, the zoom wheel along the bottom of the viewfinder is delightful and helps play out the camera array’s strength. You can either tap to zoom through all the lenses on the phone, allowing for optic zoom levels of 0.6x, 1x, 2x, and 5x, or you can tap and hold it to scroll through the optical and digital zoom levels manually. This is accompanied by satisfying haptic feedback emulating a scroll wheel. At the aforementioned zoom levels and any other whole number, an extra strong vibration will occur, making the feedback even more useful. You can also zoom in further than 5x, but the X80 Pro’s digital zoom isn’t as impressive as Google’s. In some lighting situations, the X80 Pro also decides not to go for optical zoom at all, opting for digital zoom instead. This is especially the case for 1x and 2x, with 2x shots often turning out to be nothing but digitally cropped shots from the primary camera. Given that the 2x telephoto is equipped with a hardware gimbal, that’s quite a bummer, as the gimbal helps stabilize shots, allowing you to easily capture more light for a longer duration without a tripod.
Zeiss’ contribution to this experience isn’t limited to fine-tuning the hardware and the color science. The X80 Pro also gives you access to a few intriguing special modes co-developed with Zeiss, emulating some of its tried-and-true lenses and color profiles. In portrait mode, you can choose from five special Zeiss bokeh options, each shaping out-of-focus light in just a slightly different way. There is also a portrait option for videos. Across all modes of operation, there is additionally a Zeiss Natural Color mode that’s supposed to create more realistic-looking colors in shots. If you've ever eyed the Pixel's action pan mode, you'll also appreciate the inclusion of Vivo's pendant in the form of Camera Panning, letting you capture subjects on the move with a blurred background.
First pair: Standard colors vs. Zeiss colors. Second pair: Regular portrait bokeh vs. biotar bokeh
This aspiration to create realistic images stands in direct contrast to the beautifying modes that are enabled by default when you use portrait mode. It aggressively makes faces appear unnaturally young, smoothing out any wrinkles and even removing freckles and moles. It also changes the shape of your face ever so slightly, making your chin appear more pointed and your eyes bigger. You definitely want to turn this off right away, unless you enjoy looking like you’re straight out of kindergarten.
Left: Kindergarten mode on. Right: Kindergarten mode off.
Yes, if you want a flagship phone that isn’t Samsung or Google. The Vivo X80 Pro is an excellent choice for those hobbyists who love to shoot professional looking images without actually owning professional equipment (Note the looking part — you’ll still need a proper rig if you’re a photographer). Once you’ve turned off the annoying bits and pieces, it offers a clean foundation for creativity. Save for the issues with notifications and background applications, the Vivo X80 Pro also provides a great software experience paired with ample horsepower. It won’t have to hide behind any of the other flagships on the market, and that’s good — after all, Vivo joins the $1,000+ market with this device.
The X80 Pro will be sold internationally with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It is initially only available in India, where it costs 86,999 INR, which is roughly $1,120 / €1,050 / £900. Apart from India, the X80 Pro will be available in Europe, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Latin America.
The Vivo X80 Pro and the Pixel 6 Pro share about the same aesthetics and size, both coming with big, curved displays and camera arrays that stretch across the top part of their backs. The Vivo X80 Pro feels just a tad more premium, though, thanks to its intriguing silky-smooth feeling etched glass back. Its camera setup is also ever so slightly more versatile thanks to the inclusion of an extra telephoto lens to bridge the gap between 1x and 5x zoom. However, the Vivo X80 Pro is in all likelihood going to be a little more expensive than the Pixel 6 Pro, and despite Vivo’s 6-year-update promise, we’re unsure how quick the company is actually going to be when it comes to rolling out these features. The Vivo X80 Pro’s notifications are also much more unreliable than the Pixel’s, so if you don’t want to tinker with your phone’s settings to get this figured out, the Pixel 6 Pro might be the better choice. Ultimately, the comparison between these two excellent phones comes down to your personal preferences, though.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra and the X80 Pro are remarkably similar in size and weight, but the industrial design differs drastically. While the X80 Pro goes for smooth, round corners, the S22 Ultra comes in a much boxier shape more in line with the Note series than the S lineup. In contrast to the X80 Pro, it also comes with the signature S Pen, so if stylus support is important to you, the S22 Ultra is the way to go. The S22 Ultra also gets just a tad brighter than the X80 Pro in broad sunlight and has a slightly bigger battery, but the X80 Pro charges much faster and has more RAM in its lowest configuration. When it comes to cameras, this is a question of preference. If you find natural colors and a good white balance more than raw specifications, the X80 Pro might be better for you, though the S22 Ultra is no slouch here and can provide an equally great experience, albeit with a little more opinionated color science.
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Manuel is Android Police's Europe Editor, based in Berlin, Germany. He first started writing for the publication in 2019, but has been an Android enthusiast ever since he picked up the HTC One S and later the Nexus 4.