Vivo X80 Pro

As far as its design is concerned, in a glance, the Vivo X80 Pro definitely looks like any other high-end Android flagship out there. While it is not the thinnest phone out there at a 9.1mm dimension, it still feels surprisingly slender with the curved edges though. Similarly, at a weight of 219g it is not really a lightweight phone, but most phones this size still run a little heavier. At the back though, the design is a little more unusual. This is mostly due to the camera module. Basically, it is a strange design that sees three of the four rear lenses contained in a circle, with the fourth sat below them but within a larger, mirrored rectangle that stretches across the phone’s back. While elements of this have already been seen in other Vivo phones and not entirely new, it still looks pretty odd as to the way the periscope lens seems to have been inelegantly dumped below the other cameras. Despite that, the finishing of the phone definitely feels fantastic. It is quite smooth and soft with an almost satiny texture that simply does not make sense coming from a sheet of glass, which is quite brilliant though. 

As for its display, it is one of the biggest clues that the X80 Pro is really a successor to the X70 Pro+, rather than last year’s regular X70 Pro. That is mainly due to the fact that it is jumped up to match the size and resolution of the previous top model, with a display that is honestly hard to beat. At 6.78in display size, this is indeed a big screen. In addition, the 1440 x 3200 resolution makes it QHD+, more detailed than even many other flagships. Furthermore, thanks to its latest LTPO 3.0 display tech, the phone can also scale its refresh rate from 1Hz all the way to 120Hz to optimise power consumption. In addition, its bright, punchy, and colourful screen is even comfortable to be used in fairly direct, bright light. In terms of its performance, the X80 Pro is equipped with the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, the most powerful Snapdragon chip available in phones right now. It is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of non-expandable storage. As for its camera, the phone comprises of a 50Mp main lens, joined by a 48Mp ultrawide, 12Mp 2x portrait telephoto lens, and 8Mp 5x periscope lens. Overall, like most flagship phones, the main lens here excels in bright lighting, but the real difference for the X80 Pro is how well it handles low light, especially using HDR to balance out bright lights in otherwise dark scenes. The phone also carries a 4700mAh battery. In a nutshell, it is a great smartphone to be explored, depending on the need and preference of the user.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam