The Vivo X80 Pro is an addition to the expanding list of extremely expensive, top-of-the-line Android phones that include cutting-edge camera technology and potent internals. It’s Vivo’s first member of this premium tier to be made available worldwide rather than just in the company’s native country of China. Like many other phones from many other companies, it’s competing to dethrone the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra as the top smartphone in our list of the greatest smartphones.
Vivo has introduced a super-expensive Android powerhouse to compete with the S22 Ultra, but like ZTE, which recently unveiled its pricey Axon 40 Ultra, it appears to have missed one important fact: it isn’t made by Samsung.
Because Samsung is the largest smartphone seller worldwide, it can debut Ultra phones at an eye-watering price. People feel confident donating enormous sums of money to this reputable company because they trust the Galaxy brand.
However, Vivo, despite being well-known in China, has little to no presence there.
By all accounts, the X80 Pro is a respectable phone. It boasts a high-end design, a screen with curved edges that fits well in the hand, and a huge camera bump that screams “I’m a camera phone!” (a message reinforced by the multiple Zeiss logos across the back).
It features a potent processor, an attractive screen, quick charging, and a variety of high-resolution cameras on the rear, so it meets all the requirements for a high-end phone. However, despite being on par with many other high-end phones in the majority of sectors, it does nothing to advance.
The phone boasts the same set of cameras as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, including a primary, ultra-wide, telephoto (for portrait photographs), and periscope (for zoom shots), but the pictures simply aren’t as excellent. The phone’s AI picture optimization falls short since the periscope lens is coupled with a sensor that is too low-res.
The programme is yet another illustration. While Vivo’s FunTouch still has the same stock Android experience it had for many years, Android 12’s new features and design improvements aren’t present, and it also comes with a lot of bloatware, which isn’t ideal.
The Vivo X80 Pro is a good phone in theory, but there are many more alluring alternatives available. We therefore don’t anticipate many people choosing the Vivo X80 Pro over its competition, unless you have a particular aversion to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max, Sony Xperia 1 IV, and other devices.
Pros
- +Good-looking display
- +Fast to charge
- +Powerful processor
Cons
- –Price is too high
- –Lots of bloatware
- –Zoom camera is too low-res
VIVO X80 PRO PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
There is just one storage version of the Vivo X80 Pro that will be sold, and it has 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. It costs £1,199 in the UK, which equals $1,440 or AU$2,090.
Expect no launch in the US as Vivo doesn’t sell its phones there, but a launch in Australia is definitely a possibility.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which starts at $1,199.99/£1,149/AU$1,849 (albeit that’s for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage; for the same 256GB option, you’re looking at $1,299/£1,249/AU$1,999), is a strong competitor to the Vivo at that price.
Therefore, the Samsung is technically more expensive in the one location we can compare prices because Vivo has better like-for-like storage if you merely want to buy the hardware for the lowest feasible price. Generally speaking, both phones are in the same price range, so it’s a tight call.
VIVO X80 PRO CAMERAS
If the marketing didn’t indicate it, the camera hump covered in Zeiss branding would. Vivo is obviously concentrating on the photography industry with the X80 Pro.
There are four cameras on the back of this device: a primary 50MP f/1.6 camera, a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, a 12MP f/1.9 telephoto camera with a 2x optical zoom for portrait pictures, and an 8MP periscope camera (with 5x optical zoom). Oh, and the front-facing 32MP f/2.5 camera brings the overall count to five.
The zoom is where it feels like Vivo is attempting to imitate Samsung without really grasping why the Galaxy S22 Ultra is so great for shooting.
While the 5x optical zoom is nothing to sniff at, the 8MP sensor that comes along with it is simply too low-res to produce genuinely stunning images. Snapshots are a tad drab and blurry. A better sensor would be the ideal option, but a jump to 10MP like Samsung could have paid off.
Another technique from Samsung is to have a second camera for taking portrait photos, though to be fair, other firms did it before. These photos are at least decent; the zoom lens gives them a more realistic depth of field, and the sensor and AI tweaks make the photographs appear quite bright.
Fair enough, the Vivo X80 Pro works well for “normal” photos when you simply point the phone at a subject and hit the shutter. The adjective “good” was purposefully chosen since, even with some light-touch AI that could be working a little bit harder, the phone doesn’t always achieve “excellent.”
Although it occasionally performed admirably, the front-facing camera shared the same problem as the rear cameras in that the AI optimization didn’t seem to be doing its job. Selfies appeared darker and less vibrant than on competing phones.
A few other modes are available, including Astro (for astrophotography), Supermoon (also for astrophotography), Long Exposure (uh… also for astrophotography? ), and Night (surely not for astrophotography, right?). There are also the standard features like slow-motion video, document scanning, and Pro mode.
VIVO X80 PRO BATTERY LIFE
The Vivo’s battery seems a little smaller than that of its competitors, who all sport 5,000mAh batteries on their sleeves. However, in actual use, it didn’t appear to make a significant effect.
The battery life of the Vivo X80 Pro isn’t outstanding, but it’s also not terrible either. Unless you really push the phone by playing hours of video games or filming hours of video, it will last for a day of use.
At 80W, charging is quick. We agree with Vivo’s claim that the phone would charge from empty to full in 38 minutes, with a reliable charging time of under 40 minutes (unless, of course, we were using it in this time).
If you have a compatible charger, you can also use wireless charging at 50W, which is relatively quick in comparison to many other wireless-powering gadgets.
