vivo X70 Pro Plus goes official: The new smartphone photography king?

After weeks of teasers and leaks, vivo’s freshest range-topping smartphone series is now official. The new vivo X70 series builds on the X60 series‘ focus on photography and introduces a refreshed design and upgraded internals.

Aesthetically, the X70 series isn’t a fundamental rework of the X60 line. The devices now feature a new finishing effect using a “crystallized glass with a prismatic surface” that shimmers under light. The vivo X70 and X70 Pro feature slightly tweaked rear camera designs, too, with the flash now sitting vertically and separately from the sensor array. The range-topping X70 Pro Plus also gains a more prominent camera hump mounted in a protective “ceramic window” that doubles as a selfie mirror.

vivo X70 Pro Plus

The vivo X70 Pro Plus also rings the most changes in terms of specs, too. The most apparent upgrade is the larger, curved 6.78-inch AMOLED display, made by Samsung. It also packs variable refresh rate support from 1Hz to 120Hz, 3,200 x 1,440 resolution, 1,500 nits of peak brightness, and 10-bit color support.

A 32MP camera is mounted in a punch hole and is a design trait also shared by the entire range.

See also: The best camera phones you can get

What isn’t, though, is the X70 Pro Plus’ quad-camera array. It melds a high-transmittance lens with a 50MP Samsung GN1 sensor in its primary camera. It’s joined by a 48MP 114-degree ultra-wide gimbal shooter, which brings vivo’s 360-degree Horizon Leveling Stabilization smarts. This feature effectively works to keep the shot in an upright orientation even if the phone is moving or rotating. These cameras are supported by a 12MP portrait shooter and an 8MP periscope camera with 60x zoom, both of which pack OIS. vivo’s self-developed V1 imaging chip also brings additional noise reduction and MEMC effects to the camera array.

ZEISS’ involvement is also more apparent in the camera software. The firm is bringing three new Style Portrait flavors inspired by historic lenses. This includes anamorphic Distagon, and bokeh-heavy Planar and Sonnar effects. Several shooting modes, including Pro Cinematic Mode, Super Night Video, and Pure Night View, are also included.

Beyond photography, the X70 Pro Plus also headlines in terms of processing power. It features a Snapdragon 888 Plus SoC with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Power is provided by a 4,500mAh battery which can be topped up using 55W wired or 50W wireless FlashCharge systems.

The phone also sports IP68 water and dust resistance. Other niceties included on the X70 Pro Plus include dual stereo speakers, an X-axis haptic system, and an IR blaster.

vivo X70 and X70 Pro

The X70 Pro slims down on the camera hardware, but also provides a quad-camera setup with Sony’s IMX766V 50MP sensor leading the line. It’s joined by a 12MP 116-degree ultra-wide camera, a 12MP 50mm portrait lens, and an 8MP sensor. The array also gets the firm’s impressive gimbal stabilization tech for video and stills. The vanilla X70 settles for three rear cameras by dropping the 8MP shooter.

Both phones pack a 6.56-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. This smaller screen is mounted into more compact bodies, too. The X70 Pro measures 7.99mm thick with a weight of 185 grams. The X70 weighs in at 181 grams and measures 7.55mm at its thickest point.

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

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

Pricing and availability

The vivo X70 Pro Plus is available in black, blue, or orange colorways. The X70 and X70 Pro can be had in Artique White, Cosmic Black, or iridescent Aurora Dawn finishes.

As for pricing and availability, the vivo X70 series is only available in China for now. However, vivo will start rolling the line out to India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and more. So far, though, we only have Chinese pricing. The X70 Pro Plus starts at 5,499 yuan (~$851) for the 8GB/256GB model, jumping to 6,999 yuan (~$1,083) for the full spec 12GB/512GB variant.

The X70 Pro is available from 4,299 yuan (~$665) for the 8GB/128GB model, while the vanilla X70 props up the range with a 3,699 yuan (~$572) price tag. It brings 8GB/128GB with its base model.

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