vivo X90 review - How good is the base vivo X90 camera phone?

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Once upon a time, camera phones were just a niche product, but as time has gone on, we now have camera phone series like the vivo X90 series. Consisting of the vivo X90 and X90 Pro, even the base model of the X90 features a triple rear camera consisting of a 50MP camera with OIS + 12MP wide angle + 12MP telephoto using ZEISS T* coating lenses. 

But, does it deliver as a camera phone despite just being the base model? We find out in our full review of the vivo X90 so do read on.

 

Design -  Sleek body with a large camera hump

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In terms of design, the vivo X90 is a fairly large slate with a 6.78-inch OLED display that can go up to 2800 x 1260 pixels and deliver up to 120Hz refresh rates. At 9.7mm it is a bit thick while the triple rear camera hump does jut out a bit at 14mm. 

Thankfully, this does not make the phone top-heavy. Instead, it feels quite comfortable in the hand with convenient button placement on the right side. The larger camera hump does mean that the phone teeters a little when laid flat on the back but this is fairly common with some flagship phones these days.

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Despite the larger camera bump, the vivo X90 feels good in the hand

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The back surface is matte

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The front screen

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The top of the vivo X90

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The bottom of the vivo X90

The rounded corners and curved sides of the vivo X90 give it a sleek look while the matte backside ensures no fingerprints and a better grip. On the top of the phone there’s the mic and infrared sensor. On the bottom there’s the speaker, a USB Type C port and the SIM Card Tray which supports 2 SIM cards (but no space for a microSD card).

 

Tech specs and features - Mix of flagship and midrange

Powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage the base model of the X90 series is a mix of flagship and midrange features. However, the focus here is still undoubtedly the cameras as the Dimensity 9200 chipset has been paired with a dedicated V2 ISP (Image Signal Processor) chip to help speed up image processing. 

Here’s the tech specs of the vivo X90:

  • MediaTek Dimensity 9200
  • 12GB RAM + 256GB storage
  • 6.78-inci FHD+, 2800 × 1260 pixel resolution, 120Hz refresh rate
  • 50MP IMX866 Zeiss T* + 12MP portrait + 12MP IMX663 ultra wide | 32MP selfie camera
  • 4810 mAh battery (120W fast charging)
  • Funtouch OS 13 based on Android 13.0
  • IPX64 water resistance
  • Black Asteroid, Breeze Blue
  • RM3699

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The UI of the Funtouch 13 interface, there's a good deal of bloatware though

This camera-centric focus is apparent due to the large triple rear camera bump, which consists of a 50MP Sony IMX866 camera sensor with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), a 12MP ultra wide camera and 12MP 2x telephoto camera. A 32MP front camera is located in a punch hole on the screen.

Looking through the camera UI, there’s a number of easy-use features like Supermoon, Long Exposure, Astro and so forth but the most useful in our opinion is ZEISS mode, which is located in the main UI and not the menus. This ZEISS mode lets you change the colour tones to a more normal shade, making it seem more natural-looking like Apple iPhone cameras. 

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There's various camera features on the vivo X90

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The Pro mode camera interface 

 

Performance - Handles most everything

In terms of performance, the vivo X90 can handle most apps with ease, getting a 1383 single core score and 4139 multi-core score in Geekbench. This marks it quite easily in terms of flagship performance as games like Asphalt 9 worked smoothly with no lag. 

The 4810 mAh battery on the X90 lasted a bit more than a day. Thankfully, it recharged back to 100% in just under an hour thanks to the 120W fast charger. The phone did not get too hot under duress but this is less noticeable if you slap on the free casing in the box. The display looks bright and vibrant, making it good for watching or streaming movies.

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The vivo X90's Geekbench 5 score

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Performance on Asphalt 9 was lag free

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Watching movies on the vivo X90's screen is nice and vibrant

Thanks to the Dimensity 9200 chipset and V2 ISP chip working in tandem, we found that capturing images was fast even with the long exposure shots. While it’s not the Pro variant, the X90 is a pretty solid camera phone that can handle both daylight and night time shots fairly well. 

On occasion, the bokeh or blurry background effect can get a bit imprecise causing it to look a bit unnatural, but for the most part, the X90 is a fairly capable camera phone. Selfies using the front camera are fairly detailed but check out our camera samples below and judge for yourself.

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Auto

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Auto

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Auto

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Widescreen

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Portrait

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Portrait

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Portrait - sometimes, the bokeh can be a bit unnatural

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Auto

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Macro

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Macro

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Macro

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Night Mode

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Night Mode

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 Selfie

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Selfie

 

Conclusion - Pretty good vivo camera phone

Overall, the vivo X90 is a pretty good camera phone that can handle both night and day fairly well. The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset and V2 ISP chip does speed up photo taking, but while the cameras can capture striking images, they can be a bit unreliable at times, especially where Bokeh or blurry background or portrait shots are involved. At  RM3699 it’s still pretty pricey but considering that you’ll have to add on another RM1399 to get the X90 Pro with the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, this is acceptable if you’re looking for the latest vivo camera phone.

In this price range, there aren't many new contenders for this year, except perhaps the OnePlus 11 which uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, up to 16GB RAM and 50MP triple rear cameras going for RM3599. Other smartphones would be mostly from last year but even then, there's plenty of choices, so it's all a matter of whether you're a vivo fan or not.

What do you think? Would you be interested in getting the vivo X90 or vivo X90 Pro? Let us know which device and why in the comments below and stay tuned to TechNave.com

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vivo X90 Specs & Price >