Vivo, a subsidiary of BBK Technologies, is a sister company to Oppo, Realme, OnePlus, and iQOO, which is why many of their smartphones share components and tend to look alike. While Vivo has its fair share of budget-friendly options, it recently introduced its flagship models, the X90 series.
First launched in China at the end of last year, Vivo’s X90 and X90 Pro smartphones have arrived in Malaysia in a 12GB RAM/256GB storage configuration, retailing for RM3,699 and RM4,999, respectively.
Design
The X90 series sports a dignified look, with cameras arranged within a circular island that protrudes slightly from behind on the upper-left corner. You cannot lay the X90 prone on its back without it tilting to one side, but smartphone consumers have resigned themselves to such trends for some time now. This would surely resonate with owners of premium handsets from Huawei and Xiaomi.
If you have sweaty palms, you might want to make a beeline for a protective case as this is one slippery handset that will gleefully escape your grasp if you are not careful. Choose from Breeze Blue or Asteroid Black shades for the X90, or the singular shade – Legendary Black – for the X90 Pro.
The in-screen fingerprint reader does not work as fast as its rivals but is fine for everyday use. Scrolling through the menus, there is adequate haptic feedback without it being overpowering.
A dual-speaker configuration offers stereo-sound output, but you would be best served with a good pair of earbuds as smartphone speakers are anything but barely functional.
You will look in vain for a 3.5mm audio port and microSD memory card slot, as Vivo has followed the industry route of ditching those in favour of Bluetooth earbuds and internal storage.
Display
The 6.78-inch (17.2cm) display with curved edges offers 1260p resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 1,300 nits for both handsets. In other words, you should not have any issues with the display, even under direct sunlight. The 2160Hz PWM dimming capability works great under low-light conditions as well.
For longer battery life, feel free to adjust the refresh and touch sampling rate – done via the sidebar – for specific apps and games. There’s a maximum touch sampling rate of 300Hz for gamers, although regular users can comfortably live with 120Hz.
While you will likely not be doing any important video or photo editing on your phone, Vivo has thrown in a Zeiss Natural colour mode for P3 gamut colours that ensure acceptable hue accuracy.
The presence of a V2 imaging chip touts to offer AI Smart eye protection, where blue light will be reduced in real-time as part of its effort to protect your vision while offering maximum acuity.
Performance
The X90 series runs on MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200 system-on-chip, manufactured using the 4nm process. Benchmark tests have shown it is more than capable of handling all kinds of tasks without skipping a beat.
Enthusiasts who wish to install custom ROMs may have to think twice, however, as more hobbyist developers are familiar with Qualcomm’s SoCs than MediaTek’s, so you might end up with a smaller pool of custom ROMs down the road, if at all.
It was a smart move by Vivo to skip the 128GB model and offer 256GB since it comes with UFS 4.0 storage instead of the far slower UFS 3.1.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, and Vivo has not ditched the infrared port in the X90, allowing you to use it as an impromptu remote control.
An IP64 certification means the X90 cannot be submerged but can handle sprays from any direction. So forget about bringing it to the swimming pool or ocean to capture underwater shots.
Software
This Vivo handset runs on Funtouch OS, a skin based on Android 13. Thankfully, there are no advertisements embedded within. The user interface is minimalist in nature, and extremely responsive to the touch even with animation thrown into the mix.
Hopefully, Vivo will stick to its promise of the X-series flagship devices enjoying three years of Android and security updates, although this still pales compared with other brands that offer up to five years of security updates and four major Android updates.
Cameras
Housing its predecessor’s triple-lens configuration, the X90 sports a 50MP IMX866 sensor accompanied by a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 12MP portrait lens behind. It would have been better to see a telephoto lens thrown into the mix instead of a 2x portrait lens, as this would have offered greater versatility.
You will be able to record 4K video using both back and front cameras, and the front houses a 32MP selfie camera within a punch-hole right at the top middle of the display.
In its partnership with Zeiss, the X90 has a special mode that provides an alternative image style with the primary difference being colour reproduction, not detail. Feel free to turn it off anytime.
The X90 Pro steps into the limelight here, sporting a 50.3MP, f/1.8 main camera with Zeiss optics courtesy of the 2.5cm Sony IMX989 sensor. You will also be able to capture shots using a 50MP, f/1.6 2x telephoto portrait lens and a 12MP, f/2.0 ultra-wide-angle lens.
The circular camera bump behind is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass for additional scratch resistance.
Night shots seem to be the next battleground among smartphone manufacturers, and Vivo boasts that you can capture night-sky shots courtesy of its new AI PD Extreme Night focus mode that is capable of compensating for minor shakes.
Battery
Feel free to burn through the 4,870mAh battery throughout the day as the Vivo X90 is equipped with 120W fast-charging capability. You’ll be able to juice it up from empty in under 30 minutes via USB-C, which is somewhat conservative but more than adequate for everyday use.
It is also nice to know that, by including the charger with each purchase, Vivo has not jumped aboard the greenwashing bandwagon. Now if only it included wireless-charging support in the X90 series for it to live up to its reputation as a flagship-level handset.
The bottom line
So, is the new Vivo X90 worth picking up? At RM3,699 a pop, it can certainly tempt you to shift from traditional flagship brands as the X90 comes with enough processing muscle to spare.
But RM4,999 for the X90 Pro is a huge ask, as there are other more attractive alternatives out there from established brands. The differences between the X90 and X90 Pro are minimal, with the cameras being the primary distinguishing factor. Would you be willing to fork out an extra RM1,300 for slightly better photos at night?
With very little to differentiate between technical specs these days, your purchase decision will likely boil down to the number of years of software support and updates a smartphone receives. This places the X90 series at a disadvantage as other companies offer longer Android and security updates.
However, if you’re moving up from a mid-range handset and would like to get a taste of what flagship-level performance is like, the X90 series could prove to be a prudent decision.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics.