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Introduction
The Vivo X100 pro has finally released in the global markets, and it has quite a few noteworthy improvements over its predecessor.
It is the first device to house the brand new MediatTek Dimensity 9300 chipset and it offers a serious camera setup which includes a 1-in type main sensor, an improved ultrawide camera, a new floating telephoto sensor and their latest image signal processor, the Vivo V3 chip.
The display is now brighter, the battery is now larger, the design is breathtaking and I cannot wait to dive into every single aspect.
In the box you’ll find the phone itself, a more premium rubberized case, a 6-amp charging cable and a 120W charging brick.
This is my full review of one of the best flagships I have ever tested, the Vivo X100 Pro.
Vivo X100 Pro Pricing & Availability
The device comes in only one storage variant that being 512GB with 16GB of RAM, so the global price which works out to roughly $1,100 or 92,000 Indian rupees is quite Justified.
It might be a hard pull to swallow, but other top end flagships with this amount of features and this amount of storage do cost quite a bit more.
Vivo X100 Pro Back Camera
Since the main selling points of Vivo’s X Series devices are their camera systems, I thought we’d jump straight into it, but before we get into samples, it’s worth taking a look at that massive camera module design and what sits inside of it.
Vivo likes to call this huge camera module, the sun halo design which incorporates an aerospace grade stainless steel ring with a Sunburst texture wrapping around a 2.5D rounded Glass lens which features Ultra hard anti-reflective ZEISS T* coating.
Inside this impressive lens sits three 50MP sensors which consist of an improved ISOCELL JN1 ultrawide camera with autofocus and the same massive 1-in type IMX 989 main sensor with laser autofocus, PDAF and OIS.
But the star of the show has to be the new ZEISS APO telephoto camera which now uses a floating Periscope sensor which boasts 4.3 times optical zoom, an insane 18 cm minimum focusing distance and also makes use of PDAF and OIS.
To round things off there’s the new Vivo V3 ISP chipset which offers Advanced postprocessing and 4K cinematic portrait video which we’ll get to a little later.
Thanks to their partnership with ZEISS, they are now three new color profiles which can be used across all three cameras.
There’s Vivid which tries to make things pop, textured which adds more Shadow details and natural which is truer to live.
Since natural is the only mode, here developed by ZEISS and offers a nice Natural Balance, that’s what we will be sticking to for the remainder of these photos.
Snapshot mode can be used with the main or Periscope sensors and offers zero shutter lag photos, super macro mode can be used with all three sensors and the Periscope shot comes out fantastic thanks to that new floating mechanism which offers 18 cm minimum focusing distance.
Of course, all three cameras can shoot native high-resolution images, but burned down photos come out the best thanks to that new Vivo V3 ISP chip which offers incredible postprocessing.
The Periscope results in fantastic 4.3 times optically zoomed shots and retains almost all detail when zooming in further by 10 times or even 15 times.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a detailed 30 time zoom photo when using a smartphone and while things dip down at 50 times and 100 times Zoom things still come out extremely visible.
Portraits can be taken at 24 or 35 mm using the main camera which offers superb depth thanks to that large 1-in type sensor.
But 100 mm portraits produce DSLR quality images thanks to that new Periscope camera.
For the first time on a Vivo we can now record 4K cinematic portrait videos with the main and Periscope cameras due to that new V3 ISP chip and Edge detection has never looked so crisp.
The X100 Pro can also shoot 8K video which comes out packed with detail, but it’s limited to just the main camera and slow-motion video is only available using the main camera as well, but it can go all the way up to 480 FPS.
Vivo’s latest Flagship can also shoot continuous 4K 60fps video which allows you to seamlessly switch from the ultrawide to the main to the Periscope all the way up to 10 times zoom in one single video.
There aren’t many phones out there that can do this at 60 frames per second.
There is also an ultra-stabilization video mode which keeps things very stable even while running, but it’s limited to just 1080P and can only use the main camera.
Though it’s not really needed since regular stabilization does a superb job already.
Thanks to all three sensors being able to shoot in very clear silky smooth 4K 60fps video.
That V3 chip also allows for 4K 60fps night video using the main camera, but that anti-reflective lens coating makes it a bit tricky to record video at night when loads of light to hitting the lens.
This is even more apparent when using auto ISO levels to record night video at 30 frames per second.
But overall, I’m quite pleased with the level of brightness and detail when recording with all three sensors at night.
4K cinematic portrait video comes out looking a lot better than I was expecting in such a dimly lit scene and portrait photos come out looking even better regardless of whether you’re using the main or Periscope camera.
But just as expected things come out brighter when using night mode instead. Night mode helps when taking photos of a scene too and light noise is handled very well regardless of which sensor is being used.
Just like when we took photos during the day, that Periscope camera continues to impress at all different focal lengths.
But while 30 and 50 times Zoom levels come out acceptable at night, the max 100 times digital zoom level struggles to retain detail.
Just like Vivo sister company iQOO, the X100 Pro also has a super moon mode which only starts to look impressive at 10 times zoom and arguably looks the best at 30 times, though it can go all the way up to 100 times Zoom.
Again, just like the iQOO 12, the Vivo X100 Pro also has an astro mode which brightens up stars and even has an augmented reality option which adds an image to help you see what Star constellation you’re looking at.
But in addition to the AR mode the X100 Pro has an exclusive feature called Astro portrait which focuses on subject detail while still making the stars in the background shine Bright.
There’s no doubt that the X100 Pro is all about those cameras and that massive camera module is clearly not for nothing.
The Vivo X100 Pro takes arguably the best photos I’ve ever seen produced from an Android smartphone and I cannot wait to see how it Compares going forward.
Vivo X100 Pro Build & Design
But now it’s time to shift our Focus to that design and build.
There are two different color options to choose from, you can pick it up in Star Trail blue also known as star glaze blue in certain markets which has a solid blue color, that’s accompanied by silver sparkles that resemble the Milky Way or asteroid black which has a soft matte black finish.
I have the black color version of course and that matte finish is a lot smoother than you realize so you’re going to want to use that included case.
The bottom trim of the camera ring is slightly larger than the rest which includes some camera text.
Underneath that is the “Extreme imagination” text to promote their partnership with Zeiss and at the bottom you’ll find a large yet subtle Vivo logo.
The back plate is made from unspecified glass and the device weighs in at 225g, so it’s quite a bit heavier than its predecessor.
However, it still includes an IP68 dust and water-resistant certification.
The glossy side frames are made from aluminium and the phone is a bit Slimmer this year at just 8.91 mm thick.
The screen is of course made from glass, but the screen protection is once again unknown.
The bezels wrapping around are fairly thin and quite symmetrical, but the punch hole cut out for the selfie sensor is now slightly larger.
Vivo X100 Pro Selfie Camera
Since it houses an improved 32MP Snapper with a larger f2.0 aperture and wider 20 mm focal length.
Though a more standard 24 mm focal length can still be achieved in photo or portrait mode.
But the wider field of view certainly captures more of the scene and overall, I’m quite pleased with the results in terms of detail whether you take a normal or portrait photo.
I still don’t quite understand why there is no 4K selfie video option, but results come out more than decent and the cherry on top is that you can use the Cinematic portrait video mode with the selfie cam as well.
Selfie video looks quite good at night too with very little noise grain and brightens things up quite well, but selfie photos come out way brighter and are packed with quite a bit more detail.
The flash isn’t really needed here but it tends to help calm down background light noise. however, there’s no way of helping out that lackluster Edge detection when using portrait mode.
As always, I’m pretty disappointed that there’s no 4K selfie video mode option otherwise, I’m pretty happy with the results.
Vivo X100 Pro Display
Now it’s time to focus up on that display which is actually quite similar to last year’s.
That being a 6.78 in AMOLED panel which has the same resolution that sits somewhere between QHD and Full HD and supports HDR10, HDR10+ and wide Vine L1 content.
There are two main changes however, the first is screen refresh ratees and though it’s the same 120Hz, Vivo have now brought back LTPO Tech with the new 8T LTPO display back plate which allows the screen to adjust its refresh rate from as low as 1Hz to as high as 120Hz.
But touch sampling rat is still the same at 300Hz and PWM dimming is also unchanged at 2160 Hz.
The second change is found in screen brightness which is now more than twice as bright with an impressive 3,000 nits of peak brightness.
Vivo X100 Pro Software
When it comes to software, the Vivo X100 Pro uses their custom Funtouch OS 14 skin which is layered over Android 14.
This is of course their Global software, so Google services are included out of the box along with all the Google features we have come to know and love.
Such as Google discover to the left of the home screen, Google Assistant with a simple swipe up gesture and of course full access to the Google Play Store.
Funtouch OS is fluid, simple to use and easy on the eye, but I can’t help but feel that Vivo’s Global software is starting to get a bit updated.
Don’t get me wrong, its fantastic software, but it wouldn’t hurt to change it up from time to time.
Vivo X100 Pro Battery
What has changed up though is battery capacity since it’s now quite a lot larger at a whopping 5,400 mAh and we still have very fast charging, though it sits at 100 Watts now, even though a 120W block is still included in the Box.
We also have 50W wireless charging which is fast to say the least and we also have an option for reverse wireless charging.
Vivo X100 Pro Performance
But the big headliner here is probably the inclusion of the latest top end MediaTek chipset, the Dimensity 9300.
It’s manufactured on TSMC’s third generation 4 nm process and it is supposedly 40% more powerful and 33% more efficient when compared to the 9200.
This eight core CPU is quite special as it does away with all efficiency cores in favor of four cortex-X4 main cores and four cortex A720 performance cores but only one main core clocks in at 3.25 GHz while the others set at 2.85 GHz.
The four performance cores all run at an even 2 GHz. the new Immortalis-G720 MC12 integrated GPU has now also been boosted and now offers 46% more performance and reduces power consumption by 40%.
There’s also talk of it using newer LPDDR 5T Ram modules, but based on Research only the 1TB model uses this faster memory which is limited to the Chinese market, so this is likely using LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.
Pairing all of these raw specs along with Boost performance mode found within Ultra game mode settings makes for some very impressive scores across multiple different benchmarks.
There is certainly an improvement over the previous generation MediaTech chips, and its scores are on par with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen3 CPU from Qualcomm.
Vivo X100 Pro Gaming
But benchmark scores aren’t everything, so of course we jumped into a few of our favorite games.
Using WeTest PerfDog to measure performance and FPS, we managed to get a stable 120 FPS while playing Real Racing 3 which of course isn’t that hard to run so this was pretty expected.
Call of Duty mobile can now also reach 120 frames per second when set to ultra-frame rate mode and the X100 Pro didn’t even break a sweat while averaging a rock solid 120 FPS.
Genshin Impact is a much more demanding game and when setting all graphical settings to the max, we managed to average 60 FPS which is the frame cap of this game.
But this is where the X100 Pro takes things up a notch as its Ultra Game Mode has an option for something called game frame interpolation which can double your frame rate by adding additional frames that aren’t actually there.
This is extremely helpful when games have FPS limitations, but you have to remember that while your game will feel smoother it will never feel quite as smooth as a game that natively supports High refresh rate gaming.
Using this tool in Genshin Impact, I noticed that it wouldn’t double 60 to 120 FPS but rather drop down to 45 FPS and then doubles that to 90 FPS.
So, while your FPS reader might show 45 FPS, if you enable the show refresh rate tool in developer options, you’ll notice that the display is under the impression that it’s running at 90 frames per second.
Vivo X100 Pro Connectivity
This Flagship device also makes use of Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, dual SIM 5G and Wi-Fi 7, so connectivity is on point as well as a USB 3.2 Type-C Port, an IR blaster, an x-axis linear motor for haptics and uses dual stereo speakers with super audio effect support.
Final Thoughts
Vivo have improved on so much with their latest X Series Flagship.
Its performance has no doubt been bumped up thanks to the New MediaTek chip, its battery has increased by quite a high margin, its display has been upgraded in terms of refresh rates and brightness, its selfie camera is now better despite it still lacking 4K selfie video, its main camera system has seen some major upgrades which leads to some of the best photos I have ever seen.
Its newly refined design with a huge emphasis on that massive camera module is bound to turn some heads.
It’s certainly a device that’s worth your attention if you’re a smartphone Enthusiast such as myself.
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