Vivo obtained a lot proper with the X90 Pro, and it is persevering with that momentum with the X100 sequence. The X100 Pro has the identical broad design, however that is the place the similarities finish — you get a new AMOLED panel that goes as much as 3,000 nits, MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 is an unbelievable cellular chipset that goes up towards one of the best that Qualcomm has to supply, and there is a bigger battery.
The largest improve is across the cameras, with Vivo providing a trio of 50MP cameras that will simply be among the many greatest you will discover immediately. The software program has a recent coat of paint as properly, and the gadget will get long-term updates. Vivo is primarily preempting its rivals by rolling out its 2024 flagship globally forward of the likes of the OnePlus 12, Xiaomi 14, and Galaxy S24 Ultra, so let’s take a have a look at what you are getting with the X100 Pro, and whether or not it measures up in real-world use.
Vivo X100 Pro: Specs, worth, and launch date
Vivo unveiled the X100 sequence in China in November 2023, and launched the gadgets globally on December 15. There are two fashions within the sequence — the X100 and X100 Pro — and there is not a complete lot totally different between the 2.
Both gadgets function the identical 6.7-inch AMOLED panel and the identical Dimensity 9300 platform, and have an identical designs. The X100 Pro comes with a 1-inch principal camera alongside a 50MP zoom lens that goes as much as 4.3x optical zoom, with the X100 utilizing a 50MP 1/1.49-inch camera and a 64MP zoom module that does 3x. Both gadgets use the identical 50MP wide-angle lens.
The X100 Pro has a bigger 5400mAh battery, however you get 100W charging — the X100 has a 5000mAh battery with 120W charging tech. Both gadgets at the moment are obtainable in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and so they’re launching in India on January 4.
| Category | Vivo X100 Pro |
|---|---|
| OS | Funtouch 14 based mostly on Android 14 |
| Display | 6.78-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED, 2800×1260, HDR10+, 3000 nits |
| Chipset | Mediatek Dimensity 9300, Immortalis-G720, 4nm |
| RAM | 12GB/16GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 |
| Rear camera 1 | 50MP f/1.8 23mm, 1/0.98-inch sensor, OIS, 4K at 60fps |
| Rear camera 2 | 50MP f/2.0 15mm wide-angle, 1/2.76-inch sensor, autofocus |
| Rear camera 3 | 50MP f/2.5 100mm 4.3x telephoto, 1/2-inch sensor, OIS |
| Front camera | 32MP f/2.0 |
| Ingress safety | IP68 mud and water resistance |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, Sub-6 5G |
| Security | In-screen optical fingerprint |
| Audio | USB-C, stereo sound, 24-bit/192kHz |
| Battery | 5400mAh battery, 100W charging, 50W wi-fi charging |
| Dimensions | 164.1 x 75.3 x 9.1mm |
| Colors | Asteroid Black, Startrail Blue |
Vivo X100 Pro: Design
Vivo hasn’t modified the design an excessive amount of from the X90 Pro, so that you get a giant slab of a cellphone with a large camera island on the again. If something, the camera housing is even bigger than final yr, and it dominates the eye on the again — very similar to anchovies on a pizza. There’s a chrome steel ring that encircles the camera housing, and there is Zeiss branding within the center.
The again of the cellphone seems to be good because of the round camera island, and in contrast to final yr, you do not get a garish metallic band that runs throughout the width of the gadget (fortunately). There’s nonetheless the Xtreme Imagination tagline emblazoned beneath the camera island, however you’ll be able to simply conceal that away with a case. Another change is the supplies, with Vivo going again to a glass again this time round — there is not any vegan leather-based choice. The again has a silky end, and whereas it is not as good because the leather-backed X90 Pro, it is higher than a shiny coating.
There are two colour variants this time round — Asteroid Black and Startrail Blue — and the latter is the extra fascinating of the 2. I’m utilizing the black variant, and it is not fairly as evocative because the blue model, which is impressed by the Milky Way and has a distinctive design on the again. The gadget itself is nice to carry and use, and whereas it is on the heavier facet at 225g, Vivo nailed the burden distribution.
You additionally get a dual-curved design, however the curvature is minimal, and there is sufficient thickness across the mid-frame to carry the gadget with none points in any respect — this hasn’t all the time been the case with a few telephones I utilized in 2023. The cellphone makes use of a chrome steel mid-frame as properly, and the positioning of the buttons hasn’t modified; the facility and quantity buttons are on the fitting, you get the USB-C port and SIM card tray on the backside, and there is an IR blaster up prime.
Image 1 of 4
What’s fascinating concerning the X100 Pro is that it does not wobble when sitting on a flat floor, and that is all the way down to the gargantuan camera housing. That mentioned, my solely quibble with the design is that the in-screen fingerprint module sits too near the underside of the display, making it awkward to entry when utilizing the cellphone one-handed. I had the identical concern with the iQOO 12 as properly, and as Vivo is utilizing the identical panel on each telephones, the situation of the module was unchanged as properly.
To spherical issues off, you get IP68 mud and water resistance, just like the X90 sequence. Overall, Vivo did not alter the design language an excessive amount of over final yr, however the bigger camera housing mixed with the delicate tweaks to the design make the X100 Pro that rather more distinctive.
Vivo X100 Pro: Display
Vivo retained the identical 6.78-inch display measurement as final yr, however the X100 Pro makes use of a brand-new panel sourced from BOE. The large differentiator right here is that it goes as much as 3,000 nits in HDR content material, a sizeable achievement. You get the same old options that you just’d need in a flagship, together with an LTPO AMOLED panel, 2160Hz PWM dimming that is designed to be simple on the eyes, and 120Hz refresh. The refresh dynamically scales based mostly on the content material you are viewing, and I had no points on this space.
The X100 Pro has tiny bezels on all sides, and the curvature of the display is not a hindrance in day by day use. Colors are nice out of the field, and you may tweak the colour steadiness, change the display decision (between 2400×1080 and 2800×1260) and use a slew of AI-backed options that increase colour vibrancy in YouTube and Netflix.
Image 1 of 2
As you’d think about, the X100 Pro has terrific colours and distinction ranges, and streaming HDR content material is totally satisfying on the gadget. It additionally does a nice job with gaming, and fortunately, you are not restricted to 60fps — if a sport permits you to plat at 120fps, you are able to do simply that on the gadget.
Other than that, you get the same old set of options; the always-on mode has loads of customizability, and you may arrange your personal kinds. Onboard sound is excellent too, and also you get serviceable stereo sound whereas enjoying video games and streaming content material. Of course, there is distortion at increased volumes, however that is the case with most telephones.
While the display measurement hasn’t modified, the elevated brightness and colour constancy makes the X100 Pro that rather more satisfying. Vivo did all the fitting issues on this space, and I’m excited to see what different manufacturers do with this panel.
Vivo X100 Pro: Performance and battery
Vivo converted to MediaTek on its high-end telephones final yr, and the X100 Pro sees the introduction of the Dimensity 9300. There’s a lot of pleasure across the Dimensity 9300 because it makes use of a customized core configuration that is totally different to absolutely anything else on this class. Essentially, you get 4 giant Cortex X4 cores which are joined by 4 Cortex A720 cores that deal with a lot of the day-to-day duties.
Going this route means the Dimensity 9300 has a noticeable benefit over the likes of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in multi-core workloads. I assumed there could be elevated battery utilization as the same old A520 effectivity cores are lacking right here, however that hasn’t been the case; the A720 cores are clocked at 2.0GHz, and within the two weeks I used the cellphone, the facility draw was on par with the iQOO 12, in order that’s a good signal. Basically, the X100 Pro ought to maintain its personal towards one of the best Android telephones on this regard.
| Category | Vivo X100 Pro | iQOO 12 | iPhone 15 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrossMark (Overall) | 1177 | 1324 | 1401 |
| Productivity | 1216 | 1302 | 1404 |
| Creativity | 1143 | 1320 | 1573 |
| Responsiveness | 1186 | 1404 | 984 |
| Geekbench 6 (single-core) | 2220 | 2552 | 2950 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 7258 | 6952 | 7381 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme (rating) | 4610 | 4329 | 3648 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme (FPS) | 27.60 | 25.92 | 21.9 |
| 3DMark Solar Bay (rating) | 7600 | 8042 | 5024 |
| 3DMark Solar Bay (FPS) | 28.9 | 32.33 | 19.1 |
The Dimensity 9300 is excellent in day by day use, and I did not see any points in any respect with efficiency; the X100 Pro is among the many quickest telephones obtainable immediately, and it dealt with demanding video games in addition to multi-tasking with out breaking a sweat. The solely space the place there’s a noticeable distinction over Qualcomm-powered gadgets is throttling; working the identical sport on the X100 Pro and iQOO 12 confirmed that the Dimensity 9300 had a tendency to throttle a little earlier, and it obtained barely hotter as properly.
Vivo is not altering issues an excessive amount of when it comes to storage variants; the bottom mannequin of the X100 Pro comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, and people variants go as much as 16GB/1TB. That mentioned, we’ll have to attend and see if the 1TB mannequin turns into obtainable in most world markets.
There is not something lacking on the connectivity facet of issues both, with the X100 Pro that includes world 5G connectivity over Sub-6 bands, a Wi-Fi 7 modem that is designed to take full benefit of multi-Gigabit networks, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, twin band GPS, and AptX HD codecs. The vibration motor is wonderful as properly, and it delivers granular suggestions in day by day use.
Most manufacturers used a normal 5000mAh battery during the last three days, however we’re seeing that change in 2024, with 5400mAh items beginning to change into the norm. Just just like the iQOO 12, the X100 Pro makes use of a 5400mAh battery that sees two 2700mAh cells, and it goes as much as 100W and 50W wirelessly. Battery life is excellent, and I simply obtained as much as two days of use persistently with the gadget. Even with heavy use, I managed a day and a half earlier than charging the gadget, and there is completely no battery anxiousness on the gadget.
Even although the X100 Pro goes as much as 100W, Vivo bundles its 120W charger within the field. A full cost takes simply over 32 minutes, and you may simply get to the 50% mark in simply over 12 minutes. The solely draw back is that the charger is cumbersome, however the truth that you get one within the field in any respect is a large deal nowadays.
Vivo X100 Pro: Cameras
The X100 Pro continues Vivo’s heritage of providing robust cameras, and this time, there are appreciable upgrades on provide. The cellphone has a 50MP Sony IMX989 principal camera with a 1-inch sensor, and it is joined by a 50MP wide-angle with autofocus, and a 50MP zoom lens with 4.3x optical zoom. The entrance 32MP module is unchanged, and it nonetheless solely does 1080p video.
Vivo touts a new stabilization system that makes a distinction when capturing the zoom lens or taking macro photographs, and the primary camera has Zeiss’s T* coating that is designed to cut back reflexivity significantly. You additionally get a customized V3 imaging chip that permits Cinematic Portrait movies at 4K and delivers pure pores and skin tone segmentation, and the 6nm design is 30% extra vitality environment friendly than final yr.
The camera interface is an identical to the X90 sequence, and also you get all of the capturing modes in a ribbon on the backside, with toggles for the varied lenses, Google Lens, flash, magnificence results, and macro mode. Similar to what Xiaomi and different Chinese producers provide on their telephones, Vivo has a slew of customized results that leverage Zeiss’s lenses.
Image 1 of 10
Coming to sunlight photographs, the X100 Pro does a terrific job outside and indoors, with resultant pictures providing nice dynamic vary and colour vibrancy. There’s no seen noise ranges, colours aren’t overly saturated, and foliage is rendered precisely. The principal camera does extremely properly in low-light conditions as properly, delivering images with good particulars and minimal noise.
It does a significantly good job in situations the place there’s little to no seen mild, and the night time mode positively turns out to be useful. What I like is the pure bokeh when taking images of close by objects, and the X100 Pro does a nice job on this regard. The wide-angle lens holds up properly, and whereas there have been situations the place the colour steadiness was a little off at instances, these points have been rectified with a software program replace.
The telephoto lens is the most effective you will discover on any gadget immediately, and it delivers detailed images at a 4.3x zoom degree with no noticeable loss in high quality. It does a terrific job in low-light scenes as properly, and you will get first rate photographs as much as 10x with out an excessive amount of of a trouble. In a related vein, the cellphone takes unbelievable portrait photographs, and you may select between a number of focal lengths and results.
With 4 focal lengths to select from — 24mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm — the X100 Pro affords some of the versatile camera packages obtainable immediately, and the auxiliary lenses do a standout job in most situations. All three cameras can shoot 4K video at 60fps as properly, and the built-in stabilization is among the many greatest on Android. On the entire, the X100 Pro has what it takes to go up towards the likes of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro.
Vivo X100 Pro: Software
The largest concern with utilizing Vivo telephones up to now was the software program, and fortunately, the model has made optimistic strides on this space during the last 12 months. The X100 Pro runs Funtouch OS 14 based mostly on Android 14 out of the field, and it has a cleaner UI together with a lot of customizability. But what I like greatest is that there is much less bloatware than earlier years.
You do not get a lot in the best way of Material You influences aside from the dynamic colour picker, however that in itself makes a lot of distinction to the interface, and offers it a lot of vibrancy. Considering the interface was a poor imitation of iOS even till a few years in the past, this is a fairly large turnaround, and Vivo deserves a lot of credit score.
There’s nonetheless loads of customization obtainable, whether or not you wish to arrange always-on kinds, change the look of the overview menu, tweak dwelling display transitions, arrange lighting results, and so forth. Vivo bundles Google’s dialer and Android Messages out of the field, and the notification pane has two giant tiles that may be custom-made alongside smaller tiles.
The interface is optimized to reap the benefits of the highly effective {hardware}, and it is easy in day by day use. On the entire, I like what Vivo did right here, and the UI is a particular enchancment from earlier variations. On that observe, Vivo ensures 4 platform updates, so the X100 Pro will get long-term updates on par with its speedy rivals.
Vivo X100 Pro: The competitors
If you just like the look of the X100 Pro however need one thing that is extra value-focused, you could wish to think about the iQOO 12. You principally get the identical software program, identical AMOLED panel that goes as much as 3,000 nits, and it is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. I additionally just like the design fairly a bit, and the 5400mAh battery means you needn’t plug it in through the day. The cameras are significantly better than final yr, however it is not on the identical degree because the X100 Pro. That mentioned, the iQOO 12 is way more reasonably priced.
Then there’s the OnePlus 12. The gadget is but to make its world debut, however it additionally has a lot of similarities to the X100 Pro — which is cheap as each manufacturers are owned by BBK — and I’m excited to check out its cameras. In a related vein, the Xiaomi 14 is debuting globally in Q1 2024, and it additionally has cameras that ought to maintain up properly towards the X100 Pro.
Vivo X100 Pro: Should you purchase it?
You can buy this if:
- You need a cellphone that may take superb images and movies
- You want one of the best {hardware} obtainable on Android proper now
- You need one of many brightest screens on any gadget
- You want all-day battery and ultra-fast charging tech
You should not purchase this if:
- You take a lot of movies with the selfie camera
- You want well timed software program updates
Ultimately, the X100 Pro is Vivo’s greatest effort but, and it is a terrific showcase for 2024. The cellphone has appreciable upgrades in key areas over the X90 Pro, together with a considerably brighter AMOLED display that is a delight to make use of, quicker internals, bigger battery that lasts longer, and significantly better cameras with delicate tweaks to the tuning that make the X100 Pro maintain up towards one of the best Android telephones.
I additionally just like the path Vivo is taking with regard to its software program efforts, and the newest iteration of Funtouch OS seems to be clear and fashionable, has loads of customizability, and fewer bloatware than ever earlier than. Honestly, I am unable to consider many negatives right here, and in the event you’re in a nation the place Vivo formally sells the X100 Pro, you need to think about choosing it up.