Once again, we bring you one of the exclusive reviews that you won't find on any Slovak or Czech website. We tested the hot new product with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, Vivo X90 ProPlus. It is the most powerful smartphone from the new X90 series, which is the successor to the X80 model series.
In the review, we will traditionally look at the improvements brought by the new version, design or performance. After the experience with the older Vivo X80 Pro, we are especially curious about the cameras, for which the bar was set quite high from last year.
Where to buy Vivo X90 Pro Plus?
The novelty can be found in the offer of our top partner, which is the international e-shop Trading Shenzhen. Although it is a Chinese version of the smartphone, it is fully supported by our networks. Only language support is missing, as you will not find Slovak or Czech in the settings. Problem-free delivery will be ensured by Global Priority postage.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus, Chinese version
Technical specifications
| Model | Vivo X90 ProPlus |
|---|---|
| dimensions | 164.35 x 75.29 x 9.7 mm |
| Weight | 221 g |
| processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 / 3.20 GHz Octa-Core |
| GPU | Adreno 740 |
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR5 |
| Internal storage | 256 GB UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card support | nie |
| Display | 6.78" AMOLED E6 |
| 3200 x 1440 px resolution | |
| support for LTPO 4.0 technology | |
| refresh rate 120 Hz | |
| maximum brightness 1800 rivets | |
| Cameras | main 50 Mpx 1" Sony IMX989 |
| wide-angle 48 Mpx Sony IMX598 | |
| portrait 50 Mpx Sony IMX578 | |
| telescopic 64 Mpx OmniVision OV64A | |
| selfie 32 Mpx with aperture f/2.45 | |
| Dual-sim | Yes |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax – 2.4 Ghz + 5 Ghz | 2 x 2 Wi-Fi | 8 x 8 MIMU | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Position systems | GPS | GLONASS | AGPS | Beidou |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Drums | 4700 mAh |
| charging | 80 W wired / 50 W wireless |
| NFC | Yes |
| IP certification | IP68 |
| Operating system | Android 13 with Origin OS 3 superstructure |
Contents of the package
Vivo X90 Pro Plus comes in a black square box which is extremely strong and durable. Inside it, we can find a smartphone wrapped in foil right at the top. Under it is a protective cover, a charging adapter and a cable for charging with USB-C terminals on both sides.
Of course, there is also a needle for opening SIM slot and brief paper documentation. We appreciate that the included cover to protect the smartphone is not just a classic transparent one, but is identical to the back cover of the smartphone.
Since it is a Chinese version of the smartphone, the package includes a charging adapter with a Chinese terminal. To use it, you will need a reduction in the form of an adapter with a European end. However, in most cases, the seller himself packages it.
Design and layout of elements
We had the Vivo X90 Pro Plus available in red, which offers an interesting alternative to common colors such as gray. In addition to it, there is also a choice of classic black or blue.
The construction of the smartphone is metal, but the outer side frame gives a more plastic impression. Despite this, the overall build quality is excellent. The smartphone feels comfortable in the hand thanks to the curved edges and the leather back cover, which is pleasant to the touch.
The back side is dominated by the relatively prominent rear camera module, which is round. It protrudes into the space approximately 4 mm above the level of the cover. Also interesting is the shiny mirror strip under the camera module with the inscription Xtreme Imagination. The LED light found its place in the upper right corner and consists of three LEDs.
As for the layout of the individual elements of the smartphone, it is standard. The bottom side contains a USB-C port for charging, SIM slot for a couple SIM card, microphone and loud speaker.
On the opposite, upper side, there is only a microphone and an IR sensor, since the second speaker is in the upper edge and is also used for calls. The volume control and display light buttons are located on the right side, while the left side is completely empty.
Beautiful AMOLED display with 2K resolution
Vivo X90 Pro Plus received the best display among the three smartphones from the Vivo X90 model line. It is a 6.78″ AMOLED display with an E6 panel from Samsung, which stands out among the mentioned trio of X90 smartphones with the highest resolution, 3200 x 1440 px.
The display is slightly curved on the sides and there is also an opening in the middle of the upper part for the selfie camera. It will please with the support of the latest, already fourth generation LTPO technology, which takes care of dynamiautomatic adjustment of the refresh rate according to current needs. The result is optimized battery consumption. The highest refresh rate is 120 Hz.
The display also has an extremely high maximum brightness, up to 1800 nits, which guarantees excellent visibility even in direct sunlight. At the same time, it is one of the smartphones with the highest brightness ever.
Of course, beautiful rich colors with the possibility of customization and an excellent response to the touch. However, the preset resolution is not the highest, so if you want to fully enjoy the display, we recommend visiting the settings and changing the original resolution of 2400 x 1800 to 2K.
There is also an excellent and large ultrasonic fingerprint reader in the display, which is clearly one of the best on the market. It works precisely and extremely fast.
Extreme performance with the latest processor from Qualcomm
The Vivo X90 Pro Plus is one of the first smartphones to receive the latest and most powerful processor from the American company Qualcomm, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It is the successor to the popular Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which we also had the opportunity to try in the X80 Pro model.
The processor has 8 cores and is manufactured using 4 nm technology. It consists of one super powerful Cortex-X3 core with a clock frequency of 3.2 GHz, four cores clocked at 2.8 GHz (2 x Cortex-A715 and 2 x Cortex-A710) and three Cortex-A510 cores with 2 GHz. They are complemented by the Adreno 740 graphics chip.
Qualcomm promises up to a 35 percent improvement in processor performance and a 25 percent improvement in graphics chip performance. This powerful hardware is complemented by a fast LPDDR5 RAM memory with a capacity of 12 GB and with the option of adding another 8 GB from the internal storage, which gives us an incredible 20 GB of RAM.
In our case, the internal storage has a capacity of 256 GB and is the latest UFS 4.0 technology. Its sequential writing reaches 2942 MB/s and reading up to 3438 MB/s. We tested the storage using both AndroBench and AnTuTu. In a well-known benchmark We reached the first place overall on AnTuTu leaderboard with a score of 1 points.
The performance is definitely enough, so the Vivo X90 Pro Plus is also great for gaming. You don't even have to worry about overheating during gaming, as Vivo has excellent liquid cooling.
Android 13 with Origin OS 3 superstructure
The new Vivo X90 Pro Plus also brings the latest version of Android 13 along with its own graphics superstructure, Origin OS 3. The system is extremely smooth overall, but at first glance it's a bit different and chaotic.
The lack of transparency is mainly increased by the huge amount of bloatware, i.e. unnecessary pre-installed Chinese applications from the manufacturer. There are really a lot of them here and the whole environment is filled with them. These are various applications such as i Music, vivo.com, i Video, Jovi inLife and others, which are of course in Chinese. The advantage of the Chinese version is but the presence of call recording, which systems in European smartphones do not allow due to GDPR.
The global version of this model has not been presented yet and it is questionable when. However, some information has already appeared on the Internet that the presentation for the global market could take place already in January of this year. We also saw the previous Vivo X80 Pro model on the global market.
The Origin OS add-on brings many setting options, which we highly appreciate. In this environment, you can customize almost everything to your liking. Whether it's the charging animation, fingerprint readers, icon size and style, or the rounding of the edges of individual elements, there are really many options here.
Even the TradingShenzhen vendor itself provides a video tutorial for useful OriginOS settings that will help improve the reliability of notifications and remove some Chinese apps. However, despite various settings, notifications did not appear reliably for us.
Brutal photographic equipment
Last year's Vivo X80 Pro already pleasantly surprised us with its excellent cameras, so the imaginary bar was set very high. The main camera in the new Vivo X90 Pro Plus is a 1″ Sony IMX989 sensor, which we have already tried in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra.
You can see the specific technical specifications in the table below:
| Main camera | 50 Mpx | Sony IMX 989 | sensor size 1" | aperture f / 1.75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wide angle camera | 48 Mpx | Sony IMX 598 | sensor size 1/2" | aperture f / 2.2 |
| Portrait camera | 50 Mpx | Sony IMX 758 | sensor size 1/24" | aperture f / 1.6 |
| Telescopic camera | 64 Mpx | Omnivision OV64B | sensor size 1/2" | aperture f / 3.5 |
All of the four cameras should support optical stabilization at the same time. However, we must point out that the detailed specifications in the table are not from an official source and therefore may not be completely correct.
The main camera did not disappoint
As was the case with the predecessor of this smartphone, the Vivo X90 Pro Plus was also marked by cooperation with the ZEISS company. You can also find its logo on the back of the smartphone, but most importantly, there are two modes in the camera application - preset and ZEISS Natural Color.
The preset mode is characterized by warmer color tones, higher contrast and also higher saturation. The sky is more blue than it actually is and the grass seems to be dyed green, but even these colors have their charm. Photos from this mode will surely get many fans on your social networks.
The ZEISS Natural Color mode, as the name itself suggests, brings a more realistic display. The colors are not oversaturated in any way, the contrast is lower and overall the photo looks more like reality.
For some scenes we liked the standard mode better, for others the ZEISS one. It's hard to choose which one is better, since photos are perceived quite subjectively and everyone likes something different.
We also have to highlight the excellent dynamirange that the camera achieves mainly due to the size of the sensor. Areas in the shadows are beautifully rendered without underexposed areas, and even areas lit by direct sunlight are not particularly overburnt. The camera can handle both extremes very well.
It perfectly captures the interior or places with a lack of light in photos. Noise is absolutely minimal and sharpness is still excellent, despite the lack of light.
Wide-angle and telescopic camera
The wide-angle camera has 48 Mpx with a sensor size that is half the size of the main camera, but its output is decent. However, the photos in both modes are slightly darker than those from the main camera and dynamithe range is somewhat weaker.
However, the overall impression is still very good. The photos do not lack sharpness or details. The wide-angle camera also copes well with the interior, where we personally liked the ZEISS Natural Color mode more, as the photos often had too warm colors in the preset mode.
The telescopic camera, which catches the eye at first sight on the rear camera module, has a resolution of 64 Mpx. It offers maximum optical zoom at 3.5x zoom and its output is also at a very high level.
Thanks to the high resolution, we can easily zoom in on a photo taken with this camera without any significant loss of quality.
With the new Vivo X90 Pro, you will also enjoy taking macro shots. The camera has automatic focus even in macro mode, which is why it takes very good photos. The same is true of the portrait mode, which beautifully blurs the background.
Finally, let's take a look at a series of photos taken with all the mentioned cameras, from wide-angle to 3.5x zoom in ZEISS Natural Color mode. A bonus is the 10x digital zoom, which isn't bad at all.
Night mode
With many smartphones, we need to activate the night mode when taking pictures after dark. Here, the camera is so good that we don't even need the night mode, as it is activated automatically. If we compare the photos with and without night mode, we hardly see the difference, so we took photos exclusively with automatic settings from the factory.
The difference between the standard mode and ZEISS Natural Color is again quite significant, especially in the color temperature. The photo quality is the best from the main camera and it is also excellent. Compared to shooting during the day, you can of course see a decrease in sharpness, but this is nothing unusual. The noise is not disturbing at all, so we are also very satisfied with the night photos.
Video with stabilization
The highest video recording resolution is again 8K, but only at 30 fps and without stabilization. You will need a gimbal to use it if you don't want a shaky video.
Therefore, we mainly used 4K 60 fps, which also supports optical image stabilization. Other options include 4K 30 fps, 1080p at 30 or 60 fps, or as low as 720p at 30 or 60 fps.
The video quality is very good, the stabilization works well, although the walking is slightly visible, but the colors are somewhat embellished and more saturated. ZEISS Natural Color mode is not available when shooting video.
Dolby Vision support will also please you, and ZEISS Cinematic or Natural modes or various filters are also available. However, all the mentioned options support a maximum resolution of 1080p 30 fps, which is a great pity.
Endurance and charging
Vivo X90 Pro Plus has a 4700 mAh battery with support for fast Flash Charge with a power of 80 W. There is also support for 50 W wireless charging.
The cable charging process looks like this:
| capacity | time |
|---|---|
20 - 50% |
7 minutes and 15 seconds |
75 % |
16 minutes and 35 seconds |
90 % |
23 minutes and 27 seconds |
100 % |
30 minutes and 5 seconds |
In terms of durability, there are no miracles here. The smartphone lasts for about a day, like most similar smartphones. With intensive use, it is not a problem to discharge the smartphone earlier, which will require a second charge during the day.
Sound and connectivity
Stereo speakers are a matter of course in this class, but you won't find a second speaker on the top edge. Its function is performed by a speaker built into the edge above the display, which is also used for calls.
The sound quality, due to the loudspeaker for calls, is not among the very best, the maximum volume could also be a little higher, so the smartphone will not surprise you in any way.
Wireless connectivity includes support for 5G networks, WiFi 6, positioning systems GPS, AGPS, GLONASS and Beidou or Bluetooth in version 5.3. Despite the fact that it is a Chinese version of the smartphone, we also have all 4G network bands available, including the most popular 800 MHz B20 band.
NFC also works without problems for contactless payments, but before using it for the first time, it is necessary to set the Wallet application as default for payments.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus: Final evaluation
The new flagship model from the Chinese brand Vivo, which by the way has already entered the Slovak market, is a brutal smartphone with uncompromising performance thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The excellent cameras are also pleasing, thanks to which the new product is clearly among the top photo smartphones on the market.
Also great is the large ultrasonic fingerprint reader, which is accurate and responds extremely quickly. Perhaps the only downside is the Chinese system, which contains a lot of bloatware and problematic notifications that are not displayed reliably.
Are you interested in a smartphone?
If our review has convinced you to buy this latest flagship from Vivo with maximum performance, top camera, don't hesitate and order through our partner TradingShenzen, because you can't get it anywhere else at the moment.
Vivo X90 Pro Plus, Chinese version
As we mentioned, the seller offers duty-free Global Priority delivery and you can expect delivery from two weeks.
I bought this VIVO X90 pro plus 512GB version on TradingShenzen. The Chinese software doesn't bother me that much, except for one thing. When I connect my earbuds (Sennheiser momentum true wireless 3), the Chinese audio assistant is always activated after activating the assistant. I can't disable it, it's just the primary option, I removed the permissions from it in the settings, I installed other audio assistants, but I couldn't set them as the primary option. I would like Google Assistant, I have it installed, but after activating it on the earbuds, the Chinese one always sounds. I also watched the entire instructional video on TradingShenzen and set up many things according to the video. Practically everything, except for the last step, that is, the removal of all Chinese applications, including system ones. I preferred not to dare to do this. I'm sorry I can't set Google Assistant as the primary option for my Sennheiser earbuds. Nothing else bothers me. I would appreciate some advice if this can be set up.
Hi, I'm considering buying the cn version considering that I can't expect global +ka. There are other restrictions for daily use please. I read about android auto not working. Is there anything else that can make the "joy" of using it unpleasant? Or should I wait for the global version "only" and put up with lower parameters? well thank you
As for the functionality of the smartphone, everything works except for Android Auto. Sometimes they can make the notifications go crazy, but you have to play with the settings of the applications (notifications and battery). The choice of model is up to you.