Many want to hear this, so here we go. Vivo X60 Pro+ goes eyeball-to-eyeball with the Samsung Galaxy S21+ and manages to score some extra points over OnePlus 9 Pro. The competition for the best flagship phone just got more intense.

If you are looking for a phone that can shoot videos that are rock-steady and photos that shine at night, the X60 Pro+ may well be your new friend, unless you want to spend a few thousand extra and take home the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Barring a couple of clangers, this makes a very sensible purchase.

The big focus of the camera system on Vivo X60 Pro+ is gimbal stablisation

Delivers on its promise

It’s all about the camera, which is paired with hardware that’s solid — Snapdragon 888, 12 gigs of RAM, 256GB of storage and 55W FlashCharge system. Vivo promises camera chops and delivers in heaps. The biggest take away from the camera system is the power of a meaningful collaboration, which is with Zeiss. Without beating around the bush, the union of OnePlus and Hasselblad is lacking in some ways; there are areas that need improvement, which will probably come in the coming years. Here, Zeiss does more than just lend its name. Off the block, there is the Zeiss T* coating, a helpful addition to reduce ghosting and flaring on the main camera. It does away with internal reflection, leading to cleaner shots. To get a feel of it, point the camera at a bright light source.

Then there’s more. The big GN1 sensor on the main camera captures a lot of light and the results are Instagram-able. The aggressive HDR algorithm ensures that you won’t end up with an overexposed sky! Where the camera beats many rivals is at night. There are cameras that make pictures appear bright but not necessarily capture all the details. Here, you get details. Plus, you don’t have to take a slew of shots at night to get it right. It doesn’t stop there. Night mode comes with a number of “styles”, like Blue Ice, Cyberpunk, Dark Red and so on. Not that I like filters but they are helpful for vloggers.

Night photography using Vivo X60 Pro+ doesn’t have too much noise while details hidden in the shadows are captured well

Also on the phone is an ‘astro mode’ and ‘double exposure’. Don’t go all astro unless you have a tripod, which can take shots comparable with Samsung’s Galaxy S models. In fact, to capture the night sky in your city, simply go ultra-wide in the night mode. The stabilisation will amaze you by offering some of the brightest pictures you will come across. When we say, it’s feature-packed, we mean it. The night mode even has a ‘night panorama’ option. Once again, the stabilisation is so good that you will come away with some amazing panorama shots.

The portrait mode is also among the classiest. Bokeh shots offer better separation between the background and the foreground than on the OnePlus 9 Pro. As simple as that. With each shot, the degree of impressiveness will rise.

Helping the cause of Vivo is the 2x optical zoom support on the 32MP 50mm portrait lens while the 8MP camera has a 5x periscope zoom. The results are comparable to the Galaxy S21 series and a quite a few steps ahead of OnePlus 9.

This twilight shot is particularly tricky because of the blue sky and the different shades of green around the courtyard but the phone manages to capture all the details

With gimbal stabilisation technology, videos shot on the V60 Pro+ are easily the steadiest on any phone, with a caveat. While ultra-wide 4K videos shot @30fps are outstanding, minus any jelly effect, 4K@60fps has a slight wobble. Also available, the capability to shoot HDR10+ videos with excellent dynamic range.

Another area where the phone scores over OnePlus has to do with autofocus, which is particularly helpful if you are shooting sporting activities or while capturing, say, children. In short, Vivo promises “professional photography” and it delivers.

And the other things

Being a flagship phone, the display doesn’t falter. What you get is a 120Hz full HD+ display, which gets bright enough for all kinds of work. There is zero issues with gaming or day-to-day activities as the device has 12GB of RAM and then another 3GB of virtual RAM, meaning, the phone will not slow down.

What you don’t get are stereo speakers, which is a bummer. It’s a weird decision on Vivo’s part. In the same breath, once you connect an earpiece, you will enjoy the power of Cirrus DAC, which offers respect even to the poorest of audio signals while making the most of top-quality audio files or streaming services. Lossless audio files sound stunning.

The other area where the phone hits a bumper is in way of software. There is too much bloatware – some of the pre-installed apps are useless while notification from the V-Appstore can be a bother.

Finally, the battery is big enough to last a day; I can do with six hours of screen-on time, complete with some intensive tasks. And it takes very little time – a little less than one hour — to power up the battery completely.

Daytime shots taken on Vivo X60 Pro+ capture colours that are natural, with very little oversaturation

Should you buy it?

OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are fantastic phones but to feel the full power of Hasselblad, the user needs to work using the “pro” camera mode. Plus, you have to ask the question whether natural tones work for social media. On the other hand, X60 Pro+ is a champion when it comes to video while photography is quite good. Where it holds back is mainly in the software department. Overall, Vivo X60 Pro+ offers rock solid camera performance under varying lighting conditions.