After launching the V19 and V19 Neo, Vivo zooms into the Philippine market once again. This time, last quarter’s No. 1 smartphone vendor in the country has introduced two products that are a first for the company.

(Update, September 8: Our review of the X50 is finally up! Read Vivo X50 review: An Xtraordinary midrange smartphone.)

(Update, August 27: Hype? What hype? You have to check this out: Watch: Vivo X50 Pro 5G is a phone and gimbal in one package.)

Meet the Vivo X50 Pro 5G, Vivo X50, and Vivo TWS Neo. The Pro is Vivo Philippines’ first 5G phone here while the Neo are the brand’s first truly wireless earphones locally.

Vivo X50 Pro 5G

Let’s start with the more beefed-up X50. We’ve been using this for the past couple of days, and we’re really liking it so far. Its gimbal camera system — which Vivo says is modeled after a full-size, professional gimbal that moves in the opposite direction of the camera to stabilize it — is not a hype. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves; we will show you its capability in a follow-up article.

As a camera-focused smartphone with a 48-megapixel main shooter, the Vivo X50 Pro 5G offers many shooting modes, such as Super Wide-Angle, Super Macro, Super Night, Astro, and, as what the company has been teasing the past few weeks with its hashtag #ComingZoom, 60x Hyper Zoom, where you can zoom in to an object up to 60x.

Online launch of the Vivo X50 series and Vivo TWS Neo in the Philippines, in case you missed the livestream

The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It features a 32-megapixel selfie shooter; a 6.5-inch curved AMOLED screen with an under-display fingerprint sensor and a 90Hz refresh rate; a 4,315mAh battery with support for 33 watts of fast charging; and Android 10.

In the Philippines, the Vivo X50 Pro 5G is priced at P39,999 (around $822) and is already up for preorder until August 28 from the brand’s offline and online retail channels. You can get it without any interest through Home Credit by taking advantage of the 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, or 18 months installment option. For credit cards, it’s 6 months and 12 months. Smart Communications is yet to announce the postpaid plans available for the phone.

Early adopters get a free JBL Go 2 Bluetooth speaker plus 6 months of warranty on top of the one-year offer, for a total of a year and a half of warranty.

Vivo X50 Pro 5G specs

• 6.56-inch curved E3 AMOLED display, 2,376 x 1,080 resolution (19.8:9), 90Hz refresh rate, up to 1,300 nits brightness
• Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor with 5G
• 8GB LPDDR4x RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 2.1 storage
• Quad 48-megapixel, f/1.6 (main with gimbal system), 8-megapixel, f/2.2 (ultra wide, macro), 8-megapixel, f/3.4 (periscope zoom, up to 60x digital zoom), 13-megapixel, f/2.4 (portrait) rear cameras
• 32-megapixel, f/2.4 front camera
• Fingerprint reader (under display)
• 4,315mAh battery with 33-watt fast charging
• Funtouch OS 10.5 based on Android 10
• Colors: Black, blue, gray

Vivo X50 4G

The Vivo X50 has many of the features of the Pro model, but loses the gimbal system. It also sports a 48-megapixel quad camera on the back, a 32-megapixel front-facing cam; a 6.56-inch AMOLED display with an in-screen fingerprint reader and a 90Hz refresh rate; and the latest Funtouch OS version based on Android 10.

However, this regular X50 uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730 chip mated to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Its battery is also a bit smaller at 4,200mAh, though support for 33-watt fast charging has been retained.

The version launched in China is a 5G-ready Vivo X50, but we understand why the manufacturer’s bringing in the 4G variant here. After all, there’s already the X50 Pro 5G. Plus, the Philippines is a price-sensitive market. Giving Filipinos a more affordable variant is perhaps a smart move business-wise.

Here, it’s priced at P25,999 ($534), with the same installment options as the X50 Pro 5G. If you buy it within the preorder period, you get a free 10,000mAh power bank, a Vivo Comfy Case, and 6 months of extended warranty.

Vivo X50 4G specs

• 6.56-inch E3 AMOLED display, 2,376 x 1,080 resolution (19.8:9), 90Hz refresh rate, up to 1,300 nits brightness
• Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor
• 8GB LPDDR4x RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 2.1 storage
• Quad 48-megapixel, f/1.6 (main), 8-megapixel, f/2.2 (ultra wide), 13-megapixel, f/2.4 (portrait), 5-megapixel, f/2.4 (macro) rear cameras
• 32-megapixel, f/2.4 front camera
• Fingerprint reader (under display)
• 4,200mAh battery with 33-watt fast charging
• Funtouch OS 10.5 based on Android 10
• Colors: Black, blue, pink

A recap of the Vivo X50 series’ pricing details for the Philippine market

Vivo TWS Neo

Shipments of smart personal audio devices are expected to increase by 23.6% in Asia-Pacific, with the main driver being the TWS category. So it’s great to see Vivo finally releasing truly wireless earphones here.

The Vivo TWS Neo are the brand’s second TWS earbuds after the Vivo TWS Earphone. They boast a large, 14.2mm driver unit; aptX Adaptive technology, which retains 1.5x more sound data than traditional wireless earphones for a CD-standard HD transmission; and DeepX stereo-sound effects.

Latency is as low as 88ms, and Bluetooth supported is 5.2. Plus you have Slide Control, Find My TWS Neo, Instant Connection, AI Noise Cancelling, Intelligent Ear Detection, and Touch Control Customization features here.

The Vivo TWS Neo are compatible with platforms other than Android, and you won’t have to worry that much when they get wet because they have IP54 water-resistance rating. With the charging case, the earphones will last you almost one whole day.

The TWS Neo are priced at P4,999 ($103) in the Philippines. However, you can get them for P1,000 ($21) less if you buy any of the Vivo X50 series phones.

Vivo TWS Neo specs

• Qualcomm QCC3046
• 14.2.mm dynamic drivers
• Low-latency gaming mode
• Touch controls
• Bluetooth 5.2
• 30mAh (per earbud), 415mAh (charging case) = 22.5-hour battery life
• IP54 rating for water and dust resistance
• Colors: White, blue

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