Viva Vivo? The smartphone manufacturer, which is still struggling to make a name for itself in France, bangs its fist on the table by launching its X80 Pro. Top of the range and sold for 1,299 euros, this 5G and Wifi 6 terminal seems to want to concentrate the ultimate in what a smartphone is able to offer in mid-2022. With the approach of the holidays, it focuses above all on its photo and video quality thanks to a collaboration with the manufacturer of optics Zeiss, thanks to which Vivo can stand out.
Beautiful, but massive
Not easy, when you are yet another brand of Chinese smartphones, to find a place on the shelves. But when you belong to the same group as Oppo or OnePlus, you can display real know-how without blushing. Vivo and its ambitious X80 Pro bears witness to this.
This waterproof terminal (standard: IP68) first has a real visual identity. Its opulent photo block developed in collaboration with the optical manufacturer Zeiss gives it a unique aesthetic. And good point: the matte coating on the back of the phone is free of any fingerprints. Measuring 164.6 x 75.3 x 9.1 mm (for 219 g), the X80 Pro remains massive and, ultimately, quite delicate to handle with one hand. No doubt the price to pay to be able to benefit from a remarkable 6.78-inch screen.
A screen made for video
During our tests, the latter really stood out in the final of Stranger Things, viewed on Netflix, but also from a few gaming sessions. The sharpness of the image (in WQHD +, i.e. 3200 x 1440 pixels), its fluidity (the X80 Pro is 120 Hz adaptive), but also its very good brightness tick all boxes. Let’s add the presence of two speakers with rather good sound reproduction, with (as much as possible on a smartphone) an exciting sound stage width.
Zeiss quality in the viewfinder
But it’s in the photo and video that Vivo wants to stand out. For this, the manufacturer has once again partnered with Carl Zeiss, the historic manufacturer of German optics, which mainly intervened on the software part of the smartphone. Zeiss thus supports a gaggle of sensors* rather well laid out to venture on all types of playgrounds (from macro photography, to panoramic, to portrait).
The portrait, precisely. Vivo/Zeiss pulls off a real tour de force by offering a full range of possibilities. In addition to the basics, such as the artistic blur effect behind the subject (also offered in video), the X80 Pro offers tons of shooting modes. Example with “vintage” portraits, “party” portraits (with luminous or swirling effects around the subject), group portraits, etc. The proposed scenarios are extremely numerous and there is really enough to use your creativity. The results obtained are very attractive, even if they are sometimes more random at night.
Tips and tricks
There is therefore a lot to be said about the Vivo X80 Pro which has a thousand and one tricks (it also takes some time to discover and appreciate them). Let’s name a few, in different areas…
Bluffing video: Vivo has equipped the 12-megapixel sensor of its smartphone with a gimbal to perfectly stabilize the horizon line. But better: the system works so well that it is possible to film by turning the smartphone 360° and finally obtain a clip with an impeccable horizon line (in Full HD, at 30 frames per second, only) ! No more excuses if you miss your videos by the sea this summer: with the X80 Pro, the horizon line will be perfectly stabilized!
For journalists and vloggers, we discovered (a bit by chance) that the smartphone was equipped with a teleprompter mode. All you have to do is enter your text, then film yourself: the commentary then scrolls superimposed on the screen and all you have to do is read it. It’s a pity that the preliminary voice recording works quite badly, the voice recognition not being really successful here.
Another advantage: the ultrasonic fingerprint reader to unlock the smartphone is extremely fast. Not only is it possible to register your fingerprint with a single press (no more having to repeat it several times as with all other smartphones), but you can also register a double fingerprint. Purpose: to unlock sensitive files with two fingers. Or to only unlock an application that has been previously configured in the settings. Example: only unlock the Photo/Video, any other folder or application remaining inaccessible. Reassuring…
Finally, the Vivo X80 Pro comes with an 80W charger. Result: 36 minutes of charging is enough for it to fully recharge! If the 4700 mAh battery of the terminal is certainly consistent, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor on board the device seems to still need optimization. Result: one day of endurance, only.
At 1,299 euros (in 256 GB/12 Gb), the Vivo X80 Pro instantly takes its place among the best smartphones of the moment, alongside the iPhone 13 Pro, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Oppo Find X5 Pro, this the latter being perhaps the one that resembles him the most. Not easy to “sell” at this price in this period of galloping inflation and necessary arbitrations in our expenses, however.
But wanting to heal his reputation with a smartphone premiumVivo puffs out its chest and uses a well-known ploy: make a name for itself by “attacking” the market” from above, then develop its offer of more accessible mid-range and entry-level smartphones to reach as many people as possible.
* Rear: 50 megapixels (f/1.6), 48 megapixels (wide-angle; f/2.2), 12 megapixels (x2 telephoto; f/1.9); 8 megapixels (periscope; f/3.4). Front: 32 megapixels (f/2.5).