vivo S18 Pro review: a more beautiful thin and light flagship, there is also technical support behind it

[[[Preface: vivo S18 series, there is a higher configuration of the "big cup"]]]

Not long ago, we brought you a review of the vivo S18.

As vivo's latest generation of "standard" S-series models, vivo S18 uses a new design language of "flowers on the cake". At the same time, the use of a new energy-efficient main controller and a new fill ring imaging system make it a good experience for both daily entertainment and portrait photography.

Of course, friends who have paid attention to this series may know that the vivo S18 series is not only the "standard version", but also the "Pro" model with higher performance positioning and more bonuses in image configuration.

So to what extent does vivo S18 Pro have been "enhanced", and what are the differences in experience brought about by the additional improved performance and image configuration? With such questions, we entered the evaluation of this new phone.

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[[Appearance: Although it has been greatly increased, it has the same thinness]]

After getting the vivo S18 Pro, our first feeling was how it was completely no different from the standard version in terms of styling.

If you have seen our vivo S18 review before, you must have found that vivo S18 Pro also uses the design language based on the "relief carving" process and the "cloud brocade glass" material.

If you look closely at the back of the S18 Pro, you can see the petal pattern that is layered like a three-dimensional paper sculpture.

Even in the raised position of the rear camera module, the "carving" pattern on the trim plate is perfectly aligned and coherent with the rest of the back. I have to say that this is really quite effective, and it also requires the product to have a fairly high precision in manufacturing and production.

However, the S18 Pro doesn't just use the same extremely unique back shape as the S18.

In fact, after checking the technical parameters of the two, we found that the S18 Pro has higher SoC specifications and a more luxurious rear camera configuration, and its body length, width and height, and even weight indicators are almost exactly the same as those of the S18. Both models use an ultra-thin hyperboloid body of 7.45mm, and the weight of the body around 185g is also a rare ultra-light design today.

At the same time, the two models also share the same screen panel. This 10bit curved OLED screen has a resolution of 2800*1260, a peak brightness of up to 2800nit, and supports a variable refresh rate of 1-120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 300Hz.

Of course, from the user's point of view, there will definitely be some consumers who hope that the "Pro" version will be able to open a significant gap with the standard version in terms of appearance. At this point, the S18 Pro puts the main exterior difference in the rear camera area.

As you can see, the vivo S18 Pro obviously also uses vivo's signature VCS bionic spectrum sensor technology. However, compared with the S18's rear dual camera, the S18 Pro is equipped with a rear camera triple camera module, which has an independent portrait telephoto. Yes, that's the biggest differentiator in terms of appearance.

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[[Performance: Dimensity 9200+ leads, small body size also has high performance]]

Having said so much, vivo S18 Pro is similar to the "standard version" in terms of styling this time, and some friends may already be drumming in their hearts. If it is so thin and light as a "big cup", how much stronger can the performance be?

What is a little surprising is that the vivo S18 Pro is equipped with a 4nm process, which is equivalent to the top flagship level of the previous generation MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ mobile platform. It has a Cortex-X3 ultra-large core clocked at up to 3.35GHz and an Immortails-G715 GPU that supports ray tracing.

At the same time, the S18 Pro also provides a storage combination starting at 12GB+256GB and a maximum of 16GB+512GB. Judging from the built-in flash speed test results of the Antutu review, it should be equipped with UFS 3.1 flash memory of later specifications.

GeekBench 5.5.1 CPU性能跑分

3DMARK Wildlife Extreme重负载

3DMARK SolarBay 光追测试

When it comes to CPU and GPU tests, the S18 Pro shows that it doesn't "match" its slim body, pretty good performance level, and even better than some gaming models on the same platform. Of course, it can be said that there is a "late-mover advantage" in technological progress and software optimization, but its own heat dissipation design obviously also plays a big role.

Finally, in the Antutu evaluation, the S18 Pro ran a comprehensive score of 1,578,484 points at room temperature in winter. This score is already surprisingly high for the same platform model, overpowering many gaming-oriented products, and also surpassing some models equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen2+. To be honest, it's hard to imagine that it can achieve such an amazing level of performance in such a lightweight and slim body.

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[[[Game: A variety of mainstream games are adapted, and the measured fluency is very powerful]]

Since the theoretical performance results are good, what kind of performance will the vivo S18 Pro bring in real games?

First of all, although it is not positioned as a "gaming orientation", the S18 Pro still provides a series of game optimization features that it should have. These include, but are not limited to, high-performance mode, automatic game screen enhancement, screen-off hang-up, somatosensory control, and so on.

And we also found in the test that the S18 Pro has adapted to the "maximum quality" or "extreme frame rate" mode of many mainstream mobile games. This shows that its product team really intends to let users play games on this phone.

"Honor of Kings" has an average frame rate of 118.6 and an average power consumption of 4573mW

Diablo Immortal has an average frame rate of 59.2 and an average power consumption of 3916.3mW

The average frame rate of Genshin Impact is 58.8 and the average power consumption is 4205.7mW

"Honkai Star Railway" has an average frame rate of 55.2 and an average power consumption of 4973mW

Based on the measured results, the S18 Pro's gaming performance is indeed in line with its benchmark scores. Whether it's a mainstream esports mobile game or a high-quality open-world game, it can achieve a very stable and stutter-free frame rate. On top of that, this thin and light model even has a brilliant level of power consumption control. With the built-in 5000mAh large-capacity battery, its gaming endurance is destined to be quite worth looking forward to.

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[[Image: Complete zoom triple camera, independent portrait telephoto is the highlight]]

Finally, let's talk about the vivo S18 Pro's image performance this time.

As we have already mentioned earlier, vivo has actually been equipped with a very good outsole front camera + dual LED soft light on the S18 this time. So if you are just pursuing a good "selfie" effect, then the S18 can actually meet such needs.

In contrast, S18 Pro's advantage in the image level is mainly that the rear camera uses a set of IMX920 VCS main camera + JN1 ultra wide angle + IMX663 double portrait telephoto, a relatively complete "zoom triple camera" system. At the same time, the Dimensity 9200+, as the flagship SoC of the previous generation, naturally also brings higher ISP computing power.

In terms of basic colors, the S18 Pro offers three different imaging styles: "Sharp", "Texture", and "Natural". Judging from our actual shooting experience, the difference between these three styles is very obvious, which can be regarded as a clever way to cater to the differences in the use and aesthetic preferences of different consumers for mobile phone images.

Secondly, from the perspective of CMOS focusing structure, S18 Pro can support all-pixel focusing this time, whether it is IMX920 wide angle or IMX663 double telephoto. So in everyday close-up shots, it can bring a pretty good macro focusing effect, even with a telephoto, you can shoot sharp details from a distance.

Of course, considering that the S18 Pro's telephoto is a 50mm equivalent "portrait telephoto", then it chooses a CMOS with good focus and focusing, and the significance will naturally be more reflected in the portrait shooting with clarity and greater freedom of creative distance. Whether it's shooting a moment of "looking back", or shooting a long-distance portrait across the street, the S18 Pro's telephoto gives the advantage of the film rate, which is indeed not comparable to the S18.

When it comes to night scenes, the S18 Pro's performance is even more interesting. On the one hand, thanks to the not-so-bad JN1, this ultra-thin model can even take ultra-wide-angle shots of night scenes with a decent look, which we really didn't expect before.

On the other hand, although the S18 Pro does not emphasize the "hyper-dynamic" that is currently popular in the top flagships in terms of image algorithms, its night scene imaging style emphasizes the restoration of the light atmosphere. To put it more bluntly, the highlights are very prominent.

Of course, some people may feel that such an idea will make the picture appear "night" and clean enough. But if you think about it, in today's urban night scenes, how can the ubiquitous light source make the night look really "dark"? That's right, the night scene of the S18 Pro is, to some extent, more reductive.

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[[[Summary: Ultra-thin and all-round, to some extent, it is also showing off technology]]

Overall, as the "big cup" model in the vivo S18 series, the S18 Pro can be said to be beyond our imagination in many ways.

In terms of appearance, as a "big cup", it still maintains the series' consistent thin, easy-to-hold body size, as well as extremely gorgeous surface craftsmanship. Especially with the significantly improved configuration, the weight of the fuselage has hardly changed, which is very surprising.

In terms of performance, on the basis of its ultra-thinness, we originally thought that the S18 Pro might make the performance release less aggressive in order to save power or suppress heat. However, both the benchmark score and the gaming test show that the actual performance is very good, and it also has a large battery and excellent heat dissipation that is not visible to the eye.

At the same time, on the basis of the front camera soft light and rear camera fill ring, the S18 Pro has also significantly enhanced the hardware quality of the rear camera ultra-wide angle compared to the S18, adding an additional 2x portrait telephoto with excellent focusing performance. This also makes it significantly more "all-rounder" in the day-to-day shooting experience, with a significant increase in the focal length available when shooting portraits and the success rate of capturing shots.

Of course, when these characteristics are concentrated in a mobile phone, from the standpoint of consumers, we can certainly say that vivo has successfully made a rare "all-round" fashion powerhouse in an ultra-thin body. But if you think about it from the perspective of R&D, then the S18 Pro behind vivo's current technical accumulation of smartphone internal structure stacking, heat dissipation and battery design can also be said to be a disguised "show technology" on this model.