After I unboxed the Vivo X Note, I switched the SIM card from my Mi 11 Ultra to this phone. And after using the X Note as my only phone for a few days, there’s a lot to tell you about the device. This video is not only a review of X Note. But also my personal and subjective experience of switching from Mi 11 Ultra to X Note. As an enhanced version of the X70 Pro Plus, this phone is great, but not for me.
Design and Display
Although I said in the unboxing video that 7 inches isn’t much bigger than my 11 Ultra. I still had to get used to a phone that’s 80mm wide. Because it has a 21:10 screen ratio, it’s much wider than other 6.8-inch 21:9 phones. Simply put, if you want to use your phone with one hand, this is not the phone for you.
But, if you use your phone with two hands every day, the extra wide screen won’t affect you. Vivo also knows that the body is too wide. So the lines on either side of the back panel are designed to make you look a little slimmer. Perhaps I am a Mi 11 Ultra user, the design of the camera module is not unacceptable to me. At least it looks a lot better than the upcoming X80 series. Maybe it’s because the body is too big, so the vibration motor is weak. The SIM card slot only holds two SIMs and there is no headphone jack. But it is rarely equipped with an IR emitter, and has a silent switch. I won’t repeat how good the ultrasonic fingerprint recognition is. It’s fast and has a large recognition area. But the fingerprint quick action feature only has shortcuts for WeChat and Alipay. So non-Chinese users cannot use this feature. All in all, the X Note is pretty satisfying in terms of design at this point.
With a 7-inch QWHD+ OLED screen, you can see just how stunning this screen is on paper specs.
Not only is its actual viewing size comparable to the iPad mini. It also has a higher contrast screen than the iPad mini.
It also has LTPO 2.0, which flagship phones have. And due to the use of E5 material, the largest brightness is higher than E4. So you can see the screen more clearly in sunlight. And fixed touch latency issue on X70 Pro Plus. While I’m happy with the color and largest brightness of this screen. There’s a common problem with this year’s Samsung E5 component screens. The side-view color shift problem. When I use the phone on the table, I always think that the screen is blue. Another complaint is that it doesn’t support a stylus. I tried writing on the X Note’s screen with the Vivo Pad’s stylus, but it didn’t work at all. I think the X Note not having a stylus is really a waste of such a big screen.
Performance, Benchmarks and Gaming
When it comes to performance testing, I must first say that the X Note is not a phone that focuses on performance. While it seems to perform well in the CPU portions of each bench test. The GPU results tell us that the Vivo is still the same Vivo. When you start playing games with it. Vivo will start limiting performance in temperature control.
Vivo probably thinks that people. Who buy their brand’s flagship phone should focus more.
On taking pictures than playing games. So all the Vivo flagship phones we tested didn’t perform that well in games. I’m not going to analyze each game specifically. So you can see for yourself what level of gaming experience the X Note is.
The X Note is equipped with the same V1 chip as the X70 Pro Plus. It’s also true that you can get a higher and more stable frame rate using game frame insertion. But like the Neo 3, there are fewer games supported and a touch delay. So I don’t recommend turning this feature on every time you play.
The X Note isn’t Vivo’s most powerful phone in terms of photography, but it’s still a top-notch camera. I’m comparing the Mi 11 Ultra instead of the X70 Pro Plus, not only because my last phone was the Mi 11 Ultra. But the X Note and X70 Pro Plus have similar camera specs so the difference between them is stark.
It’s hard to overstate how powerful the X Note camera is. Interestingly, remember our photo comparison results between K50 and realme GT Neo3? The K50 had muted colors, and poor dynamic range, but good detail. The Neo 3 had vibrant colors, good dynamic range, but not as much detail as the K50. This conclusion also applies to the Mi 11 Ultra and the X Note.
Main and ultra wide cameras
What surprised me was the 2x photo session. I thought the Mi 11 Ultra would have a big gap with the X Note without the optical 2x lens. But actually, the difference is not significant. Sometimes the image is even sharper indoors. It also proves how powerful the Mi 11 Ultra’s main camera is. But the play doesn’t seem as unstable as the X Note. Sometimes better sometimes worse, so it seems the 2x optical lens of the X Note is better.
While the X Note’s 5x telephoto sensor isn’t as big as the Mi 11 Ultra’s. Vivo’s algorithm seems to have improved considerably. In most situations, it’s on the same level as the 11 Ultra. Did you know, the X Note’s sensor is only half the size of the 11 Ultra! This performance is beyond my expectations. But, when it comes to scenes with almost no light. This sensor is underpowered even with excellent algorithms.
The front lens resolution is the same for both phones.
But still dynamic range X Note has a definite advantage. Mi 11 Ultra takes very dark pictures of human eyes.
Original camera video wins again by dynamic range. But unfortunately, the 2x and 5x lenses cannot record 4k video. Even at 4k 30fps, it’s impossible to change lenses while recording. This is something the Mi 11 Ultra does very well, with all three lenses supporting 4k 60fps. It’s also unfortunate that the X Note, like the X70 pro plus. Has a system that intelligently judges whether the current scene. Is suitable for shooting with an optical telephoto lens. This means that even if you tap the 2x or 5x button, the photo may be taken. In a 2x or 5x shot by the main camera, not by the optical lens.
Sometimes the system is right, and it’s true. That the main camera crops better photos But sometimes this is not the case. I took a picture with the 2x optical lens in Pro mode to compare the main crop, and the 2x optical lens was clearly better. Even in Pro mode, you still can’t choose. Which optical lens to shoot video with, you have to listen to the system algorithm. I paid for the phone, but I can’t use which lens I want to use, which really annoys me.
Software
I also had a hard time with Origin OS, which has gotten a lot better with a few upgrades. But I’m still very uncomfortable with it.
For example, Control Center and Notification Center are different in the new version. As they are in many phones. Let’s first see how MIUI is controlled. No need to slide down from top, right side of desktop slide down control center. Left side slide down notification center. Swipe left and right to switch forward and back.
But how is Origin OS controlled? Wherever you slide, it’s the control center. Notification Center can only be called up by sliding to the left from the top, and there is no way to switch left or right. You should know that this is a 7-inch phone, and I hate the logic of this operation in the last few days. Yes, I know it has a mini screen mode, but why would I buy this big screen. So I have been using the old control center for the past few days. Although I set the language to English, there is also Chinese that pops up somewhere. Plus the camera issues mentioned earlier. For me personally, Origin OS may be a very nice system, but it is definitely not a very user-friendly system.
Battery and Charging
The 5000mAh battery isn’t really that big for a 7-inch body. And the X Note’s battery life is rather average. Maybe it’s because the huge QWHD+ screen is so power-hungry that it doesn’t last as long as other phones.
To use 5G network and have 18% left after 9 hours of use. 80w wired charging allows the X Note to charge up to 57% in 15 minutes and takes 33 minutes to fully charge. Poor charging compatibility has always been. A weakness of Vivo phones, and this X Note is no exception. Even when charging with a charger that supports 100w PD, the largest charging power is only 14w.
Vivo X Note is a rare large-screen flagship phone that excels in design, build quality and camera. If you’re looking for a phone with a bigger screen than 7 inches, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better model. So if you’re sure you need a big flagship phone, not a foldable phone, this might be your only choice.
But for me personally, I’ll plug my SIM card back into the Mi 11 Ultra. Not because the X Note is bad, but because I’m not used to the huge screen and Origin OS.
