Vivo teams up with Zeiss to challenge the OnePlus 9 Pro with its new phones - Android

The Vivo X60 and X60 Pro go global.

What you need to know

• Vivo's X60 and X60 Pro are going global today.
• The devices launched in China in December 2020.
• A Vivo X60 Pro Plus launched today in India. It'll be coming to European markets later.

Vivo today debuted two new phones, the X60 and the X60 Pro in global markets. While these phones existed in China since 2020, they're now coming to the rest of the world.

The X60 is the basic, all-rounder phone that'll satisfy almost anyone. It comes with a Snapdragon 870, the same SoC you'll find in the newly announced OnePlus 9R. There's a 6.56-inch FHD AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a quad-camera layout with a 48MP main camera. and a pair of 13MP cameras for wide-angle and portrait shots. There's up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it has 33W fast charging paired with a 4,3000 mAh battery. The X560 Pro model has all the same specs, but it includes better touch-sampling, a base of 12GB of RAM. You'll also find gimbal stabilization in the camera as well as OIS. The X60 will cost roughly Rs.37,990, and the Pro will be Rs. 49,990 — or $520 and $690 respectively.

The X60 Pro Plus is the highest-end phone, and it'll cost Rs. 69,999 in India. Vivo is expected to bring it to other European marks in due course, so we'll have to wait a bit for the pricing and availability details.

As you can tell, the selling point of this smartphone is the Zeiss branded camera system. The Pro Plus ships with the 50MP ISOCELL GN1 lens. It's the same main camera that's expected to come with the highly anticipated Mi 11 Ultra, and it is focused around "elevated light sensitivity for stellar low-light photos and DSLR-level auto-focus speeds, optimized for more dynamic picture-taking experiences", according to Samsung. The company is pairing this with a 48MP Ultra-wide angle, a 32MP portrait, and an 8MP periscope. On paper, it's all very impressive.

Other specs include a Snapdragon 888, 55W fast charging, and the 6.56-inch AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate, all things you'll find on the best Android phones. Like most of them, however, it's the camera that's meant to get people talking.

Vivo is following a trend we've seen time and time again with smartphone cameras. Zeiss and Nokia, Leica and Huawei, Hasselblad and OnePlus, all have proven that simply having big name camera makers aren't enough to build a powerful camera system. Good software is often needed. A full review is needed to see if Vivo will end up living up to its promise.