Vivo X70 Pro+ review: A versatile premium flagship in the true sense

It hasn’t been long since Vivo launched its X60 series (review) that placed the Chinese smartphone maker at a fine spot in the cluttered smartphone market in India.

And Vivo did not take long to launch its X70 series, yet again in collaboration with lens major Zeiss.

The X70 series is geared towards content creators as imaging remains a focus here, not just that, the new series also features Vivo’s V1 imaging chip, which the company claims took almost two years to develop.

That said, Vivo’s X60 Pro and X60 Pro+ had already set the bar so high for rivals and now with a new iteration in the X series, it remains to be seen if Vivo lives up to the expectation. I took the X70 Pro+ for a spin—from photography to gaming, I put the phone to a stiff test to see what’s on offer. I’ll talk about everything this phone has to offer in this review:

Vivo X70 Pro+: Design and build quality

The very first thing one notices in the X70 Pro+ is the rear camera module that gives this phone a distinct look and premium touch. Right next to it is a reflective panel which, it seems, is only to add more element to its looks. The next thing is the smooth, fingerprint resistant matte glass finish which makes the piece all the more premium.

The overall body is pretty simple: there are three buttons on the right edge for volume and power, a USB-C and, yes, a speaker grill at the bottom.

At 213g, this phone can’t be called lightweight —it feels heavy in the pocket or while you hold it. Due to its aesthetics, the piece is a bit slippery, so one has to be really careful. I had to use the faux leather cover that comes in the package to get a slightly better grip.

The phone has stereo speakers, a USB-C at the bottom, and a SIM card tray right next to it.

Overall, the X70 Pro+ is second to none when it comes to looks, the only thing is it’s slightly heavy and large, so a bit of care is needed for everyday use.

Vivo X70 Pro+: Display

The X70 Pro+ boasts a 6.7-inch WQHD+ AMOLED curved display. The display has a Schott Xensation protection, so the phone may be able to handle accidental falls on some occasions.

Overall, the display is crisp and bright, even when uses outdoors. Vivo has done a great job with the display as watching any web series or gaming makes it worthwhile.

The display also supports HDR10+ so high-quality videos look even better. Moreover, The panel features a 120Hz refresh rate so things are pretty smooth, be it gaming or usual scrolling.

Finally, Vivo has also fixed the speaker issue as now you get stereo speaker setup, with the earpiece doubling up as the second speaker. I must say the speakers are loud and watching anything without earphones is not the problem now.

Also new is the IP68 rating which means you get good protection against dust and water.

Vivo X70 Pro+ performance

The X70 Pro+ has pretty much everything you can ask for from a flagship device — powered with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ processor, which is a minor upgrade to the Snapdragon 888, this phone has 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

The FunTouch OS has improved significantly and it’s safe to say there is less clutter or any other fuss.

While the regular social media, multimedia, or any other task is a breeze for a device this powerful, the real test was if it can handle intense gaming, for that, I played Call of Duty and a few other games, and I must say, it was a smooth experience. What’s even better is the speakers are now better than what it was in X60 Pro, so you get a proper gaming feel.

Vivo X70 Pro+: Battery

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

Vivo X70 Pro+ features a 4,500mAh battery which can easily last for a day with regular social media use, calls, some gaming and a lot of photography. You can easily rely on this phone’s battery if you are usually out for long hours. The battery takes about an hour to charge fully.

The package includes a 55W charger and this phone supports 50W wireless charging for which the dock will be available soon.

Vivo X70 Pro+: Camera

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

This is where it gets even interesting as there is plenty to write about the cameras in Vivo X70 Pro+. In total, you get four rear cameras including a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with gimbal for stabilisation, a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom, and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom. There is a 32-megapixel camera for selfies.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

What’s different this time is Vivo’s Imaging Chip V1 which helps the camera with accuracy and colours. All the shooters have a Zeiss T coating which reduces lens glare.

To put it simply, the cameras work brilliantly in both indoor and outdoor photography. The images are crisp, bright, full of details with impressive colour accuracy. The image quality exceeds expectations if given the right light conditions.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

At times, images look over sharp but that’s something we have often seen in Vivo phones.

There is 5X optical Zoom up to which the images come out really well, beyond that, you get 60x digital zoom which isn’t too impressive, but good to have in scenarios where you are too far from the subject.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

I tried night photography and while a lot depends on the light conditions, on some occasions, I was able to get good details while capturing the night sky.

Rest, outdoor photography is fun using this phone. There are several features you can try including, Astro mode, long exposure, Slo-mo, Supermoon, etc. You also get good selfies with impressive edge detection.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

The Zeiss portrait mode will make you want to click more pictures as the background blurring is on point most of the time.

You can record 8K videos at 30 fps, 4K videos up to 60 fps, besides the usual 1080p videos. There is also a feature for high stabilisation in case you are moving while recording a video.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

I had a great time recording videos on this phone. They come out really well and the phone captures the sound easily.

Overall, the cameras are powerful and capable.

Vivo X70 Pro+: Verdict

At Rs 79,999, Vivo X70 Pro+ is a complete device with several features, an amazing camera, and performance. This is truly a premium flagship and justifies its heavy price tag.

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample

Vivo X70 Pro+ camera sample