Vivo X80 Pro - Strong smartphone with few weaknesses

Vivo aims to redefine videography with its smartphone. Judging by the spec sheet alone, it meets the basic requirements well enough. Ultra HD video up to 60 frames per second and 8k at 30 FPS, supplemented by powerful image stabilization. Vivo also hopes to provide the cinema experience out of the box with the Zeiss Cinematic mode.

This is all well and good, but there are always limitations. For example, Cinematic mode is one of the few ways to record videos in 21:9, but only in Full HD and with standard image stabilization. If you want maximum image stability, you have to settle for 1080p and 60 FPS. If you prefer 21:9, the Zeiss mode is out again, but this can be in Ultra HD at 30 FPS. So you see, it's complicated. 

If you're serious about filming with the Vivo X80 Pro, you should familiarize yourself with Pro mode. Although considerably more complex, it offers a wide range of settings and log mode, which can be used to create so-called gray film video recordings, but this limits the frame rate and makes post-processing mandatory. Without log mode, the Pro settings offer a bountiful range of FPS rates: up to 240 FPS is possible in HD and Full HD (24, 25, 30, 50, 60, 120 and 240 FPS) and the frame rates can also be adjusted more flexibly in Ultra HD (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 FPS) as well as in 8k (24, 25 and 30 FPS). Only the aspect ratio remains permanently fixed at 16:9, and HDR is not available either. Not quite perfect here either, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, the Vivo X80 Pro offers a very strong overall package that hardly leaves anything to be desired, and the photo and video features are also very good and sometimes offer a larger range of functions than the competition. 

The Vivo X80 Pro is available at most common online retailers such as Amazon, but worldwide availability is sparse. For more information, read our detailed review here.