Vivo X300 Pro review: a great camera phone and a flagship as it should be

Vivo’s TOP models have established themselves as some of the best camera phones on our market in recent years, and nothing has changed in this regard this time either. The new Vivo X300 Pro once again boasts a powerful camera setup, top-tier performance, and, as part of its global launch, the OriginOS overlay for the first time. Unfortunately, we also saw one year-on-year deterioration, in the form of a lower capacity battery.

Package contents

Vivo traditionally delivers its TOP models in an elegant black box, and the X300 Pro is no exception. The package contents also remained unchanged. In addition to the phone itself, you will receive a USB-C cable, a SIM card ejector tool, and the necessary paper documentation. A TPU case is again a bonus. This time, it is opaque with a smooth, matte finish and in the color of your phone. As a basic case, it is more than sufficient and certainly looks better than last year’s clear TPU case. Unfortunately, the manufacturer no longer includes an adapter.

Design follows established lines

From a design and construction perspective, not much has changed year-on-year, and in fact, the X300 Pro doesn’t significantly differ even from the X100 Pro from two years ago. The most prominent design element remains the distinctive, circular camera module proudly displaying the Zeiss logo. Compared to last year, the outer metal ring has been redesigned. It is now matte, slightly beveled at the top, and only slightly protrudes beyond the camera’s protective glass. This significantly reduces the accumulation of dirt, which was a nuisance affecting both the Vivo X200 Pro and the previous X100 Pro.

The rest of the construction continues the elimination of rounded edges, which the Vivo X200 Pro already started. This time, both the display and back cover glasses are completely flat. The latter features a pleasant-to-the-touch matte finish that also doesn’t attract fingerprints. The side metal frame is also matte and fingerprint-resistant, with slightly rounded edges to prevent it from digging into the hands too much. Even so, the 226g and 161.2 x 75.5 x 8 mm Vivo X300 Pro is not a smartphone “for dainty hands.” However, thanks to narrower bezels around the display and probably a smaller battery, the dimensions of the new model are slightly smaller than its predecessor, while maintaining the same display size.

The power button and volume rocker could be a bit lower for my taste; as it is, I have to unnaturally stretch my thumb to change the volume – and I don’t have particularly small hands. On the opposite edge of the phone’s frame, there is now a programmable button. By default, it serves to switch ring modes. While Apple was far from the first to come up with a similar solution, it’s undeniable that Vivo was inspired by them here. This is especially evident in the button’s settings.

The fact that the manufacturer doesn’t want to play second fiddle and intends to compete with the best with its X300 Pro is also evidenced by its exemplary build quality. Everything aligns perfectly, the buttons are firmly seated and have a solid click, and overall, I find no reason for complaint in this regard. And yes, water and dust resistance with IP68 and IP69 certification has been retained.

Top-tier display

The new model’s display remains practically the same as the X200 Pro’s – not that it’s a problem, as it’s still top-tier. Visually, the only change is the absence of rounded edges in all directions. Vivo has completed the “unrounding” of its flagship model for the global market, moving from curved side edges, which several previous generations used, through slight rounding in all directions, back to a completely flat display, but with minimal bezels.

As for the specific technical parameters, we are dealing with a 6.78″ AMOLED panel with 1.5K resolution, which is truly a joy to behold. The maximum brightness here reaches up to 4,500 nits locally and 2,000 nits across the entire screen. While it lacks the advanced anti-reflective coating primarily known from Samsung flagships, readability in sunlight is still excellent. What is not missing, however, is support for the Dolby Vision format. My first criticism would be the occasionally unreliable brightness control and, especially, the unnecessarily dim brightness in the camera application.

The second word of criticism must then be directed at the variable refresh rate. However, I am not going to criticize the maximum 120 Hz, but rather the minimum, which is 1 Hz, whereas its predecessor only had 0.1 Hz. This means the display refreshes the content only once every 10 seconds, which can help save power, especially with an active Always-on Display. We will talk more about how every bit of saved energy would be useful here a few paragraphs later.

Fabulous fingerprint reader

The fingerprint reader is at least equally good. The Vivo X300 Pro once again received an ultrasonic reader placed at an optimal distance from the bottom edge. The reader itself has a larger area than indicated by the pictogram on the display, so you don’t have to worry about needing to place your finger precisely on it – unlike most optical readers. Moreover, it works very quickly and accurately. You just need to place your finger for a few tenths of a second, and the phone is instantly unlocked. Furthermore, you don’t need to pay too much attention to how hard you press your finger, at what angle, or from which side you place it, etc. The reader here is simply easy and intuitive to use.

Sound won’t disappoint, haptics will impress

The loud stereo speakers of the Vivo X300 Pro do a solid job. The sound is a bit flatter, but sufficiently loud and without noticeable distortion even at higher volumes. The speaker on the top edge traditionally functions as both an earpiece and a loudspeaker, and for a more balanced output, it is also equipped with a second output in the upper part of the metal frame.

The haptic feedback is excellent. Not only is it exemplarily precise, which enhances the good impression of using the phone, but you can also customize it to your liking. In addition to the vibration intensity itself, there is also a setting for its style. The first style is sharp – rather short and emphatic vibrations. The second option is gentle, slightly longer vibrations.

Performance once again handled by MediaTek’s top-tier chip

Inside the phone is the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset, which is the best this Taiwanese manufacturer currently offers. The chipset uses a modern, 3nm TSMC process. The processor utilizes an “All Big Core” design. This means there are no small cores, only large Cortex cores. Specifically, we have the latest Cortex C1 cores in three variants – 1x Ultra, 3x Premium, and 4x Pro. Graphics performance is handled by the new ARM G1 Ultra chip. In our market, the Vivo X300 Pro is available in a single variant with 16 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 512 GB of fast UFS 4.1 storage.

The connectivity of the new model was not neglected either. The USB-C connector is connected to a USB-3.2 controller, and you can connect to the internet using dual-band Wi-Fi 7 or eSIM. If you connect suitable headphones via Bluetooth 5.4, you can enjoy high-quality sound thanks to the AptX HD or LHDC 5 codec. Last but not least, you can also rely on a full suite of geolocation services, including dual-band GPS.

Vivo X300 Pro benchmarks

No current Android game is a challenge for the Vivo X300 Pro. I was interested not only in the benchmark results but primarily in how much the phone would heat up. To find out, I traditionally used the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmark stress test, which accurately simulates high, continuous load during gaming. And the result? Well, honestly, I was a bit disappointed. After just the third repetition of the test scene, the phone’s surface was unpleasantly warm, even hot. The results of individual tests corresponded to this, with performance dropping sharply from the very beginning, and after just the third repetition, the results hovered around one-third of the maximum performance and remained there until the end of the test. And overall stability? Only 29.4%. It’s no surprise then that the phone can get noticeably hot as lř

• AnTuTu: 3,409,961 points
• GeekBench 6 Single core: 3,296 points
• GeekBench 6 Multi core: 9,995 points
• 3DMark Wild Life Extreme: 6,819 points

Battery as an incomprehensible concession

The Vivo X300 Pro once again comes with a silicon-carbon (Si/C) battery, but since it is a single-cell battery, it reaches a maximum permissible capacity of 5,440 mAh. To clarify, based on global standards, cells with a capacity exceeding 20Wh are considered dangerous goods. Shippers in the EU must then adhere to stricter rules for transporting such goods, which naturally increases not only logistics costs but also the final price of the device. In the case of the tested X300 Pro, the battery has 19.75 Wh, meaning it is very close to the maximum permissible limit. This situation, of course, has a solution. Vivo could have – like many other manufacturers – used a dual-cell battery to fit within all limits and thus deliver a smartphone with above-average battery capacity to global customers.

Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not take this step, and so we have the first, and in fact, the only major concession compared to its predecessor. Not only does the Vivo X300 Pro have a relatively smaller battery, but its hardware is also somewhat more power-hungry, or the optimization is worse. In the end, I commonly experienced just over 6 hours of active use with Always-on Display enabled. It probably goes without saying that on days when I used the camera more, those 6 hours were just a dream. And during testing, I even received about 2 or 3 updates that improved battery life; otherwise, I would typically be around 5 hours on a single charge.

Given the weaker battery life, solid fast charging could be useful. However, to utilize the full 90 W that the phone supports, you also need an adequate charger. And by adequate, I mean an adapter supporting the proprietary Flash Charge (or Super VOOC) standard, which is used by Vivo, OnePlus, Oppo, and Realme smartphones. Vivo prices its original 90W adapter at approximately 599 Kč. Through a charger with USB-PD 3+ support, the phone will charge at 55 W. With the original charger, I charged the phone from 15 to 100% in an average of half an hour. Wireless charging again requires original accessories and supports up to 40 W of power.

Goodbye Funtouch, welcome OriginOS

Finally, Vivo has decided to ditch its global Funtouch overlay and instead bring us the OriginOS overlay, which until now was exclusive to its home market of China. While we won’t get an entirely identical version of the overlay this time either, it’s still a significant step forward. Even so, this change has a somewhat bittersweet taste for me. OriginOS 6 brings with it a number of elements strikingly reminiscent of the Liquid Glass design known from iOS 26. While a certain degree of inspiration from Apple’s system has probably always been present in most Chinese brands, here it’s a bit too obvious. Purely from a personal perspective, I haven’t found this design appealing even in its original form – and it’s worth noting that I’ve been using an iPhone in parallel with Android smartphones for about 5 years now.

Not to just criticize, OriginOS 6 uses the glass design to a significantly lesser extent than iOS 26, and it must be added that this actually helps it in the end. There aren’t as many confusing situations, and visually, OriginOS 6 simply looks a bit better to me. While Vivo certainly isn’t among the best in this category yet, compared to the previous Funtouch, there has also been a big leap in animations – both in quantity and quality. In combination with the redesigned interface, Vivo’s flagship system finally feels smoother and more modern than ever before.

We also saw progress in terms of features. While Vivo was inspired by Apple for some new features here too, with Origin Island (what a creative name, right?) it also came up with its own invention. You just need to drag selected text, a link, or an image to the desired application displayed in the area around the selfie camera cutout. The application will open in a window with the inserted content, allowing you to easily create notes, social media posts, or share the content through communication apps. Vivo is trying to integrate various applications into this solution, such as maps, which display the next turn or travel time. However, third-party app integration is somewhat lacking and is mostly limited to universal media control.

Personalization options have also improved. For example, the lock screen now offers more options – although OriginOS is still far from Xiaomi’s HyperOS. You can play with folder sizes, from classic icons, through classic large folders, to horizontal or vertical strips. The quick toggles and notifications area also looks better. While the layout – with the exception of the newly arrived volume slider – is the same, the icons have been redesigned and fit better into the overall design of the overlay. Last but not least, I must also commend the promise of 5 major operating system updates and 7 years of security updates.

Cameras at the top again

Vivo’s flagship models have established themselves as the best camera smartphones on our market in recent years, so it’s logical that expectations for the Vivo X300 Pro are also high. While the camera hardware hasn’t changed much intergenerationally, it is still impressive. Practically the only change on the back is the primary camera sensor. Instead of the Sony LYT-818 sensor, we now have a new generation of this sensor, the Sony LYT-828. Although the new sensor has the same resolution and size, the manufacturer promises better dynamic range and less noise.

• 50MP primary camera, f/1.6, 1/1.28″, pixel size 1.22 µm, OIS, PDAF, Laser AF
• 200MP portrait camera with 3.5x optical zoom, f/2.7, 1/2″, pixel size 0.56 µm, OIS, PDAF
• 50MP ultrawide camera, f/2.0, 1/2.76″, pixel size 0.64µm, 119° field of view, PDAF

Cooperation with the renowned Zeiss company is also maintained. Zeiss supplies lenses along with the Zeiss T* coating on the protective glass, designed to reduce unwanted reflections – for example, from streetlights when shooting at night. Besides that, a range of Zeiss color calibrations complementing vivid, textured, and black-and-white modes are also present. Last but not least, modes simulating famous Zeiss portrait lenses offering a unique bokeh effect are also included.

Primary camera

The image quality from the Vivo X300 Pro’s primary camera still ranks among the best on the market. Images have excellent dynamic range, and you’ll quickly forget what noise even is with this camera. The images are then incredibly detailed, though Vivo sometimes overdoes the sharpening, which is often noticeable when zooming in on a photo. Compared to the previous Vivo X200 Pro, I also observe changes in the color calibration of images.

Across all modes, Vivo has increased contrast, and the phone very readily uses HDR, which can be a bit more aggressive in some situations than I would entirely prefer. As a result, images are more saturated, and sometimes a bit darker than I would like. Consequently, even in Zeiss mode, images lose their typical character, in exchange for leaning a bit towards superficial appeal, which ultimately might attract more users. However, although the images appear somewhat more artificial, the undeniable fact remains that their technical quality is still at a very high level.

And it also demonstrates quality at night, where images from the Vivo X300 Pro are phenomenal. The generally higher contrast helped here for a change, and thanks to it, the night sky is truly dark and not light blue as is the case with many other smartphones. Similarly, shadows and the separation of lit and unlit areas are excellent. Last but not least, also thanks to the mentioned Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating, the camera effectively suppresses unwanted reflections and backlighting.

Periscope camera

Among the main stars of the Vivo X300 Pro’s camera setup is undoubtedly the 200MP periscope camera with 3.5x optical zoom. And rightly so. Images taken using optical zoom are, in a word, top-notch. Whether we’re talking about noise suppression, dynamic range, or the amount of detail, I cannot complain about anything. Yes, there is still that more artificial color calibration, but as we discussed in previous paragraphs, I believe that even this will appeal to many people more than a realistic rendition.

The camera is, of course, usable well beyond 3.5x zoom. Using digital zoom, it can capture a solid image in most situations up to 10x magnification. The further you go, the more it depends on the conditions. However, with greater magnification, aggressive AI sharpening becomes increasingly apparent. Some images simply look artificial because of it, but in extreme cases, you can catch the camera simply making things up.

This is most evident with text, where at higher magnifications, the AI tries to decipher what is in the given image and then clean it up and extract details. However, the result is often something that resembles some long-extinct script. Fortunately, the degree of this smart assistance for distant zoom can be set in two levels, or completely turned off – for that, Vivo deserves a thumbs up.

Where the periscope camera of the Vivo X300 Pro further excels is in portraits. The separation of subjects from the background, Zeiss bokeh effects, and skin tones are all simply superb. Macro shots are also traditionally excellent; even with high magnification, they remain sharp and detailed. As with the primary camera, I must also highlight the quality of night shots here. The excellently functioning suppression of reflections, faithful rendition of the night, and how illuminated objects are rendered simply captivate me.

Ultrawide camera

If any of the Vivo X300 Pro cameras draws the short straw, it is undoubtedly the one with a 119° field of view. The hardware hasn’t changed for two generations, and even then, its parameters didn’t exactly blow the competition away. Overall, the output from the ultrawide camera is good, but it simply doesn’t reach the TOP quality of the first two cameras mentioned. This is most evident at night, where although images still offer good handling of backlighting, details and overall sharpness suffer significantly, and noticeable artifacts appear due to efforts to suppress noise.

The color rendition is mostly the same as with the other cameras. However, sometimes, especially in poorer conditions, the ultrawide camera manages to produce a darker image than I would entirely prefer. Nevertheless, the ultrawide camera can also pleasantly surprise. Especially the level of detail, apart from night photos, is excellent for this type of camera. The dynamic range is superb, and the fisheye effect correction also works very well here. When I think about it, considering its parameters, the ultrawide camera in the Vivo X300 Pro performs better than I would have expected.

Video

The Vivo X300 Pro is indeed well-equipped for video recording. You have a wide range of resolution and frame rate combinations to choose from. You can record 4K video at 30, 60, or up to 120 frames per second, and there’s also support for 8K video at 30 fps – assuming you have a specific use for it. I preferred 4K/60fps video recording, which looks great. Last but not least, I must also mention support for the Dolby Vision HDR format. In Pro mode, you can even record video in Log format for later editing.

Stabilization does an excellent job even in the default mode, but if you want to record something in motion, I recommend turning on “Ultra stabilization” mode. In this mode, the phone further assists optical stabilization with a crop from the primary camera. The resulting video has a reduced resolution of (still acceptable) 2.8K, but the frame rate is maintained at 60 fps. I must also commend the transitions between focused objects, which are fast, smooth, and generally look nicely natural. In fact, the only thing I would criticize about the video is the same as with photos – sometimes overly aggressively sharpened details.

Vivo X300 Pro Price

The official retail price of the Vivo X300 Pro is set at 34,990 CZK including VAT, but fortunately, Vivo regularly provides us with interesting promotions, and one such promotion is ongoing at the time of writing this article. As part of this, the current price of the Vivo X300 Pro is 31,990 CZK including VAT, and additionally, at selected retailers, you will receive a photo kit containing a back cover, a photo grip with an integrated battery, a teleconverter, and other accessories worth a total of 4,999 CZK. Furthermore, this promotion rectifies the lack of a missing power adapter in the package, and you will also receive an original 90W adapter with the phone. And a pleasant bonus, unrelated to this promotion, is a three-year warranty on the phone.

Vivo X300 Pro Review Conclusion

Year after year, Vivo proves that it simply belongs among the manufacturers of top-tier smartphones, and the latest X300 Pro is proof of that. High-quality and durable construction, a top-tier display, high performance – these are attributes that every flagship model should possess. The Vivo X300 Pro then adds a set of some of the best – if not the very best – cameras on the market. Finally, we also saw the arrival of the OriginOS overlay, which is a significant step forward.

However, not everything is perfect here either. Personally, I regret the departure from the characteristic color rendition of images and the sometimes overly aggressive sharpening. The smaller battery in our market is a great pity, as it simply cannot work wonders in conjunction with not-so-power-efficient hardware. The continuously rising year-on-year price might also deter potential buyers, but fortunately, Vivo is not stingy with promotions, so you can currently buy the phone on sale with pleasant bonuses on top.

Editor’s rating: 87 / 100

Are you interested in the new Vivo X300 Pro?

Thanks to Vivo for the loan.