The vivo X80 Pro “premium flagship smartphone” proved itself impressive in photography and powerful in gaming during my camera samples and gaming review articles.
For this full review, we will look at the smartphone from a more comprehensive point of view. Aside from performance and cameras, let’s also explore the quality of its display, software, connectivity, ergonomics, battery life, and aesthetics.
The contents of the vivo X80 Pro box.
The front panel of the vivo X80 Pro.
The vivo X80 Pro has a large display with curved edges and a near-bezel-less design. Even though other brands have switched to boxier aesthetics, this still looks more premium and elegant.
A large camera array dominates the back of the phone manifesting its photography prowess. It has a ring that houses three of the four rear cameras, a laser autofocus sensor, and ZEISS logo. Beside it are the triple LED flash and a vivo | ZEISS branding while the periscope telephoto camera lies below the main ring.
The cameras are arranged in a seemingly non-complimentary manner but I like the fact that it doesn’t resemble a face.
The velvet-like back and large camera island of the vivo X80 Pro.
The rest of the back has a velvet-like texture that feels soft to touch. It doesnt attract fingerprints nor smudges keeping the pristine look of the vivo X80 Pro.
A faux leather phone case comes FREE inside the box and it fits nicely with the phone’s aesthetics. However, its sides are cut out to make way for the curvature of the display.
The tagline “PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY” is printed on its flattened top. Beside it are an infrared sensor and microphone. At the bottom are the SIM card tray, another microphone, USB Type-C port, and the loudspeaker grille.
“PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY” is in the vivo X80 Pro’s identity.
Holding the vivo X80 Pro feels comfortable despite the nearly 3-inch width thanks to its curved design. It’s a bit on the hefty side at 219 grams but it only feels right for a smartphone of this caliber.
Its volume and power buttons are on the right side and have satisfying clickiness. The positioning prevents accidental presses when the phone is held horizontally.
Overall, the vivo X80 Pro has the aesthetics and ergonomics of a premium smartphone.
See also: vivo X80 Pro Unboxing!
The default home screen of the vivo X80 Pro.
The vivo X80 Pro has a 6.78-inch QHD+ AMOLED display that boasts a 517ppi pixel density, 120Hz screen refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, and HDR10+ support.
It’s bright, sharp, and remains easily legible outdoors under the noontime sun. It can also get comfortably dim for browsing in the dark.
Watching Netflix shows with the HDR label showcases the capability of the display. It can render vivid colors and resolve details in both bright and dark scenes.
Watching Netflix shows on the vivo X80 Pro.
The 120Hz screen refresh rate of the vivo X80 Pro means snappy animations and transitions in the phone’s interface, apps, and games that support high refresh rates. It can switch between a high refresh rate and the normal 60Hz refresh rate automatically according to the usage scenario to save battery.
Meanwhile, the 240Hz touch sampling rate means the screen can detect up to 120 touch inputs in one second! That’s an advantage for gamers who may need to tap the attack button on a game faster by a split second to win.
There’s a small punch-hole for the selfie camera at the top of the screen but most people are used to them by now. The sheen on the screen’s curved edge is a bit annoying though.
Close-up look at the vivo X80 Pro’s cameras.
The vivo X80 Pro is equipped with a quad camera system: a 50 Megapixel Samsung GNV main camera, 48 Megapixel ultrawide camera, 12 Megapixel 2x telephoto camera, and 8 Megapixel 5x periscope telephoto camera.
All four cameras have ZEISS T* coated lenses which enhance image quality and reduce ghosting. Its camera app also has several ZEISS enhancements including ZEISS color science and ZEISS bokeh effects.
Here are some sample pictures captured by the vivo X80 Pro:
vivo X80 Pro (main camera) | f/1.57 1/5000sec ISO50
vivo X80 Pro (ultrawide camera) | f/2.2 1/2500sec ISO56
vivo X80 Pro (portrait mode) | f/2.0 1/100sec ISO89
vivo X80 Pro (portrait mode) | f/2 1/320sec ISO50
vivo X80 Pro (main camera) | f/1.57 1/2000sec ISO50
vivo X80 Pro (main camera) | f/1.57 1/30sec ISO2286
vivo X80 Pro (5x zoom) | f/3.4 1/25sec ISO298
vivo X80 Pro (front camera) | f/16 1/30sec ISO517
The vivo X80 Pro can capture great-looking pictures using its main camera, ultrawide camera, and two telephoto cameras. This makes it a versatile snapper with the right camera modes for any scenario.
I took this smartphone during a tour on a white sand island and then another tour in the mountains complete with a sea of clouds and forests. The resulting pictures are impressive!
Many people who saw the pictures were amazed and can even point out which ones are the best. Most of them would pick portrait shots while others choose landscape pictures that captured the essence of the majestic subjects.
Now, let’s watch some sample videos:
Once again, the vivo X80 Pro produced high-quality videos. I prefer shooting with 4K resolution and 60fps framerate but scenes involving a lot of movement can benefit a lot from the ultra stabilization mode that captures videos with 1080p@60fps resolution.
Its 240fps slow motion also looks great with plenty of details. It preserves the color quality and doesn’t have pronounced flickering in low light.
I published a more detailed article about my experience taking pictures and videos using the vivo X80 Pro: vivo X80 Pro Sample Pictures and Videos: Exploring ZEISS Professional Photography!
Antutu Benchmark score of the vivo X80 Pro.
The vivo X80 Pro is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset with 12GB of RAM and a liquid cooling vapor chamber.
This is a solid hardware combination for smooth performance while browsing social media apps, watching videos, and quickly switching between apps and games. Using the device feels snappy, buttery, and virtually lag-free.
It achieved very high scores in benchmarks. It scored 990,000+ points on Antutu Benchmark, 1,094 points on GeekBench single core, 3,405 points on GeekBench multi-core, and solved 1 million digits of 𝝅 in 1.04 seconds!
Measuring the average framerate of Call of Duty Mobile on the vivo X80 Pro.
The gaming performance of the vivo X80 Pro is also impressive. It can run popular apps like Mobile Legends, Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and others smoothly at high graphics quality.
Meanwhile, it runs the notoriously resource-intensive Genshin Impact at medium graphics quality by default. It also has a slight tendency to warm up just like many Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered smartphones during prolonged gaming sessions.
Here’s a more detailed gaming review of the vivo X80 Pro with FPS tests.
Web browsing on the vivo X80 Pro.
The vivo X80 Pro runs on Android 12 OS with the Funtouch OS 12 user interface. It looks neat with several customization options including different Always-On-Display styles, fonts, icons, and overall themes.
It comes with a number of pre-installed apps. Some are useful like Facebook, Lazada, Google apps, and Tiktok. However, there are other apps that are not useful for everyone, and some apps like the V-Appstore and default Browser send unwanted notifications but these can be easily disabled.
Funtouch OS 12 has several features that are worthy to be explored. Different animations like the fingerprint scanner and charging can even be customized.
The large fingerprint scanner of the vivo X80 Pro.
The vivo X80 Pro is a dual-SIM smartphone with 5G connectivity. It can provide ultra-fast mobile internet speeds in areas with 5G coverage and decent speeds in 4G-only areas.
It supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard and MU-MIMO for even faster internet speeds when connected to a high-speed Wi-Fi network. There’s Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, infrared remote control function, and multi-band GPS positioning too.
Listening to music, watching videos, and playing games on the vivo X80 Pro is a more immersive experience thanks to its stereo dual speaker setup. It has decent clarity and a slight hint of bass.
Meanwhile, its large under-display fingerprint scanner makes unlocking the phone more convenient since a bigger area of the screen can read fingerprints. There’s no need to hunt for a tiny fingerprint sensor anymore.
Battery life test score of the vivo X80 Pro.
A 4,700mAh battery powers the vivo X80 Pro and lasts more than an entire day on a single charge with my normal use. It can also last around 7 hours of continuous gaming.
It scored 13 hours and 45 minutes on the PCMark Battery Life Test 2.0. This is slightly above the average score of 13 hours among the smartphones that I’ve tested. As usual, I conducted the test with the screen brightness set at 50% and airplane mode turned on.
Re-charging the device from 0% to 100% battery capacity takes about 38 minutes only, using the bundled 80W vivo FlashCharge adaptor and cable. It also supports 50W fast wireless charging but I’ve only tested the feature, not its speed.
Here are the quad rear cameras of the vivo X80 Pro!
The vivo X80 Pro is an impressive smartphone for photography. Its partnership with ZEISS resulted in a versatile camera system that can produce amazing pictures in almost any scenario.
It also proves itself as a premium flagship smartphone in terms of design, display quality, gaming performance, connectivity, charging time, and additional features not found in other smartphones.
There are some aspects that can be explored in the next iteration of the series but the vivo X80 Pro is already a ZEISS x vivo mobile photography masterpiece!
