Vivo X80 Pro review: Can't shake budget tag despite good cameras, features

The Vivo X80 Pro, although not a pro, comes equipped with great camera and features, but is still not in the premium category

What we understand by pro has become so convoluted in tech jargon that everything has just become pro. Any flagship comes with a pro suffix attached, whether it justifies the features or not. And, over the last five or so years, it has become one of the most overused terms. Vivo, like many others, does not do justice to the pro name with its new iteration the X80 pro. The phone does come equipped with more feature than its other categories, but it does not justify the pro tag. But then what you and I understand as pro, can be very subjective.

Design

The first thing which will attract a person towards this device is the camera bump. Occupying nearly a third of the space, the phone has a distinct look to it. The feel of the back panel is good, and the back cover with its textured finish gives it a premium look. Though a bit wobbly, the phone doesn’t skid on surfaces. The volume and power buttons on the side are just about right for easy access and the front has a hole-punch camera. Ergonomically, though, there are problems. The phone weighs too much and isn’t as well balanced as you would like to be.

Screen

This is where Vivo has really outdone itself. With peak brightness at 1,500 nits, Vivo doesn’t disappoint. The 6.8-inch screen offers excellent viewing angles and perfect blacks. Even in the sun, the screen performs well. And, in low light modes, it shines. For movie watching, Vivo would have been ideal, had it not been for its weight. The refresh rate, though 120Hz, was not as smooth as you would expect in a Samsung. The curve edges are also something I am not a big fan of. The bezels are barely noticeable and like with most phones the hole-punch camera becomes invisible after a while. One problem, which has been very common across platforms, was the night light feature. Even with warm temperatures, it was very luminescent for my comfort.

Camera

Another area where Vivo has done exceedingly well is the camera setup. With high pixel density lenses at the back and the 32-MP lens at the front, the camera setup is one of the best in the category. The telephoto lens worked well and there were hardly any issues with pixelations. Vivo provides a few standard beautification modes, which when switched off provide a vivid and clear picture. The colours are as close to likeness as possible and with Zeiss mode on, the phone performs even better with clearer colours. The video recording feature is still not as good as others in the category. The cinematic mode offered more, but still fell short of expectation.

Battery life

The 4700mAh battery provided enough juice for the phone to survive over 14 hours even with medium to heavy use and GPS, but it was not a two-day battery life one would expect. With light and medium use the battery can run 18 hours, but that would be too much of a stretch. But the battery drain was not as bad as other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors.

Performance and UX

Vivo has been able to solve the heating issues related with the Snapdragon chips to a certain extent. The phone does start heating up after 45 minutes of gameplay. Regular functions, though, did not subject it to heating issues. Performance wise, the phone was not up to the mark. The bloatware was a big problem. Despite the 12 GB RAM and extra clocking speed, the phone did not perform well at its peak. The OS is complicated and not an easy one to navigate. Vivo needs better OS at top of the line up.

Price

Imagine purchasing a Rs 80,000 phone and spending a day deleting all the apps you do not need and then having to deal with too much of native apps. When a person is paying that much, they would like a clean interface and that is what Vivo has not been able to provide. To break the premium market, it would need a strong key differentiator.