vivo launched the X200 series in India today as the successor to last year’s X100 series. Here we have the X200 Pro, the top-end model in the series. This gets a brighter LTPO screen, faster processor, 200MP APO telephoto sensor which was first introduced in the X100 Ultra, ZEISS optics, and a huge 6000mAh battery. Is this the best camera phone to get in India right now? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- vivo X200 Pro 16GB + 512GB version in Titanium Grey colour
- Clear Silicon case
- USB Type-C Cable
- 80W Super FlashCharge wall adapter
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick start guide and Warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
The X200 Pro sports a 6.78-inch (2800 × 1260 pixels) 1.5K+ 20:9 aspect ratio micro-curved AMOLED display. The sunlight legibility is good, and it has up to 4500 nits peak brightness. The colour output good as well since it has 1.07 billion colors. The ZEISS Master Color Display brings visuals to life, said the company.
You can select between 1080p and 1.5K display options. vivo says that the screen has 0.1-120Hz refresh rate 8T LTPO display. When enabled, it offers a buttery smooth user experience, especially when you are scrolling through the UI and when gaming.
You can select from standard (default), professional and bright screen colour modes. You can select smart switch or force it to 60Hz or 120Hz. Visual enhancement optimizes the color and contrast of some pictures for more vivid display effects, says the company.
There is also super resolution for improved frame rate and resolution in some apps like YouTube, Netflix and Prime video. There is 2160Hz PWM Dimming that is automatically activated when you are using the phone in low brightness, and you also get AI-powered Smart eye protection that has anti-fatigue brightness and Full PWM options. The screen has Armor glass protection.
It also has HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision support. The phone doesn’t have a notification LED, but there is Always on display (AOD).
The phone has a new 32MP front camera inside the tiny punch-hole, same as the predecessor. There is an earpiece on the top edge which also works as a secondary speaker. You can see ultra-narrow bezels around the screen.
Even the bezel below the screen has is less. The haptic feedback is good as well, thanks to the powerful vibration motor.
Coming to the button placements and ports, the power button is present on the right side along with the volume rockers. There is nothing on the left side, so you just see the antenna band. The dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and the loudspeaker grill are present on the bottom and the secondary microphone is present on the top along with the IR blaster.
It has a metal frame with a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints. It weighs 228 grams for the Titanium Grey version that we have, and the Cosmos Black version weighs 223 grams. The change in weight is due to variations in processes, said the company. Compared to the X100 Pro which weighs 225 grams, this is good, even though this packs a huge, 60000mAh battery. The weight distribution is decent, and it is top-heavy due to huge sensors.
The Titanium Gray version that we have has a brushed metal finish that offers a good grip. The Cosmos Black has matte black finish. It has IP68 + IP69 ratings for the first time, which is a major plus for the phone, since it can stand when immersed in up to 1 meter of water or when exposed to high-pressure water jets for 30 seconds. There is also wet finger screen control enabling calling, shooting, and gaming with a wet or sweaty hand.
Camera
- 50MP main camera Sony LYT-818 1/1.28″ sensor, VCS 3.0, f/1.57 aperture, ZEISS T* coating, OIS
- 50MP ultra-wide camera with Samsung JN1 1/1.27″ sensor, f/2.0 aperture
- 200MP telephoto camera with Samsung HP9 Zeiss APO 1/1.4″ sensor, f/2.67 aperture, telemacro, 3.7x optical zoom, OIS
- 32MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture
The camera UI is the same as other phones running Funtouch OS. It includes several features such as AR stickers, Pro Sports mode, long exposure, 50MP mode, supermoon, and more. The new Stage mode lets you shoot concerts and music festivals. The new landscape mode combines long exposure and supermoon modes. This also adds new street photography features with a custom UI. Even though the phone has a 50MP rear camera, the final output is 12.5MP in size after pixel binning, and the front camera output is 32MP.
Even though the new Sony LYT-818 1/1.28″ sensor is slightly smaller than the 1″ Sony IMX989 sensor in the X100 Pro, the image quality is good enough in all scenarios, including low-light. The 50MP ultra-wide camera is decent, but it is not the best when it comes to low-light, same as the X100 Pro.
The main change is the new 200MP HP9 1/1.4″ sensor co-developed with Samsung, same as the X100 Ultra. The periscope camera has a 85mm equivalent focal length, offering up to 3.7x optical zoom and 20x magnification in telephoto macro mode, which let you shoot macro from far away. There will be reduction in the image quality when you zoom, but manages 10x macro shots at 230mm without any issues.
The portrait mode is brilliant, with good edge detection. The phone has ZEISS optics and 7 ZEISS Style Portrait options. Overall, the telephoto camera is a huge improvement compared to the X100 Pro. The 32MP front camera is good in daylight, and could have been better in low-light.
Check out some camera samples below
It can record videos at 8k resolution at up to 30 fps, and 4k resolution at up to 120 fps from the rear camera and the front camera has supports 4K 60 fps recording. It has standard and ultra stabilization, but the resolution is down to 2K 60 fps in ultra option since it crops the content. OIS does a good job in stabilization. It also has 4K 60 fps Dolby Vision HDR recording from both the front and rear cameras, and can do 4K 30 fps portrait video with main and telephoto cameras, thanks to the V3+ chip. However, the front camera can only record portrait videos at 1080p 30fps.
Software, UI and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 15 with Funtouch OS 15 on top. It has Android security patch for November 2024. The vivo X200 Pro will get 4 years of Android OS updates and 5 years of security updates for the first time.
Funtouch OS 15 brings vivo’s Priority Scheduling model for 15% faster app startup time, has zRAM compression algorithm, resulting in a 40% boost in compression speed, vivo’s Origin Animation for a more natural and intuitive user experience. The Lightning-Speed Engine offers faster app launches, and Aqua Dynamic Effect adds a visually pleasing touch to system interactions.
There is artificial intelligence feature to automatically improve photo quality, AI erase to remove objects, glare and passers-by. Live wallpapers are now seamless, and there is also customized call background.
There is Link to Windows that enhances collaboration between your vivo device and PC. It also has Circle to Search feature and Gemini-powered AI Note Assist and AI Transcript Assist. The AI powered call translation feature lets you translate calls between English, Hindi, Indonesian, Thai and Chinese.
Out of 16GB of LPDDR5X Ultra RAM, about 14.96GB is usable, out of which 10GB is free when the default apps are running in the background. There is additional 16GB RAM expansion feature. Out of 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage, 455.9GB is free out of the box.
Since the phone has an IR blaster, it comes with a Smart Remote app. Apart from the usual set of utility and Google apps, it comes preloaded with a lot of apps such as Facebook, PhonePe, Netflix, Snapchat, Myntra and LinkedIn. These apps can be uninstalled, but they come back after reset.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has finally adopted an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, which is quicker and more accurate compared to the optical fingerprint scanner in the predecessor. You can add up to 5 fingerprints. There are different animation styles that display when you unlock, which you can disable.
The phone also has face unlock that can unlock the phone in seconds, but it is not as secure as fingerprint. The phone features vivo’s built-in security chip, which encrypts sensitive data like passwords and biometrics.
Music and Multimedia
The default Music Player also has equalizer and DeepField sound effects. It doesn’t have FM Radio support. There is audio super resolution, and super audio features. Audio through the stereo speakers is crisp and loud. Audio through the headphones is good as well.
This has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. It also supports HDR playback on YouTube and with Netflix you get both HDR and Dolby Vision.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features such as 5G with support for n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n12/n20/n25/n26/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78/n66
bands, and supports Airtel and Jio 5G out of the box. There is also dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 7 802.11be (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, GPS + GLONASS and NFC support. It also has USB OTG support, and it has USB 3.2 Gen1. The dialer has auto call recording. I did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume is good.
The vivo X200 Pro’s body SAR is 0.895W/Kg and head SAR is at 0.992/Kg, which is way under the limit in India which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
This is one of the first phones to launch in India with the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 SoC. It has a new 1-3-4 microarchitecture that uses 1 x ARM Cortex-X925 performance cores clocked at 3.62GHz, 3 x Cortex-X4 performance cores clocked at 3.30 GHz and 4 x Cortex-A720 efficiency cores clocked at 2.4GHz.
Its single-core performance is improved by 35% compared to the previous generation, and its multi-core performance is improved by 28%, according to the company. It is fabricated using the second-generation TSMC’s 3nm process Technology and promises 40% improved power efficiency.
With VC and graphite units, the phone has 50% improvement in heat dissipation compared to the predecessor, said the company. We did not face any issues or frame drops in the graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI and Genshin Impact. Thermal throttling was there. In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 52.4%, and the temperature shot up from 28 to 44 degrees.
Check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs a 6000mAh (typical) Silicon-Carbon battery, which is 600mAh bigger than the X100 Pro. The 3rd-Gen Silicon Anode and Semi-Solid Battery Technology, ensures enduring performance even in extreme cold down to -20°C. Plus, said the company. It can easily last for a day with heavy use, thanks to the optimization.
I got about 6 hours of screen on time with close to 2 days of use, mostly on Wi-Fi, and occasional 5G use with Smart refresh rate. This is way better than the vivo X100 pro. However, the optimization in iQOO 13 with the same 6000mAh battery was slightly better.
Since the phone has support for 80W fast charging, it can charge from 0 to 50% in about 20 minutes and up to 100% in about an hour. You will have to enable fast charging option if you want to reduce the charging time, but the phone gets a bit hot. It also has 30W wireless charging support, but you will have to use the company’s own charger, which it doesn’t sell any more.
Conclusion
The vivo X200 Pro is a solid upgrade to last year’s X100 Pro even though there is a slight increase in the price. It stands out when it comes to the camera, thanks to the new 200MP telephoto sensor and a lot of camera features, including 4K portrait video feature. The phone also shines when it comes to the screen, and offers a smooth performance. It also has a good build quality and comes with both IP68 and IP69 ratings. The ultra-wide and front camera could have been better.
Pricing and availability
The vivo 200 Pro is priced at Rs. 94,999 for the single 16GB + 512GB model, which is Rs. 5000 more than the predecessor. It will be available from vivo India eStore, Amazon.in, Flipkart and offline stores from December 19th with pre-orders starting today.
Alternatives
The OPPO Find X8 Pro is a direct competitor, with a versatile camera setup and the same Dimensity 9400 chip. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is a good alternative since the price has come down since the launch, and S25 Ultra is around the corner. The latest Google Pixel 9 Pro with offers is also a good option.
Pros
- 1.5K AMOLED 120Hz LTPO display is brilliant
- Smooth performance
- Good main and telephoto cameras
- Solid build quality, IP68 + IP69 ratings
- Good battery life with 80W fast charging, 30W wireless charging
Cons
- Average Ultra-wide and front cameras