The Vivo X60 Pro: A Worthy Upgrade with Gimbally Stable Performance and a Zeiss-Enhanced Camera
The Vivo X50 Pro shook up the Indian smartphone market with its innovative gimbal camera system—a technology that physically stabilizes the sensor to produce smoother footage. Now, its successor, the Vivo X60 Pro, promises to refine this technology while boasting a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC for enhanced performance. But does this new flagship live up to its predecessor’s legacy and deliver the exceptional experience users crave? Let’s dive into the details to find out.
Vivo X60 Pro Price in India
The Vivo X60 Pro retails at ₹49,990 in India, offering 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This flagship comes in two elegant color options: Midnight Black and Shimmer Blue.
Vivo X60 Pro Design
While the Vivo X60 Pro retains the familiar aesthetics of its predecessor, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The design remains visually appealing, showcasing a sleek 6.56-inch AMOLED display that gracefully curves along the edges—evoking the elegant design language of classic Samsung Galaxy S-series smartphones. These curves effectively minimize the side bezels, offering a nearly edge-to-edge screen experience.
The top and bottom bezels are equally slim, and Vivo has expertly minimized the selfie camera hole, resulting in minimal visual clutter. The display is further protected by Schott Xensation Up glass, ensuring durability against scratches.
The AMOLED display seamlessly blends with the metallic frame, creating a luxurious finish. The mid-frame gracefully tapers on the sides to accommodate the curved display and the glass back panel. This elegant curvature creates a sleek side profile, ensuring a comfortable grip. The power and volume buttons are conveniently placed, making them easily accessible. The power button, crafted from metal with a textured finish, stands out for a tactile experience.
The left side of the phone is devoid of ports and slots, while the top houses only the secondary microphone. At the bottom, you’ll find the USB Type-C port, the SIM tray, the primary microphone, and the loudspeaker.
Vivo has chosen to utilize Corning Gorilla Glass 6 for the back, offering reliable resistance against scratches and minor accidental drops. The back panel features a matte finish, effectively minimizing fingerprint smudges and preserving its pristine appearance.
The camera module design, a common thread across the X series, remains unchanged. It now proudly displays the Zeiss logo, a testament to the partnership between Vivo and Zeiss for the camera lenses.
While the Vivo X60 Pro delivers a premium look and feel, it notably lacks waterproofing and an IP rating, features expected at this price point. Additionally, it misses out on wireless charging, a feature that is becoming increasingly standard in the high-end smartphone market.
Vivo X60 Pro Specifications and Software
The expansive 6.56-inch AMOLED display boasts a full-HD+ resolution and a remarkable 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone intelligently defaults to Smart Switch mode, seamlessly transitioning between 60Hz and 120Hz refresh rates for optimal power efficiency. Alternatively, users can opt for either refresh rate based on their individual preferences. Vivo also touts a 240Hz touch sampling rate for the display, promising incredibly responsive touch interactions.
Powering the Vivo X60 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, paired with 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Vivo introduces Virtual RAM to the X60 Pro, utilizing approximately 3GB of storage space as virtual RAM. Users have the option to disable this feature and reclaim the 3GB of storage if desired.
The Vivo X60 Pro houses a 4200mAh battery, a respectable capacity considering its slender 7.59mm profile. Vivo includes a 33W fast charger, capable of swiftly bringing the phone back to life. Connectivity options encompass dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, 4G VoLTE, and 5G. The smartphone boasts six navigation systems but surprisingly lacks NFC.
The Vivo X60 Pro ships with Funtouch OS 11.1, built upon the foundation of Android 11. The user interface remains largely untouched compared to stock Android, providing a familiar and easy-to-use experience. For those seeking personalization, Vivo offers a range of animations and themes through its Theme app.
While the user interface is streamlined, the smartphone arrives with a considerable number of preinstalled apps, including Amazon, Dailyhunt, Flipkart, Facebook, Snapchat, Moj, V-Appstore, and more. Fortunately, the majority of these applications can be uninstalled, with the exception of V-Appstore, Vivo’s alternative to the Play Store. This can be a bit annoying for users who prefer a clean, uncluttered experience, as these pre-installed apps and their occasional notifications can be intrusive.
Vivo X60 Pro Performance
The Vivo X60 Pro delivers an exceptionally smooth performance, free from any lag or stutter. Navigating through menus feels incredibly responsive. With the refresh rate set to 120Hz, scrolling achieves a remarkably fluid experience. The display impresses with its sharpness and excellent viewing angles, coupled with good brightness. Watching videos on this display panel is truly engaging, although a stereo speaker setup would further enhance the overall experience. The in-display fingerprint sensor proves swift and reliable, consistently unlocking the phone without requiring multiple attempts.
Benchmarking the device reveals the capabilities of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC. The Vivo X60 Pro scores an impressive 716,817 in AnTuTu (version 9) and 12,049 in PCMark Work 2.0, showcasing its potent processing power. Graphics benchmarks also paint a positive picture, with the smartphone achieving 120fps and 50fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase benchmarks, respectively. It’s worth noting that Virtual RAM was enabled during these benchmarks, but tests were conducted again after disabling it, resulting in only minimal variations in scores. In essence, while Virtual RAM is a promising concept theoretically, the substantial 12GB of physical RAM renders it less critical, as it already delivers ample performance for the majority of users.
The Vivo X60 Pro effortlessly handles demanding titles like Call of Duty Mobile. Even with graphics set to Very High and frame rates set to High, the gameplay remains smooth, free from stuttering. Following a 30-minute session, the phone experienced a 9% drop in battery life, indicating efficient resource management. The phone did warm slightly, but not excessively. This performance indicates that heavy gaming enthusiasts can enjoy their favorite titles without encountering any major performance limitations.
Based on my usage patterns, I found myself needing to charge the X60 Pro every other day, which wasn’t an inconvenience. Heavy gaming and frequent camera use might result in faster battery depletion, requiring more frequent charging. In our HD video loop test, the phone impressively lasted for 14 hours and 56 minutes, a respectable result considering its 4,200mAh battery capacity. The supplied 33W fast charger effectively recharges the battery to 53 percent in 30 minutes and an impressive 96 percent in an hour.
Vivo X60 Pro Cameras
The Vivo X60 Pro is equipped with a triple camera setup at the back, which shares similarities with the Vivo X50 Pro in terms of specifications. The primary camera boasts a 48-megapixel sensor (Sony IMX598) and gimbal stabilisation. This sensor has the ability to physically move to counteract minor shakes and wobbles, resulting in smoother photos and video recordings. Completing this camera setup are a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 13-megapixel portrait camera. The ultra-wide-angle camera also doubles as a macro camera, utilizing AI to automatically switch cameras when a close-up subject is detected. Vivo’s camera app provides a user-friendly experience, with a range of shooting modes to cater to various preferences. Users can stick to the basic modes or delve into the Pro mode for granular control. AI scene optimization is enabled by default, promptly identifying scenes and adjusting settings for optimal results.
Daylight photos captured with the Vivo X60 Pro exhibit good detail in the highlight areas, while the shadows, while underexposed, lack the same level of sharpness. A noticeable drop in image quality is observed in photos taken using the ultra-wide-angle camera, although it demonstrates better light metering capabilities.
The phone offers the option to capture photos at the full 48-megapixel resolution, but it takes about two seconds to process the images. These high-resolution shots exhibit greater detail compared to the default 12-megapixel shots, but fine grain becomes visible upon 100 percent magnification on the screen.
Close-up shots showcase good detail and a pleasingly soft depth of field in the background. The AI seems to subtly boost contrast. The camera app intelligently switches to macro mode when a subject is within close proximity. The resulting 13-megapixel macros exhibit good detail, and thanks to the higher resolution, users can crop these shots, a feature often missing on dedicated macro cameras.
Portraits captured with the 13-megapixel portrait camera display crispness and excellent edge detection. Users have the ability to adjust the level of blur before capturing a shot. Beautification is enabled by default, smoothing the output, which may be a preference for some but others might find this feature a bit overzealous.
Low-light camera performance is commendable, with the phone capturing shots without significant delays. While the phone manages decent performance, details aren’t as sharp as they could be. Night Mode, while requiring 2-3 seconds to capture a shot, generates slightly better detail compared to regular photo mode.
Selfies captured using the 32-megapixel front camera showcase crispness in both daylight and low-light conditions. The phone adeptly captures selfie portraits, even when faces are partially obscured by masks, and boasts excellent edge detection.
Video recording capabilities peak at 4K for the primary camera and 1080p for the selfie camera. Thanks to the gimbal stabilisation system, the Vivo X60 Pro effectively stabilizes footage at all resolutions. Two stabilisation modes are available: standard mode, which performs well when recording footage while walking, and "Super anti-shake" mode, which attempts to stabilize footage even when running. While the phone effectively smooths footage while walking, running proves to be a bit too much for the camera to fully manage. Even in low-light scenarios, the X60 Pro performs admirably in stabilizing videos, with only occasional shimmer in the output.
Verdict
The Vivo X60 Pro emerges as a worthy successor to the Vivo X50 Pro, addressing some of its predecessor’s shortcomings. Performance receives a significant boost thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, and photo and video quality have also seen notable improvements.
Priced at ₹49,990, the Vivo X60 Pro shares the same price tag as its predecessor and faces fierce competition from other flagship models. The OnePlus 9, with its more powerful processor and OnePlus’ strong track record for software updates, is a formidable contender. The Asus ROG Phone 5, a dedicated gaming smartphone designed for power users, also presents a strong alternative. The recently announced Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro, offering the same processor and a triple camera setup, stands out at a significantly lower starting price of ₹39,990.
Ultimately, the choice of smartphone depends heavily on individual expectations and priorities. If superior processing power and frequent software updates are your primary concerns, the OnePlus 9 might be the better choice. If gaming is your priority, the Asus ROG Phone 5 is built specifically for that purpose. The Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro presents a compelling option with high-end specs at a significantly lower price.
The Vivo X60 Pro’s true strength lies in its gimbal stabilisation system, which differentiates itself by offering superior video performance compared to competitors. If capturing smooth and stable footage is paramount, then the Vivo X60 Pro ticks all the right boxes.
