vivo X80 and X80 Pro debut, powered by SD 8 Gen 1 and Dimensity 9000
There were many leaks surrounding the upcoming vivo X80 series in the last couple of months, but we finally get to see the real thing. The company managed to deliver a few surprises and that includes the X80 Pro+ as well. The flagship of the series didn't join its siblings today and will be announced sometime in Q3 this year. For now, the X80 Pro and the X80 would have to do.
vivo X80 Pro
It seems like vivo has been taking notes from Oppo and is releasing the X80 Pro in two versions - a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered one and a Dimensity 9000 option as well. Since the announcement event was held for the Chinese market, we don't know which version will hit the global scene but likely it will be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version.
In addition to the flagship SoC, the phone also features a flagship-grade display. The big 6.78-inch screen uses a Samsung-made E5 LTPO2 AMOLED with QHD+ resolution and granular refresh rate adjustments ranging between 1Hz and 120Hz. vivo also claims that it's considerably more responsive and power-efficient compared to last year's X70 Pro+ display.
Interestingly, the X80 Pro also holds an ultrasonic fingerprint reader beneath the display with 38.7% larger recognition area. Up until now, only a handful of OEMs have been using ultrasonic fingerprints.
Moving onto the camera department, the device has four of those on its back. This time around, the company used a custom 50MP 1/1.3" Samsung-made ISOCELL GNV imager. The sensor is paired with stabilized optics and bright f/1.57 aperture. The unit is also aided by laser AF and Pixel Shift technology.
The 2x zoom shooter uses a 12MP Sony IMX6631/2" sensor with 1.22µm pixels and f/1.85 lens aided by a gimbal-like OIS. vivo markets the 2x zoom camera as a dedicated portrait shooter, but it's obviously good enough for various scenarios.
The 5x telephoto camera uses an 8MP optically-stabilized sensor with an f/3.4 aperture and on paper it sounds identical to what the X70 Pro had. Behind the f/2.2. ultrawide lens is a Sony IMX598 48MP sensor of 1/2.0" size.
All of the cameras benefit from the Zeiss T* lens coating, just like vivo X70 series and make use of the upgraded vivo V1+ ISP chip for improved low-light photography.
The final camera is inside the punch-hole at the front - it has a 32MP 1/2.8" sensor and an f/2.5 lens.
The phone draws power from the 4,700 mAh battery that supports vivo's brand new 80W wired fast charging, which is a significant upgrade over last year. The wireless 50W fast charging is still at hand and the handset can charge other devices both wired and wirelessly.
Other notable features of the phone include an advanced 27-layer VC cooling system, HiFi audio chip, NFC with wider range, stereo and IP68 water and dust-proof certification. And, of course, the phone launches with the latest OriginOS Ocean out of the box based on Android 12.
The handset will be available in three colorways - Black, Orange and Green with the latter seemingly more of a turquoise color. Depending on the color, you get AG glass, vegan leather or ceramic back, respectively.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 option will be offered with either 8GB/256GB, 12GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB memory while the Dimensity 9000 variant will come equipped only with the last two configurations. As far as pricing goes, the X80 Pro asks CNY 5,499 ($840), CNY 5,999 ($915) and CNY 6,699 ($1,020), respectively.
vivo X80
Despite being the most affordable option in the series, the X80 still packs a powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC but there's no Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 option. We also have a less impressive 6.78-inch Samsung E5 AMOLED, which isn't LTPO2. Still, the advertised 1,500 nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage and 120Hz refresh rate make up for a solid panel.
The camera setup isn't as advanced either. The main shooter uses a 50MP Sony IMX866 RGBW 1/1.49" sensor and f/1.75 lens with OIS. The 2x zoom camera used for portraits is borrowed from the X80 Pro but uses a narrower f/1.98 aperture and there's no 5x zoom shooter here.
The ultrawide camera, on the other hand, is downgraded to a Sony IMX663 12MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The selfie camera is shared with the X80 Pro.
The X80 draws from a slightly smaller 4,500mAh battery and misses on the wireless charging, but retains the fast 80W fast wired charging .
The available memory options are 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, 12GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB, which cost CNY 3,699 ($565), CNY 3,999 ($610), CNY 4,399 ($670) and CNY 4,899 ($745), respectively. It's important to note that the regular X80 skips the IP68 certification and uses a standard optical under-display fingerprint reader. Just like the X80 Pro, the standard X80 also comes with OriginOS Ocean based on Android 12. But since vivo is keeping the OriginOS for the Chinese market, we don't know what to expect for the global release. Likely Funtouch OS will be on board again.
Pre-orders for both handsets are open and actual shipments begin on April 29.