vivo launched its two X90 Series smartphones in India and vivo X90 is one of the two flagship smartphones in its series which is the newest smartphone from the company. The vivo X90 Series is the successor of the vivo X80 Series and includes the top-of-the-line vivo X90 Pro and its tone-down variant vivo X90. Features and highlights include an ultra-slim 3D curved design, 50 MP IMX866 Carl Zeiss triple cameras (50 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP), MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC for the first time in India, 120W Dual-Cell FlashCharge fast charging, 120 Hz AMOLED display, and 5G support. Here’s more about the smartphone in our full vivo X90 review.
vivo X90 Specifications
- Display & Design: 6.78-inch AMOLED display, 10-bit color depth (1.07B colors), Full HD+ resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels), 120 Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits brightness, 2,160 Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10+, XDR Engine, Fluorite AG Glass back, 8.48 mm slim, 200 grams weight
- Operating System: FunTouch OS 13 interface, Android 13 operating system
- Software Updates: 3 generations of OS upgrades, 3 years of security updates
- CPU: 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9200 octa-core SoC clocked up to 3.05 GHz (1x 3.05 GHz ARM Cortex-X3, 3x 2.85 GHz Cortex-A715, 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A510 CPU)
- GPU: ARM Immortalis-G715 MC11 Graphics
- Memory: 8 GB OR 12 GB RAM, +8 GB extended RAM feature
- Storage: 256 GB UFS 4.0 + MCQ internal storage, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (50 MP f/1.75 Sony IMX866vcs OIS primary + 12 MP 50mm f/1.98 Portrait 2X optical Sony IMX663 + 12 MP f/2.0 ultra-wide Sony IMX663), VCS bionic spectrum True Color, Zeiss T* coating, Carl ZEISS optics, Pro Imaging Chip V2, laser autofocus, 2x optical zoom, 4K@60fps video recording, triple LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 32 MP f/2.45, 1080p@60fps video recording
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (dual-band), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, GPS, BEIDOU, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC
- Others: In-display fingerprint scanner (optical), Face Unlock, Stereo Speakers
- Cellular: 5G network, dual SIM, VoLTE support, eSIM support
- Battery & Charging: 4,810 mAh battery, 120W Dual-Cell FlashCharge fast charging (20V, 6A)
- Colors: Asteroid Black, Breeze Blue
Design, Display, & Build Quality
The vivo X90 offers one of the most promising designs in the category with an impressive 3D curve design and ergonomics. It comes with a remarkably slim and curved-screen design with a Fluorite AG Glass back that gives you a pleasant experience on touch. The design on the vivo X90 is highly premium, offers a sleek matte finish glass back giving you a smooth touch, and strong metallic frames on the sides. The design also appears to be quite slimmer in the flagship category.
Although, no fancy color-changing back like we saw on the vivo V27 and vivo Y100 (both have a color-changing back design), the design is pretty much sleek and premium and that’s all you need. The vivo X90 feels solid and premium and comes in two color variants – Asteroid Black, and Breeze Blue, we got the Breeze Blue color as you can see in the images shared below.
As you can see on the back, it’s clear that the vivo X90 is co-engineered with Carl ZEISS Imaging System. The back has ZEISS branded camera system with ZEISS T* coating on the lens and a Satin-like Skyline just below the camera that flaunts ‘Xtreme Imagination and vivo | ZEISS Co-engineered’ markers.
The vivo X90 flaunts a 6.78-inch AMOLED display which is supposed to be using BOE’s new generation of Q9 light-emitting devices. The BOE’s Q9 display directly competes with the South Korean Samsung’s E6 AMOLED display as far as we know. Moreover, the display features a 10-bit color depth (1B colors), a Full HD+ resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels), a 120 Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits brightness, 2,160 Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming, 115% DCI-P3 color gamut, and HDR10+.
The display quality is exceptionally great, it’s bright and crisp and offers a worthy set of specs for a flagship-grade screen. The vivo X90 offers one of the best AMOLED screens in its segment, the display also comes with high brightness and a fast refresh rate of 120 Hz for extra smoothness.
Moving to the bottom of the phone, you get a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and a loudspeaker (stereo, one at the earpiece). No 3.5mm audio jack for earphones/headphones is available, you have to use a Type-C to 3.5mm converter.
Moving to the top side, you can see a Professional Photography label and another microphone. You get a power key and volume control on the right while nothing is on the left side. The 5G SIM tray has no microSD card support and it offers dual 5G SIM connectivity and support for VoLTE, we tested two 5G SIM cards and both ran simultaneously on dual 5G standby on the phone.
Software, User Interface, & Features
The vivo X90 runs on the Android 13 out-of-the-box with vivo’s homegrown FunTouch OS 13 interface on top. The Android security patch is dated 1st February 2023 on the phone. For updates, the vivo X90 gets at least 3 generations of Android OS upgrades and 3 years of Android security updates as per vivo India, so you can expect Android 14, 15, and 16 OS upgrades on the phone and similarly for security updates every two months for three years.
About the performance of the FunTouch OS 13 on the vivo X90, the UI feels smooth and light in weight due to the 120 Hz refresh rate, fast processor, and optimized software. The overall performance of the UI is smooth, clutter-free, and light in weight. The UI isn’t furnished completely in stock, the FunTouch OS offers more for the users to cater to the user experiences.
The FunTouch OS 13 is currently the latest version and is seamlessly designed and optimized for Android 13. Compared to the past versions, the FunTouch OS 13 is improved and packs a bunch of customizations and loads of features you can use. If you have used the FunTouch OS 12, there are plenty of things that have changed in the newer version.
There are a bunch of features and additions in the FunTouch OS 13, you can tweak the lockscreen, UI color, a series of dynamic effects, and always-on display, as well as use the gestures, ultra game mode, and several other stuff built-in. Aside from these, you get a lot of camera features in the camera app, gaming features in the Ultra Game mode, and Privacy and Security features.
Some pre-installed apps are found on the phone and they can be removed if not required. Apps that you get on the phone are Amazon, Facebook, Spotify, Moj, Josh, PhonePe, Flipkart, Netflix, ShareChat, SnapChat, TrueCaller, and some more. You might also encounter some app recommendations to install when tapping on the Hot Apps and Hot Games on the homescreen, as well as while installing from the Google Play Store.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
vivo X90 is the first smartphone in the country among the X90 Series to equip a MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC. On the specifications side, the vivo X90 is powered by a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9200 octa-core SoC clocked up to 3.05 GHz (1x 3.05 GHz ARM Cortex-X3, 3x 2.85 GHz Cortex-A715, 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A510 CPU) and a new ARM Immortalis-G715 MC11, the first GPU from ARM with hardware ray tracing support.
The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC is a high-end fast SoC manufactured in a 4nm TSMC process and equips octa-core CPUs clocked up to 3.05 GHz. The CPU setup consists of a 1 + 3 + 4 cores configuration (Cortex-X3 + Cortex-A715 + Cortex-A510). The SoC includes one Cortex-X3 high-performance core clocked at 3.05 GHz, three Cortex-A715 performance cores clocked at 2.85 GHz, and four Cortex-A510 power-efficient cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. For cooling, the vivo X90 equips an Ultra Large Vapor Chamber Liquid Cooling System to dissipate the heat.
Moreover, the SoC is laced with up to 12 GB LPDDR5x RAM, the user gets to choose from either 8 GB LPDDR5x RAM or 12 GB LPDDR5x RAM variant while the storage on the phone remains the same i.e. 256 GB UFS 4.0 + MCQ. The RAM is an LPDDR5x type while the storage is a UFS 4.0 + MCQ type on the phone. The price for the 8 GB RAM variant is ₹59,999 and the 12 GB RAM variant is ₹63,999.
The storage can’t be expanded via a microSD card while the phone offers RAM expansion tech up to 8 GB, the RAM can be expanded up to 8 GB via its Extended RAM 3.0 feature, we got a 12 GB variant which shows +8 GB extended RAM in the about section of the device making a total of 20 GB RAM (physical + virtual). The system automatically allocates the required virtual RAM based on the resource requirements.
For the performance of the chip, this is a flagship-grade CPU that competes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and it’s likely to give a close competition. The performance is significantly faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and is identical to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, in some cases, faster. This is the best and most powerful SoC from MediaTek and is categorized in the high-end CPU segment.
The Dimensity 9200 on the vivo X90 Pro scores at least 1.2M or more points in the AnTuTu score which means it’s surprisingly faster than most CPUs currently in the market thrashing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 significantly. Check out the CPU-Z and Geekbench 6 benchmark results of the phone below. In one of our benchmark tests, the Geenbench 6 CPU scored 1,703 points in the single-core benchmark and scored 3,819 points in the multi-core benchmark while the GPU scored 8,179 points in the OpenCL and scored 7,992 in the Vulkan benchmark tests.
For gaming, there’s a new GPU onboard from ARM, this is the new Immortalis-G715 MC11, the first GPU from ARM with hardware ray tracing support. If you haven’t heard of ray tracing, it’s a method of graphics rendering that’s used to enhance the lighting, shadows, and reflections, and enhance the gaming environment. This includes things like atmospheric effects, reflections on surfaces (water, metal, glass), and even diffused lighting. It’s more likely seen on the desktop-based graphics cards and games that support it.
The Immortalis-G715 MC11 (or MP11) is a high-end GPU with 11 of the 16 possible cores (11 execution units) and is clocked up to 981 MHz with 4,048 Gigaflops (unverified). With top-notch GPU specs, the Immortalis-G715 MC11 beats most GPUs out there in the flagship GPU department. Currently, the only mobile GPU that competes with the ARM Immortalis-G715 is Qualcomm’s Adreno 740 GPU with hardware ray tracing support. There’s no game that you can’t play with this level of GPU performance, expect the highest performance in games with this hardware specifications.
Cameras
Moving to the primary highlight of the smartphone which is the triple-camera setup on the back co-engineered with Carl ZEISS. You can see three cameras (50 MP f/1.75 + 12 MP f/1.98 + 12 MP f/2.0) on the rear side and one on the front which is a 32 MP f/2.45 snapper that takes mind-boggling selfies. The vivo X90 packs an amazing camera triple camera setup with 50 MP as the main camera supporting the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and two secondary cameras, one for taking portraits and one for wide-angle shots.
Digging more into the cameras, the backside one 50 MP with f/1.75 aperture as the primary camera with Carl ZEISS optics to enhance the image quality. The primary camera utilizes the Sony IMX866vcs and VCS bionic spectrum technology for True Color imaging. The second 12 MP camera with f/1.98 aperture is a 50mm portrait for taking impressive portraits and the third camera is a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.0 aperture. Both the 12 MP cameras use the same Sony IMX663 image sensor. The selfie camera in the punch-hole design on the front side is 32 MP with f/2.45 aperture.
The camera also uses Pro Imaging Chip V2, plus offers laser autofocus, 2x optical zoom, and support for up to 4K@60fps video recording. The rear cameras are aided by triple LED flash and are coated with Zeiss T* coating to reduce lens flares and ghost images. The camera includes a bunch of ZEISS style portrait features such as the ZEISS Cine-flare Portrait and the 5 styles – ZEISS Cinematic Style Bokeh, ZEISS Planar Style Bokeh, ZEISS Biotar Style Bokeh, ZEISS Sonnar Style Bokeh, and ZEISS Distagon Style Bokeh. The camera also supports ZEISS Cinematic Video Bokeh, ZEISS Natural Color 2.0, ZEISS logo photo frame, and ZEISS Miniature Effect.
The camera app offers a bunch of modes and features that you can use – Sports, Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, Pro, 50MP, Pano, Live Photo, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, AR Stickers, Supermoon, Ultra HD Document, Astro, Long Exposure, Double Exposure, Dual View, AI Group Portrait, ZEISS Landscape & Architecture, RAW, ZEISS Natural Color, and more. The camera supports OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) as well as video recording up to 4K@60fps with stabilization features. Sadly, the camera can’t record videos in ultra-wide-angle mode, such a trait is seen in flagship devices. The front camera also records 1080p@60fps, while the selfie camera on the vivo V27 can record up to 4K@60fps.
vivo X90 captures one of the finest quality shots and amazing portraits in its class. The image quality is incredible and mind-boggling, the colors and contrasts are exceptionally good thanks to the ZEISS optics, Sony IMX sensors, and vivo’s camera optimizations. Take a look at the camera samples we took from the vivo X90. The 50 MP camera takes top-notch shots so as the wide-angle camera, the macro images are highly detailed and pleasing. The images captured are bright, crisp, detailed in bright daylight, and offer excellent quality in low light. Here are the samples below that we managed to capture from the vivo X90 camera, we will update this section soon with more shots.
vivo X90 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
vivo X90 packs with a 4,810 mAh dual-cell battery which is slightly smaller in capacity due to its slimmer design, but it supports dual-cell technology which enables super fast charging speeds on the phone. The smartphone supports a whopping 120W FlashCharge fast charging that charges the battery up to 50% in 8 minutes, this is likely more than half of the charging speed compared to the 66W charger on vivo V27. The 120W charger is rated 20V and 6A and could take anywhere less than 19 minutes to fully charge the battery. You can expect a battery life of up to 1.5 to 2 days depending on your usage.
Verdict – vivo X90 Review
The vivo X90 is an all-rounder smartphone in its class for most things it offers, it delivers an outstanding camera performance (50 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP rear & 32 MP selfie) and a high-end CPU and GPU performance via the flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. In addition to these, there’s the stunning 120W Type-C fast charger that charges the phone in minutes. You also get a remarkably slim and curved design with a sleek and premium glass back, an impressive curved 120 Hz 10-bit AMOLED display, and a bunch of FunTouchOS 13 perks and features with all the native traits of the Android 13 operating system.
The vivo X90 is a premium smartphone and is classified in the flagship category, it’s slim, it’s powerful, has a solid CPU performance, gaming performance, a solid camera package (both the front and the back), and offers super fast charging speed. Looking for a powerhouse? The vivo X90 is a great choice if you have a price budget of ₹60,000+.
vivo X90 – Where To Buy
The price for the vivo X90 with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage is ₹59,999 and the price for the 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage is ₹63,999. The vivo X90 will be available from 5th May 2023 on Flipkart, vivo India e-store, and across all partner retail stores. Pre-booking starts from today i.e. 26th April 2023.
vivo X90 Offers
The launch offers of the vivo X90 include a 10% instant bank discount on SBI, ICICI, HDFC, and IDFC bank cards, and no-cost EMI.
