Vivo X50 Review: Premium build, good cameras
The gimbal camera system and the curved screen make the X50 Pro special. But what about the Vivo X50? Is it worth the asking price? Let’s find out.
It’s been a long time since we have seen a premium smartphone series from Vivo. With the Vivo X50 series, the company is making a comeback in the premium segment. The Vivo X50 and X50 Pro do not offer top of the line specifications but bring a great overall experience to the table. The gimbal camera system and the curved screen make the X50 Pro special. But what about the Vivo X50? Is it worth the asking price? Let’s find out.
Vivo X50 Review: Specifications
Vivo X50 features a 6.56-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz high refresh rate. The dual-SIM handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor. It comes with 8GB of RAM paired with either 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. It runs on Android 10 based Funtouch OS 10.5. All of this is backed by a 4,200mAh battery with support for 33W Flash Charge technology.
In the camera department, the Vivo X50 sports a quad-camera setup at the back consisting of a 48-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel super-wide-angle lens, a 5-megapixel macro sensor and a 13-megapixel bokeh lens with support for 20X digital zoom. Upfront, there is a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
Vivo X50 Review: Design and Display
Vivo X50 is a part of the company’s premium X-series and that means the expectations are high for this one. My expectations were exceeded as soon as I held the smartphone in my hands for the first time. It boasts a sleek design and flaunts a matte finish paint job on the rear glass. The top of the phone also features a piece of glass that has a very subtle badging that says “Professional Photography”.
In terms of the placements, the bottom edge houses the USB Type-C port, primary microphone, speaker grille as well as the SIM tray, which can take only two SIM cards. While the left edge is clean, the right edge gets the power button and the volume buttons. The top edge gets the aforementioned piece of glass and the secondary microphone.
Overall, the Vivo X50 not only manages to look appealing but also feels premium in hand.
As for the display, the Vivo X50 sports a 6.56-inch E3 AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2376x1080 pixels. The phone also gets a 90Hz high refresh rate, which helps it feel smoother. While it gets a flat screen, I would have loved to see the X50 Pro’s curved AMOLED panel here for a more appealing look and an immersive experience. The panel itself gets bright enough and is great for consuming content on the go.
Vivo X50 Review: Performance, Software & UI
Vivo X50 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor coupled with the Adreno 618 GPU. The handset comes packs in 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. With such hardware, the X50 was able to crunch some decent numbers on various benchmark apps.
As for real-world usage, the phone feels quite fast and smooth. Part of this is possible due to the 90Hz high refresh rate display. Switching between multiple apps felt smooth and the phone was able to take advantage of the 8GB RAM in keeping most of the apps open.
In terms of gaming, the Vivo X50 did not show any signs of lag on games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9 and Subway Surfers.
In terms of the software, Vivo has come a long way ahead. The Vivo X50 runs on Android 10 with FunTouch OS version 10.5 layered on top. The latest version of the company’s custom user interface finally offers an app drawer making app management much easier. Additionally, the Vivo X50 comes with a live wallpaper loaded right out of the box which enhances the look and feel of the whole interface.
Apart from that, Vivo has slapped in a couple of features in the UI itself. These include a system-wide dark mode, ambient light effects, Eye protection mode, Ultra Game mode, and much more. Even though it is a premium smartphone, the Vivo X50 does come with a bunch of bloatware apps including Vivo Cloud, V-Appstore, vivo.com and more.
Vivo X50 Review: Cameras
In terms of the cameras, the Vivo X50 sports a 48-megapixel primary camera with f/1.6 aperture. The handset also gets an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens with 120-degree FOV, a 13-megapixel depth camera, and 5-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, the Vivo X50 features a 32-megapixel selfie snapper.
Vivo has added a bunch of modes in the camera app offering a lot of versatility. These modes include Motion Snapshot, Movie Camera, Ultra stable, Fixed Macro, Super wide-angle video, filter video, Pro mode, Live Photo, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, AR Stickers, Jovi Vision and much more.
In terms of the picture quality, the Vivo X50 managed to capture some really good looking shots. The colours were natural and the dynamic range was great. It also offered a good amount of details along with sharp image quality. The portrait mode was not the best but can get the job done.
Vivo X50 Review: Battery
Vivo X50 is backed by a 4,200mAh battery. When this is combined with Vivo’s aggressive battery management, it manages to deliver a great battery live. In my usage, the smartphone was easily able to last for one full working day. And when the phone required some juice, the 33W flash charger included in-box came in handy as it was able to charge the phone from 0 to 80% in less than 1 hour.
Vivo X50 Review: Verdict
Vivo X50 does offer a great design, a premium build quality as well as an impressive set of cameras. The smartphone even comes with a high refresh rate display and support for 33W Flashcharge 2.0 technology. Even with all that in place, it falls short in terms of on-paper specifications.
In case for some reason you are looking for raw performance, you should consider the iQOO 3 or Realme X3 SuperZoom. One can also choose to opt for a 5G smartphone with the all-new OnePlus Nord.
However, if you are looking for a good-looking smartphone with decent hardware and a great set of cameras, you cannot go wrong with the Vivo X50.