It was yesterday that the global launch of Vivo’s new smartphone was announced, but it’s not just any smartphone. It’s a high-end smartphone that wants to show that it’s not just Apple and Samsung that launch quality smartphones.

And if, on the one hand, the Vivo brand is still unknown in Portugal, not least because it has only recently arrived in our market , it is also true that you are aware of the market, you know that vivo is one of the main brands in the Chinese market. . But is the Vivo X80 Pro worth the €1299 it presents to European consumers?

Vivo X80 Pro: First impressions

As soon as we pick up the smartphone, we realize that we are talking about high-end equipment. With a size that matches what is found by competitors, we realize that the equipment has a strong focus on audiovisual, as soon as we look at the huge area dedicated to the cameras at the rear of the equipment.

With several references to Zeiss, it is shown right here that the equipment has as its great “standard bearer” the cameras and what it can do. In fact, during the event held by Vivo in Berlin, which we attended, they demonstrate this.

Instead of a “normal” presentation, where brand leaders usually debit a number of specifications (which journalists already know), it turned out to be a short presentation and pointing to the objective of this event: talking about the brand, the partnership with Zeiss and, later, we took the equipment and abused smartphones in the most varied situations that the brand had prepared for us. And quite challenging, which included areas with very little light, with a lot of color and even a passage through an unstable bridge to see the image stabilizer. But there we go.

Coming back to the design of the device, there’s no mistaking the huge frame of the cameras on the rear. However, for the rest of the back, Vivo doesn’t use glass, but rather aluminum with a dull color, which we think is very smart. In this way, there is no risk of seeing our many fingerprints on the back of the device.

In the frame of the cameras, obviously this already happens because it is all glass, but in this area it is not expected that we often put our fingers.

There is also an infrared sensor that the smartphone has, which is something that is rare and that I only remember that Huawei offers.

Where was I impressed?

There is no great doubt that Vivo X80 Pro is dedicated to content and audiovisual creation. The configuration of the rear cameras is as follows:

  • 50 MP, f/1.6, (wide), 1/1.3″, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
  • 8 MP, f/3.4, (periscope telephoto), 1/4.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom
  • 12 MP, f/1.9, 50mm (telephoto), 1/2.93″, 1.22µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, 2x optical zoom, gimbal OIS
  • 48 MP, f/2.2, 114˚ (ultrawide), 1/2.0″, AF

Now what immediately jumps out, in addition to the four cameras, is the indication of image stabilizer in three of the sensors, and in the 12MP sensor we even have a gimbal. And I must admit that I was very impressed with the video image stabilization, and in the camera application, in the video option, we even have a shortcut to choose the type of stabilization: Standard, Ultra, Horizontal Line and off.

During this presentation, as I mentioned earlier, there was a part where we can test the image stabilization of the cameras and, in a first phase, we moved to a small wooden bridge that was quite unstable and the result was superb. With the help of the gimbal, in Standard mode, the result of the video was incredible, it didn’t even look like we were moving so much during the traverse.

But it didn’t stop there and soon after, there was a demonstration of what the camera could do in terms of stabilization. In this demonstration, using the “Horizontal Line”, the test was to rotate the smartphone 360º and the final result is an image that is always straight. To understand well, nothing like watching the video below to understand what we mean. Click to see the video on the right of this image, which is the smartphone capture of the video, then turn again to see the final video.

It is impossible not to be impressed with the final result, where we can see that despite the smartphone rotating, the image always remains straight, which is incredible. During the recording we didn’t notice this, but when we looked at the video we realized how it turned out. Obviously, in the roughest movement there was some instability, but even so, the final result is impressive.

Another area is the fingerprint sensor. According to Vivo, the X80 Pro has the largest fingerprint sensor on the market , which makes it possible to do very interesting things. During the demo, Vivo shows that the initial setup of our fingerprint is impressively fast. It’s just that instead of putting your finger several times, even on the side, so that the reading is good, now it’s just a single time and with a duration of little more than 1 second and that’s it. It gets configured.

Does it look bad? Not. I tried with the same finger on my left hand and I couldn’t unlock the device, for example. In addition, unlocking the smartphone with the fingerprint is also much faster than the competition, and Vivo has added some very interesting features.

First, it is now possible to unlock the smartphone with two fingers, and for its real use I have some doubts. But the possibility of configuring applications in the sensor area so that when you put your finger to unlock it is started, that I consider an excellent addition and that is very handy.

What does not impress?

One of the things I noticed, thanks to Hugo Barreto , is a “miss”, which is the inability to record in 4K through the front camera. Really, realizing that the smartphone is clearly focused on the audiovisual bet, it should have this option on the front, since, like Hugo, there are many people who want to record in 4K, even from the selfie camera.

Another factor that didn’t impress us is the price. The Vivo X80 Pro smartphone will hit the market for… €1299. No, I was not mistaken in any number, this is the price that the smartphone will have when it is available in Portugal, and the beginning of sales is not yet known in Portugal.

But going back to the price, which is a very important factor, it is impossible not to be left with a bittersweet feeling. It’s not that the smartphone isn’t worth them, that’s to explore in the full analysis that we’re already doing. First, it will be difficult, even in markets where vivo has been around for a longer time, for consumers to be convinced to buy a €1300 smartphone from a brand that is almost unknown.

Then, because its big competitors, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Oppo Find X5 Pro, have been on the market for a few months and you can already find them at much lower prices than the recommended ones (which were even lower than this one).

Vivo X80 Pro: Conclusion

On the first day of use, I can’t help but say that I was very impressed. It is true that the price is bitter, but the smartphone is incredible and has innovative features in the smartphone market which even leaves some doubts in the air.

Is it worth the €1299 despite its high price? Soon I will publish a more in-depth analysis of the vivo X80 Pro, however, the first indications are very good, namely because it contains unique features and innovations in this smartphone market, something that is increasingly rare to find.