We recently posted a hands-on video of the X70 Pro+ and our first impressions of the device were pretty good. We felt it was a phone with almost no shortcomings, with the ability to capture superb photos. Now, after plenty of days of playing around with the device, we have a renewed appreciation for the X70 Pro+.
So what new discoveries have we made in the last few days? Let’s check them out.
The X60 Pro+ took second place in our Best Camera comparison two months ago, proving that Vivo’s imaging system is already very good. But can the newly released Vivo X70 Pro+ take things one step further and become the strongest imaging flagship phone in the second half of this year?
vivo X70 Pro Plus Full Review: Camera Performance
Let’s look at the hardware part first. Compared to the X60 Pro+, the 2x portrait lens has been upgraded from 32MP to 12MP IMX663, and the main camera has an additional piece of Zeiss optical glass. And most importantly, it is equipped with Vivo’s own V1 chip for the first time. This chip helps brighten photos and reduce noise while also decreasing power consumption.
When compared to the X60 Pro+, the new X70 Pro+ has a significantly less saturated style, which is closer to true colors. If you still think it’s too saturated, try the new Zeiss color mode, which further reduces saturation compared to Vivo’s AI color mode. Personally, I would still prefer Vivo’s automatic AI color mode.
Main Camera
Note that the additional ZEISS optical glass brings in very few improvements to the X70 Pro+’s main camera, except for a slightly better highlight control in the presence of light. The upgraded Zeiss T* coating is an improvement in purple-fringing control in the daytime. But this coating is not perfect, as the photo angle has to be chosen very carefully to avoid them completely.
Ultra Wide Angle Camera
The ultra-wide-angle lens on the X70 Pro+ has no hardware upgrades at all, so it performs almost exactly the same as the X60 Pro+. But the purple-fringing issue is significantly lessened like the main camera. Although its main camera has improved and ultra-wide-angle lens has not improved significantly, it still maintains the high standard of last year and is in no way weaker than flagship phones of other brands.
Portrait Camera
Let’s focus on the newly upgraded 2x portrait lens. The new portrait lens is much better than the previous generation in terms of dynamic range. And because the size of the sensor has become larger and OIS has been added, there is less noise in the picture and there won’t be any blur because of handshake. Because the amount of pixels has also been reduced, you can see obvious signs of sharpening when you zoom in. The new portrait lens has a longer focus distance, so unlike the X60 Pro+ you can’t get too close to the subject when using 2x portrait mode.
Zoom Performance
Like we mentioned in our Best Camera Smartphones video two months ago, the X60 Pro+’s choice of 5x zoom in night mode would crop through the main camera instead of shooting with a periscope telephoto lens, resulting in worse photo quality than in normal mode. This issue is fixed on the X70 Pro+. And even in normal mode, image purity, dynamic range, and sharpness are improved. This 5x periscope telephoto on the X70 Pro+ is substantially more usable with the new algorithm.
Judging from the previous samples, the V1 chip doesn’t seem to do much for photos. But Vivo says the V1 chip also enhances the photo experience by allowing the X70 Pro+’s viewfinder to preview in real-time in dark conditions. While, in the actual test, it is true that the preview screen of X70 Pro+ with V1 chip is a little better, but the difference is not much compared to the X60 Pro+ without this V1 chip. The actual photos taken are also different from the preview, so it looks like there is still room for improvement for the V1 chip.
One phenomenon that has existed since the X60 Pro+ and is still present on the X70 Pro+ is the algorithm for intelligent lens switching. For example, you click on 2x zoom in normal mode, but the x70 Pro+ will not always shoot with a 2x portrait lens, it will intelligently determine which lens to shoot based on the environment. Look at these 2x zoomed-in photos here, one taken with the x70 Pro+ in auto mode with intelligent judgment cropping with the main camera, and one taken with my manual Professional mode switching the 2x portrait lens. Clearly, its AI has made a mistake. So although the AI is mostly accurate, I would still like to have control over which lens I choose to take photos with. There also has been some incredible bugs in the days of our experience with the phone, such as this night mode photo, which is a very weird bug. Hopefully, the next version of the system update will fix it. So the X70 Pro+’s imaging system is not as perfect as we thought.
Video Recording
The X70 Pro+’s video recording is also of great interest to many people. The specs that each lens can record are unchanged from the X60 Pro+. The portrait lens and periscope telephoto support up to 1080p 30FPS video recording. Gimbal’s stabilization is better than the previous generation, and the jelly effect is much lessened. However, the dynamic range of the main camera and ultra-wide-angle lens basically remain the same as the x60 Pro+. The V1 chip’s optimization of video recording is reflected in the noise control, as there’s less noise than the X60 Pro+, but the relative picture also becomes more blurred. This time, the new Horizontal line anti-shake mode has been added. However, it is not recommended using it unless for special situations, because it only supports 1080P 30FPS recording.
vivo X70 Pro Plus Full Review: Hardware
As a flagship phone rather than a camera, its other hardware specifications must also be strong enough to be called Vivo’s strongest flagship phone. vivo X70 Pro+ is now not only available in vegan leather, the black version in our hands has a frosted glass back panel. And the frosted texture is relatively rough and will reflect some light spots in the sunlight. Next to the lens is a ceramic decorative plate. Because of the high reflectivity, you can even take a selfie with the main rear camera when the light is better.
While the X60 Pro+ lacked IP68 waterproofing, X-axis linear motor, and stereo speakers, these features are present on the X70 Pro+, and it also has a separate HiFi chip. It can be said that in the basic features of the X70 Pro+ there is nothing missing, but it comes at the cost of larger body size and heavier weight.
vivo X70 Pro Plus Full Review: Display
Taking good photos also needs a great screen to show it off. This time, the X70 Pro+ has a very large screen upgrade. With 2K resolution, 120Hz, the latest Samsung E5 light-emitting material, and support for LTPO dynamic refresh rate technology, this screen should theoretically be one of the most powerful screens available. But in reality, it’s a bit disappointing.
Compared to the Mi 11 Ultra, the x70 Pro+ screen appears slightly greenish and rainbow-streaked when viewed from the side. And it still has a larger curved section that can be shadowed and greenish. The fingerprint recognition is positioned downward, which is less convenient to press. In the past few days, we found that when you press the screen for a long time and then swipe, the response of the screen will become slower. We don’t know if this is intentional or a system bug, but when you use the web or Twitter, this slowdown is not a good feeling.
Of course, a flagship phone should use a flagship chip. The core specification is still the same: Snapdragon 888+, LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1. The Benchmark Test results are shown in the chart. Although the scores look good, the gaming part is more of a test of heat dissipation. Unfortunately, the gaming performance of the X70 Pro+ and X60 Pro+ is about the same.
Even when playing light games like PUBG, the X70 Pro+ can’t stabilize at 90FPS with Smooth Graphics 90 PFS settings, and larger games like Genshin Impact are even more difficult to handle. The frame rate curve also shows that Vivo is limiting the performance output of the x70 Pro+. Just when we thought it was unlikely that the X70 Pro+ would be able to play large games smoothly, we found that the V1 chip’s frame interpolation feature could be used in games, allowing them to run at 45 FPS with the screen displaying 90 FPS. In practice, the games run very stable and smoothly, and are also more power-efficient. The downside is that the image is sometimes broken and the delay in control increases. The current version of the game can become very laggy if you turn on and then turn off the frame insertion, and this feature will also be forced off once the temperature is too high. So in real life, this feature is not as good as imagined.
vivo X70 Pro Plus Full Review: Battery Life
The maximum charger power of 55w that we mentioned in the Hands-on video was a mistake on our part. In fact, the maximum power of the charger is 66w, but the phone only supports up to 55w charging power, which is the same as the X60 Pro+. What is different is that the x70 Pro+ also supports 50w wireless charging. Wired charging takes ten minutes to charge to 32%, thirty minutes to charge 80%, and 47 minutes to fully charge. Although charging with Vivo’s own charger is fast, it’s painful if you charge with other brands’ chargers. Even if you charge with a third-party charger that supports the PD protocol, the maximum power is only about 10w. The phone only charges about 6% every 10 minutes.
Battery capacity has improved compared to the previous generation, 4500mAh is the average level in the 5G era. TikTok consumes 3% for half-hour and 4% for online video.
vivo X70 Pro Plus Full Review: Verdict
It’s great to see that the X70 Pro+ is an improvement across the board, not just in the camera department. Many of the shortcomings of last year’s X60 Pro+ have been made up, on the X70 Pro+. But it’s not as perfect as Vivo advertised, and there are many issues and bugs that still need to be fixed. If Origin OS can fix the mentioned bugs and further improve usability, the next X80 Pro+ might really become the perfect photo flagship phone.
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