Vivo X90 Pro vs Pixel 7 Pro: a camera comparison

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.

Daylight HDR

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. You can also see that the lamps, just beside the red statue, have been overexposed on the Pixel 7 Pro while the X90 Pro kept it under control. From both these comparison shots it can be understood that the Vivo X90 Pro has the upper hand as far as daylight imagery is concerned.

Winner: Vivo X90 Pro

Ultra-wide shot

As far as the ultra-wide shot goes, the Pixel 7 Pro and Vivo X90 Pro do a stellar job of widening the field of view without distorting the edges. The focus is evenly spread across the frame as is the detailing, which is sharper than I expected considering the lack of proper sunlight. However, here the Pixel 7 Pro performs more effectively with the overall colour temperature and saturation levels. In the case of the Vivo X90 Pro, the colours of the water and the gate in the centre are slightly muted.

Also, the footpath leading to the gate is thrown in sharp relief with the Pixel 7 Pro than the X90 Pro. Finally, the Pixel shot reveals a gloomier appearance of the sky, similar to the current weather conditions. Overall this round will go to Google’s offering simply because it outputs better colours and has marginally more detailing. 

Winner: Pixel 7 Pro

Portrait shot

Vivo has especially made some strides to improve the X90 Pro’s bokeh images and there are a fair bit of modes, tuned by ZEISS, for shooting. On the Google Pixel 7 Pro, however, there’s only a single option to capture portrait shots although you can adjust the zoom for further away subjects. In the image above, it is clear that the Vivo X90 Pro has the better background blur and the subject stands out more prominently.

While the nature of the blur may be slightly soft, the Pixel 7 Pro does in fact capture realistic skin tones. Apart from that the X90 Pro does apply some facial retouching to make a more Instagram-worthy shot. However, just in terms of the edge detections and background blur, not to mention the several modes to snap portrait images, the Vivo X90 Pro takes this round.

Winner: Vivo X90 Pro

Selfie

Talking about the front-facing camera, the Vivo X90 Pro does pack in a higher resolution 32MP sensor as compared to the 10.8MP shooter on the Google Pixel 7 Pro. However, having a look at the selfies here, you can see that the latter has better detailing across the mountains behind my face. Not only that even the colour of the Bay has the correct shade of murky green while the X90 Pro sees a bit of blue-ish tinge to it. Finally, the detailing on my face is better across the Pixel 7 Pro shot, which makes the handset a winner in this round.

Winner: Pixel 7 Pro

Low light snaps

The Vivo X90 Pro truly benefits from the V2 chip and its large sensor size when snapping images in low light. Not to say that the Pixel 7 Pro is a slouch as you can see from the camera samples above. Looking at the tree, which is wrapped completely in lights, it is clear that both phones prefer different saturations in terms of colour accuracy. The Pixel 7 Pro has a more pastel-like look but the X90 Pro is more in line with the light green shade on the tree. As for overall detailing and shadows, both devices do a strikingly good and equal job. 

In this second shot, the white structure in the middle gets better exposure with the X90 Pro. I would also argue that, objectively, the trees above are also illuminated better on Vivo’s flagship as compared to the Pixel. The road also appears more detailed with the former and so this round does go to the Vivo X90 Pro.

Winner: Vivo X90 Pro

Night mode

When it comes to the dedicated Night mode, both devices go out of their way to reduce noise and preserve the maximum amount of detail. This shot across a lake in Hanoi, with the skyline visible, has been churned out quite well. However, looking at the reflections in the body of water, there is definitely an extra touch of realism with the Vivo X90 Pro. I also like how well the clouds are illuminated via the lights from the building in both images. Zooming in a bit and you can also see that lens flare is a bigger issue on the Google Pixel 7 Pro than the X90 Pro.

In this second shot of the Sheraton building, you can again see both phones snapping exceptionally good shots of the landscape. It is a tough snap to replicate with the amount of reflections in the water and multiple sources of light. Again the Vivo X90 Pro comes out on top with its Night mode click when you look at the metered exposure and toned-down lamp flares across the main building. 

Winner: Vivo X90 Pro

Verdict

The comparisons demonstrate the image-capturing superiority of Vivo’s latest flagship and the company’s fruitful collaboration with ZEISS. In terms of a point-and-shoot experience, the X90 Pro is better than the Google Pixel 7 Pro as far as daylight and low-light images from the main sensor are concerned. Portrait images are also more refined on the X90 Pro and there are so many styles to choose from. On the flip side, the Pixel 7 Pro does benefit from a 5X periscope lens which the former does not have. Apart from that I much rather prefer the selfies snapped by Pixel than the slightly overprocessed look on the Vivo. Overall, it is clear that the Vivo X90 Pro has set the benchmark for smartphone photography and it would be interesting to see what competitors will be doing to outdo it.