10 best phones with facial recognition: iPhone X, Note 9, LG G7 and more

10 best phones with facial recognition: iPhone X, Note 9, LG G7 and more

Pretty much every phone can use your face (as well as your fingerprint) as a key. But some biometric unlocking is also more secure, faster, or just a better experience overall.

Phones like the iPhone X, Galaxy Note 9 and LG G7 use biometric information to unlock your device, like your unique eye and facial pattern. Many people find it more convenient or more novel to use face unlocking versus their fingerprint. The iPhone X and Oppo Find X have done away with the fingerprint reader altogether, and rely solely on face unlocking using infrared light to map your mug.

Testing out Apple's FaceID.

CNET

At a time when phones are pushing into the $1,000 price tier, having cutting-edge software like secure face unlocking can bolster the argument that one phone is more technologically advanced than another. 

Although face unlocking has existed as far back as 2011, with Google's face unlock feature in its Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS and Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone, the feature was easy to bypass. Today, Samsung phons like the Galaxy Note 9 offer secure iris scanning alongside Google's face unlock tool and a third method, a combination of the two to unlock phones faster and more accurately (but not necessarily more securely).

Apple's method, called FaceID, uses an infrared camera, a depth sensor and a dot projector to map out 30,000 points on your face and create an artificial 3D scan. FaceID is secure enough to use for digital payments through Apple Pay. 

The majority of Android phones these days don't have this level of face unlocking, and don't integrate the feature with digital payments. But some are following in Apple's footsteps. Oppo uses a similar system for the Find X, and Xiaomi announced a similar infrared method in a recent phone. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor, which supports infrared mapping technology with 50,000 infrared dots, we can only expect more Android phones to better improve their face unlock feature in 2019.

In the meantime, check out our top phones that have facial recognition and let us know in the comments what you think about this technology. Do you like using it or do you prefer a fingerprint reader or PIN instead?

Editors' note, Aug. 23: This piece was originally published on July 18 and is updated continuously.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Sarah Tew/CNET

The newly announced Galaxy Note 9 is a big, beautiful phone with top-tier specs including a massive battery and an updated S Pen that doubles as a wireless remote. The phone has several biometric options that users can choose from to unlock their Note 9. In addition to the fingerprint reader and iris scanner, you can use Google's less secure facial recognition technology common to Android phones. Samsung also offers a combination of iris scanning and face unlock, called Intelligent Scan, which isn't secure enough for mobile payments, but is often faster and more accurate than iris scanning alone. Read CNET's review of the Note 9.

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Apple iPhone X

Apple Phone X

Sarah Tew/CNET

Apple's iPhone X uses one of the more sophisticated and fastest methods of facial recognition. It's not completely impenetrable, however, and it doesn't work smoothly 100 percent of the time. But it works notably better than most. Read CNET's review of the iPhone X.

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Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S9 (left) and S9 Plus

Sarah Tew/CNET

Just like the Note 9, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have a handful of biometric methods for screen unlocking, including secure iris unlocking, and the unique Intelligent Scan. The phones also have wireless charging, a water resistant design and come in blue and purple. Read CNET's review of the Galaxy S9.

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LG G7

LG G7

Josh Miller/CNET

The G7 ThinQ is waterproof, has an AI camera that gives your photos a boost before you snap them and a secondary wide-angle rear camera. Like its more high-end counterpart, the V35 ThinQ, both have face recognition. Read CNET's review of the LG G7.

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Motorola Moto G6

Motorola Moto G6

Josh Miller/CNET

The Moto G6 is proof you don't need to spend a lot for face unlock. It has a near-stock version of Android 8.0 Oreo, decent dual-rear cameras and its battery charges fast. It's also remarkably affordable at $249, £219 and AU$399. Read CNET's review of the Motorola Moto G6.  

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OnePlus 6

OnePlus 6

Known for making phones with high-end specs at a more affordable price tag, OnePlus continues to carve a name for itself in the Android phone space. Its latest OnePlus 6 flagship, which packs a 6.28-inch screen, dual rear cameras and a Snapdragon 845 processor, employs one of the fastest face unlock technology we've ever experienced. Read CNET's review of the OnePlus 6.

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Oppo Find X

Oppo Find X

Angela Lang/CNET

The Find X's beautiful and unique design mean you'll need to pop out the phone's camera in order to use its secure 3D face scanning. Oppo's supplier boasts a 0.0001 percent false recognition rate and payment-level authentication. You'd think that this would mean it takes slightly longer to unlock the phone, but it takes less than a second from the moment you swipe up with the display turned on. Read CNET's review of the Oppo Find X.

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Huawei Honor 7X

Huawei Honor 7X

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

As another affordable phone, the Honor 7X from 2017 features a 5.93-inch display, a depth-sensing 16-megapixel camera that can take portrait photos and a quad-core processor. But don't let the mid-range specs fool you; Huawei is known to boast about its face unlocking technology, saying that the feature in its more recent Honor 7C and 7A works faster than Apple's FaceID. Read CNET's preview of the Huawei Honor 7X.

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Xiaomi Mi 8

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition

James Martin/CNET

Though not well-known outside countries like China and India, Xiaomi has garnered a reputation for making high-quality phones for much less than other popular flagships. In June, it released the transparent Mi 8 Explorer Edition. It's the first Android phone to feature the iPhone X method for face unlock, employing 30,000 infrared points on the face. Read CNET's preview of the Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition.

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Xiaomi redmi 2 review value city xiaomi redmi airdots 2 review cara flash xiaomi redmi 2 harga hp xiaomi redmi 2 firmware xiaomi redmi 2 xiaomi redmi 2 price xiaomi redmi 9 xiaomi redmi 9c

Xiaomi Redmi 2 review: Value, but not without cost

Xiaomi Redmi 2 review: Value, but not without cost

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is well-known for its low-cost, high-quality products, but unfortunately, the Redmi 2 fails to live up to expectations. That isn't to say the sub-$120 (roughly £75 or AU$140) smartphone is a bad device, but slight performance issues hamper what would otherwise be a great phone for its price.

First and foremost, the Redmi 2 is a budget phone, so it's not using the fastest processor possible or packing a lot of RAM. This can lead to noticeable sluggishness when more resource-hogging apps such as Facebook Messenger start running in the background. But if you don't use that, the phone can run pretty smoothly.

Performance issues aside, the phone does come packed with features, including the latest version of the company's easy-to-use MIUI, dual-SIM 4G capabilities and an 8-megapixel rear camera that takes surprisingly decent shots in good lighting.

If you're looking for a cheap phone, this is probably a good buy, though if you live in the US, UK or Australia, you'll have to get it from online resellers at a slight premium. Unfortunately, Xiaomi doesn't sell its phones in stores in those countries -- it's still focused on Asian markets such as India, but those in South America, in particular Brazil, may soon get the chance to purchase one when the company moves forward with its expansion plans.

Design

• 4.7-inch, 1,280x720-pixel IPS display (312ppi)
• 5.3 by 2.7 by 0.4 inches (134 by 67.2 by 9.4 mm)
• 4.7 ounces (133 grams)

Like the original Redmi, the Redmi 2's design keeps it simple. What you get is a dull-looking rectangular phone with rounded corners and a plastic rear. It's not much to look at, but it seems Xiaomi has gone with a more basic design to keep costs down.

The Redmi 2 greatly resembles the original phone, down to the position of the rear camera, volume and power buttons (located on the right side). The key difference, however, is that the Redmi 2 is slightly smaller when placed side by side, as you can see in the picture below.

The Redmi 2 (right) is slightly smaller than the Redmi 1S, but the size of the screen is the same. Aloysius Low/CNET

Under the rear cover, you'll find a removable 2,200mAh battery, a microSD card slot and two 4G SIM slots sized for micro-SIMs. The battery's slightly larger in capacity compared to the Redmi (2,000mAh), but a larger battery is necessary since the Redmi 2 runs on 4G LTE (instead of 3G only, like the Redmi).

The 3.5mm audio jack is located along the top edge, while the Micro-USB port if found on the bottom right edge of the phone. Interestingly, the phone's speakers are found next to the rear camera instead of lower down at the bottom like most other phones.

Weighing at 133 grams (4.7 ounces), the phone packs quite a heft in the hands, delivering a solid reassuring feel. The 4.7-inch IPS display is also bright and viewable under bright sunlight, and stays that way when viewed from pretty much any angle. The handset sports a 1,280x720-pixel display. Not an impressive spec, but not too shabby either for its price.

The 4.7-inch display is bright and vibrant. Aloysius Low/CNET

Hardware and software

• 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410
• 8GB of storage
• 1GB of RAM
• Expandable storage
• 2,200mAh nonremovable battery

Powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, the Redmi 2 packs 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard memory. It also microSD card support for up to 32GB of extra storage.

As mentioned, the phone supports 4G, and in particular LTE bands 3, 7 and 8 on the FDD LTE standard. This means the phone will be able to use 4G in markets such as UK and Australia but not in the US.

Software-wise, the phone is powered by Android 4.4 but runs Xiaomi's own MIUI 6.0. The custom skin adds quite a bit of features to the phone, including my favorite feature, which lets you shift apps around by tapping and holding on an app and using another finger to flick to another screen. And while it's not running Lollipop, Xiaomi's MIUI includes plenty of useful thoughtful features last seen on the Mi 4i.

While the UI is similar to iOS, with apps located on the home screen, the drop-down notification menu is more closely related to Android and comes loaded with shortcuts that give you quick access to turning the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off, and putting the phone in airplane mode, among other things. You can also quickly turn on the flashlight from the lock screen by holding down the button, a feature I'm told was added after suggestions from Xiaomi's customers.

Other features include the ability to select different themes, and an easy mode that changes the UI into something simpler with bigger dial pads and icons. That's perfect for users who aren't as familiar with modern smartphones.

One thing that Android users should take note of is that like most Chinese-designed UIs, the phone doesn't have an app drawer -- as mentioned, apps are all located on the home screen. It's a mixture of Android and iOS, so if you're familiar with either system, it shouldn't take you long to get used to the phone. Check out the screenshots below for a look at the UI.

Xiaomi's phones use MIUI, which is a custom skin on top of Android. In the Redmi 2's case, it's KitKat. Screenshot by Aloysius Low/CNET

MIUI has a very clean and flat look, though like iOS, it stores the apps on the home screen instead of an app drawer. Screenshot by Aloysius Low/CNET

Camera

• 8-megapixel rear camera
• 1080p HD video
• 2-megapixel front-facing camera

The Redmi 2 comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a front 2-megapixel shooter. Interestingly, unlike most budget handsets in the market, the Redmi 2's camera does offer decent performance, and has a speedy shutter to boot. Startup time is a little slow, but that's mostly due to the phone's processing power, which I'll talk a bit more in the following section.

On the rear you'll find an 8-megapixel camera. Aloysius Low/CNET

The Redmi 2's camera also comes with HDR mode, a countdown mode for taking better selfies, panorama and a manual option if you like to tweak things. There aren't any overly complicated features to the camera app -- a good thing, in my opinion.

Besides normal shots, you can take full HD videos with the rear camera, and while the camera does an adequate job of capturing video, I noticed that the automatic exposure can be a tad aggressive, which can white out your video if you're moving from a light source too quickly. It shouldn't be an issue if you're shooting a video in bright light, though.

For the front 2-megapixel camera, the image quality isn't very great; shots will look muddy even though there's bright light. On the bright side, you'll have some fun with the built-in age and gender detection, which displays them onscreen. It's often accurate at times, but you'll get some laughs when it sometimes shows your friend being 20 years older than they actually are.

Check out the test shots below.

Without HDR turned on, the phone's still capable of taking a good outdoor shot, but do note that turning it on will result in some time taken for processing (click to enlarge). Aloysius Low/CNET

With HDR turned on, the image is a lot brighter, and the sky in the background has more detail. (Click to enlarge). Aloysius Low/CNET

Oddly, whenever I tried focusing on the white flower, the phone seemed to think it was too bright and adjusted the aperture, resulting in a dimmer picture. When not focused though, the picture was normal. It's likely Xiaomi can fix this via software. (Click to enlarge). Aloysius Low/CNET

As long as there's lots of light, even indoor shots turn out well with plenty of detail (click to enlarge). Aloysius Low/CNET

Performance

In my day-to-day use of the phone, I initially found the performance sluggish at times. I thought this was originally a problem with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, but it seems like it's probably due to Facebook Messenger combined with the phone only having 1GB of RAM.

Messenger seems to be quite the resource hog (even on other high-end phones), and the replacement review unit of the Redmi 2 I tested out seemed to exhibit the same issues, so it could be Messenger. Although, having only 1GB of RAM will lead to a poor experience with multitasking -- that's what I usually find on phones with similar specs.

Anecdotally, the Redmi 2 took 37 seconds to boot, but there's a slight 1-second wait for the camera to start when completely closed. There was no noticeable delay for the shutter, though.

The rear cover is removable, and grants access to the dual 4G SIM slots, microSD and a removable 2,200mAh battery. Aloysius Low/CNET

On the benchmarking front though, the Redmi 2 seems to hold its own. It scored an average of 11,290 in the Quadrant benchmark tests, which shows the handset is better than similar specced devices, including the ZTE Grand X Max+, though it loses out to the Moto E (powered by a Snapdragon 200 processor) which scored 13,528 in the same test.

Against the more expensive $180 Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, the Redmi 2 seems able to match scores, which puts the lower-priced phone in a much better light. Lastly, I also ran the test in Performance mode of the phone but there wasn't any noticeable differences in score.

Performance test

	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Average
Geekbench 3	1437	1473	1476	1,462
Quadrant	11758	11833	12002	11,864
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited	4382	4411	4334	4,376

Geekbench 3

Xiaomi Redmi 2 1462 Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime 1,439

Note: Longer is better

3DMark - Ice Storm Unlimited

Xiaomi Redmi 2 4,376 Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime 4,557

Note: Longer is better

Battery life

In our CNET Videos Lab test, the phone lasted 11 hours and 24 minutes. If you're wondering how much that translates to in real-life use, based on my personal experience with the phone during the week that I spent reviewing it, that's about a full day. Since the 2,200mAh battery is removable, you can carry a spare with you if you need to go longer. Alternatively, Xiaomi's own power banks are great for keeping you juiced up, too.

Call quality

I didn't encounter any issues with the phone's audio when making calls, and the speaker is decently loud enough that you won't have trouble hearing it. In a more quiet environment such as the office, though, it's better to keep the phone on silent as you'll more than likely tick people off when notifications start chiming in. For 4G data speeds, the phone was tested on the SingTel network in Singapore, where it managed to hit a high of 49.2 Mbps for download speeds in five tests.

Screenshot by Aloysius Low/CNET

Conclusion

If it weren't for the low 1GB of RAM, the Xiaomi Redmi 2 would definitely make a great phone. It's a drawback, but performance is something you have to give up when it comes to most devices in this price category.

The Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime offers similar performance, but the Redmi 2 delivers it for a much cheaper price. Of course, there are other budget phones, such as the $150 Moto E and the myriad other cheap handsets from China available from online retailers. The Redmi 2 seems to offer the best value as it is.

With its low price, the Redmi 2 is a good phone for those who need a cheap 4G dual-SIM device, especially travelers who need a second phone for an upcoming vacation or work trip.

Need a cheap dual 4G SIM phone? You're looking at it. Aloysius Low/CNET

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Getting a new iPhone every 2 years makes less sense than ever

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Getting a new iPhone every 2 years makes less sense than ever

We all know the drill. As Apple's annual fall event draws close, many of us start to check in on our previous two-year smartphone plan to see if we're eligible for an upgrade in September. After all, the newest phone is only the newest phone for so long. Even for discerning shoppers like me, it takes serious willpower to resist the lure of a purple iPhone or 1TB of storage.

Mobile carriers have long persuaded many of us to upgrade our smartphones every two years, offering two-year contracts linked to free or low-cost phone upgrades to keep the two-year upgrade cycle going. That feeling of ponying up just a couple hundred dollars (or less) for the newest, fanciest phone available has helped perpetuate the rise of the de facto two-year phone upgrade. Case in point: AT&T and Verizon marketed a "free" iPhone 12 last year for customers who buy unlimited plans and commit to a multiyear deal. And the trade-in deals were even better this year for the iPhone 13.

But even though that might still be the norm in the US, a routine upgrade isn't a thing for much of the world. 

I was born and raised in developing Asia, a region where buying a smartphone is financially unattainable for hundreds of millions of people, much less a two-year upgrade. In India, the average person needs to save two months' salary to buy the cheapest available smartphone, according to a survey published by the Alliance for Affordable Internet last August. From my perspective, the trend of routinely upgrading a phone every two years when it doesn't change that much is a privilege, one that reminds me of the stark income equality gap as well as the ever-increasing digital divide globally.

Read more: Billions of people still can't afford smartphones: That's a major problem

Beyond that, and perhaps more tangibly, I think we should consider the environmental cost of purchasing a new phone. You've read the headlines: Climate change is accelerating at rapid speed. Countries around the world keep setting new records for the highest temperatures. There are more climate-related disasters than ever before, arctic caps are melting and biodiversity is disappearing faster than we can save it. What, exactly, happens to all those discarded phones over time? Does all that plastic ever fully decompose? 

Apple says it removed the in-box charger from its iPhone 12 lineup for environmental reasons.

Apple

Read more: Apple is opening up its world of iPhone recycling

Consumer electronics are responsible for tonnes of e-waste annually, which in turn contributes to the climate crisis. Experts have warned about how e-waste disposal contributes to climate change due to the chemicals released when the waste is burned, some of which are equivalent to carbon dioxide.

For years, developed countries like the US have shipped recyclable waste overseas for processing. Although that is now beginning to change, there are real costs. iPhones contain toxic materials like lead and mercury, for instance, which can harm the environment and people if disposed of improperly. And often e-waste isn't properly managed. In Southern China, there is a town called Guiyu that has become known as the world's biggest graveyard for America's electronic junk, and synonymous among environmentalists with toxic waste. The UN's 2020 Global E-waste Monitor report found that the world dumped a record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste last year, of which the US is the world's second-largest contributor to e-waste, dumping 6.9 million tonnes.

Read more: I paid $69 to replace my iPhone battery: Here's what happened

While Apple is committed to a net zero supply chain by 2030, it's tough to argue that there's a better alternative to lower carbon consumption than less consumption. After all, Apple says the iPhone 12's end-to-end supply chain emits 70 kilograms of carbon to the atmosphere. If even 1 million people waited that extra year, we could save 70,000,000 kilograms of carbon from going into the air in a year. Imagine if it was 10 million or 100 million. It's something to think about before making that upgrade. 

The smartphone upgrade cycle has gotten longer

Even with the enticing deals offered by carriers, the upgrade cycle has seemingly lengthened. In recent years, several reports show how Americans and Europeans are more than happy to hold on to their phones for longer periods of time. In fact, in 2019 smartphone upgrades hit record lows at two of the biggest US carriers, Verizon and AT&T. Carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon seem to have responded to this by offering month-to-month plans, which offer more flexibility and options, indicating a potential departure from the "norm" of a two-year phone upgrade. 

Barring big-picture factors like the struggling global economy amid the ongoing pandemic as well as our increased mindfulness over the environment, I think this trend is persisting for a confluence of reasons. Phones today are receiving software, and therefore security, updates for longer. For instance, 2015's iPhone 6S is compatible with iOS 15, potentially dampening desires for a bi-yearly upgrade.

In addition to all this, smartphone innovation has hit a plateau, and the industry bears the hallmarks of one that's maturing: slowing smartphone sales growth along with the slower evolution of what we need, what we want and so forth. There are no big surprises here: Today's phones are getting more nice-to-have refinements rather than the awe-inspiring innovation seen just three or four years ago.

Decreasing technological gap

Up until a couple of years ago, smartphone manufacturers had us sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting for the next design refresh. But that's not as much the case anymore. With the iPhone 12 series, 5G was probably its buzziest feature -- one that understandably ended up triggering an upgrade supercycle. But the most exciting thing for many of us at CNET was MagSafe, which is hardly new. Apple's proprietary technology, allowing you to magnetically snap on attachments, was first introduced some 15 years ago with the first-gen MacBook Pro. It was then reintroduced for the iPhone 12.

Patrick Holland/CNET

When you look at what changed from the iPhone 11, you'll see the usual suspects on your list: 5G, OLED screen, new design. Admittedly there are a few more things you won't see everywhere, such as MagSafe and the Ceramic Shield, but nothing extra-special to truly write home about. Personally, the last time I was blown away by an iPhone reveal was back in 2017 when Apple introduced the iPhone X, which set new design standards for the modern-day iPhone. The iPhone X did away with the physical home button and chunky bezels of its predecessors and made way for a sleek, futuristic device that inspired the iPhone 12 family. Also, for the first time with Apple, we were able to unlock an iPhone with Face ID, Apple's facial recognition technology.

Looking at the iPhone 13, the narrative sounds familiar. We knew it wouldn't get a major technical upgrade (though that didn't stop us from wishing). While we appreciate the upgrades Apple did give the phone (a smaller notch, a larger battery and a faster screen refresh rate), the iPhone 13 is "not radically different," according to CNET's Patrick Holland. Plus a number of these new iPhone features, like the 120Hz screen, currently exist on Android phones, reinforcing the notion of a decreasing technological gap in the smartphone landscape. Apple itself says the life-cycle of a typical iPhone is now three years. So the company times its new releases accordingly: We get a major redesign every three years, not two, with more minor updates in between. 

Look no further than the glitziest non-Apple flagship launch of this year for clues: Samsung's Galaxy S21 family. Here the standout change wasn't made to the hardware or software, but perhaps to its least interesting feature: its price tag. The S21 lineup has a starting price of $800 (£769, AU$1,249), which is $200 less than last year's $1,000 Galaxy S20, making for an enticing deal. 

Apart from that, major differences between the S21 and last year's S20 were mostly incremental. I remember having to pore over the specs sheet to spot salient differences as I covered Samsung's virtual Unpacked event. Refinements were made to the usual suspects, including the processor, software and 5G. This might have been part of Samsung's response to the global coronavirus pandemic, but again it lends credence to the notion of that decreasing technological gap. It was also interesting to note the items Samsung dropped from the S21 flagship family to meet that lowered price. We said goodbye to expandable storage, bundled earphones and most notoriously the in-box charger, as Samsung followed in Apple's lead -- apparently in the name of the environment. 

Read more: Here's what we know so far about Samsung's Galaxy S22

Let's also take a moment to consider the question: What makes the S21 an attractive buy? Chances are, a great camera, fast performance, battery longevity and a crisp display with narrow bezels are at the top of your list. But the truth is 2019's Galaxy S10 boasts all those features. Heck, even the Galaxy S7 from five years ago did. My point is yearly changes have become too incremental to compel most people to upgrade with urgency, especially given the backdrop of rising smartphone prices.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip.

Angela Lang/CNET

Are we at peak phone?

I'm not discounting foldable phones. Samsung and Huawei have made undeniable technological progress, and their bendy handsets have dramatically altered the way smartphones are used and could represent the future of the industry. But folding phones are far from the mainstream. Phone manufacturers and carriers in the US have moved the most innovative devices to a price that's simply beyond reach for most people. For instance, the Galaxy Fold 3 starts at $1,800 (£1,599, AU$2,499) and Huawei's Mate X2, available in China for now, costs nearly $3,000 ($2,800, £1,985, AU$3,640 converted). Until these prices hit price parity with, say, the iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max, foldable phones are likely to remain a niche product.

Smartphone innovation has stagnated, and this is not a knock against the consumer electronics companies or the tech giants that design them. Maybe we've reached peak smartphone, and this is as far as it needs to go. It could well be part of the reason why the race to upgrade your phones is slowing.

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Vivo's X60 Pro Plus has a Snapdragon 888 and a 55-watt charger in the box

Vivo's X60 Pro Plus has a Snapdragon 888 and a 55-watt charger in the box

Vivo is one of China's biggest phone brands, and now it's teaming up with German lensmaker Zeiss to level up its photography game. Those boosted cameras, plus a gorgeous display and impressive battery features, make Vivo's newest phones worthy of your attention.

Vivo unveiled its inaugural global flagship phones for this year, announcing the X60, X60 Pro, and the X60 Pro Plus, on Thursday. Positioning the X60 Pro Plus as a "professional photography flagship," Vivo is flexing its maiden collaboration with Zeiss, which co-engineered the device's image system. Although Vivo is relatively unknown in the West, the Chinese company is one of the world's top 10 phone manufacturers by market share -- and it's used by several Avengers too.

I spent a couple of days with the highest-end X60 Pro Plus, and can say it delivers on a premium Android experience complete with some extra bells and whistles you may not expect. There's a 6.56-inch AMOLED display, a speedy refresh rate (120Hz), the newest Qualcomm processor available (Snapdragon 888), fast charging (55-watt bundled charger) and a periscope-style telephoto camera seen on ultra-premium flagships such as Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Apart from the Zeiss collaboration and the incremental upgrades, new to the series is the X60 Pro Plus' so-called extended RAM technology. Vivo claims 3GB of the phone's "idle" storage can be used as RAM to "achieve a +3GB RAM effect," promising to boost the device's performance. 

Missing in the X60 Pro Plus are things like an IP rating for water resistance, which many phones of this class have, and expandable storage. That will be forgivable for most since the one variant of this phone has 256GB storage.

At the time of this writing, Vivo didn't share how much these phones will cost internationally, but we can look at the X60's pricing in its native China as a reference point (although prices tend to vary depending on country). The base X60 Pro starts at 4,498 yuan (converts to about $690, £500 or AU$910), and the X60 Pro Plus starts at 5,998 yuan (about $920, £670 or AU$1,210). Unfortunately, Vivo currently has no US rollout plans, but it shouldn't be too difficult to import. It's being released in more than 20 markets worldwide including the UK, India, the Middle East and Europe over the next few months.

The X60 Pro Plus has periscope lens bragging rights

The Vivo X60 Pro Plus has four rear cameras, consisting of a standard lens, ultra-wide lens, portrait lens, and a periscope-style telephoto lens (just like its predecessor). Huawei's P30 Pro was the first phone to include a Periscopic lens, which allows for insane long zooming, and it's since been picked up by Samsung on its Ultra phones. Apple is rumored to adopt the technology late next year. Compared to regular telephoto cameras that offer 2x or 3x optical zoom, periscope-style cameras can typically do 5x or even 10x optical zoom by using more than one lens along with the camera sensor. For its part, the X60 Pro Plus boasts 5x optical zoom, and 60x digital zoom.

Last year, I showed you how far you can zoom in with 60x zoom on the Vivo X50 Pro, so you can take a look at that to get a sense of this phone's digital zoom capabilities. 

The X60 Pro Plus has a periscope-style telephoto camera capable of 10x optical zoom and 60x digital zoom.

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Vivo X60 Pro Plus cameras in action

Whether I was attempting to snap the perfect portrait of my dog napping in our living room or action shots of Rocky running on a hiking trail, the five cameras on this phone, along with the many accompanying modes, made it easy to take wonderful and versatile shots. Night-time imaging was impressive too, with the X60 Pro Plus taking crisp, detailed photos. There is also night mode for video on the main camera.

Even when I took pictures facing bright, sunlit windows, the camera managed to capture punched-up images of the indoor surroundings. Below you can see what I'm talking about, especially when juxtaposed with iPhone 12 Pro Max photo, which took more true-to-life, albeit less saturated photos. Whatever you prefer is likely a matter of personal preference. I realize this might not be an apples-to-apples comparison (pun intended), but my hope is that it gives you an indication of where the X60 Pro Plus stands on the spectrum of phone cameras. 

Taken with the Vivo X60 Pro Plus. The furniture looks more saturated here than in the image below taken with the iPhone 12 Pro Max below. 

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Taken at night.

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Portrait mode example.

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Taken on default settings.

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

X60 Pro Plus has a 'vegan' leather finish

The X60 Pro Plus features a design similar to a number of high-end Android phones we've seen in recent years. On the front is a curved display with a centrally located punch-hole notch, and on the back there's a "vegan" leather rear that reminds me of last year's Oppo's Find X2 Pro.There's a camera bump on the back and a blue Zeiss label emblazoned on its right side. I realize Vivo wants to flex its partnership with the 175-year-old German lensmaker, but I think it could have achieved a similar result with more subtle labelling.

Speaking of the display, the X60 Pro Plus relied on a high-res AMOLED display (made by Samsung). It has a speedy refresh rate of 120Hz, but you can dial it back to 60Hz if you want to save on battery life. Most phones have refresh rates of 60Hz, which means the screen refreshes 60 times in a second. 120Hz displays can look a lot smoother when scrolling through webpages. 

Vivo

Vivo X60 Pro Plus has 55-watt bundled charger

The X60 Pro Plus astounded me with its blazing-fast charging speeds. In fact, this was probably one of my favorite features because you only need 20 minutes for your phone to get enough charge to last you between a half or full day. Within 20-25 minutes, the 55-watt in-box charger juiced up the phone from 0% to around 70%, and within 45 minutes the 4,200-mAh battery was fully revitalized. 

The X60 Pro Plus runs on the Snapdragon 888, Qualcomm's latest processor found in a number of Android flagships including Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra and Xiaomi's Mi 11. This chipset is backed by 12GB RAM and 256 GB of storage. Vivo claims 3GB of the phone's storage can be used as RAM, giving you that extra dose of power when multiple apps are running in the background. Vivo claims its new memory management relies on algorithms to lets 3GB of idle storage to "assume the function" of RAM, resulting a boost in memory usage efficiency by 37%. You probably won't notice a difference at first, but in theory it should mean better performance when your phone is loaded with apps.

Vivo X60 Pro Plus vs. X60 Pro

	Vivo X60 Pro Plus	Vivo X60 Pro
Display size, resolution	6.56-inch AMOLED "flexible screen", FHD+ (1080 x 2400 pixels)	6.56-inch AMOLED "flexible screen", FHD+ (1080 x 2400 pixels)
Camera	50-megapixel (main), 48-megapixel (ultra-wide gimbal camera), 32-megapixel (portrait), 8-megapixel (periscope)	48-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (ultra-wide), 13-megapixel (portrait)
Front-facing camera	32-megapixel	32-megapixel
Dimensions (Millimeters)	158.59x73.35x9.10mm	Midnight black: 158.58x73.24x7.59 mm and shimmer blue: 158.58x73.24x7.69 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	191 grams	177 grams for midnight black, 179 grams for shimmer blue
Mobile software	Android 11	Android 11
Video capture	4K	4K
Processor	Snapdragon 888	Snapdragon 870
Storage	256GB	256GB
RAM	12GB	12GB
Expandable storage	No	No
Battery	4,200 mAh	4,200 mAh
Special features	55-watt fast charging (in box charger), 120Hz, 60x hybrid zoom, 5x optical zoom, dual SIM	33-watt fast charging (in box charger), dual SIM, 120 Hz screen
Price off-contract (USD)	N/A	N/A
Price (GBP)	N/A	N/A
Price (AUD)	N/A	N/A

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Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says in a research note that iPhones will likely get a periscope-style telephoto camera lens in 2022 if lens suppliers Semco and Sunny Optical join the Apple supply chain this year, according to reports from MacRumors and 9-to-5 Mac. This means that a much better camera could be coming to iPhones, with lenses similar to those used in some Huaweiphones today. 

The design differences would likely be minimal, since periscope-style telephoto lenses don't extend out from the body of a phone, but rather within it, according to the reports. Apple previously adopted 2x telephoto lenses in its 2016 iPhone 7 Plus, but a shift to periscope-style lenses could bring that zoom power up to 5x or more. The improved range and depth of the lens would bring its cameras into competition with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and Huawei P40 Pro Plus, both of which have cameras with up to 10x zoom.

Kuo said he believes the new lenses will be featured in the iPhone 12 in 2022. 

Apple didn't immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.

Read more: The best phones for 2020

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