Vivo X60 & X60 Pro launch in Malaysia with a chipset change

Vivo’s X60 series pairs the company’s familiar flagship design ethos with some serious camera chops – including the return of the gimbal stabilisation the company pioneered in last year’s X50 Pro.

The trio of X60 phones are out now in China, but Vivo is beginning to roll the phones out globally too. The X60 and X60 Pro have already launched in Malaysia, though curiously come with a different chipset and some camera changes from the Chinese versions.

Vivo has already confirmed to us that a European launch is on the cards too, and we’re expecting to get the full details this week.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Vivo X60 series.

When is the Vivo X60 release date?

Vivo launched the X60 and X60 Pro at an event on 29 December 2020, while the X60 Pro+ joined them at an event on 21 January. All three are available to buy in China now.

As mentioned above, the X60 and X60 Pro have launched in Malaysia, while an Indian event this week promises to include all three phones. That suggests that a full global rollout may be imminent.

Will the X60 launch in the UK and Europe?

Yes – Vivo’s Seon Hwang has confirmed to Tech Advisor that “We’re gonna definitely bring our next model X-series [to Europe] this year,” referring presumably to the X60 line. He didn’t confirm when the phones will arrive though, or which of the three models will make the jump.

Technically Vivo never launched the X50 phones in the UK, but instead it re-branded the X50 Pro and released it here as the Vivo X51 – the first flagship phone the company actually launched in the UK at all.

If Vivo is serious about pushing into the UK market, it makes sense that it would try to follow the X51 up with at least one of the X60 phones, though whether it will use that name or launch one as the X61 remains to be seen.

How much does the X60 cost?

The standard X60 starts from ¥3,498 (£399/$5540), with the X60 Pro starting from ¥4,498 (£515/$695), and the Pro+ from ¥4,998 (£565/$775). That’s pretty similar pricing to the X50 series, which ended up costing a fairly steep £749 when the X51 launched in the UK.

What about the X60 design and specs?

The X60, X60 Pro, and X60 Pro+ have fairly similar core specs, but still vary in a few key areas. Let’s break them down separately.

X60

Let’s start with what the base X60 phone. The design of the phone is remarkably similar to the X50 series. Below you can see the X60 in the centre, flanked on either side by the Chinese models of the Pro (spot the extra lens and moved Zeiss branding).

In China it’s powered by the 5nm Samsung Exynos 1080 chipset, making it the first phone in the world to use this chip. It pairs the chip with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage.

This setup may look different when the phone launches worldwide. The Malaysian version of the phone has launched with the Snapdragon 870 instead, and it seems likely that this will be echoed globally. The confirmation follows leaked listings on the Google Play Store that included the Snapdragon 870, seen paired with a higher 12GB of RAM.

Other specs are less likely to change for the international release. The phone has a 6.56in, 2376×1080 AMOLED display, with HDR10+ support and 120Hz refresh rate. It has a 4300mAh battery, and packs in 33W wired charging, but no wireless charging support.

The camera module is particularly familiar, with a tiered rectangular camera module dominated by one large lens. That’s a 48Mp, f/1.8 main shooter with OIS using Sonys IMX598 sensor, paired with a 13Mp 2x zoom portrait lens and 13Mp ultrawide. There’s a 32Mp central punch-hole selfie camera on the front.

The X60 launched with Android 11 and OriginOS, Vivo’s new operating system, intended to replace its much maligned FuntouchOS. We’ve never loved Funtouch, but it’s improved substantially over the last year or two as Vivo has simplified it, stripped it back, and reverted to a cleaner Android experience.

OriginOS is widget-heavy, taking after iOS 14, with a focus on live feedback and a dynamic homescreen. If that doesn’t sound like stock Android to you then don’t fear – OriginOS is China-only right now, and in fact Vivo has told Tech Advisor that it has no plans to bring the new software to Europe.

“For now we will… focus on pure Android,” explained Vivo’s European director of PR, Thomas Kahmann. “Maybe in the future OriginOS could be a topic for the European markets, but from our point of view this track we’re on has proved to be the right path.”

Here’s a full spec list for the phone:

Exynos 1080/Snapdragon 870
8/12GB RAM
128/256GB storage
6.56in, 2376×1080 120Hz AMOLED
Camera:
- 48Mp, f/1.8, IMX598 main camera with OIS
- 13Mp 2x portrait
- 13Mp ultrawide
- 32Mp punch-hole selfie
4300mAh
33W wired charging
5G
Android 11 & OriginOS or FuntouchOS

X60 Pro

The X60 Pro is broadly similar to the standard X60, but does boast a few key spec variations.

It uses the same Exynos 1080 chipset in China, but like the vanilla X60 is tipped to switch to the Snapdragon 870 in the rest of the world.

The X60 Pro jumps up to 12GB RAM, and comes in just the one 256GB storage configuration. It however has a slightly smaller battery, at 4200mAh.

The camera setup varies by market too. It has a similar rear camera setup, with the same portrait and ultrawide lens, and a similar 48Mp main shooter but at a larger aperture of f/1.5, and with Vivo’s gimbal stabilisation tech instead of regular OIS.

In China, the X60 Pro also features an 8Mp periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom, but for some reason this has been removed from the Malaysian model, and presumably from the global release in general.

Here’s are the full specs:

Exynos 1080/Snapdragon 870
12GB RAM
256GB storage
6.56in, 2376×1080 120Hz AMOLED
Camera:
- 48Mp, f/1.5, IMX598 main camera with gimbal stabilisation
- 13Mp 2x portrait
- 8Mp 5x periscope (China-only)
- 13Mp ultrawide
- 32Mp punch-hole selfie
4200mAh
33W wired charging
5G
Android 11 & OriginOS or FuntouchOS

X60 Pro+

The final phone in the set is the X60 Pro+, which was announced later than the other two at a separate event, and boasts a bigger change in its spec sheet – and even design. It’s also the only one of the three who’s global version we’ve not yet seen, so we don’t know if it will vary at all.

While it looks similar from the front, with a punch-hole selfie camera and curved screen, the back boasts a larger camera module and different colours – including vegan leather finish options.

Things are pretty different inside too. The big change is that the Pro+ uses the more powerful Snapdragon 888 instead of the Exynos 1080 or Snapdragon 870. It combines the Qualcomm chip with either 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, or 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

The display is the same as the other phones, as is the selfie camera. The battery matches the Pro at 4200mAh, but is paired with faster 55W wired charging.

The biggest difference beyond the chipset is in the camera module. The main camera gets a bump up to the larger 50Mp Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor, and is here paired with a 48Mp ultrawide using the same IMX598 sensor and gimbal stabilisation as the other phones’ main cameras. The set is rounded out by a 32Mp portrait lens, and 8Mp 5x periscope.

Here are those specs in full:

Snapdragon 888
8/12GB RAM
128/256GB storage
6.56in, 2376×1080 120Hz AMOLED
Camera:
- 50Mp, ISOCELL GN1 main camera
- 48Mp, IMX598 ultrawide with gimbal stabilisation
- 32Mp portrait
- 8Mp 5x periscope
- 32Mp punch-hole selfie
4200mAh
55W wired charging
5G
Android 11 & OriginOS or FuntouchOS