Vivo X60 Pro review - Brilliant cameras now backed by a solid phone - Android

It’s quite evident by now (thanks to countless billboards painting towns and suburbs blue) that Vivo wants to focus primarily on camera phones. And surely, some of the nicest camera phones wear the Vivo name, the X50 Pro being the most recent example. However, the phone bit is where Vivo struggles to match the competition […]

The post Vivo X60 Pro review: Brilliant cameras now backed by a solid phone appeared first on BGR India.

It’s quite evident by now (thanks to countless billboards painting towns and suburbs blue) that Vivo wants to focus primarily on camera phones. And surely, some of the nicest camera phones wear the Vivo name, the X50 Pro being the most recent example. However, the phone bit is where Vivo struggles to match the competition and that often keeps critics from branding them as a top choice.

It seems Vivo was busy listening all this time, and with its X60 series, it has intentions to give us very little to complain. The X60 series contains the best of Vivo technology and this time, it wants to take the game to OnePlus, Samsung, and the big guns. The X60 Pro is the middle child in the X60 series with enough bells and whistles to make you utter “premium” for itself. In India, you get the sole 12GB RAM variant at a price of Rs 49,999.

Has Vivo got it all right this time? To hunt for answers, I pocketed a Shimmer Blue Vivo X60 Pro for a while and I am left impressed.

Design

No other brand has milked the gradient-based design on their phones as much as Vivo. Be it the affordable Y series phones or the more expensive V20 Pro, these phones love flaunting gradient hues. The Vivo X60 Pro is no different and, in its Shimmer Blue iteration, is one of the prettiest phones I have seen in a while. It’s pretty enough to draw a swarm of interested people swoon over my desk to check out the phone. The compliments this phone has got are second to no other premium phone I have used recently, not even the Galaxy S21 Plus and OnePlus 9 Pro.

It’s not the gradient colour scheme that draws attention; you have to feel the satin finish on the rear. The frosted glass finish helps the X60 Pro keep smudges at bay and paired with the lighter colour shades, this is an easy maintenance phone. Adding to the desirous bit are the curved edges and the slim metallic rails, the latter flaunting the same matte finish.

I also dig the ZEISS branding bits on the camera hump. If you love photography equipment, you are going to like the “ZEISS Vario-Tessar” inscription, accompanied by the sensor details. It makes the X60 Pro look like professional photography gear. Sadly, Vivo can’t stop being smug about this ZEISS partnership and slapped a “PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY” tag on the frame.

Not only does the X60 Pro look good, but it’s built in the best of ways a premium smartphone in 2021 can be. The frame is authentic metal, not plastic, and that satin rear has Gorilla Glass 6 as its build material. The fit and finish on every surface are top-notch. For the display, Vivo is using SCHOTT Xensation Up as the protection material. I can’t speak about its durability as the phone comes pre-installed with a plastic display protector, which took all the abuses from my jeans’ pockets as well as nails.

Despite all the fancy glass and metal drama, the X60 Pro is surprisingly lighter than its peers. At 179 grams (for the Shimmer Blue version), it is a comfortable fit for most people, even with smaller palms.

Display

Given the X60 Pro’s flagship intentions, Vivo has given this phone a display that ticks the ‘2021 trends’ checklist. 120Hz refresh rate, Curved edge AMOLED technology, punch-hole cutout for the camera, and 240Hz touch sampling rate – they are all here. And, all of these come together to provide a nice viewing experience.

Watching YouTube videos or scrolling endlessly through Instagram is a joy on the X60 Pro. The AMOLED tech comes into its own, allowing high contrasts and slightly saturated colour tones. Viewing angles are wide and outdoor visibility in the daytime is good. The 120Hz refresh rate helps with the smoother scrolling experiences and with 240Hz of touch sampling rate, the interface appears more responsive than usual.

The centre-mounted punch-hole cutout, however, is irksome and takes away from the viewing experience. Some of the on-screen buttons in COD: Mobile got obstructed by the cutout at times. Personally, I miss those pop-up camera arrangements from 2019 that did away with any sort of distraction within the viewing area.

Performance

Last year’s Vivo X50 Pro relied on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip, which in all intents and purposes, is a mid-range chip. Hence, Vivo’s flagship phone didn’t have the same performance credentials as flagships from its similarly-priced rivals (For example, OnePlus 8T and Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro). With the X60 Pro, things are done the right way.

The X60 Pro (and the X60) feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 chip. This is new for India and is likely to find its way to more premium phones this year. The Snapdragon 870 is essentially a Snapdragon 865 with the exception of a new name and a boosted performance core. Theoretically, at its peak performance, this chip can achieve clock speeds of 3.18GHz.

In honesty, the Snapdragon 870 isn’t the most powerful chip you are going to find in a 2021 smartphone. However, the performance it delivers is right up with the top-level Android phones. Combined with Vivo’s FunTouch OS based on Android 11, it makes the X60 Pro feel no different than the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus.

For everyday usage, the X60 Pro is plenty fast and has enough grunt to handle up to seven apps simultaneously. Running Twitter and Facebook in split window for long hours don’t put any noticeable stress on the phone. On my busy days, I have 5-6 Chrome tabs opened while replying to emails while streaming music from Apple Music in the background – the X60 Pro kept it all smooth. Sadly, the 12GB RAM on my unit was always more than enough for my usage. Hence, I did not get to see the Virtual RAM kicking in to save the day.

Of course, a high-end chip also translates into high-end gaming performance. I have logged multiple hours of Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact on this X60 Pro, and with all the graphics settings cranked up to the max, I never noticed any frame drops or slowdowns. In fact, I found the X60 Pro’s gaming performance faster than the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus. The 240Hz touch sampling rate helps with more responsive in-game controls.

While the phone has enough power to run the games at their best, it’s the audio experience that’s a bit of a letdown. It is surprising to see Vivo skipping a stereo speaker setup on the X60 Pro, despite it costing Rs 50,000. The audio output via the single speaker isn’t on par with premium phones and the volume levels are restricted to lower levels. The OnePlus 9 at the same price offers a way better loudspeaker performance.

Another area where I was left wanting more was the user experience of the OS. Funtouch OS 11 feels like a relic of a software experience in 2021, especially with its weirdly spaced-out interface elements and flat icons. There are customization options baked in but most of the themes, wallpapers, icons, and even fonts have a price tag on them. And, it’s not that these paid themes or fonts are tasteful. Vivo’s UI design team seems to be torn between Funtouch OS’ own elements and Android’s stock elements. The result is a weird amalgamation of a user interface that feels imbalanced overall.

Vivo’s OriginOS has grabbed attention for its unique design theme in China and Funtouch OS in comparison feels lame. Next to OnePlus’ OxygenOS, Xiaomi’s MIUI 12, Oppo’s ColorOS 11, and Samsung’s One UI 3.1, Funtouch OS 11 feels obsolete. It doesn’t do justice to a premium device that is the X60 Pro.

What made up for the lacklustre software experience was the reliable connectivity performance. My unit of the X60 Pro kept itself latched onto Jio’s network in areas where my iPhone SE on the same connection dropped calls. I also experienced reliable data speeds on 4G LTE. Should you be interested in futureproofing the X60 Pro, you will be happy to learn that there’s support for 5G networks too.

Cameras

ZEISS – that’s the word Vivo is banking on to sell the X60 Pro. The partnership between these two companies promises superior camera experiences, at least on paper. Apart from ZEISS lenses, Vivo has also employed Pixel Shift technology from DSLR cameras to improve colour reproduction. Plus, Vivo’s Gimbal stabilization system returns for another run with improvements in performance this time.

All of those techy jargons do seem to do their bits efficiently. The X60 Pro’s cameras are among the best phone cameras I have used in a while. The still photo output is right there with the Galaxy S21 Plus’ camera. I am impressed with the colour reproduction, especially in daylight conditions. Even with HDR turned off, photos recreate almost the same colours as seen by the naked eye. I am happy to see reds appear red, not pink, even under the noon sun.

Results from the 48-megapixel primary camera are rich in details in the regular mode, along with vibrant colours, high brightness levels and no noticeable grains in well-lit conditions. The gimbal-based stabilization system helps with sharpness, especially while shooting on the move. The image processing tends to brighten up the shadow areas but the end result mostly appears pleasing. Those looking for more control over lighting and exposure need to rely on the Pro mode.

The main camera comes into its own as soon as light levels start dropping. Next to the iPhone 12’s camera, low light photos on the X60 Pro appear brighter, packing more details and suppressing noise. It is under artificial/indoor lighting when I notice a difference in the colours. The artificial enhancements are visible, especially with the colour saturation, exposure, and contrasts. That said, the results always leave my friend satisfied, whose portrait photos in the dying hours of the daylight impart a “plush” look.

The Night Mode does an impressive job of bringing out things that are barely visible to the naked eye. There’s some loss in detail levels but hey, you don’t use Night mode to get natural-looking photos, right? You use it to get photos where a conventional camera struggles.