A complete camera comparison between the newly launched Vivo X90 Pro and the Pixel 7 Pro.
The Vivo X90 Pro (review) sets itself apart from the plethora of flagship smartphones with its exceptional camera performance. In my assessment of the phone, I highlighted its exemplary image-capturing abilities, especially via its primary sensor. At its price, expectations are certainly high for the X90 Pro in other facets of a smartphone experience as well.
However, since its primary focus (no pun intended) is on its optics, in this comparison let’s pit the X90 Pro against a recent flagship at a similar price range. The Google Pixel 7 Pro (review) seems like a reasonable pairing given its own camera prowess and a price tag that is quite close to the X90 Pro. I took both phones to Vietnam to capture some camera samples and here are the results.
Table of Contents
Daylight HDR
Ultra-wide shot
Portrait shot
Selfie
Low light snaps
Night mode
Verdict
Let’s first take a look at how good daylight snaps are on both phones. The Vivo X90 Pro uses a 50MP Sony IMX 989 1-inch sensor as its primary camera while on the Pixel 7 Pro, there is a 50MP Samsung GN1 shooter. However, it matters equally more how well-tailored each phone’s behind-the-scenes computational photography chops are. Pixel benefits from Google’s experience over the years in post-processing images while Vivo leverages its custom V2 chip to improve its image processing pipeline. Although the overcast conditions in Hanoi, Vietnam were not the best for photography, there still are differences to note between the two phones’ output.
In this shot of Ha Long Bay, you can see that the X90 Pro tries to bring better details in the background mountains. Also, the colour reproduction of the sea is quite true to life whereas the Pixel has outputted a deeper green. The dynamic range remains optimal for both but the X90 Pro does the better job in terms of exposure. A slightly closer crop on the ferry reveals that in terms of details, the X90 Pro is slightly ahead but to the naked eye both phones do a similar job.
Apart from that the Pixel 7 Pro adds a slightly cooler tone to the overall image, which I’m guessing is a result of the cloudy weather. It is also important to note that all shots I took on the X90 Pro were with the ZEISS Natural Color mode on, which enhances the realism of the shot. As such the saturation levels were in control on Vivo’s offering while the Pixel amped up the vibrancy a tad bit.
However, in this second shot of an indoor Buddhist temple in Nin Binh, the Pixel 7 Pro tones down the colour levels. Focus and detailing remain accurate across both devices, although the X90 Pro is more on point with its highlights.
