The short six months between Vivo’s flagship phones are over as the company unveiled the Vivo X90, X90 Pro and X90 Pro+.
The X80 Pro was one of our favorite phones of 2022, so it’s fair to say we were excited to see what the company could come up with for its successors.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Vivo X90 series – or read our Vivo X90 Pro review to find out what we think of that phone.
When will the Vivo X90 be released outside of China?
Vivo announced the X90 phones in its native China on November 22, 2022, and all three phones are now available for purchase there.
An international launch took place on 3 February 2023, although only the X90 and X90 Pro appeared – unfortunately the Pro+ model appears to be staying in China only.
The two phones are also launching in different territories. The X90 will have a more limited launch in Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Thailand and Malaysia only. The X90 Pro, on the other hand, is more available, going on sale in all of the above and much of Europe. That was meant to include the UK, but unfortunately Vivo has since confirmed to Tech Advisor that the UK launch is no longer happening.
Unfortunately, none of the phones will go on sale in the US.
How much do the Vivo X90 phones cost?
Here are the prices for the three phones in the main markets where they are sold:
- Vivo X90: From ₹59,999/¥3,699 (approximately $520/£430)
- Vivo X90 Pro: From €1,199 / ₹84,999 / ¥4,999 (approximately $700 / £590)
- Vivo X90 Pro+: from ¥6,499 in China (around $900/£760)
What are the specifications and features of the Vivo X90?
Vivo has thrown the sink at the X90 series, with three phones with different specs and features.
Vivo X90
The regular X90 is the ‘basic’ phone in the series, although it’s still powerful enough. It comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset paired with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
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The large 4810mAh battery should keep it going all day, with fast 120W wired charging to top it up at the end. You also get an expansive 6.78in 120Hz AMOLED display, and the phone comes with a glass back in two colours: Breeze Blue and Asteroid Black.
As for the cameras, there are three lenses on the rear: a 50Mp main camera with the Sony IMX866 sensor, then 12Mp ultrawide and 2x telephoto lenses. On the front you will find a 32Mp selfie camera.
It also uses the Vivo V2 ISP chip, which adds an extra level of image processing not found in competing phones. Like all phones, it also benefits from the Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating on its lenses, along with a selection of Zeiss software tricks to improve color matching and drive custom camera functions.
- MediaTek Dimension 9200
- Vivo V2 ISP
- 50Mp f/1.75 main camera (Sony IMX866)
- 12Mp f/2.0 108-degree ultra-wide lens (Sony IMX663)
- 12Mp f/2.0 2x portrait telephoto lens (Sony IMX663)
- 32Mp f/2.45 selfie camera
- 6.78in 120Hz AMOLED, 2800x1260p
- 8/12 GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 256 GB UFS 4.0 storage (up to 512 GB in China)
- Android 13 with OriginOS 3
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- 4810 mAh battery
- 120W wired charging
- 5G/4G
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.3
- GPS
- aptX HD
- High-resolution audio
- IP64 water and dust resistance
- 164 x 74.4 x 8.5mm
- 200g
Vivo X90 Pro
The X90 Pro shares many of its core specs with the X90, although the Pro adds things like an improved rear camera setup, wireless charging and a slightly larger battery.
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Just as importantly, the design changes slightly: the Pro comes with a vegan leather back, available worldwide in just one finish: Legendary Black. The design is also more durable, with a full IP68 dust and water resistance rating, an improvement over the IP64 on the regular model – that means they have the same level of dust protection, but the Pro is more water resistant.
You’ll find the biggest changes in the camera. Most importantly, while the main camera is still a 50Mp shooter at f/1.75, it’s been upgraded to use the larger 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor – the same one used in last year’s Xiaomi 12S Ultra.
Vivo says this 50Mp lens has a 77% larger light sensitive area compared to the 1/1.3-inch sensor on the X80 Pro. That phone had excellent low-light results thanks to its large sensor, and this should be even better.
The 2x portrait telephoto has also been improved, in this case jumping to the Sony IMX758 sensor, matching that main camera at 50Mp resolution – but not sensor size. Keep in mind that the ultrawide is the same as on the regular X90.
The other major changes here are the battery. This is slightly larger at 4870mAh, but the bigger addition is 50W fast wireless charging.
- MediaTek Dimension 9200
- Vivo V2 ISP
- 50Mp f/1.75 main camera (Sony IMX989)
- 12Mp f/2.0 108-degree ultra-wide lens (Sony IMX663)
- 50Mp f/1.6 2x portrait telephoto lens (Sony IMX758)
- 32Mp f/2.45 selfie camera
- 6.78in 120Hz AMOLED, 2800x1260p
- 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM (8 GB option in China)
- 256 GB UFS 4.0 storage (up to 512 GB in China)
- Android 13 with OriginOS 3
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- 4870 mAh battery
- 120W wired charging
- 50W wireless charging
- 5G/4G
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.3
- GPS
- NFC
- aptX HD
- High-resolution audio
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- 164 x 74.5 x 9.3mm
- 215g
Vivo X90 Pro+
We thought the X80 Pro was as much phone as Vivo could give us earlier in 2022, but the X90 Pro+ is a fully-fledged flagship that’s once again trying to push the smartphone envelope – which makes it all the more unfortunate that this model isn’t launching outside China.
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The X90 Pro+ is the only model with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip instead of the MediaTek Dimensity 9200.
The 1-inch main camera sensor is again the 1-inch Sony IMX989, and here it’s paired with a 48Mp ultrawide, the same 50Mp portrait telephoto as the Pro, and an additional 64Mp 3.5x periscope camera.
All that potential phone magic runs on an obscenely bright 1800 nit AMOLED display, a Samsung E6 panel to be exact – and the only one of the trio to use a more detailed QHD+ resolution. It has a color accuracy of 10 bits and can be refreshed between 1 Hz and 120 Hz thanks to LTPO 4.0 technology.
The phone comes in a black or a nice red leather version.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- 1in 50Mp f/1.65 main camera (Sony IMX989)
- 48Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide lens
- 50Mp f/1.6 2x portrait telephoto (Sony IMX758)
- 64Mp f/3.5 3.5x periscope telephoto sensor
- 32Mp selfie camera
- 6.78in 120Hz QHD+ LTPO 4.0 AMOLED, 3200x1400p
- Up to 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM
- Up to 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage
- Android 13 with OriginOS 3
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- 4700 mAh battery
- 80W wired charging
- 50W wireless charging
- 5G/4G
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.3
- GPS
- NFC
- aptX HD
- High-resolution audio
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- 164.3 x 75.3 x 9.7mm
- 220g
Sadly, the X90 Pro+ won’t be launching outside of Europe, but in the meantime, be sure to check out our roundup of the best smartphones currently available to see what the X90 series is up to.
