Shoot to thrill
The Vivo X50 Pro is a joy to own if you love taking photos with your phone, writes Hanum Afandi
VIVO recently unveiled the dynamic duo of its new X series smartphones — the X50 and X50 Pro. How does the latter live up to its claim as the new professional photography flagship smartphone?
If you love to take artistic pictures but do not like using an old-school DSLR camera, then the X50 Pro is for you.
At first glance, the X50 Pro is very thin andfeels lightweight with additional rounded edges that give it a recherche feeling.
The phone’s ergonomics are good enough for long texting or calling without excessive exertion on the neck and shoulders.
It fits nicely in my back pocket and the matte gradient backside (alpha grey model) gives a premium mid-range touch that will not leave any fingerprint marks.
IMAGES TO IMPRESS
The star of the show is undoubtedly the camera, which many will appreciate.
The camera has multiple functions and settings that I can tweak for my personal preference and it results in brilliant photography.
The X50 Pro has a quad-camera setup that protrudes fromthebackwith agimbalstabilised 48-megapixel sensor that assists in taking extra-sharp pictures.
According to Vivo, the dual ball suspension and electromagnetic induction system help compensate extra movements. Optical image stabilisation (OIS) and electronic image stabilisation (EIS) technology assist in shooting stable videos.
I test the X50 Pro while out for a run and compare images and video with an old iPhone 6s Plus.
The result is apparent. The X50 Pro takes crisp and clear quality videos and pictures without any noticeable jerkiness due to the 6.58-inch AMOLED screen and 4K 30 frames per second resolution.
Colours are vibrant with great contrasts even with minimum brightness. Video is buttery-smooth in comparison with the iPhone 6s Plus.
LONG-DISTANCE SHOOTING
The phone takes vibrant 2x telephoto pictures. The 5x optical camera is just as sharp.
The best time to use the camera is at sunset where colour contrasts and saturation result in beautiful shots.
I test the zoom by taking a picture of a construction site at 2x and 5x. For both shots, the subject and the background are excellent.
However, when I get to 60x, image quality drops. This is normal as the downside of extended zooming result in image noise.
ULTRA WIDE AND SELFIE MODES
With the 8-megapixel ultra wide camera setting, pictures turn out great with eyecatching exposure and nice contrast.
Both outdoor and indoor settings capture impressive colour details, far surpassing any other phone I’ve used in these aspects.
The 32-megapixel selfie camera does a remarkable job at turning my selfies into excellent shots.
With portrait mode, the beautification features edit my pictures and delete harsh lines onmyfacewithout aconspicuous faux finish.
However, just like any other camera, much of the picture quality also depends on lighting conditions.
The style feature is a joy to use. The filter automatically plasters aready-make-up look on my face. The wide range of makeup selection really brightens up my selfies.
Another interesting feature is “posture” which guides those whoare clueless about posing for shots. It outlines a pose to follow, be it in the category of selfie, casual, couple or others.
NIGHT MODE CAMERA
Shooting at night has never been easier with the X50 Pro even without switching to the Night Mode.
The multifunctions on the camera easily guides users to set the correct exposure and contrast for brilliant pictures.
I often struggle taking pictures at night due to the image noise and other lighting factors. With the Vivo X50 Pro, I just switch on the Night Mode and all my pictures turn out perfect.
The Vivo X50 Pro is priced at RM3,199.