Blocking ads removes funding from us!
Researching and writing articles takes a lot of time. Operating our infrastructure costs money.
All of this is funded with advertising revenue.
We don't like advertising either - that's why we avoid annoying banners and pop-ups.
Please give us a chance and deactivate your adblocker!
Alternatively, you can support us here voluntarily.

Follow us:


Vivo X60 Pro 5G review: Very good, but unfortunately a bit too expensive

Vivo X60 Pro 5G test report header
Picture: TechnikNews
(Post picture: © 2021 TechnikNews)

Unfortunately, Vivo is probably still not known to very few people here in Europe. It is a Chinese company from the BBK group, which also includes OnePlus. Last year they started with the X51 5G finally also in Europe and meanwhile the successor, the Vivo X60 Pro 5G, on the market.

The recommended retail price is 799 euros and the equipment is quite impressive. The Snapdragon 870, which is already in the OPPO Find X3 Does an excellent job, the OLED display supports 120Hz and on the camera Vivo worked together with ZEISS in order to be able to provide the customer with even better results. Unfortunately, a few features are also missing, such as wireless charging or official certification against the ingress of water and dust. Whether you can get over these features in everyday life, whether the new ZEISS camera is really that good, or whether Vivo is too high a price like its predecessor, you can find out in the following lines.

Haptics, design and processing

With dimensions of 158,5 mm in height and 73,2 mm in width, the X60 belongs Pro neither to the smaller nor to the larger smartphones. By today's standards, it's a fairly normal size, which appeals to me extremely. Although it offers a sufficiently large display, it can still be operated well with one hand, which is the case, for example, with a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra not really the case. The thickness of only 7,6 mm and the weight of 178 grams are actually very little by today's standards.

The frame is made of aluminum, the surface of which is matt almost everywhere. Only the top of the smartphone is shiny. If we look at the back, we see a familiar picture of the Chinese manufacturer. The glass is matt and therefore extremely insusceptible to fingerprints. Furthermore, it also feels extremely high-quality, especially in combination with the metal frame. The left and right edges are also almost perfectly rounded, giving a comfortable feel in the hand. I had the Vivo X60 throughout my review period Pro 5G very much in hand.

As with the predecessor, there is a slightly darker color that is called "Midnight Black", but actually doesn't really look black. It is more of a dark gray, which, depending on the incidence of light, shimmers slightly bluish. Personally, I really like the color. For those who like things a little more colorful, Vivo also has the color "Shimmer Blue" on offer. In addition to the color, the camera should immediately catch the eye. There is a total of three cameras in the left corner, which protrude visibly from the housing, causing the smartphone to wobble slightly when it is on the table when operated.

If we look at the front, the first thing you will notice compared to the predecessor is the changed positioning of the front camera. It sits in the form of a small punch hole in the middle and no longer in the left corner. The edges around the screen are pleasantly thin and the side edges are slightly rounded.

The keys are perfectly positioned and have a solid pressure point, but could be a bit tighter in the case. Otherwise, the processing is on a very high level.

Display - very good quality

A 6,56-inch AMOLED display dominates the front, which has a sufficiently sharp resolution of 2.376 x 1.080 pixels. For 799 euros, Vivo would have the X60 Pro Although an even higher resolution can be donated, the Full HD+ resolution is also completely sufficient. Individual pixels cannot be seen in everyday use. The panel also supports a smooth refresh rate of 120 Hertz, which noticeably improves the user experience.

Vivo X60 Pro 5G display

The punch hole does not interfere at any time in everyday life. (Image: TechnikNews)

Otherwise, the remaining points, such as maximum brightness, color rendering and viewing angle stability, are also convincing. The panel is not quite as bright as a OnePlus 9 Pro, but still I never had, even in direct sunlight Proproblems with readability. Colors are displayed in color mode "Professionell" beautifully realistic and if you would like it a little more saturated, you can select the "Standard" or "Bright" mode in the settings.

Performance - wow

The Snapdragon 870 from Qualcomm, which is supported by 12 GB of RAM, ensures strong performance. There is also a whopping 256 GB of flash memory, which unfortunately cannot be expanded via a microSD card, but with the standard 256 GB internal memory, that shouldn't be for many Prorepresent problem.

Even if not the current top hereproprocessor, the Snapdragon 888, is used, everyday performance is at an impressively high level. Apps start and close extremely quickly, I hardly ever had any stutters or delays, and thanks to the refresh rate of 120 Hertz, all animations appear beautifully fluid. It's just plain fun, the Vivo X60 Pro to use 5G. More complex apps or games do not prepare the smartphone either Prostated problems.

Since Vivo promises two major software updates and the Processor is extremely powerful, I'm not worried about future security either. The smartphone will almost certainly still perform well in two to three years.

Software - Similarities to Stock Android

The software used is Funtouch OS, based on Android 11. In terms of optics, the in-house user interface is very reminiscent of Stock Android. The settings are very clear, there is an app drawer and the notification bar also has similarities to pixel smartphones with stock Android. There are also some useful additional functions, such as a good always-on display, a dark and eye protection mode and some dynamic effects that can be used, for example, to change the animation when unlocking via fingerprint sensor.

Vivo is going in the right direction with the software by mixing the simple stock Android with some useful additional functions, but a few things bothered me in everyday life:

  • Unlike most other smartphones, app grids cannot be set (5 apps in a row and no more or less).
  • There is still no quick start function for the camera (for example, press the power button twice).
  • With gesture control, you cannot switch between the individual apps by swiping the bottom bar.

Battery - surprisingly good

The battery is 4.200 mAh and can be fully charged in about an hour with the included 33 watt power supply. A few other competitors are slightly better here, but also with the loading time of the X60 Pro I was very satisfied.

Despite the rather average capacity, I was very satisfied with the battery life, which I honestly didn't expect. At the end of the day, with a screen-on-time of around 4 to 7 hours, I usually had 30 to 50 left Procent battery left, which is easily enough to get through a day without charging. Many should even manage 1,5 days and if you still want a little more, you can set the update rate to 60 Hertz at any time.

Camera - lots of light and some shade

The cameras on the back should be the highlight of the Vivo X60 Pro above all because they worked together with ZEISS in order to be able to provide customers with images of even better quality. The smartphone has a triple camera consisting of a 48-megapixel main camera paired with a 13-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera and a 13-megapixel portrait lens. The latter enables a 2x lossless zoom. Vivo is particularly proud of the main camera and markets it as a "gimbal camera". As with the predecessor, the gimbal system should ensure blur-free videos and photos. In addition, the main sensor should be able to capture a lot of light due to the enormously bright aperture of f/1.48, which is particularly advantageous in poor lighting conditions. The front camera in the small recess on the front has a resolution of 32 megapixels.

Vivo X60 Pro 5G camera

The triple camera of the Vivo X60 Pro 5G (Picture: TechnikNews)

Starting with the main camera, which gives the best results of all three sensors. In particular, the more accurate color rendering is extremely positive compared to the predecessor. Vivo no longer overdoes it too much and tries to deliver a photo that is as natural as possible. Nevertheless, the colors appear a little unnatural in some photos, but that actually happens on many other smartphones as well. The sharpness and the dynamic range are at the usual high level. As soon as it gets darker, it is advisable to use the night mode, which ensures visibly better results. The images are rendered a little too bright and often too warm for my taste, but the sharpness is definitely convincing. In addition, Vivo is visibly better at coping with clouds at night than, for example, that Pixel 5. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the lowlight performance, but Vivo could improve this a bit with future updates.

The ultra-wide-angle camera, on the other hand, is a bit worse. Although it is a slight upgrade compared to the X51, it still does not come close to the competition from OnePlus, OPPO, Huawei and Samsung. The sharpness is absolutely fine for the resolution of 13 megapixels. The dynamic range is actually very good, but the biggest Proproblem affects lowlight performance. Here I would have expected a little more for 800 euros.

The ultra-wide-angle camera also functions as a macro camera. Thus, the manufacturer was able to bypass a bad 2 or 5 megapixel macro camera and instead delivers usable images with the ultra wide-angle camera.

One of the highlights of last year's X51 was the periscope camera, which allowed objects to be magnified 5x without loss. Unfortunately, this camera was now used on the X60 Pro scrapped, which I think is a shame. Instead, there is a 2x optical telephoto lens, which, however, provides quite passable shots. I really like both the sharpness and the color reproduction. Up to a 5x magnification, the images can still be used in everyday life. Nevertheless, this telephoto lens represents a clear step backwards compared to its predecessor and some competitors, such as the OnePlus 8 Pro or Huawei P40 Pro, are better here.

The front camera takes sharp selfies with a good dynamic range, but could reproduce faces a little more naturally.

Portrait mode and gimbal stabilization 2.0

I would like to positively highlight the portrait mode. In addition to some light effects, filters and styles, the blur can also be adjusted to suit your own taste both before and after the shot. On the one hand, I would like to praise Vivo for the fact that there are so many good setting options, but also that the quality is very convincing. I would only wish that faces would not be so softly drawn even without an activated beauty filter.

Videos can be recorded in 4K at up to 60 FPS. Colors are reproduced realistically, the dynamic range is also convincing, but there is still some room for improvement in terms of sharpness. The highlight is of course the stabilization. While the cameras on smartphones with OIS only move horizontally and vertically, the 48 megapixel main camera also moves at an angle and can thus compensate for camera shake, which works very well in everyday life. Videos are smooth and blur-free.

Test photos

Let's take a look at a few test photos. As always, the following images are absolutely unprocessed, but compressed without loss in order to keep loading times and memory consumption of the website low.

Comparison with the OnePlus 8 Pro, Google Pixel 5 and OPPO Find X3

Last but not least, we want to compare the camera with similarly expensive competitors in different situations.

Daylight

In good lighting conditions, all smartphones are at a very high level. The biggest differences are in the color rendering. While the Vivo tends towards warmer colors, the Find X3 often delivers the most saturated images. When it comes to zoom, I like the X60 Pro In fact, it is the best due to the beautiful color reproduction, but it has to compete minimally with the OnePlus 8 in terms of sharpness Pro give up.

low light

All four comparisons show quite well that Vivo is great Prohas problems with the white balance. On the other hand, the image sharpness is convincing and the sky is reproduced most naturally in image 1, for example. As soon as there is almost no light left, the bright f/1.48 aperture of the X60 makes itself felt Pro enormously positive noticeable (comparison 4).

Others - speakers, vibration motor and more

So far, the Vivo X60 Pro keep up with the currently best smartphones in almost all points, but that is changing now, because the smartphone unfortunately lacks some important features that are definitely to be expected for 800 euros.

So the X60 lacks Pro Wireless charging, which is actually not possible with the existing glass back Prowould have been a problem. When you consider that most smartphones in this price range can be charged wirelessly, it is all the more disappointing that Vivo still opposes this. Added to this is the lack of IP certification against the ingress of water and dust.

Furthermore, the Chinese manufacturer missed the X60 Pro unfortunately only a mono speaker, which is loud enough, but cannot keep up with the competition in terms of sound quality. I was rather disappointed considering the price.

Last but not least, I would like to dedicate myself to the built-in vibration motor, which unfortunately could not convince me. It does not convey an overly high-quality feeling and sometimes sounds extremely annoying, especially when the smartphone receives a message while lying on the table and then vibrates. Unfortunately, nothing has changed here compared to the predecessor.

Conclusion

The Vivo X60 Pro is a very good smartphone that does not allow itself any major weaknesses in the most important points, such as the design, the display, the performance, the battery life and the camera. I also really enjoyed using it in everyday life and compared to its predecessor, Vivo has improved a few things here, but unfortunately that doesn't help much if the price is too high. For 800 euros, the smartphone lacks a few features, such as wireless charging, stereo speakers or IP certification against the ingress of water and dust. I expect all these features or at least two of them in mid-2021 for a recommended retail price of 800 euros, especially if almost all of the competition has these features on board.

Therefore, I currently see hardly any reason for the Vivo X60 Pro to grab, even if the portrait mode and the gimbal stabilization represent a unique selling point. At the moment I would rather go to one OnePlus 9, OnePlus 8 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S20FE 5G to grab. These smartphones are currently cheaper than the X60 Pro offered, can keep up very well and offer wireless charging and stereo speakers.

I really hope that the price will drop to 600 to 650 euros in the next few weeks, because then it will be the X60 Pro Definitely to be recommended and doesn't have to hide from the competition, because it definitely has potential.

We would like to thank Vivo Germany for providing the Vivo X60 Pro 5G!

Vivo X60 Pro Buy 5G

Recommendations for you

>> The best Amazon deals <

Fabian Menzel

Fabian has been part of since mid-September 2020 TechnikNews and regularly supplies the site with various news, but also with some test reports on smartphones. He's having so much fun and is extremely grateful to have such a great team by his side. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music and occasionally taking photos with his Huawei Mate 50 Pro.

Fabian has already written 300 articles and left 24 comments.

Development | Twitter | Insta | Snap | PayPal coffee donation | HP Intel N4020 (17,3 in) | Huawei P50 Pro
notification settings
notifications about
guest
Your name, which will be shown publicly.
We will not publish your email address.

0 Comments
Inline feedback
View all comments
Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner