vivo X70 Unboxing, First Impressions, and Photo Samples!
Back in May, Chinese tech giant vivo released the X60 in the Philippines. It's a premium Android-powered handset and the first fruit of the company's collaboration with German optics maker ZEISS to further improve its mobile camera game.
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| Meet X70 |
As a result, the device provided a great photography experience with custom ZEISS effects on top of its good actual performance. In fact, it became one of my personal favorite phones to recommend in the sub-PHP 34,999 price range.
Fast forward this October, the company will release its follow-up—the X70.
This device brings improvements in display refresh rate, performance, and of course cameras.
In particular, for cameras, it has improved ZEISS optics with ZEISS T* Coating to minimize the effect of flares, stray light, and ghosting alongside the Ultra-Sensing Gimbal camera (Gimbal Stabilization 3.0) for stable photos or videos and more ZEISS Style Portrait effects, among others.
We have the device ahead of its October 8 launch. So, let's take a look.
Unboxing/Accessories
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| The box |
The packaging didn't change much coming from the X60. It still has that simple yet premium-looking black square box showing an embossed mobile name of the device and the co-engineered with ZEISS branding.
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| X70 accessories |
Inside the box, you will see one of the most complete packages on a premium smartphone today.
The first thing that will greet you is the device itself with a pre-installed screen protector. Next, you will find the FREE case, paper documents, SIM ejector tool, fast-charging power brick, and earphones with a microphone, extra tip sizes, and USB-C to 3.5mm dongle.
This is easily one of the most complete packages around. Unlike other brands, you will get a fast charger, case, and decent-quality earphones with a mic.
Build Quality/Design
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| Beautiful back! |
Similar to most high-end smartphones, the X70 is made out of glass material at the back, a metal frame, and a glass display. It also has a rectangular camera hump in a metal frame with glass covering the lenses and a small strip of metal with chamfered edge housing its flash.
According to vivo, this comes with the SCHOTT Xensation Up glass to protect its display from light scratches and accidental drops on non-concrete surfaces.
Unlike its Pro+ sibling in China, the X70 in PH doesn't have IP water and dust resistance rating tough.
Fortunately, it would still be protected against water splashes since it has a blue-colored rubber seal found in the SIM card tray suggesting it has some sort of water protection against casual water splashes.
More expensive flagship phones with tougher materials would still be more durable than this. BUT, for its expected price tag, this is a solid phone from vivo.
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| Triple-camera goodness |
In the design department, based on my personal preference, the back cover of this device nailed it. It is 3D curved for better comfort and grip and they used a fluorite AG glass that looks matte and frosted to prevent fingerprint smudges and improve touch surface comfort.
Sleek back design to be honest!
By just looking at it, the camera hump design is just alright and unique to vivo. However, when placed on a flat surface, it wiggles when you touch the phone on the upper left and lower right corners of the display.
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| Near bezel-less display |
In front, this uses a 6.56-inch large E5 AMOLED panel with a top-center punch-hole to house its 32MP selfie camera. The great thing about this is it has minimal bezels on all sides. The chin is a bit thick, but it is noticeably slimmer than the chin of a lot of phones—even the high-end ones.
Oh, by the way, it has a hidden fingerprint scanner underneath the lower part of its screen. It is a tech pioneered by vivo called the In-Display fingerprint scanner.
The metal frame has a smooth glossy finish to further improve the comfort when holding the device.
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| Top, bottom |
The top of it has a slightly different texture. From there, you will see the "Professional Photography" text in gold, a microphone hole, and an IR Blaster allowing its users to use the handset as a remote control.
Below, you will find the dual nano-SIM tray slot, another microphone hole, USB-C port, and the speaker grille. Just note that, unlike most premium phones, the speaker setup is not stereo.
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| Left, right |
On the left, it is a clean slate. On the right, you will find the power key with an embossed middle part as an indicator that it is the power key along with the volume rocker.
The device measures 160.10 x 75.39 x 7.55 mm making it a tad larger and thicker than the X60.
The Cosmic Black version weighs 181 grams while the Aurora Dawn version is a bit heavier at 182 grams.
In general, this is a very well-crafted device that looks and feels good in the hands.
Camera Samples
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| Daylight morning shot |
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| Daylight ultra-wide near sunset shot with pink sky |
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| Indoor close-up |
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| Indoor artificial light |
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| Low light main cam |
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| Low light main cam cropped (Wait what? Starburst effect on point and shoot?) |
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| Low light Portrait mode (Biotar style) |
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| Low light ultra-wide Night mode |
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| Indoor selfie with Portrait mode |
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| Indoor selfie with Beauty mode |
For cameras, vivo used a smaller 40MP f/1.89 with laser AF a 48MP camera like the X60. BUT, this is a custom Sony sensor designed for vivo only. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, it has the ZEISS T* Coating to minimize the effect of flares, stray light, and ghosting alongside the Ultra-Sensing Gimbal camera (Gimbal Stabilization 3.0) for stable photos or videos and more ZEISS Style Portrait effects, among others.
Remember, megapixel size is not everything.
This is also assisted by 12MP f/1.98 portrait + ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating + Color temperature sensor + Xenon flash.
Stellar cameras so far!
The first images that we took using this camera phone showed a lot of good promise. Most are super crisp in different lighting conditions with punchy colors.
vivo said that its use of the ZEISS T* Coating also helped in keeping most of the shots have more natural colors than other camera phones.
Weirdly, we also discovered that it can take shots with starburst effect on point and shoot. Normally, you can only take those shots on mirrorless cameras if your lens has aperture blades.
We don't know how vivo made it possible on a tiny camera system like this. Software enhancement, maybe?
Even our Sony ZV-1 with ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T* Lens failed to take shots with that effect.
Of course, it has clean Portrait effects via software and a flagship-level Night mode.
Even the ultra-wide cam can take pretty good night shots with minimal distortion and noise.
For selfies, it is okay. It isn't as special as its back camera system, but it produces passable images most of the time.
We also tried it for taking videos and we enjoyed using its Ultra Steady mode at 1080p.
Of course, this is not yet a review. Also, this is not a perfect camera phone. But, it is a GREAT one in its class so far.
Note: Will upload all samples in our full review video.
vivo X70 Specs
Display: 6.56-inch 2.5D curved SCHOTT Xensation Up protected E5 AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, FHD+ 2376 x 1080 resolution at 398 ppi
CPU: 3.0GHz 6nm Custom MediaTek Dimensity 1200 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G77 MC9
RAM: 12GB LPDDR4X
ROM: 256GB UFS 3.1
Back Camera: 40MP f/1.89 w/ laser AF, OIS + 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle + 12MP f/1.98 portrait + ZEISS T* anti-reflective coating + Color temperature sensor + Xenon flash
Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.45
Battery: 4,400mAh w/ 44W fast charging
OS: Android 11 w/ Funtouch OS 12
Connectivity: WiFi 6, 5G SA/NSA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2 (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC), GPS (L1 + L5), GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC, dual SIM (nano)
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IR Blaster, HiFi Audio, Linear Motor, USB-C, Colors: Cosmic Black, Aurora Dawn
Dimensions: 160.10 x 75.39 x 7.55 mm
Weight: 181 g (Cosmic Black), 182 g (Aurora Dawn)
Price: PHP 34,999
Note that the global specs of the vivo X70 are slightly different from its Chinese counterpart.
As of the moment
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| Very capable display |
The X70 is a very impressive handset so far. If vivo can give it a close price tag to its Chinese counterpart, this will be a pretty tough phone to beat.
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| Fast performance |
While it lacks wireless charging, IP rating, and stereo speakers, this device has one of the nicest-looking build, smooth and accurate display (SGS eye Car Display and SGS Seamless certification), long battery life, and one fastest performance for the expected price tag.
We also like the improvements that we are seeing with its new Funtouch OS skin based on Android 11 that is neat-looking and super easy to use.
Oh, of course, it could be the camera phone to beat in its class as well.
Update: It is priced at PHP 34,999.
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