The Vivo X100 Pro has me excited about phone photography again
4.3x floating telephoto and Zeiss optics could be a snapping sensation
As great as the current crop of best smartphones are when it comes to snapping photos from a distance, they’re all a little… samey. Which is why I was stoked when the Vivo X100 Pro debuted in China back in november. The new flagship is first with a floating periscope telephoto, which aims to boost clarity for both close-ups and zoom shots. Now it’s finally heading to overseas territories for the first time and bringing the Vivo X100 baby brother along for the trip.
The Vivo X100 has everything you’d expect from a top-tier phone, including a ridiculously bright 6.78in curved-edge AMOLED display. Vivo reckons it can hit a 3000 nits peak in the right conditions, putting it up there with the OnePlus 12. It’s no coincidence both brands live under the BBK Electronics umbrella. A 2800×1260 resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate aren’t to be sniffed at either.
Instead of packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 like most of 2023’s late arrivals – including fellow BBK brands OnePlus and Realme – the Vivo X100 Pro has MediaTek’s latest and greatest silicon. The Dimensity 9300 looks almost as potent on paper, and should be twice as fast as the previous gen when it comes to AI-assisted tasks, while also being more power efficient.
It’s paired with a generous 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. There’s a sizeable 5400mAh battery to keep it juiced up, and the choice of rapid 100W wired charging or (still very speedy) 50W wireless top-ups. The whole thing runs Android 14, with Vivo’s Funtouch skin sat on top.
Really though, it’s the rear camera setup I’m most excited about. The 50MP, f/2.5 telephoto is the first of its kind to get a Zeiss APO certification, meaning the optics align red, green, and blue colours on the same plane of focus. That’s essentially photographer speak for “much, much better” than most phone zoom lenses. The 100mm equivalent focal length will get you closer to the action than many 3x zoom phone cameras, and it can manage up to 100x digital zoom too.
The Vivo X100 Pro also brings back the superb 1in Sony sensor used on last year’s Vivo X90 Pro for its main snapper. A 50MP pixel count, f/1.8 Zeiss lens, laser-assisted autofocus and optical image stabilisation mean it should deliver equally dreamy depth-of-field closeups. The 50MP, f/2.0 ultrawide then has autofocus abilities of its own, and everything is fed through a dedicated imaging chip.
It might not have the largest reach in Western countries, but Vivo has produced some stunning smartphone cameras in the past. I’m excited to see what another year of image processing algorithms can do for that 1in sensor, and how it stacks up to big-name rivals including the Google Pixel 8 Pro and Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max.
X100 dilutes things down a bit
It looks almost identical, has the same display, and is powered by the same CPU, but the Vivo X100 drops down to a smaller 5000mAh battery. It also has no wireless charging abilities, but steps up wired speeds to a crazy quick 120W.
The biggest differences are found in the camera module. The 50MP ultrawide stays the same, but the 1in main sensor is gone, replaced by a slightly smaller 50MP unit. The telephoto lens now uses a 64MP sensor, f/2.6 aperture glass and maxes out at 3x optical zoom.
Both phones are launching in Vivo’s usual overseas markets, which sadly doesn’t include the US or UK. We’re still waiting for confirmation as to exactly which countries are on the list, and how much customers can expect to pay. In China the Vivo X100 Pro costs 5499 Yuan for the 16GB+512GB variant (roughly $760/£600), while the 12GB+256GB Vivo X100 starts at 3999 Yuan ($550/£450). I’m expecting both to be considerably more than that.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
