The new smartphone photography king?

After weeks of teasers and leaks, Vivo’s latest smartphone series with the highest range is now official. The new Vivo X70 Series builds on the X60 Series’ focus on photography, introducing a refreshed design and improved internals.

Aesthetically, the X70 series is not a major overhaul of the X60 line. The devices now have a new refinement effect through a “crystallized glass with a prismatic surface” that shimmers in the light. The Vivo X70 and X70 Pro also have slightly tweaked rear camera designs, with the flash now sitting vertically and separate from the sensor array. The top model, the X70 Pro Plus, also has a more distinctive camera hump, which is mounted in a protective “ceramic window” that doubles as a selfie mirror.

Vivo X70 Pro Plus

The Vivo X70 Pro Plus also changes the most in terms of specifications. The most obvious upgrade is Samsung’s larger 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display. It also offers support for variable refresh rates from 1 Hz to 120 Hz, a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440, 1,500 nits of peak brightness, and 10-bit color support.

What it doesn’t, however, is the X70 Pro Plus’ quad camera array. It combines a high transmission lens with a 50 MP Samsung GN1 sensor in its main camera. This is joined by a 48 MP 114-degree ultra-wide gimbal shooter that brings Vivo’s 360-degree horizon leveling stabilization smarts. This feature effectively maintains the recording even if the phone is moving or rotating. These cameras are supported by a 12 MP portrait shooter and an 8 MP periscope camera with 60x zoom, both of which contain OIS. The V1 imaging chip developed by Vivo also brings additional noise suppression and MEMC effects to the camera array.

Zeiss’s commitment is also becoming more apparent when it comes to camera software. The company brings three new Style Portrait flavors inspired by historical lenses. These include anamorphic distagon and bokeh-heavy planar and sunar effects. Multiple recording modes, including Pro Cinematic Mode, Super Night Video, and Pure Night View, are also included.

In addition to photography, the X70 Pro Plus also makes headlines in terms of computing power. It has a Snapdragon 888 Plus SoC with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Power is supplied by a 4,500 mAh battery that can be charged with wired 55 W or wireless 50 W FlashCharge systems.

The phone also has IP68 water and dust resistance. The other subtleties of the X70 Pro Plus include two stereo speakers, an X-axis haptic system and an IR blaster.

Vivo X70 and X70 Pro

The X70 Pro shrinks the camera hardware but also offers a quad camera setup with Sony’s IMX766V 50MP sensor on top. There is also a 12MP 116-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, a 12MP 50mm portrait lens and an 8MP sensor. The array also receives the company’s impressive gimbal stabilization technology for video and still images. The Vanilla X70 is satisfied with three rear cameras by leaving out the 8MP shooter.

Both phones have a 6.56-inch display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a touch sampling rate of 240 Hz. This smaller screen is also built into more compact housings. The X70 Pro is 7.99 mm thick and weighs 185 grams. The X70 weighs 181 grams and measures 7.55 mm at its thickest point.

The MediaTek Dimensity 1200 is the chipset of choice in both phones coupled with LPDDR4 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The larger Vivo X70 Pro gets a 4,450 mAh battery, while the vanilla model packs 50 mAh less. However, both share 44W wired charging support.

In particular, Exynos 1080-powered models of the X70 and X70 Pro could also be made available, but under the nickname X70T.

Prices and availability

The Vivo X70 Pro Plus is available in black, blue or orange. The X70 and X70 Pro are available in Artique White, Cosmic Black or dazzling Aurora Dawn.

In terms of pricing and availability, the Vivo X70 series is only available in China for now. However, Vivo will begin rolling out the line to India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and more. So far, however, we only have Chinese prices. The X70 Pro Plus starts at 5,499 yuan (~ $ 851) for the 8GB / 256GB model and jumps to 6,999 yuan (~ $ 1,083) for the 12GB / 512GB model. Full specification.

The X70 Pro starts at 4,299 yuan (~ $ 665) for the 8GB / 128GB model, while the Vanilla X70 upgrades the range at 3,699 yuan (~ $ 572). It brings 8GB / 128GB with its base model.

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