Vivo’s X-series of smartphones need no introduction and the devices are among the most loaded camera-centric Androids in the market. That said, the company’s latest flagship duo has made incredible strides in the performance department too. In fact, both, the Vivo X80 as well as the Vivo X80 Pro (review) are backed by top-tier processors from MediaTek and Qualcomm respectively. Understandably, there has been a lot of commotion on the interwebs regarding the Dimensity 9000 SoC powering the Vivo X80 smartphone. However, after spending some time testing the duo’s performance chops, I feel that the chipset is on par and at times, even snappier than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-backed Vivo X80 Pro. Here’s why.
Benchmarks
Let’s kick things off by taking a closer look at the benchmark figures overturned by our contenders. To wit, I ran Antutu, GeekBench and CPDT (cross platform disk test) to get a number on the device’s respective CPU, memory, and storage performances. In Antutu, the Vivo X80 Pro yielded a grand total of 9,81,202 points, which, by the way, is the highest score I’ve managed to attain from a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 powered device.
That being said, the Vivo X80 churned out an even higher stat, and the device net 9,94,933 points in the benchmark. Undeniably, the scores are neck and neck however, it is interesting to note that the Dimensity 9000-backed Vivo X80 – which retails for significantly less – managed to one-up its pricier sibling in an Antutu run.
Moving on, the X80 Pro somewhat redeems itself in GeekBench, which ascertains a CPU’s single-core and multi-core performance. Here, the device net 1,235 and 3,594 points in the aforementioned tests respectively. The Vivo X80, on the other hand, scored 1,143 and 3,471 points respectively. Going by the figures, the X80 Pro is in the clear but the X80’s scores are impressive nonetheless and the device has outputted results that are on par with its more expensive sibling.
Now, I should add that both the phones employ speedy UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 memory too. A smartphone’s storage and memory speed directly correlate to boot times, app load times, and the works. As a result, a smartphone with a faster storage should be able to open apps and games more swiftly. Now that you’re up to speed, let’s take a look at the benchmark results. Here, both the phones outputted extremely fast sequential read and write speeds amounting to over 1.6GB/s and 800MB/s respectively.
Throttling
It’s no secret that devices backed by high-end SoCs often have to contend with instances of thermal throttling. To put simply, an SoC tends to throttle when subjected to a continuous workload that engages its cores to the fullest. Thankfully, there are a handful of apps that can replicate a strenuous load and give a number on an SoC’s stability. To wit, I ran the CPU throttle test on both the devices and overloaded their cores with 20 threads.
After 30 minutes, the Vivo X80 throttled to 77 percent of its peak performance. The X80 Pro, on the other hand, throttled to 72 percent of its maximum throughput. Clearly, the X80 managed to throttle less but making matters even more interesting, the chipset churned out significantly higher instructions per cycle than the X80 Pro. In fact, the device overturned 3,42,019 GIPS at the beginning of the run and slowly plateaued to 2,76,451 GIPS. The X80 Pro, on the other hand, peaked out at 2,87,637 GIPS and averaged 2,25,507 GIPS during the test run.
Turn the page over to 3D Mark’s extreme stress test and you’ll get a similar result. Here, both the phones were tasked to render twenty graphically demanding loops. Upon completion, the devices churned out a stability score, which sheds light on each phone’s performance under a sustained workload. Here, the Vivo X80 Pro managed to overturn a “best loop score” of 2,578 points, although offered an 85.1 percent stability. The Vivo X80, on the other hand, outputted 2,439 points in its best loop run. At the same time, the device managed to attain a 97.7 percent stability in the benchmark, which is mind-boggling, to say the least.
Gaming
Both the phones are equally adept at playing demanding games too. Now, I recently pointed out that devices backed by the all-new Dimensity processors seem to have some optimisation issues with a handful of games like BGMI, CoD Mobile, etc. That said, to the company (or the developer’s) credit, a recent update for BGMI has seemingly fixed the problems plaguing the new chipsets. Consequently, you can play BGMI at HDR graphics and Extreme FPS preset on both, the Vivo X80, as well as the Vivo X80 Pro. That’s not all, as both the devices support the in-game, high-res UHD texture pack too, which albeit taxing, further enhances the game’s aesthetics.
Now, while that’s all good and dandy, the Vivo X80 can run BGMI at 90FPS as well. In fact, with the graphics set to the “Smooth” preset, the X80 allows users to select a 90FPS option as well. The X80 Pro, on the other hand, can only run the game at 60FPS. Similarly, both the phones can run the latest BR title Apex Legends Mobile at commendable graphics and FPS settings too. To wit, the devices can run the game with the graphics and FPS settings locked to the ExtremeHD and Ultra presets respectively.
Verdict
It goes without saying that both, the Vivo X80 as well as the Vivo X80 Pro are among the fastest Android phones in the market right now. That said, while I expected the X80 Pro to perform like a champ, I was truly taken aback by the X80’s computing prowess. To wit, the smartphone’s Dimensity 9000 SoC doesn’t just throttle less, but it puts forth convincing numbers that are on par and at times even better than the results secured by the X80 Pro in various benchmarking applications. That’s not all, as the device can even run select games like BGMI at a higher FPS setting. Rest assured, buyers on the fence about the Vivo X80’s Dimensity 9000 SoC need not worry about the device’s performance in the slightest. On the other hand, buyers with a flexible budget will find plenty to like about the X80 Pro’s performance as well.
