Question So no X90 Pro+ for the global market - any Chinese import issues?

[Haskren]

I have been following the reviews of the X90 Pro+ since it was released and was super exited to finally retire my P30 Pro for this king of photography.
I find it hard to believe that Vivo decided to keep it exclusive to China, but that seems to be the case. Guess they think people who want the best camera phone is going to buy the lesser Vivo's instead of the upcoming S23. Doubt anyone is tempted by these Vivo's - utterly bizarre decision. Hoping sales will make them realise that.

In any case - thinking of importing it, as there is no other phone that tempts me.

Apart from the lack of warranty and/or hassle getting anything fixed or replaced in case of a fault (had the worst nightmare with an S7 from E-Global years back - threw it in the bin), are there any downsides to importing this phone to Europe (UK specifically)?
From my understanding there should be no 4g/5g band issues. How about Origin OS? Seems it has more functionality than Funtouch, but are there any potential issues?
I don't use Android Auto.

Finally - which Chinese vendor is considered safe and reliable?

Thanks!

 

[aspj1111]

I have been following the reviews of the X90 Pro+ since it was released and was super exited to finally retire my P30 Pro for this king of photography.
I find it hard to believe that Vivo decided to keep it exclusive to China, but that seems to be the case. Guess they think people who want the best camera phone is going to buy the lesser Vivo's instead of the upcoming S23. Doubt anyone is tempted by these Vivo's - utterly bizarre decision. Hoping sales will make them realise that.

In any case - thinking of importing it, as there is no other phone that tempts me.

Apart from the lack of warranty and/or hassle getting anything fixed or replaced in case of a fault (had the worst nightmare with an S7 from E-Global years back - threw it in the bin), are there any downsides to importing this phone to Europe (UK specifically)?
From my understanding there should be no 4g/5g band issues. How about Origin OS? Seems it has more functionality than Funtouch, but are there any potential issues?
I don't use Android Auto.

Finally - which Chinese vendor is considered safe and reliable?

Thanks!

I bought mine from Giztop.com They shipped it extremely fast and packed well to avoid any damages..

 

[Haskren]

Ok great. I might order from them.

Another thing - I read somewhere that Origin does not support always on display - is that true? That's one of the basic functions which is a must

 

[aspj1111]

Ok great. I might order from them.

Another thing - I read somewhere that Origin does not support always on display - is that true? That's one of the basic functions which is a must

No the phone has AOD, some 3rd party apps won't work though. I use Google messages for texting and AOD won't show my incoming texts

 

[jericho246]

I ordered mine last month from Wonda Mobile. They shipped via Fedex and I got it in just 3 days. https://www.wondamobile.com/mobile/vivo/vivo-x90-pro-plus-5g-cn-dual-sim-12gb-ram-256gb.html

the price seems to be going down every day, I paid around 1150€ for my black 12/256 model and now I see it's just 979€.


- The downsides of OriginOS are pretty much notification problems.. You won't get notifications from certain third party apps like Telegram for example, when dark mode is enabled. No idea if they are gonna fix it, but apparently it was a problem on the Vivo X80 Pro as well (China version) and it was fixed in an update.

- "Ok Google" voice recognition won't work either (I don't use it, but that's what I read)

- 4G works without any issues. For 5G you might wanna check out on kimovil.com, if the phone is fully compatible with your carrier.

 

[PILLS2389]

I ordered mine from tradingshenzhen, it arrived 2 days ago.
- I bought it (512GB version) on December 29, now it has the same price, it didn't drop and I was monitoring the websites everyday since December 22, ~1150E. I bought it for the camera.
- first of all, I think people should buy this phone only if they need / want the camera, since it comes with a lot of settings / apps still in chinese.
- I think 5G is only suported in China, I got a notification saying it only works in "mainland China", so I have 4G, but I don't care, I'm more then happy with 4G.
- When you receive the phone it will have a lot of applications in Chinese, I haven't removed them yet, I will start the process today, but I will only remove what I know, not every application like others did here (I don't care if they "spy" on me)
- Apps that don't work: google voice, android auto, desktop mode when connected to a monitor. I don't use them so for me is OK.

You are buying for 1000E a phone that the competitors are selling for at least 1600E, but you must accept that not everything will work on it.
For me is OK, I realised I don't use all the "new" hot stuff, I'm still using the phone like I used my Samsung S7 6-7 years ago.

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

I ordered mine last month from Wonda Mobile. They shipped via Fedex and I got it in just 3 days. https://www.wondamobile.com/mobile/vivo/vivo-x90-pro-plus-5g-cn-dual-sim-12gb-ram-256gb.html

the price seems to be going down every day, I paid around 1150€ for my black 12/256 model and now I see it's just 979€.


- The downsides of OriginOS are pretty much notification problems.. You won't get notifications from certain third party apps like Telegram for example, when dark mode is enabled. No idea if they are gonna fix it, but apparently it was a problem on the Vivo X80 Pro as well (China version) and it was fixed in an update.

- "Ok Google" voice recognition won't work either (I don't use it, but that's what I read)

- 4G works without any issues. For 5G you might wanna check out on kimovil.com, if the phone is fully compatible with your carrier.

Fully agree with this but would like to add:

- timeline doesn't work in maps

Not sure how important that is, i had it always disabled.

 

[extremecarver]

google assistant also doesn't work properly (no conversation, no okay google).

Google backup doesn't work making setup/moving your phone super painful. I haven't found any free third party app that could move app settings and some data from messengers for example.

 

[Haskren]

No desktop mode is a bummer as it's a feature I use when travelling with my P30 pro.
Hmmm - perhaps I will wait until February and hope a global release is announced

 

[aspj1111]

Fully agree with this but would like to add:

- timeline doesn't work in maps

Not sure how important that is, i had it always disabled.

Timeline in Google maps does indeed work..

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

Timeline in Google maps does indeed work..

Oh ok. I haven't tried that myself because it's always off for me. I have read that many times from the other users so I thought it's true.

 

[extremecarver]

No you can access timeline but it doesn't register new places. So it doesn't work.

I really regret having bought this dump phone with great camera...

Cannot activate location history.

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

No you can access timeline but it doesn't register new places. So it doesn't work.

I really regret having bought this dump phone with great camera...

Cannot activate location history.

I love this phone. Coming from pixel 7 Pro this one feels way more premium

 

[extremecarver]

Well cannot use Google maps hand free without assistant. Cannot read out emails aloud without conversation of google assistant.
Notifications of Signal often break (must be because China cannot block Signal messenger like they can do with WhatsApp and others). Google apps in general crippled.

This phone has to be used like a phone 5 years ago. No modern intelligent interaction possible with the phone. But yeah outstanding camera for photos (less so for videos) and good but not great battery life.


If only Asus would have a camera phone. The Zenfone 9 and the rog phone 6 really rock for the target people. Pixel 7 would rock with good battery life. That's why just wait for Samsung s23 which likely will trump the x90 camera wise anyhow. And battery wise too (for that really bad chip they got good battery life). But yeah besides Samsung, Google and Asus, and Nokia on the low end there are no more good software phones. Motorola still a bit better then the remaining Chinese producers. As long as consumers buy mainly based on hardware they can continue with dismal software.

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

Well cannot use Google maps hand free without assistant. Cannot read out emails aloud without conversation of google assistant.
Notifications of Signal often break (must be because China cannot block Signal messenger like they can do with WhatsApp and others). Google apps in general crippled.

This phone has to be used like a phone 5 years ago. No modern intelligent interaction possible with the phone. But yeah outstanding camera for photos (less so for videos) and good but not great battery life.


If only Asus would have a camera phone. The Zenfone 9 and the rog phone 6 really rock for the target people. Pixel 7 would rock with good battery life. That's why just wait for Samsung s23 which likely will trump the x90 camera wise anyhow. And battery wise too (for that really bad chip they got good battery life). But yeah besides Samsung, Google and Asus, and Nokia on the low end there are no more good software phones. Motorola still a bit better then the remaining Chinese producers. As long as consumers buy mainly based on hardware they can continue with dismal software.

Well I guess it depends on what you want or need, i'm more than happy. From your writings i think even the Pixel 6a would be good for you.

 

[extremecarver]

I want very good camera with zoom, and very good battery life, and reliability with full google services. Pixel 7 pro doesn't have good battery life..
90 or 120 Hz Display is a must too. Actually FHD+ would be best (because of battery life and FHD+ mode on 1440p screen looks unsharp), needs to be waterproof and have very bright screen (1000nits without HDR for outdoor use is what I feel is enough).

Likely s23 Ultra and maybe s23 plus (depends on the quality of the zoom lens) would be perfect or waiting if Pixel 8 pro has better Chipset when it comes to power consumption.
I never play games. Speed is only important in terms of camera.

Pixel 6a will not work for camera and battery life

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

I want very good camera with zoom, and very good battery life, and reliability with full google services. Pixel 7 pro doesn't have good battery life..
90 or 120 Hz Display is a must too. Actually FHD+ would be best (because of battery life and FHD+ mode on 1440p screen looks unsharp), needs to be waterproof and have very bright screen (1000nits without HDR for outdoor use is what I feel is enough).

Likely s23 Ultra and maybe s23 plus (depends on the quality of the zoom lens) would be perfect or waiting if Pixel 8 pro has better Chipset when it comes to power consumption.
I never play games. Speed is only important in terms of camera.

Pixel 6a will not work for camera and battery life

Got about 8h SOT with the Pixel 7 Pro. I think that's good .

 

[LIPA83]

I bought mine from Giztop.com They shipped it extremely fast and packed well to avoid any damages..

I think to order when I realised that model Pro plus is not coming to Europe. Just need to make clear, is it true that 5G doesn't work on this? and there is obviously English menu in OS, any other issues?

 

[Deleted member 11872899]

I think to order when I realised that model Pro plus is not coming to Europe. Just need to make clear, is it true that 5G doesn't work on this? and there is obviously English menu in OS, any other issues?

I would check the compatibility assistant on Tradingshenzhen. 5G works great for me.

 

[extremecarver]

5g works (check the bands on kimovil for your country). mmwave is not supported but rare in Europe. In US no mmwave is a big letdown.1500mhz 5G will likely start in 1-2 years in many countries in Europe - and isn't supported. But very few phones (2022) support it.
I would really wait for S23 however now. In China/Taiwan the x90 Pro+ is cheap (840/880€) but I would not thing a second about it if you can get a Pixel 7 Pro for much cheaper as in Europe (here P7Pro 256GB is more expensive, S22 Ultra same price).