Android’s popularity in China can only be described as strength in numbers. Just look at how many Android phones are announced every year by the various brands. There are so many models that we miss some sometimes. The Vivo S series is one of those we missed before, but this time, we did not miss the latest iteration, the Vivo S50 series, because the designs caught our eyes.
The new Vivo S50 is Oppo Find X9-kind of head-turning, and the S50 Pro mini looks suspiciously like the Honor Magic8 Pro Air and, by extension, the unofficial Apple iPhone Air 2 that may or may not happen. The S50 series was officially revealed in December 2025. Yes. It almost slipped us, again.
Seriously, though. The Pixel series may have started the bar-style camera module, but it took Apple to popularize it. Suddenly, everyone is adopting this style.
That said, let’s talk about the Vivo S50 Pro mini [CH], which is clearly the flagship of the two. Powering it is Qualcomm’s latest flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. It boasts features like a wet-fingers-friendly 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor 2.0, a super bright yet eye-protecting display, and a massive 6,500 mAh Blue Sea battery. Moreover, it promises to remain operating smoothly for five years on its Android 16-based OriginOS 6.
Memory is flagship-level too, with LPDDR5X Ultra quad-channel RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. There is no titanium frame, though. It uses an aerospace-grade aluminum frame manufactured via a CNC unibody process. Flat, squared-off design is still the trend, though slightly curved edges help with grip. The finely sandblasted surface offers a soft luster and fingerprint resistance, though most people will probably still use a case.
The S50 Pro mini features a 120 Hz 6.31-inch high-contrast AMOLED FHD+ display (2,640 × 1,216). It weighs as little as 191 g and measures 7.99 mm thin. It also embraces the current large-radius corner trend.
Camera-wise, it sports a 50 MP Sony main sensor with OIS and EIS, a 50 MP Sony periscope telephoto camera with OIS and EIS, and a 110-degree ultra-wide camera with EIS. The front houses a 50 MP selfie camera. Both the main and telephoto cameras feature autofocus, and all cameras support up to 100x digital zoom.
Other highlights include dual nano-SIM support, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB 2.0 Type-C, 90 W wired charging, 40 W wireless charging, and the usual sensor suite.
As for the Vivo S50 [CH], it is largely the same device but powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, uses standard LPDDR5X memory, lacks wireless charging, and omits the low-light flash portrait and full-range zoom flash features. It also features a larger 120 Hz 6.59-inch AMOLED FHD+ display (2,750 × 1,260) and a square camera module offset to the side.
The S50 measures 157.52 mm tall, 74.33 mm wide, and 7.59 mm thin, weighing around 196–197 g. Meanwhile, the S50 Pro mini measures 150.83 mm tall, 71.76 mm wide, and 7.99–8.10 mm thin, depending on material.
The S50 Pro mini comes in 12+256, 12+512, and 16+512 configurations, starting at 3,699 yuan [CH] (about US$536). The S50 offers 12+256, 12+512, 16+256, and 16+512 configurations, starting at 2,999 yuan [CH] (around US$435).
Images: Vivo [CH].