Introduction
Vivo unveiled the X50 series this June, and it is an intriguing high-end trio. The X50 is a premium mid-ranger with 5G connectivity, the X50 Pro+ has the fastest Snapdragon 865, while the star of this review - the X50 Pro - employs a gimbal system for camera stabilization - pioneering the feature for the entire smartphone industry.
Indeed, the cameraphone bunch is not simply alive and kicking, it has been thriving this year. We saw numerous imaging innovations such as huge sensors and long-range zooming. Fast night modes and macro focus at 2cm. And here is vivo adding yet another impressive tech to the mix with the vivo X50 Pro - a micro-gimbal system for impressive image and video stabilization. And it is no gimmick but the real deal, with all the bells and whistles.
But let's rewind a bit. The vivo X50 Pro is a dual-glass smartphone with one large and curved OLED screen with HDR10+ support, 90Hz refresh rate, and 180Hz touch sensing. It has the 5G-enabled Snapdragon 765G chip with lots of RAM and storage. And for a phone that's incredibly thin, and with a gimbal system that occupies five times more space than a regular camera, the X50 Pro has a large 4,315mAh that supports 33W fast charging. Nice!
Now, back to the rear camera - it's a quad-setup with a custom 48MP Sony IMX598 primary on the said gimbal system, then there is an 8MP ultrawide shooter that doubles as macro cam with impressive focus distance - just 2.5cm. Next comes a 13MP portrait camera with 2x optical zoom. And finally, there is an 8MP sensor behind 135mm periscopic lens for 5x optical zoom. It seems vivo spared no resources on the rear camera and it has everything that's cutting edge and then some!
The main camera is the only one that can shoot in all resolutions and framerates, and the gimbal stabilization is always active. You can also enable electronic stabilization for the so-called Ultra Steady Mode.
The X50 Pro runs on the Android 10 with Google-fied Funtouch 10.5 UX. The latest vivo interface seems to be a step in the right direction - clean and clutter-free.
vivo X50 Pro specs
- Body: Aluminum frame, tempered glass front and back; 158.5 x 72.8 x 8 mm, 181g;
- Display: 6.56" AMOLED, punch-hole notch, 2376 x 1080px resolution, 398ppi; HDR10+ compliant, DCI-P3 coverage.
- Rear cameras: Main: 48MP, Quad-Bayer filter, 0.8µm pixel size, 25mm equivalent focal length, f/1.6 aperture, PDAF, gimbal stabilization. Ultrawide angle: 8MP, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, f/2.2, 16mm, AF, ultra macro. Portrait: 13MP f/2.5, 25mm, 2x optical zoom, PDAF. Telephoto: 8MP with periscope 125mm f/3.4 4-aix OIS lens, 5x optical zoom, PDAF. Triple-LED dual-tone flash.
- Video recording: Main - up to 4K@60fps, rest - up to 1080p@30fps. EIS and OIS (where available)
- Front camera: 32MP, 1/2.8", 0.8µm, f/2.5 26mm lens.
- OS/Software: Android 10; Funtouch 10.5.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G: octa-core CPU (1x2.4 GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1x2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6x1.8 GHz Kryo 475 Silver), Adreno 620 GPU.
- Memory: 8GB of RAM; 128/256GB UFS 2.1 storage.
- Battery: 4,315mAh Li-Po; 33W fast charging.
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM; 5G; LTE-A, USB-C; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; dual-band GPS; Bluetooth 5.0; NFC
- Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader; single down-firing speaker; 3.5mm jack.
There is one glaring omission on the X50 Pro, and it actually goes for the entire X50 series - there is no ingress protection of any kind. We noticed that the SIM tray is very well sealed, so vivo may have provided some protection, but it has decided not to share it with the public. Which circles us back to the lack of official water resistance.
And now let's cut to the chase - here comes the vivo X50 Pro!
Unboxing the vivo X50 Pro
It is no secret vivo has been keen on giving a good presentation with its retail boxes, and the X50 Pro comes in yet another huge box that contains a lot. For starters, vivo is shipping the X50 Pro with a 33W charger and a compatible USB-C cable to go with it.
The maker is also throwing a high-quality in-ear headset and a transparent silicone case for extra protection.
Finally, the X50 Pro comes with a factory-applied thin protective film, so your screen is secured right out of the box.
Design, build, handling
The vivo X50 Pro may hide something that is a first for a smartphone, but the handset itself looks and feels just like any other glass flagship. And that is some incredibly good news.
The glass sandwich design has been the unspoken consensus among the makers over the past few years and until the foldables change the landscape (or not), it will stay for a while. And the vivo X50 Pro is one very thin and lightweight device with a bright and curvy OLED, super thin bezels, and frosted rear glass with gradient paintjob. The thin aluminum frame seems like the thing that holds everything together and the one and only grip booster.
The vivo X50 Pro measures 158.5 x 72.8 x 8 mm and weighs 181 grams - numbers considered rather compact and lightweight for a phone with a 6.56" OLED screen and a 4,315 mAh battery. And let's not forget the large gimbal system inside, which did not make for a thicker than usual camera holder. For comparison, the OnePlus 8 with the same screen and battery size, but with fewer cameras, is 2mm taller than the X50 Pro.
The whole front of the X50 Pro is occupied by the 6.56" AMOLED screen. It is a shared key feature through the entire X50 series and is jam-packed with flagship-grade goodies - it has HDR10+ support, DCI-P3 color gamut, high refresh rate, and fast touch sensing. The X50 and X50 Pro here support 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pro+ goes up to 120Hz.
The OLED screen has impressively thin bezels. The 32MP selfie camera is inside one very small punch-hole cutout around the top left corner, one of the smallest black spots we've seen lately.
The earpiece is truly invisible above the screen just before the frame. You cannot even see its grille, just one long and super thin hole, where the earpiece should be. It is so thin that we may have a hard time fitting even something as sharp and thin as a razor blade.
The fingerprint scanner is behind the screen, just like on most of the top-tier phones. It is of the optical kind and works fast, though its accuracy depends on how much of your finger is on top of it. This means the surface of the reader is not as large as on some competitors, but once you get the gist of it, you will have no problems. You can enable face recognition for an even speedier unlock, but it is not as secure.
Vivo X50 Pro ships with a thin protective film, but we didn't like it very much and got rid of it fast. The front glass is a tempered one, though the maker hasn't shed any details on its manufacturer. It is curved around the longer edges, but not enough to make for touch issues because of false palm inputs.
Vivo is selling the X50 Pro in three distinct color options - Alpha Grey, Frost Blue, and Glaze Black. All of them offer silky-smooth frosted panels with eye-catchy gradient paintjobs.
The Alpha Grey X50 Pro we have here has its rear tempered glass painted in grey and blue, transitioning smoothly in the middle and making for some cool light-bending depending on the angle.
The rear glass is also curved, just like the front one, and if you look closely - its curvature is actually steeper and goes in all directions. The frosted finish looks lovely and is mostly fingerprint resistant, though it is not grippy if that's what you were hoping for.
The only surface that provides any grip is the thin aluminum frame, which is thin on the sides, but thick and flat around the top and bottom. And thanks to this flatness, the vivo X50 Pro is able to stand upright - something we rarely see these days. Useful - hardly, but cool it is.
Speaking of the frame, its bottom is pretty crowded with the USB-C port, the mouthpiece, the dual-SIM tray, and the speaker grille. Meanwhile, all keys are on the left.
And now back to the hypnotizing back, which looks different every time we look at it.
The rear camera is probably the X50 Pro most interesting aspect, and yet, the maker has managed to keep the camera bump simple and very reasonable in size. In fact, the setup is protruding just like any other flagship camera, be it a Samsung's or Apple's, no more, no less.
Most of the place is taken by the 48MP primary, and you can clearly see how much space its gimbal system is eating up. The 13MP portrait and 8MP ultrawide shooter can be seen below the main snapper, while the two tiny black dots around should be the assistive laser for the autofocus.
Separated is the final camera, but visible is only the end of its periscopic lens. It's an 8MP shooter that offers 5x optical zoom, but because of yet another relatively new technology, its lens requires more space than usual, and you can see only the end of it. The sensor is hidden behind the aluminum piece, somewhere beneath the word camera.
Handling the vivo X50 Pro is a flagship experience, and even without a case, the phone feels secure enough in hand, be it when shooting videos or browsing Facebook. Its glass body is slippery, sure, but the frame and its shape add just enough grip to make it usable even without extra protection. And if you feel you need more peace of mind, vivo has you covered right out of the box with the official case shipping with the phone.
The X50 Pro is a well-built phone, that's for sure. The dual tempered glass panels are the most common trend on the market, while the aluminum frame makes for both grip and sturdiness, even if those are minor. The phone is not waterproofed, even if rubber seals are present on the SIM slot. It may or may not have some ingress protection, but it is better to be considered as not protected against water and be careful with it. We really hope for the Chinese makers to make a sharp U-turn on the water protection soon - it's a long overdue.
Excellent HDR10+ AMOLED screen
The vivo X50 Pro features a 6.56" AMOLED screen with extended 1080p resolution and rounded edges, and one tiny punch-hole to make way for the selfie camera.
The screen resolution is 2,376 x 1,080 pixels making for sharp 398ppi density. The panel is covered with curved tempered glass, and additionally, vivo is shipping the phone with a very thin protective film pre-applied at the factory.
The vivo X50 Pro supports 90Hz high refresh rate. You can choose between 60Hz, 90Hz, or Smart Switch based on content. It also features 180Hz touch sampling, so it'll register input plenty quick.
The OLED screen supports HDR10+ and is recognized as such by all popular apps including Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube. The X50 Pro supports Widevine L1 DRM, so you will be able to enjoy the maximum video quality across all streaming services.
We did some brightness measurements and we found that X50 Pro panel to be quite bright (for an OLED) but not among the best performers in this aspect. Using the brightness scrubber, we got a maximum brightness of 490 nits. When the screen uses Adaptive Brightness it can light up as high as 503 nits. Oddly, the sunlight boost is available only for the 60Hz refresh rate, while at 90Hz - you will be limited to 490 nits the whole time. It's not a big loss, obviously.
Note that some HDR10 content could offer higher screen brightness if needed. In any case, a brightness of 500 nits is quite adequate for an OLED screen and we had no issues whatsoever even on the brightest of days.
Finally, the minimum brightness we were able to achieve with white was 2.1 nits - so an excellent result.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 489 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 503 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 496 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 803 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 525 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 635 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 442 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 610 | ∞ | |
| 0.318 | 421 | 1324:1 | |
| 0 | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 642 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 425 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 531 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 589 | ∞ | |
| 0.332 | 437 | 1316:1 | |
| 0 | 424 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 596 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 820 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 518 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 848 | ∞ | |
The vivo X50 Pro screen supports DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces. You get to choose between Standard, Normal, or Bright color modes. In each of these, you will get a color temperature slider going from cool to warm.
The default Standard mode got us an average DeltaE of 4.1 against DCI-P3 targets. If you move the temperature slider midway to Warm, you can get rid of the blue tinge over the white and gray hues and get higher color accuracy with an average DeltaE of 2.3.
The Bright Mode is pretty much the same as the Standard, with more saturated red and green hues.
With Normal mode, we measured an average DeltaE of 1.9 against sRGB targets.
Overall, color reproduction is very good on the X50 Pro and it can be even excellent if that's what you want.
Battery life and charging
The vivo X50 Pro is powered by a 4,315 mAh battery - a proper capacity for a flagship. The phone supports 33W fast charging - same as on the X30 Pro. The X50 Pro ships with the said 33W charger - it gets the battery from flat to 55% in 30 mins and to 100% in 70 mins.
The X50 Pro clocked great Screen-On-Times on our battery tests - it can last more than 12 hours in web browsing, while you can watch movies for nearly 17 hours.
The Snapdragon 765G modem is not as efficient as other Qualcomm and non-Qualcomm modems, though, and the X50 Pro demonstrated a mediocre standby performance for a 4,300 mAh battery and this resulted in the rather average 78 hours final endurance rating.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSer App. The endurance rating above denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the vivo X50 Pro for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so that our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty. You can check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Speaker test
The vivo X50 Pro is equipped with a single loudspeaker on the bottom.
In terms of loudness, the vivo X50 Pro scored a 'Good' mark, however the good news ends here. The speaker is of a poor quality and it lacks in both low and high notes, while the mid tones presentation is all over the place.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Audio output quality
We've recently discontinued our audio output quality test.
The reason for that is that most phones that arrived for testing were already excellent in this regard and whatever difference there was, it was marginal and probably indistinguishable to anything but our lab equipment.
Android 10 with Funtouch 10.5 UI
The vivo X50 Pro runs Android 10 with vivo's custom Funtouch 10.5. The in-house customizations still run deep, though vivo has made many steps in the right direction - the UI is much cleaner and most of the iOS-like elements are now gone.
The first thing we noticed is that the new Funtouch has a proper notification shade with quick toggles in it, as opposed to the previous approach with an old iOS-like Control center on the bottom and notifications from the top. And it works like any other notification shade - you pull down from the top and a row of toggles appears, notifications cards below it; pull down again and you get the entire grid of toggles, there is a shortcut to the settings, too.
Notification shade
Funtouch now looks and feels a lot like a clean Android 10 as opposed to the heavily customized old iterations. It has less clutter on the homescreens (the leftmost being the Google one), you get a streamlined App Drawer just like on Android 10, and even the OS navigation is similar.
Funtouch UI
Some other custom launchers add a swipe and hold gesture from the side to switch between the last two apps, but not Funtouch UI. It does use that gesture for something, though - it is called 'Quick launch apps,' and it's a five-icon shortcut menu, where you can add any app installed on the phone. You can't add the flashlight, for example, which we feel is a missed opportunity. You can disable the feature entirely too.
A swipe and hold from the corners summons the Google Assistant.
Other navigation options are also available including the swipe from the bottom variety which operates like a nav bar, only with swipes, as well as the classic nav bar itself.
Navigation options and shortcut menu
The vivo X50 Pro has an always-on display feature, which you can customize to your heart's content. Dark mode for the entire UI is also present.
Dark mode • Dark mode • Dark mode • Always on display • Always on display • Always on display
Biometric security comes in two flavors - an under-display optical fingerprint reader and a camera-only face recognition. Fingerprint recognition works excellently fast, but the sensor area is not as big as on some other phones, so accuracy would depend solely on whether your entire fingertip is on the reader or not.
The facial recognition works extremely fast too, even in pitch darkness, where it lights up the display real quick (a little, not blinding you). While it does require at least one open eye to unlock, it's still a relatively insecure authentication method.
Biometrics and security
There's a bunch of gaming-focused software features baked-in too, operated from within the Ultra Game Mode hub of sorts. That's is accessed from the main settings menu or by long pressing the toggle in the notification shade, which also serves a global on/off switch of the features. Game assistant will show a popup, informing you it's got everything optimized and briefing you on current settings - you can disable it after you're tired of seeing it. Game sidebar is where you'll be able to change settings mid-game - handle alerts, screen recording, and the pressure sensitive buttons assignment, among others. You can customize the options in this sidebar as well as disable it completely and only set the things from the Ultra Game Mode Optimization Center.
Gaming settings
Some other Gaming options include Framerate Priority setting if the game supports this. Eagle Eye View also sounds cool with local tone mapping, local contrast settings and forced sharpness option. Finally, 4D Game Vibration is simulated gunshot vibrations in supported games.
Gaming settings
Vivo's Funtouch 10.5 offers a variety of customization options if you are into this thing. There is a dedicated Theme Store with a ton of custom themes, and you can change literally everything - wallpapers and color schemes, icons, fonts, transition effects, among others.
Themes and customizations
The new Funtouch UI is a huge step in the right direction even of some remnants of the past iOS-copy era remain - like the iManager. But it is only a matter of time for vivo to get rid of this one, too.
The entire interface is optimized to work at 90fps, and it is super smooth. We had no issues using Funtouch, in fact, we liked what we experienced a lot. The old chaotic Funtouch is gone in favor of clean and organized one, and we are very happy with that change.
Performance and benchmarks
The vivo X50 Pro runs on the Snapdragon 765G SoC, Qualcomm's midrange 5G-capable chipset. It is manufactured on a 7nm production process and features a built-in modem unlike the flagship S865.
The octa-core processor has a 1+1+6 configuration with a Prime core clocked at up to 2.4GHz, a Gold core limited to 2.2GHz (both of these Cortex-A76 derivatives) and 6 Cortex-A55-based Silver cores with a top speed of 1.8GHz.
The GPU inside the Snapdragon 765 chips is Adreno 620.
The vivo X50 Pro offers 8GB RAM no matter the storage option - 128GB or 256GB. The unit we tested has 256GB storage.
And now, let's run some tests, shall we?
The CPU-focused GeekBench puts the vivo X50 Pro on top of all midrangers but you can buy faster phones for the same cash with flagship-grade Snapdragon chips. You can see the gap in the theoretical performance, though it is debatable if you will be able to feel it in real life scenarios.
GeekBench 5.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- vivo iQOO 3 5G
3402 - Huawei P40 Pro
3197 - Realme X50 Pro
3175 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
2579 - vivo X50 Pro
1937 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
1927 - Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
1867 - vivo X50
1827 - Realme 6
1726 - Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
1694 - Realme 6 Pro
1666
GeekBench 5.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- vivo iQOO 3 5G
928 - Realme X50 Pro
911 - Huawei P40 Pro
780 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
756 - Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
677 - vivo X50 Pro
636 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
616 - Realme 6 Pro
565 - vivo X50
552 - Realme 6
548 - Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
521
The good performance continues in graphics benchmarks, where the vivo X50 Pro once again leads the midrange but trails behind the flagship bunch. The shown scores are plenty enough for gaming under 1080p screen though.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo iQOO 3 5G
61 - Realme X50 Pro
60 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
56 - Huawei P40 Pro
52 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
32 - vivo X50 Pro
31 - Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
28 - Realme 6 Pro
27 - Realme 6
27 - Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
26 - vivo X50
24
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Realme X50 Pro
45 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
42 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
35 - Huawei P40 Pro
31 - vivo X50 Pro
17 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
17 - Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
17 - Realme 6 Pro
16 - Realme 6
16 - Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
15 - vivo X50
14
Finally, Antutu, too, puts the X50 Pro in the midrange lead, but it's nowhere near the flagship scores.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Realme X50 Pro
592447 - vivo iQOO 3 5G
575601 - Huawei P40 Pro
496356 - Realme X3 SuperZoom
477905 - vivo X50 Pro
323736 - Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
318117 - Samsung Galaxy A51 5G
316007 - Realme 6
288931 - Realme 6 Pro
268785 - Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
253271
It is a tough job to be the vivo X50 Pro. It is priced closely to phones with proper flagship hardware and yet it offers midrange-grade performance. It is very dependable performance and does for smooth gaming, don't get this wrong, it's just not even close to the Snapdragon series 8.
Still, the X50 Pro is first a camera-phone and multimedia device, so resources were obviously invested elsewhere. And that's fine. You just need to know that whatever you decide, the speed may not be chart topping, but it is a balanced and dependable for whatever you throw at the vivo X50 Pro.
Premium quad-camera with gimbal stabilization system
The vivo X50 Pro features a quad-camera on its back with a 48MP primary, a 13MP portrait, an 8MP telephoto, and an 8MP ultrawide snappers. Laser-assisted autofocus is available on all cameras, there is gimbal stabilization on the main shooter and optical stabilization on the 5x telephoto cam. A triple-LED dual-tone flash is also around.
Let's take a closer look on this 4-camera setup.
The main camera is the star of the show for sure. It uses a 48MP Sony IMX598 custom sensor with Quad-Bayer color filter, 0.8µm pitch, and f/1.6 25mm lens. Laser-assistance and PDAF are available, naturally. The whole thing is stabilized with a micro-gimbal system that should provide 3x better stabilization over regular OIS setup.
The ultrawide camera uses an 8MP 1/4.0" sensor with 1.12µm pixels and f/2.2 16mm lens. Thanks to the laser-assisted autofocus, you can also shoot macro photos from as close as 2.5cm away from the subject.
The is also a 13MP camera with f/2.5 50mm lens for 2x optical zoom. Vivo calls this a portrait camera.
Finally, you also get an 8MP camera with periscope f/3.4 135mm lens for 5x optical zoom over the main camera. Four-axis Optical Image Stabilization is available for this camera.
The selfie shooter uses a 32MP sensor behind f/2.45 25mm wide lens. The focus is fixed.
Let's circle back to the micro-gimbal system as this is the first time we see it on a smartphone. It takes five times more space than a regular OIS setup, and that's why vivo had to settle for a smaller sensor as the IMX598 and not huge one like Huawei, Samsung, or Xiaomi. It promises to make up for that in quality, so fingers crossed.
Vivo is officially calling this a miniature gimbal camera. It offers exceptional stabilization over a single axis and it took months for vivo's R&D team to miniaturize the module. It still takes 5 times the surface area of the average smartphone camera and 3 times the area of the already mainstream periscope snappers.
The mechanism uses dual ball suspension and voice coil motor, dual S-type FPC lines, T-FPC, magnetic frame, and protective cover. As vivo explains it - the whole thing delivers mechanical-motion compensation by electro-magnetic induction - it moves in the opposite direction of the shaking motions.
Well, it is mechanical indeed and sometimes when the mechanism is calibrating or having a hard-time compensation for your movement you can both feel it and hear it moving and swirling.
You can enable the Gimbal Radar tool from settings to be always visible on your viewfinder, and we recommend doing that. It is an onscreen moving ball within a circle on the viewfinder that reflects gimbal's movements. And when you keep the ball within the circle, this means the gimbal is doing a perfect job and the image/video will remain still. This feedback is especially useful no matter what you are shooting and will easily return you pro-grade stills and videos.
Vivo claims the gimbal system is doing a 300% better job than regular OIS. That's because the traditional OIS anti-shake angle correction is compensating for movements up to ±1°, while the gimbal platform's anti-shake angle correction on the X50 Pro is ±3°.
The camera app is the same one we've seen on vivos in recent months. You have a zoom selector (0.6x/1x/2x/5x) in the viewfinder and a separate 'lens' selector (Super wide-angle/Bokeh/Super macro) is confusing. The 'Super wide angle' option is effectively the same as the '0.6x' from the zoom selector. Then the 'Super macro' mode is a digitally zoomed-in view from that very same ultra-wide camera - it makes you think you're getting a larger magnification, but it's just a crop, which is then upscaled back to 13MP. But wait, there's more - the 'Bokeh' mode locks you in the 1x main cam and is a different thing than the dedicated 'Portrait' mode, from the proper mode selector on the bottom, which also has face altering features besides the bokeh. Urgh.
Camera app and modes
Anyway, the chief modes are switched with side swipes as on most other phones, and the 'More' tab lets you access less common modes. From there, you can also customize the modes you have available in the viewfinder, which is a nice touch that only Samsungs seem to offer.
There's a Pro mode that lets you tweak photographic parameters yourself. You get to select ISO (50-3200), shutter speed (1/12000s-32s), white balance (presets and a temperature slider), focus distance (no focus peaking), and exposure compensation (-3/+3EV in 1/3EV increments), with easily accessible auto buttons on all and a global 'restore' button to revert everything to auto. An electronic level is also available in addition to the gimbal view, a histogram view is available as well.
The Pro mode is available on all four cams, you need to use the lens switcher, which in Pro mode offers Super Wide-angle, Medium telephoto, and Telephoto. The 1x switch is not a switch at all, but a zoom slider.
The settings menu offers some of the usual controls like disabling the simulated shutter sound, geotagging, and the option to mirror your selfies, and it's here that you'll find the self-timer (as opposed to the viewfinder). The vivo X50 Pro offers eye autofocus which we haven't seen on any other phone except the Sony Xperia 1 and the vivo's own iQOO 3 5G.
Pro mode • Settings
Daylight image quality
The main camera saves 12MP photos by default and those we took in broad daylight turned out very good. They excel in everything but resolved detail. The photos present superb contrast, dynamic range and lively even if over-saturated colors. The sharpening is not aggressive, and the noise is kept reasonably low.
The resolved detail could have been better, especially outside the center, but it is far from bad. It's just that we expected a bit more, that's it.
We noticed the algorithm may overdo the image stacking and that might result in a bit unnatural HDR effects, but if this bothers you then you can turn the Auto HDR off and avoid that.
Main camera, 12MP
There is a high-res 48MP mode, and it does a splendid job. The 48MP images look very detailed (if a bit noisy), with great contrast and colors.
Note that shooting in 48MP takes a couple of seconds and one photo weighs about 20MB.
But can you get better 12MP shots from downsizing the 48MP ones? Short answer - yes.
If you want to get a more detailed image, then shooting in 48MP and then manually downsizing to 12MP is the way. Is it worth the hassle? Well, the extra detail is artificially created by the algorithm, and you may notice some artifacts in the foliage. And even then, when the added detail is an illusion, it is still a good illusion, but we will leave that for you to decide.
Main camera, 48MP-to-12MP
And here are the untouched 48MP photos.
Main camera, 48MP
The 8MP shots from the ultrawide camera present mediocre resolved detail and poor sharpness, but otherwise are contrasty and have an accurate color presentation. Noise is left here and there, but it's no biggie.
Finally, the automatic distortion correction does a good job straightening the corners.
We've seen better ultrawide shots, but we've seen worse, too. Vivo needs to improve its image processing, as some detail is most probably lost during the multi-image stacking.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
Thanks to the presence of autofocus, the ultrawide camera can also be used for shooting macro photos from as close as 2.5cm distance. There is a dedicated Ultra Macro mode, but DO NOT use it - it crops and upscales from a regular ultrawide shot.
Anyway, the samples we shot at close distance are pretty good with lots of detail and punchy colors, and will do for showing the occasional bug or cactus on Facebook.
Ultrawide camera, macro, 8MP
The X50 Pro has a dedicated 13MP camera for 2x zoom, also known as Portrait camera. It also snaps good photos with high contrast and dynamic range, accurate colors, but rather average resolved detail.
Despite the not-so-good detail and sharpness, we still liked the images we shot, and we do think most of the people will be happy with them, too.
Portrait camera, 2x zoom, 13MP
The Portrait Mode uses the Portrait camera, of course. It is quite proficient in separating the subject from the background and the blur looks nice. The detail is enough, though vivo's beautification options are at play and we just couldn't disable all of them.
Portrait camera, portrait mode, 13MP
Finally, the 8MP shooter behind the 5x zoom lens saves good photos as well, even if not on par with Huawei's long-range shooters. The detail is enough, the colors are true to life, and the contrast is okay, too.
They can benefit from some more potent noise reduction or extra sharpness, but even at this state - they do a brilliant job at zooming in.
Telephoto camera, 5x zoom, 8MP
Low-light image quality
Now, let's look at some low-light images.
Having a great stabilization system is of tremendous help at night. The gimbal allows the main camera of the X50 Pro to use shutter speeds of 1/8s and thus capture more light without resorting to the Night Mode.
Indeed, the main camera captures excellent night shots - they are bright, with abundant detail, good exposure, lively colors and commendable contrast. Even the darkest of scenes turned out outstanding.
Main camera, 12MP
Night Mode is available, and it usually takes about 3 seconds. If the phone detects a tripod, it will then use a 10 second Night Mode to capture even more detail. Thanks to the gimbal stabilization and the reviewer's steady hand, the algorithm often mistook it for a tripod. But a handheld 10s shot is a no-go, so if you see the tripod mode activated, shake the phone a bit. How the tables have turned, right?
Anyway, the Night Mode is simply outstanding. It clears the images of noise, balances the exposure, restores the blown highlights and pops detail in the shadows. The photos are a bit brighter and the color saturation is not only better, but more accurate, too.
Those are among the best Night Mode shots we've seen, and they are worth every second of waiting. We recommend using this mode whenever possible.
Main camera, Night Mode, 12MP
The X50 Pro also packs a bright triple-LED dual-tone flash. We decided to snap a photo with the flash turned on for a quick comparison. It turned out plenty good with lots of detail and managed to pop the real colors of the snail and the grass, like it is a day. Maybe you should try it in some scenes where you want to pop more color or detail.
Standard mode • Standard with flash • Night Mode
The 8MP snaps from the ultrawide camera are what you'd expect from any such snapper at night - not that good. They are noisy, soft, and quite dark. Surprisingly, the processing manages to save enough detail sometimes and some of the shots are not as bad as we'd expected them to be.
Still, we can hardly recommend using this camera come nighttime.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
Night Mode is available on the ultrawide snapper and it takes about 2 seconds to complete. It does a good job in popping more detail in the shadows and also extinguishes most of the noise, so if an ultrawide shot is a must at night, the Night Mode is the way to do it.
Ultrawide camera, Night Mode, 8MP
The camera avoids using the 2x and 5x snappers at night and whether it is a normal or night mode, the main camera and digital zoom will be used instead.
The only time the telephoto cams decided to shoot was at sunset. The 2x images are okay, but nothing spectacular. There is a lot of noise and while the color saturation is good, the photos are often blurry due to the lack of stabilization.
Portrait camera, 2x zoom, 13MP
The 8MP 5x low-light stills are less likely to be blurred because of the OIS, but they are quite dark and very noisy due to the darker aperture. Still, when the camera decides to fire, you can expect detailed enough shots.
Telephoto camera, 5x zoom, 8MP
We also shot our usual posters with the vivo X50 Pro. Here's how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
vivo X50 Pro against the OnePlus 8 and the Realme X50 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Selfies
The 32MP selfies out of the vivo X50 Pro are just about okay. Dynamic range is on the narrow side, and we'd appreciate some more sharpness and detail than what we're getting, but colors are on point. The HDR often helps, but sometimes it goes over the top and you won't like what you'd get.
Selfies, 32MP
If the light conditions aren't ideal, though the selfie quality goes down the drain in a flash.
Portrait mode on the selfie camera comes with some amount of beatification applied that has no easy one-step solution to remove. That means an extra level of added softness is also present, not just in the background, but also on your subject. On the other hand, the artificial bokeh effect is not turned on by default, you have to specifically enable it.
After all the hassle, the portrait selfies are bad, so we'd stay away from this mode. The separation is not good and all those effects... no, just no.
Selfie • Portrait selfie
Video recording
The vivo X50 Pro captures video at up to 2160p at 60fps with its main camera. Gimbal stabilization is always available, there is also electronic stabilization that's always on for all 30fps modes. You can also opt for the so-called Ultra Stable mode that's fixed at 1080p@60fps - it uses 4K@60fps source and crops from its center.
All other snappers can do 1080p@30fps and nothing else. If a 4K resolution is selected, the 2x and 5x modes use the main camera and zoom digitally.
Audio is captured always stereo at 128kbps. You get to pick between the h.264 and h.265 codecs.
The 4K@30fps clips from the main camera are a bit soft, but still with enough detail, excellent colors and contrast. They are steadier than the 60fps because of EIS but have a bit narrower field of view.
The lack of EIS is the reason why the 4K@60fps footage is sharper and with wider FoV - it wasn't cropped and upscaled back to 4K. The 60fps clips are obviously sharper and overall - flagship-grade. Everything is great - the colors, the foliage, the buildings. They are noise free, too.
Both 30fps and 60fps videos in 1080p resolution exhibit the exact same properties, with a twist - there is no crop, and the footage is sharp and rich in detail in both occasions.
The 1080p@30fps video from the ultrawide camera is excellent - rich in detail, with high contrast and lively colors. We have no complaints whatsoever.
The 1080p@30fps clips from the zoom cameras are also of superb quality. They are sharp, with high dynamic range, good contrast and satisfying colors, even if a bit washed out.
Now, let's test that gimbal properly. First, we walked with the phone and the stabilization is outstanding.
Then we decided to run and yet the footage came out impressive in spite of our poor running efforts.
And here is the same run but shot with the Ultra Stable mode. Cool, right?
We decided to pit vivo X50 Pro next to one of the best flagships as far as video stabilization is concerned - the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The first side-by-side video shows 4K@30fps footage from both phones taken while speed walking. The X50 Pro did a lot better in stabilizing the picture here.
Then we used the Ultra Stable Mode of the X50 Pro against 1080p video from the iPhone. Apple did better here.
Finally, once again back to 4K capturing at 30fps, but we walk normally. The iPhone did much better in this case.
What we can take from these? Well, if you are running - there is no better smartphone to stabilize your action video than the vivo X50 Pro. But for any other occasion - there is another smartphone with better stabilization that will beat it.
Finally, closing this camera section off, here is the vivo X50 Pro in our video comparison database.
vivo X50 Pro against the OnePlus 8 and the Realme X50 Pro in our Video compare tool
Wrap-up
The new vivo X50 Pro unlocks two achievements for the company. It is the first-ever smartphone with a gimbal system stabilization. And it is one of the few vivo phones to launch globally.
It turned out the vivo X50 Pro is so much more than just the first gimbal bearer and a skilled cameraphone. It is also great for gaming and video streaming. The design is cool, the sharp OLED screen is top-notch with HDR10+ and 90Hz refresh. Its new Funtouch UI is a massive improvement, too.
Indeed, the X50 Pro has a lot to offer and everything on this phone has premium written all over it. And that's why the premium price is hardly surprising. You are going to pay for all cool features, either pioneering or just flagship-grade.
But the X50 Pro is not the perfect smartphone - it is not the fastest, it doesn't have any water resistance, it screams for battery optimizations. Oh, and it would be while until the gimbal system becomes mainstream as in its current 1-axis state, it is good primarily for running. For everything else, 4-axis OIS with EIS easily outperforms it. That's the video side of things, of course.
The gimbal stabilization is of invaluable help at night for when shooting photos. It allows for lower ISO and longer shutter speeds in handheld mode. But there is a catch. For now, vivo cannot put a large sensor on this system as it would become humongous. And settling for an average imager compromises the quality, which leads to photos which are good but not outstanding.
Long story short, the micro gimbals may be the future, and the X50 Pro gives a glimpse of that. But if stabilization is what you are after, it may be better to look at some more refined products with good OIS+EIS.
The competition
Vivo will be selling the X50 Pro globally, but this is yet another murky aspect of the phone. For now, it is available in China and India, while markets from the EMEA and APAC regions, including countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Indonesia, will get it later on.
And for the asking INR 50,000 price in India, you can buy faster phones such as the Xiaomi Mi 10, OnePlus 8 (INR 45,000) or the top of the line OnePlus 8 Pro (INR 55,000). The Realme X50 Pro is INR 10,000 cheaper and yet - faster and more dependable as far as battery endurance is concerned. None of them will have gimbal stabilization or 5x optical zoom, so you should pick your priorities carefully.
Xiaomi Mi 10 5G • OnePlus 8 • OnePlus 8 Pro • Realme X50 Pro 5G
Vivo's own iQOO 3 5G is a tempting offer, being INR 10,000 cheaper, as it has the latest Snapdragon 865 chip and a similar screen but limited at 60Hz refresh rate. The iQOO 3 camera lacks the gimbal stabilization and the 5x shooter, but the rest stays the same. Oh, and the battery life is nothing short of impressive.
And finally, of the 5x zoom camera is of utmost importance and you are on the budget, then look no further than the Realme X3 Super Zoom. It sells for nearly half the vivo price and offers faster chipset and the same versatile setup sans the portrait camera (replaced by a macro one). It is a battery champ, and its IPS LCD screen supports even higher refresh rate at 120Hz.
vivo iQOO 3 5G • Realme X3 SuperZoom
The verdict
The vivo X50 Pro is not an easy case. And it's not because the X50 Pro is not a great smartphone - on the contrary. The X50 Pro is a high-tier handset with luxurious design, a premium OLED screen, gaming hardware, it supports 5G and has one heck of a camera.
But we can only recommend it for the novelty of its gimbal stabilization - and even that is not as groundbreaking as it sounds.
There are cheaper or faster phones that offer the rest of the features that vivo is offering. Yet, none of the competitors can match the vivo X50 Pro feature set. If the complete package is what works for you best, you should go for it. The X50 Pro is worth every penny and won't disappoint one bit those who appreciate the whole package.
Pros
- Attractive design with frosted glass, rather thin profile
- Superb OLED screen with HDR10+, 90Hz refresh, 180Hz sensing
- Capable Snapdragon 765G chip, great for gaming, has 5G modem
- Quad-camera with long-range zoom and macro mode, world's first micro gimbal stabilization in a phone
- Very good daylight photos, excellent low-light images
- The video quality is consistently good across the board, the stabilization works well
- Latest Android, clean Funtouch UI
Cons
- Pricey, Snapdragon 865 phones can be had for the same cash or less
- No water or dust resistance
- No microSD, no 3.5mm jack
- The gimbal stabilization works well, but 3- or 4-axis OIS with EIS often do better
- Scarce availability despite the promised global launch
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